My top ten books of the summer

Amazingly I have finished A Tree Grows in Brooklyn today!  Since I was traveling, I had plenty of time to read.  I actually finished it on the DASH bus to my house – in fact, I finished it as the DASH bus ‘dashed’ by my house.  I then realized I’d missed my stop by 2 additional stops and thus had an additional 15 minute walk (with 2 unwieldy pieces of luggage no less.)

So clearly, this was a very absorbing book.  I do have a few minor complaints though:

I have some issues with the part where Francie “falls in love” with some soldier she’s known for 2 days who gives her the old “I love you so much and this could be the last time I ever see you, so let’s get it on, baby” routine.  Then it turns out he goes home to marry his fiancee after he tells Francie he’s breaking up with her – his fiancee then writes to Francie to tell her that her and soldier boy have gotten married (this I find somewhat unbelievable.)  So then, Francie aims her hatred at the fiancee rather than the soldier, which I also find ridiculous.  This dude has outright lied to her about his intentions and situation and then has the balls to ask his fiancee to write to her to tell her that he’s now married.   And she blames the fiancee?  And is still hung up on the guy?  Really? In what fucking universe?

So, uh, that did annoy me, but overall I really enjoyed the book.  It has a very positive message about the strength of family – I see the tree in the title as a metaphor for Francie’s family tree.  And in the end, its strength prevails.

Okay, so anyways that is my 10th book, and thus I have successfully completed the summer-ish reading challenge.

My superlatives:

Least favorite book:  Love is a Mixtape by Rob Sheffield

Most favorite book:  (Tie) The Road by Cormac McCarthy and Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

Best book outlining the future colonization of Mars:  Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut

Best non-fiction book:  In Defense of Wood by Michael Pollan

Best book to win Newberry Award for children’s literature:  The Giver by Lois Lowry

2nd favorite book by Murakami:  A Wild Sheep Chase

Most entertaining book about growing up poor:  A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

Shortest book:  Fire in the Blood by Irene Nemirovsky

Book I forgot I read:  Empire of the Sun by J.G. Ballard

So you see, everyone’s a winner here on the challenge.  Until the fall challenge (which will happen when and if Larisa ever finishes When God was a Woman – surely if God were really a woman, she’d ensure a more interesting book was written about Her, hmm?) I bid you adieu.

Samara

The Endless Summer

Wow, so it’s already the last day of summer!  Where did the time go?  So currently I’m about halfway done with A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith.  According to the blurb on the cover, it was voted one of the ‘books of the century’ by someone or other.  And I gotta say, it’s not half bad.  It’s about a little girl growing up in poverty in Brooklyn in the early 20th century, with a drunk for a father and a mother determined to see her children escape from the poor existence they endure.

So will little Francie prevail?  What about her little brother Neeley?  I have a sneaking suspicion a happy ending is eminent, which suits me just fine.   I’m really enjoying it.

So the challenge continues.  And more to come on the upcoming Fall Reading Challenge!

An Odyssey Aborted

So I started reading my last book of the summer challenge, Homer’s Odyssey.  And about 3 pages in, I thought to myself, “Gee, how the fuck did I read this when I was in college?”  Perhaps it’s the archaic language or the reference to various Greek gods in every other line, but I just ain’t gettin’ in to this behemoth right now.  This book strikes me as something that one would read in the winter time, sitting by the fire with a mug of grog.  Whatever the fuck grog is.

So maybe some other time….but for now, I’ve decided upon A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith as my replacement book.  I just got this book from Bookmooch and I don’t even remember what it’s about, and haven’t even started reading it, but I have a really good feeling about it.