| Name |
|
Notes |
The Time
Traveler's Wife
by Audrey Niffenberger
ISBN 0-099-46446-2 |
A* |
Fantasy
In a class of its own, and an
amazing first novel by Niffenberger.
This has received high praise, and for very good reason -
OMFG!!
It is a very adult novel - lots of sex and nudity. But
it is very tastefully done. I could have listed this under science fiction,
since it is a time travel story. I am totally impressed by how Niffenberger
put a new spin on the idea of time travel. |
|
Stardust
Neil Gaiman
ISBN 978-0-06-114202-4 |
A+ |
Fantasy
This 1999 book is really well done. This is an adult
fairy tale that has lots of clever twists. I can't wait to see the movie!
There are several interesting plot threads. This is
very nicely written, and everything comes to a satisfying conclusion at
the end. |
The Prince of the Marshes
Rory Stewart
ISBN 978-0-7394-8145-5 |
A+ |
Non-fiction
The subtitle of this book is "and other occupational hazards of a year in Iraq",
which is quite accurate. This is a personal memoir by an Irishman who worked
in two southern provinces of Iraq named Maysan and Dhi Qar (don't hear much about
these in the news).
The events in the book cover the period from September 2003 to June 2004.
After reading this it is clear to me why it is so hard to make any measurable
progress towards a peaceful solution in Iraq.
Rory Stewart has quite a talent for writing - this was fascinating reading. As usual, I learned a lot! |
Neverwhere
Neil Gaiman
ISBN 0-380-78901-9 |
A+ |
Fantasy
Neil Gaiman has quickly become one of my favorite
fantasy authors. This is a typical story of Good versus Evil. Most of
it happens underground, in areas that normal people never experience.
There are lots of colorful characters, including a few
really evil baddies. This is very nicely written, and everything comes to a
satisfying conclusion at the end. |
The Kite Runner
Khaled Hosseini
ISBN 1-594-48000-1 |
A+ |
Fiction
This is a story of two families growing up in Afghanistan.
It follows the main character from childhood in Afghanistan
to adulthood in California.
I read this book in a single day. It is VERY compelling, and
also very sad. It brought tears to my eyes MANY times.
This book describes the basis of some of the conflicts between the Sunni Muslims
and the Shiite Muslims. It is quite an eye opening read - I learned a lot. |
|
The Rift
Walter J. Williams
ISBN 0-06-105794-0 |
A |
Fiction
This is a story about the aftermath of an 8.6 magnitude earthquake, comparable
to the great earthquake of 1812. This earthquake creates havoc along the Mississippi
river and surrounding areas.
There are two aspects to the story. First is the story of survival of four family groups.
The second is the story of those people assigned to put things back in working order,
which includes engineers and the military. The major theme is that "Human evil is bottomless".
This is a thrilling and exciting read (and educational). At times it is hair raising, but ultimately
satisfying in the end. |
Echelon - Somebody's Listening
Jack O'Neill
ISBN 10 1-59571-071-X
ISBN 13 978-1-59571-071-0 |
A |
Fiction
This is a story that is partly rooted in fact. It shows how the CIA and FBI
use the following eavesdropping tools to track down criminals:
Echelon: intercepts virtually all voice, data and video transmissions worldwide
Carnivore: intercepts internet traffic
Magic Lantern: decodes encryption
The author has actually worked in the White House, and has worked on
the design of these types of eavesdropping systems.
I found this a challenging read, but ultimately
satisfying in the end. I really enjoyed reading it. |
The Blind Assassin
Margaret Atwood
ISBN 0-385-72095-5 |
A |
Fiction
This is a story told by woman about her life, and the life and death of
her father, her sister and her husband. The story is told in a very complex
fashion, as a series of flashbacks that are interwoven with a novel that
her sister wrote.
I found this a challenging read, but ultimately
satisfying in the end. I really enjoyed reading it. |
Water for Elephants
Sara Gruen
ISBN 978-1-56512-560-5 |
A |
Fiction
This is a story told by a ninety year old man in an assisted living facility.
He recalls the time he spent working in a circus.
This is a essentially a murder mystery. I really enjoyed reading it. |
The Road
Cormac McCarthy
ISBN 978-0-307-38789-9 |
A |
Fiction
This is a fairly understated post-apocalyptic novel. The title refers to the road that
a father and son walk along. The story only hints at the apocalypse, which has resulted in
a shortage of light, food and hope. The true horror of the story is the description of the life
of the survivors.
This is the first book by McCarthy that I read. It was hard to take in large doses,
because it is so very dark. |
Serving Crazy
with Curry
Amulya Malladi
ISBN 0-345-46612-8 |
A |
Fiction
This is a story about how a "non-cook" uses culinary
experimentation as a way of resolving some serious conflicts in her life. It delves very deeply into
the politics of a large family in India.
This is NOT a "light and fluffy" book,
but I really enjoyed reading it.
The recipes look quite good to me. |
Julie & Julia
Julie Powell
ISBN 0-7394-6701-8 |
A |
Non-fiction
This is a book based on
Julie Powell's
cooking blog: "365 days. 536 recipes. One girl and a crappy outer
borough kitchen."
This is chock full of outrageous kitchen mishaps, as
well as lots of outrageous (bad) language. I guess the key to getting your
blog read is to curse like a sailor.
There are also some quiet interludes based on Paul and
Julia Child. These are nicely done, and are a nice counterpoint to Julie's
kitchen escapades. |
Einstein's Dreams
Alan Lightman
ISBN 1-4000-7780-X |
A |
Fiction
This book consists of a series of sketches, each of which is 2-4 pages long. Each one
starts something like this "In this world, time ..." The author then describes the way people
in this world interact, based on its particular aspect of time.
There are also a few sketches of Albert Einstein to help tie everything together. I found this
a fascinating read. It is only 140 pages long, but I enjoyed it thoroughly. |
Life of Pi
Yann Martel
ISBN 0-965-042950 |
A |
Non-fiction
The first third of this story concerns the life of the main character,
who is the son of a zookeeper. The remainder of the story is a tale of survival
after a shipwreck. At times it is hard to separate reality from fantasy.
This is a fascinating story, and the prose is wonderful. You will learn a lot
about animals and zoos! |
Reading Lolita
in Tehran
Azar Nafisi
ISBN 0-8129-7106-X |
A |
Non-fiction
The author taught classes in Western literature (Gustave
Flaubert, Vladimir Nabokov, Henry James, Jane Austen, etc.) in Tehran. This
is a memoir of her experiences, as well as life in Iran during the war with
Iraq. I found this a fascinating contrast between two groups of her
students: the intelligent, well-reasoned and articulate versus the rest. I
gained a much deeper insight into life in Iran. |
A Long Way Down
Nick Hornby
ISBN 0-7394-6241-5 |
A |
Fiction
The title refers to the fact that the four main
characters all meet at the top of a building. The story is basically about
how they all help each other cope with their lives.
I was very impressed with the character development - I
felt that I REALLY knew two of the four characters. Hornby does a great job
with the language that each one uses.
I read the complete book in one day, and enjoyed it
very much. I couldn't wait to see how the four people fared in their
frustrations with their lives. |
Motherless
Brooklyn
Jonathan Lethem
ISBN 0-375-72483-4 |
A |
Fiction
Jonathan Lethem has been one of my favorite science
fiction authors. He has plenty of imagination to spare, as shown by this
book.
This is a fascinating story about a wannabe detective
trying to solve a murder. He has Tourette's syndrome, and the book is a very interesting character study.
After about 3/4 of the book, I simply could not put it
down. I was happy that all the mysteries were explained by the end of the
book. |
The Lovely Bones
Alice Seybold
ISBN 0-330-48538-5 |
A |
Fiction
This starts off immediately with a statement by Susie
Salmon of the date she was murdered. The entire story is told by Susie in
first person (after the murder).
I really liked the fact that this was NOT a murder
mystery. The book was more about discovering who Susie was, and what her
life was like. I found it captivating, and read this rather quickly. |
The Ninth Life
of Louis Drax
Liz Jensen
ISBN 0-7394-5636-9 |
A |
Fiction
This book is quite hard to describe. It is told by
Louis Drax, a very strange little boy growing up in France. The story starts
off with an accident, and the boy ends up in a coma.
Louis remains in a coma for the rest of the story, which
revolves around a doctor who tries to get him to wake up. The police are
also involved, trying to find Louis' father, who is missing and presumed
dead.
Much of Louis' story is told in flashbacks. It is
strangely compelling, and I did enjoy reading it. |
The Poisonwood Bible
Barbara Kingsolver
ISBN 0-06-093053-5 |
A |
Fiction
A fascinating story of life in
Africa. It is written in first person plural, with each chapter from a
different character's point of view. |
Longitude
Dava Sobel
ISBN 0-14-025879-5 |
A |
Non-fiction
The story of how difficult it was for ancient sailors to determine where
they were. John Harrison, a self-educated man, created the first accurate
clock in 1737. This was crucial to the dominance of the English navy
over the rest of the world. |
Little, Big
John Crowley
ISBN 0-06-093793-9 |
A |
Fantasy
This is one of the great classics of fantasy. It is about a large family
descended from Violet Bramble, who was a woman imbued with magic. The
interlocking stories of several branches of the family are beautifully
told. You will probably have to refer to the family tree at the start of
the book quite often. |
Kitchen Confidential
Anthony Bourdain
ISBN 0-965-09367-0 |
A |
Non-fiction
A story of what it is really like to be an executive chef. I found this
fascinating, and honestly, pretty scary too. There is some really good
advice in the chapter
"How to Cook like the Pros", which alone
makes this book worth reading. |
The God of Small Things
Arundhati Roy
ISBN 0-06-097749-3
Booker Prize winner |
A |
Fiction
The writing in this story has been described as "luminous
prose", and I have to agree. It is simply amazing to read, and then
to re-read it.
The story itself is a heartbreaking one about life in India. The
family's children are the "Small Things".
|
The Hours
Michael Cunningham
ISBN 0-312-24302-2
Pulitzer Prize winner |
A |
Fiction
This is a story of the lives of three women (including Virginia Woolf),
all of whose lives are linked. The chapters move back and forth between
the characters, and by the end all the links are revealed. |
|
A Thousand Splendid Suns
Khaled Hosseini
ISBN 978-1-59448-950-1 |
A- |
Fiction
This is another story of families growing up in Afghanistan.
This time, the families are interrelated. The story focuses on women's rights - which are mostly non-existent in Afghanistan.
I read this in a single day. It was hard to put down, and quite an education! |
A Breath of
Fresh Air
Amulya Malladi
ISBN 0-345-45029-9 |
A- |
Fiction
This is a story about the conflict between a divorced
woman and her ex-husband. The title refers to the big event that drove the
couple apart, the 1984 Union Carbide gas tragedy in Bhopal, India.
The story focuses on the status of a divorced woman in
India - essentially persona non grata. It discusses her relationships
with the rest of her family. The story is told from the first person plural
point of view. It was an interesting read, but not one of my favorites. |
The Mango Season
Amulya Malladi
ISBN 0-345-45031-0 |
A- |
Fiction
This is a story about the conflict between the Indian culture of
arranged marriages and the American way. It delves very deeply into
the politics of a large family in India.
I read this in a single day. It is a "light and fluffy" book,
told with a good sense of humor. |
|
The Inheritance of Loss
Kiran Desai
ISBN 978-0-8021-4281-8
|
B |
Fiction
This is a story of two families in the Himalayas. One is a judge and his daughter, the
other is the judge's cook and his son. The son is basically an illegal immigrant in the USA, who
moves from one low level restaurant job to another.
I bought this book because it won the Man-Booker prize. But I found this a bit
disappointing, and depressing too. |
The Remains of the Day
Kazuo Ishiguro
ISBN 0-679-73172-5
|
B |
Fiction
This is a story told by a proper English butler.
It goes into great detail about the English way of doing things,
but that did not keep my attention. I found this a bit
disappointing. |
The Reader
Bernhard Schlink
ISBN 0-375-70797-2
|
B |
Fiction
This is an example of how our perception of people changes over time. It
was interesting, but I was expecting something "more". |
Dream Catcher
Margaret A. Salinger
ISBN 0-965-07034-4 |
B |
Non-fiction
This is a memoir of J. D. Salinger. It was interesting, and a fairly sad
story of his daughter's life. You may learn more about Mr. Salinger than
you would like. |