Kraken

I sometimes love China Mieville and occasionally imagine we are a couple. Kraken is middle ground. While I love the concept--and the story was interesting as it unfolded--and I love the characters and crazy knacks, the writing seems too dense to support the genre. Or something like that. And please don't use "lacunaed" in place of the word "vague," it really threw me off. Thanks.

Adam Johnson's The Orphan Master's Son

What a great read. I loved this book. Loved how he tried to represent the full range of personalities of North Korea in one person. How the protagonist continued changing throughout the book and the style followed him. I also loved the humor (satire?) of the Dear Leader and how the author didn't shy away from the horrors of the government but didn't use those actions for shock value but rather as a tool to help understand the character development. Lovely writing and an all-around good read.

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle

So bad. So long. So boring. The only thing that got me through it was the act of skimming the last 300 pages. How could so many people love this book? Are they the same that loved Titanic and Avatar? Who are you people?

Elegy for April

John Banville writing as Benjamin Black in a thrill-less whodunit. Read 160 pages and finally gave up. Way too much thinking about nothing. Super boring...

Satori by Don Winslow

During my two week illness I read Don Winslow's newest, Satori. I'm a sucker for that fantasy of lone super smart, super skilled ninja warrior and did enjoy this summer treat. I liked the writing style of Savages better yet the comparison of the two shows the skills of the writer in presenting different characters in a language fitting their head.

Jo Nesbo The Snowman

What is up with the Norwegian/Danish/Swedish/whatever skill at writing all these gory, scary, super complicated detective stories? Loved it.

Sense of an Ending

Julian Barne's Man Booker winner is the book club selection for the month. I will preface my comments by saying I was quite ill when I read it with a sinus infection and probably high on a combination of self-medication and Amoxicilan--good times. Didn't love the book. I loved some of the symbols of the bridges and I think I recall windows or some kind of reflections (although that may be the disease talking). Didn't love the characters; had a hard time finding any type of empathy for their actions. It is a quirk of mine that I don't have a lot of patience for heterosexual relationships that struggle because of the difference in the sexes and blah blah blah. But ultimately what pointed my thumb down was the odd and completely unnecessary denouement. I don't need a book explained to me in the final chapter and if I do, the author has done a poor job of presenting the story.