Archive for ‘Book Review’

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February 17, 2012

Book Review: #10 – Rules of Civility by Amor Towles (audio)

Rules of Civility by Amor Towles

Narrator: Rebecca Lowman
Source: Audible
Finished: 2/8/12
Rating: 8 out of 10
Publisher: Viking
Pages: 352
Published: 2011
Challenges: 2012 Audio Book Challenge

Synopsis (from Amazon): Set during the hazy, enchanting, and martini-filled world of New York City circa 1938, Rules of Civility follows three friends–Katey, Eve, and Tinker–from their chance meeting at a jazz club on New Year’s Eve through a year of enlightening and occasionally tragic adventures. Tinker orbits in the world of the wealthy; Katey and Eve stretch their few dollars out each evening on the town. While all three are complex characters, Katey is the story’s shining star. She is a fully realized heroine, unique in her strong sense of self amidst her life’s continual fluctuations. Towles’ writing also paints an inviting picture of New York City, without forgetting its sharp edges.

Overall Impression: Rules of Civility is a book to get lost in. Towles decadent descriptions of life in 1938 reeled me in and I found myself just falling into the story. Towles has an incredible gift for writing beautiful language, and Rebecca Lowman’s soft, elegant narration did it justice in a way that made me wonder if I would have missed it had I read it in book form. It was all just so lush and thick and delicious. This was, by far, my favorite part of the book — seeing how Towles crafted his sentences and paragraphs. Gorgeous.

The plot got off to a somewhat rocky start for me (it felt a little contrived), but then it sort of flattened out into a more even, realistic story. It’s truly a story of a woman’s independence and coming of age, a little later in life than most. I found myself loving the subplots more than the main triangle of friends — particularly Katey and Wallace and Katey and Anne. These two stories felt particularly timeless — they could have happened any time, but I was lucky enough to read about them in 1938.

This could have been a knock-it-out-of-the-park stellar book if it was not for one thing — I have a hard time when men write female characters. Towles did an admirable job, but there were still parts that didn’t feel distinctly feminine, though, of course, I couldn’t put my finger precisely on it. Maybe it’s that Katey didn’t quite have the emotions that would be spot on for pretty much all women — for the most part, I find that we care about certain things more. Other than this, though, it was an excellent book.

Positives: Towles! Write more beautiful things! Please! I will read them!

Negatives: Katey was missing…something. I can’t put my finger on it, though.

Narration: Rebecca Lowman was wonderful — a little timid in some places, but overall she did an excellent job.

Other books I’ve read by Amor Towles: none

Other books I’ve listened to narrated by Rebecca Lowman: Vaclav and Lena (review)

Other blogger opinions:

books i done read: “We have a heap of Theme and Nuance in this corner, and then a pile of Genuinely Enjoyable Read over there.  And underneath the diving board I believe I spied some Humor.”

Devourer of Books: “Perhaps the real problem for Rules of Civility was simply that it fell victim to my as-yet undiagnosed general dissatisfaction with historical fiction based in America, despite my love for American history.”

Reading with Tea: “Well worth the read. Get your hands on a copy if you can, and even better if it’s in audio!”

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February 14, 2012

Book Review: #9 – Forgotten by Cat Patrick

Forgotten by Cat Patrick

Source: Sacramento Library
Finished: 2/6/12
Rating: 8 out of 10
Publisher: Little Brown
Pages: 304
Published: 2011
Challenges: none

Synopsis (from the Book Description): Each night at precisely 4:33 am, while sixteen-year-old London Lane is asleep, her memory of that day is erased. In the morning, all she can “remember” are events from her future. London is used to relying on reminder notes and a trusted friend to get through the day, but things get complicated when a new boy at school enters the picture. Luke Henry is not someone you’d easily forget, yet try as she might, London can’t find him in her memories of things to come. When London starts experiencing disturbing flashbacks, or flash-forwards, as the case may be, she realizes it’s time to learn about the past she keeps forgetting-before it destroys her future.

Overall Impression: Full disclosure: I am tweeps with Cat Patrick on Twitter. And I think she’s great. I will try not to let that skew my review.

First of all, kudos to Patrick for creating something different. The premise for her book — that teenager London Lane can only remember the future, not the past — is original (at least when it comes to everything I’ve read). I liked that I had to puzzle over how different parts of her life worked out. For instance, how does she wake up every morning knowing who her best friend is? Of course…they’ll be best friends for years to come so she remembers her. Clever! I also thought Patrick’s writing was clear and her dialogue authentic and sharp. It was a quick read — I flew right through it. Which is nice, since I’ve been in a bit of a reading slump lately.

London’s emotional struggle was very realistic — I think it’s hard enough when, for instance, people lie to you and you have a normal memory. But knowing that you have to rely on the people around you for your memories and then you find out someone has been keeping something from you for a significant amount of time — that’s an even bigger betrayal. I thought London’s struggle in this area was particularly heart-wrenching, and her emotions and actions regarding these lies were true to how her character would act. I liked the secondary characters in the book as well — none of them felt like cliched sidekicks.

Still, I sort of struggled with Cat’s world a little. I somehow both liked and disliked that not everything was spelled out to the reader about London’s condition. I was thinking there would be more visits to doctors, more examining, more input from the people around her about what her condition might be (I think Before I Go To Sleep made me think this). I would be totally freaked out if someone I knew could read the future! Will I ever get married and have kids? What’s going to blow up? Are the robots really coming? But he friends and family seemed just fine and not very inquisitive. But it wasn’t a deal breaker — more just curiosity at her condition. And things wrapped up a little too neatly at the end, though that’s a gripe that I have about most books. Tying it up in such a neat package always falls a little flat for me.

Positives: Such a fantastic premise — it had me guessing all the way to the end.

Negatives: A little too neat, especially to toward the end.

Other books I’ve read by Cat Patrick: none

Other blogger opinions:

KellyVision: “This is one of the most clever stories I’ve read in ages.”

As Told by Jen: “Every character felt real. Every scenario seemed plausible. I think I experienced every emotion London felt right along with her.”

Mrs. Q: Book Addict: “This debut novel is entrancing, absorbing and one you won’t want to pass up.”

GalleySmith: “Forgotten is, hands down, one of the best mystery books I’ve read within the young adult field of literature.”

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February 13, 2012

I Made it Myself (Lessons in Cooking #16) + Training Update

Good grief! It’s been two and a half weeks since I did a IMIM — things have been wicked busy lately and I haven’t had time to blog like I would like to do. I need to set aside some more time — I really love writing and I miss it when I’m too busy.

Let’s see. Here are a couple things I’ve made in the last few weeks:

Broccoli and Cheese Over Easy Omelete, courtesy of Whole Living

I think I’ve been running low on protein (feeling a little lethargic sometimes), so I’m trying to eat some more eggs and meat and other protein-packed food. Normally I’ll just fry up an egg and some toast, but I thought I’d give making an omelete a shot — can’t be that hard, right?

I’m happy to report, it wasn’t hard at all! I sort of followed the directions — I didn’t have a scallion, so I added a little garlic to the broccoli, and that added some nice flavor. I think what really made this recipe was the cheese. I sprinkled it in the pan and didn’t move or anything — just let it get golden brown and then cracked the egg / poured the egg whites over the top. The resulting cheesy crisp on the outside of the omelet made it extra special. I also loved that there was one whole egg in here, cooked over medium. The yolk was so good mixed in there — and it gave me something to mop up with my toast.

Eight out of ten cheesy crusts! 

As I mentioned in my post about Hillary’s visit, I also made scones from Martha Stewart Living.

Apple and Oat Scones with Cinnamon and Nutmeg

I have never made scones from scratch before. I really do love a good scone, especially with Devonshire cream and jam. Scones can really be hit-or-miss — sometimes they can be way too dry if they aren’t made right. So I was a little apprehensive about tackling scones for the first time. I followed Martha’s directions exactly as in the recipe — and the resulting scones were a little lighter than a traditional scone. It was more like a coffee cake scone. Which was definitely not a bad thing — Hillary, Ryan and I all thought they were really tasty. Case in point — I ate four of them on Saturday. When I make them again, I think I’ll add some more cinnamon and nutmeg — the flavor could have been a little bolder. But they were really light and delicious. Oh, and next time I’ll grab some Devonshire cream. I bet that will make them stellar!

Nine out of ten apple chunks! 

Training Update: When I last wrote a training post, I was complaining that I completely lost my workout mojo. Good news! It has returned with a vengeance.

First of all, I started running again. In the last two and a half weeks, I’ve started doing the C25K again. Since I hadn’t completely lost all my running skillz, I sped up the program, running about five times a week, instead of three. Several times, I doubled that day’s workout (just doing it twice in a row). I’m up to Week 5, Day 3 now, and I’m feeling good. I also took some Christmas money and put it toward a new treadmill from Costco. I decided to bite the bullet because I was having a hard time getting out and running in the cold and the fog, and Costco had a killer deal. So I’ve been running on the treadmill, as well as outside on my work lunch breaks. It’s been awesome and I feel great. That 5k on March 3 isn’t looking nearly as scary.

We also had two Tough Mudder trainings since my last post. They were both conditioning — the first had me and Jason (a TM teammate) doing a combined 500 kettlebell swings, 400 cross mountain climbers, 300 push-ups, 200 box jumps, and 100 burpees. We also had two half-mile runs with a 15lb weight. Then, we also helped Chris and Dave complete their set, because they got started late. I was sore for five days.

Last weekend, the training was a circuit of one-minute exercises: monkey bars, TRX squats, rope wrangling (you know, that wavy rope thing they do on the Biggest Loser), squats with a barbell across my shoulders, evil ab roller, box jumps, and a handstand. Then run a half mile. Then do all that twice more! It was quite a workout, and was good practice for Tough Mudder (which as monkey bars, for instance). Good times!

I also tested for my first black tip on my red belt at karate — it was torture. All of my training went dooododleleleeee out of my brain and I couldn’t remember anything. I am not sure how I passed, but I did. And I vowed to get to more classes this cycle, so that wouldn’t happen again at my test in five weeks. I made it once this week (Hillary’s visit interrupted my normal schedule…not that I’m complaining!). Next week I hope to go three times and then I’ll be on track for this cycle!

 

 

 

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February 12, 2012

Treat Yo’self!*

Hillary and I met when we were the first two people to show up for graduate school orientation in Boston back in 2006. As we stood there, it was like we were each thinking, “Why, you are extremely punctual! We shall be great friends!” And six years later, we are still great friends. It’s too bad we live nearly 2000 miles apart, but we are really good at keeping and touch and visiting each other every so often. Hillary came here on Thursday for a long weekend, and I’m headed to Chicago to go with her and some other friends to the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Canada in August. We’re very excited to see each other twice this year!

Anywho, we had a great time while she was here. We spent Friday traipsing around San Francisco in the rain/mist/fog/15-minutes-of-sunshine. We visited the fun shops in the Ferry Building (where I bought a fabulous green umbrella because we were a big soggy), took a tour of Alcatraz (it’s got a thing on the end that looks like a monster), rode a cable car to City Lights bookstore (where I purchased Loitering with Intent by Muriel Spark and Old Filth by Jane Gardam, which will make Steve very happy), ate an entire pizza in the North End (that was sort of the elevensies before dinner), and then met up with one of her friends in Yerba Buena Gardens for dinner and tea (and then barely made it back to my car before the garage closed). It was an altogether lovely day. Here are some photos from our adventure. (There is also a picture of the delicious scones I made.)

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On Saturday, we decided to do the exact opposite of running around a big city — we sat on my couch and watched the entire season 3 of Parks & Rec, which is absolutely hysterical (“Stop. Pooping.”) We loved that we could spend a day being so busy, and then enjoy each other’s company just as much hanging out around the house stuffing our faces with scones. Oh! And Ryan (I’ve gotten a lot of good-natured flack lately for calling him “the boyfriend” so it’s about time you all learned his name) came over so Hillary could meet his dog Gunnar (oh, and also meet Ryan…but the girl has her priorities). The three of us om-nom-nomed some Thai food and Hillary said I could keep Ryan. So, win!

Then Hillary had to go back this morning to Chicago. I should have mentioned again that it was 10 degrees in Chicago and 60 here. Maybe she would have stayed longer!

*really, you should be watching Parks & Rec.

 

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February 9, 2012

Book Review: #8 – The Lost Continent by Bill Bryson

The Lost Continent by Bill Bryson

Source: Personal copy
Finished: 2/1/12
Rating: 7 out of 10
Publisher: William Morrow
Pages: 320
Published: 1989
Challenges: 2012 TBR Pile Reading Challenge

Synopsis (from the AudioFile): Iowa native Bryson returns from several years of residence in the U.K. and takes a long driving trip in the U.S. to see what he’s been missing. Not much apparently; he turns his rapier wit on everything and everyone he runs across. He reads billboards! He describes tacky towns! He treats us to tales of family trips with his parsimonious father! He voices glum room clerks and grumpy gas station attendants! An all-you-can-eat adventure in Amish country is a comic vignette in itself.

Overall Impression: Bryson wrote this toward the beginning of his wonderful writing career, and because of that, it comes across as dated. I think anything written in 1989 is going to feel that way (*cough*The Stand*cough*).

But thankfully, it doesn’t detract too much from Bryson’s writing. One of the things I love about his travelogues is that he just…goes. And sees what he can see. He doesn’t try and hit all the hot spots — he just meanders through small town America, musing upon the strangeness of the cities that we don’t normally come across as tourists. Although Bryson is a native of Iowa, he had spent the prior 20 years before his trip in the UK, so he had the interesting point of view of being both a local and a foreigner. Sometimes he feels like he fits right in, and other times he might as well be from Mars. Problem is, small town America is small town America no matter where you go, so his journey got a little repetitive after a while.

Usually Bryson’s travelogues make me want to go places, but this one really didn’t have me aching to to anywhere, except maybe Mackinac Island in Michigan. I think it’s because I don’t necessarily have any desire to see a lot of small town America, especially now that it’s mostly strip malls and fast food restaurants. I live in the suburbs. I know what it is like. But I did enjoy his reminisces of his travels with his family when he was a kid, though to get the full joy of reading about Bryson’s childhood, I highly recommend The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid.

As he was traveling through the Great Smoky Mountains, Bryson made this observation:

“At the foot of the mountain, the park ended and suddenly all was squalor again. I was once more struck by this strange compartmentalization that goes on in America — a belief that no commercial activities must be allowed inside the park, but permitting unrestrained development outside, even though the landscape there may be just as outstanding. America has never quite grasped that you can live in a place without making it ugly, that beauty doesn’t have to be confined behind fences, as if a national park were a sort of zoo for nature.”

I couldn’t agree more. I loved New Zealand, for example, because so much of it was nature and so much was livable space and half the time you couldn’t tell the difference between the two. While I am thankful to live where I live, sometimes I really just want to live among more nature, more beauty, more wildness. Then again, I also want hip restaurants, good shopping, and an occasional sporting event. So…perhaps the living in the suburbs about two hours away from Lake Tahoe is just about as good as I’m going to get.

Positives: Bryson is very dry and very funny. He is a great observationalist (yes I just made that word up, but it’s very apropos).

Negatives: Being more than 20 years old, the book was dated. It would be interesting for him to retrace his steps now to see what he sees in 2012.

Other books I’ve read by Bill Bryson: 

At Home (review)
Icons of England (review)
I’m a Stranger Here Myself
In a Sunburned Country (review)
The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid
The Mother Tongue
Neither Here Nor There (review)
Notes from a Small Island
Shakespeare: The World As Stage (review)
A Walk in the Woods

Other blogger opinions:

Sophisticated Dorkiness: “A major issue I had throughout was inconsistency. Bryson would come across a diner or a tourist trap in one place and simply hate it. He’d rip it apart in a way that was funny but at the same time, just a little mean. Then just a few pages later he’d hit something else that sounded exactly the same, but instead he’d love it.”

Here, There and Everywhere: “ What a shame that each and every one of us never really gets to see our very own country.  But if you’d like… this book could give you at least a tiny view.

Avid Reader’s Musings: “Don’t get me wrong, there are some funny bits, but it’s no where near his normal level of hilarity.”

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