3 Reviews

I read this for our reading group at Cosmic Dog Yoga. I usually choose the monthly book based on something I've read about it. We've been getting kind of heavy lately, though, so I wanted to pick kind of a fun book. Dharma Punx did well a few months ago, and this seemed similar. NOT!! I hated this book! It was really nothing more than a few hundred pages of bragging about what low and pathetic morals you can have and still be considered a Zen master. Don't waster your time!




I've had Away on my list for some time and finally got around to choosing it from my list of 132 (ack!) books I want to read. It's written by a psychotherapist, and since I am one too, it always interests me to see their take on human nature. I read the reviews on Amazon and the negative reviewers seemed to think at some point, the book became unbelievable. I think there is some truth to it -- it's hard to believe that on person could have such terrible luck, year after year after year. But, we are so far removed (most of us) from the true immigrant experience and how difficult it really was to survive, that it might just seem unbeleivable to us. Even if not, it's fiction, people! I don't require total believability on the part of my fiction author friends. I liked the book and the characters - and while I probably won't pick it for the top 5 of the year or anything, it's definitely worth your time.




I just recently read a recommendation for Serena, and although I have about a gazillion books in line ahead of it, the review was so compelling that I picked it up right away. Rarely, if ever, have I read a book with such an evil, despicable main character that really worked. Usually, in this situation, I would say "I hate this character. Why do I even care what happens here?" I think it's very difficult to write a hateful main character and still keep your audience. To do it, you normally would want to draw your reader in with some redeeming quality, some reason to root for the character, even though they are bad. Ron Rash apparently felt none of this pressure. He has succesfully written about the most horrifying character ever, and still kept me reading voraciously late into the night. You won't be able to put this one down and you will be shocked until the very last page. Read it!

Review: The Gathering by Anne Enright

I was aware, before starting this book, that people either love or hate it. It did win the Man Booker prize, though, and I usually enjoy the winners.

Alas, I wasn't totally thrilled with this book. The beautiful and captivating writing carried me about two thirds of the way through. But then, I found I really didn't care what happened to the characters -- and, suspected nothing at all would happen. I almost, almost, didn't even finish it. I forced myself to do so. I wasn't sorry I read it, but I think it's one of those books you need to be in the mood for. I find myself lately pressed for time - with very limited time to read. A meandering, lovely book that doesn't really go anywhere doesn't really fit into my frame of mind right now. So by all means, take my review with a grain of salt.

The writing is beautiful, and it is a great character study of a large family. It's just that nothing much happens, which isn't the prerequisite for a great book -- you just have to be in the mood for it.

Book Review: The Little Sleep by Paul Tremblay

First, I want everyone to know that I liked this book. I got it as part of the Library Thing Reviewers program. I hope there is more in this series and I will definitely keep reading.

The title is a play on "The Big Sleep" by Raymond Chandler. This book - The Little Sleep - is about a detective who has narcolepsy and falls asleep at very inopportune times while trying to solve cases!! It's a pretty classic detective story, nicely written. I got to a place in the book where I told my husband 'there'll be no sleep for me tonight until I'm done with this book!' which is always a good sign.

My only complaint is that I thought the book ended a bit unsatisfactorily. I had questions. I want to know if some of the characters knew more than the book overtly said they knew. I want to know why some of the characters did what they did. I don't want to spoil the plot, so I won't get any more detailed than that, but I just had an unsettled feeling like all the strings weren't quite tied in pretty bows - know what I mean?

It's not enough to make me not want to read installment #2, though. I love this character, and hope to see more of him.

Book Reviews: White Tiger/Consider the Butterfly

My business partner got me this little gem for Christmas and I've really enjoyed it, and will enjoy it for years to come. It's the kind of book you could pick up and just read one little entry, but for this first reading, I read it all the way through. Basically, the author is talking about the power of coincidence, how if you look at the synchronicity of coincidence, you might find grace. She even suggests that you can cultivate "meaningful coincidence" in your life by looking for it in your everyday world. The author is a Mormon, which isn't really a factor in reading the book, except that I happen to know tons of Mormons and this author seems the most open and accepting Mormon I know!! (You'll know why when you read about her life story!) Still, I really loved the openness and gentleness that is obviously part of her life and will look forward to looking for grace in small places now.


White Tiger has gotten great reviews, and I believe won the Man Booker award last year. I picked it up at our local bookstore after I heard the owner (my friend) say they were struggling. I started feeling guilty for all those "Amazon Kindle" downloads and bought the actual book! I really loved it. I've read a lot of books about India, or with India as a "subject", but never one like this. Even the gritty "Shantaram" had a totally different flavor. This is India from the mind of the servant, the forgotten, the despised caste. It's a totally different look. And although the main character isn't exactly faultless (okay, he's almost downright despicable), neither are the upper class anything to write home about. This is India, down dirty and real. It's very engaging - and an easy read, even though it took me weeks to read. That's more about my life than it is about the book!! And THAT is a whole other blog.

A word about "Oscar Wao": As you may notice in my sidebar, I gave up on this book. I usually give books to 50 pages to hook me in. Oscar Wao won the Pulitzer Prize for crying out loud, so I figure it has to be good right?? I gave it to 100 pages. I wanted to like it, I really did. But at 100 pages, I could care less about what happens to these characters. This book commits the one crime I can't stand. I love to read about other cultures, but I hate it when the author assumes that I know all about it, the slang, the nuances. What results is a book that I can't even follow. Oh, and the lengthy footnotes don't help either. I'm glad Junot Diaz got critical acclaim, and the book probably deserves it. Call it reader ignorance.

Book Review: Etta by Gerald Kolpan

I received this book from Library Thing's Early Reviewers program. It is due to be released in March. I was dubious - to say the least - not being a fan of historical fiction or the Wild West. But I feel an obligation to read these early releases quickly and get a review out. And so I began.

Boy, was I surprised! Apparently Gerald Kolpan became fascinated with Etta Place some years ago when he realized that the notorious companion of The Sundance Kid was a vast mystery. Almost nothing is known about her. So Kolpan has proceeded, in this book, to craft a fictional account of what her life might have been like - where she came from, how she happened to mix up with Butch Cassidy's gang, and her romance and life with the Sundance Kid. The result is a book you can't put down. This story is imagined so well that it could actually be her life - in fact, I wish it was a true story. This book is about as close to perfection as it gets for me. A little bit of suspense and intrigue, a good solid love story (without too much sappy-ness), and a deep character study.

In the past, books where the author tries to intersperse news articles or journal entries has seemed jarring to me. In this book, Mr. Kolpan does a great job of weaving them into the story. In fact, I have no criticisms of this book at all. Read it. You'll love it, even if you think the Wild West holds no interest for you. This is a story about a woman's life, and an fascinating one at that. But plan wisely, you'll be reading late into the night!

Best of 2008

Below is my list of Books Read in 2008. It was a very unusual year for me. Usually a strict fiction lover, this year I read 23 non-fiction books and 37 fiction books for a total of 60 books. So why are there still 108 books on my To Be Read pile??? Most of my non-fictions were spiritual/yoga related. I opened a yoga studio this year and am running the book club, which requires that I read the books to screen them beforehand. A good job, if you ask me. Here are some of my dubious "awards" for 2008

Best Fiction Read: Tie between "Zoli" and "The Commoner"
Best Non-Fiction Read: "The Zen of Eating"
Weirdest Book, not just of 2008, but of ALL TIME: "The Raw Shark Texts"
Best Book I got for free through Library Thing: "The Foreigner"
Book highly reviewed that I read and now can't remember one single detail of: "Case Histories"
Best Guilty Pleasure: "The Twilight Series"

BOOKS READ IN 2008

• DECEMBER
• Wherever You Go, There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn
• The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall
• Run by Ann Patchett
• The Zen of Eating by Ronna Kabatznick
• Dharma Punx by Noah Levine
• NOVEMBER
• Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos
• The Shack by William Young
• Rocket Man by William Hazelgrove
• Grace Unfolding by Johanson & Kurtz
• Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer
• OCTOBER
• Trespass by Valerie Martin
• Trauma by Patrick McGrath
• SEPTEMBER
• The Dark Side of the Light Chasers by Debbie Ford
• Eaves of Heaven by Andrew X. Pham
• Yoga and the Quest of the Urban Mystic by Darren Main
• What the Dead Know by Laura Lippman
• These is My Words by Nancy Turner
• AUGUST
• The Night Watch by Sarah Waters
• On Call in Hell by Richard Jadick
• Anatomy of the Spirit by Caroline Myss
• Peace Is Every Step by Thich Nhat Hanh
• JULY
• Forgive Me by Amanda Eyre Ward
• The Commoner by John Burnham Schwartz
• The Foreigner by Francie Lin
• The People's Act of Love by James Meek
• Say You're One of Them by Uwem Akpan
• Loose Girl by Kerry Cohen
• JUNE
• A Gradual Awakening by Stephen Levine
• The Secret Power of Yoga by Nischala Joy Devi
• The Forgotten Body by Elissa Cobb
• Will Yoga and Meditation Really Change My Life? ed. by Stephen Cope
• The Interloper by Antoine Wilson
• MAY
• House of Meetings by Martin Amis
• APRIL
• Happiness Sold Separately by Lolly Winston
• End of Story by Peter Abrahams
• Blind Submission by Debra Ginsberg
• The Abortionist's Daughter by Elisabeth Hyde
• The Murder Notebook by Jonathan Santlofer
• Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson
• Mindful Therapy by Dr. Thomas Bien
• Loving What Is by Byron Katie
• MARCH
• Abide with Me by Elizabeth Strout
• The Ministry of Special Cases by Nathan Englander
• The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama
• Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
• Zoli by Colum McCann
• A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle
• FEBRUARY
• The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill by Mark Bittner
• Nobody's Fool by Richard Russo
• Western Limit of the World by David Masiel
• No Visible Horizon by Joshua Cooper Ramo
• Taming Your Gremlin by Rick Carson
• Things I Want My Daughters to Know by Elizabeth Noble
• Grief by Andrew Holleran
• JANUARY
• Case Histories by Kate Atkinson
• In The Country of Men by Hisham Matar
• Be Near Me by Andrew O'Hagan
• The Last Disciple by Hank Hanegraaff
• Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
• Deadly Advice by Roberta Isleib

Books I Gave Up On in 2008

• The Air We Breathe by Andrea Barrett
• How to Practice by The Dalai Lama
• Autograph Man by Zadie Smith
• Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson

Book Reviews: Run and The Raw Shark Texts

This is one of the most bizarre books I have ever read. I spent the entire book fighting with myself about whether or not I should just put it down and move on (because on one hand it could be viewed as so dumb) or sit on the edge of my seat and read straight through till I was done (because I had to find out what happened!).

Before I tell you what it's about, I'll tell you a story to give you an idea of what the feeling is. I used to work for county mental health with a man who told me all kinds of stories about how he used to work for the CIA and they erased his brain, and he was part of some brainwashing scheme, etc. etc. Obviously needs medication, right? But on the drive home, I always wondered....."what if....?"

This book is like that. The main character suffers on the surface from "dissasociative fugue" which is where you have no memory of yourself or your life and you have a penchant for traveling and disappearing. (Yeah, it's a real - but rare - diagnosis). Then the author puts you in "his" head. What's really happening for people like this? We're giving it some name, but is it really something else? Something far more sinister and horrible?

This book is a romp of imagination. I can't even imagine how an author gets such an idea -- Steven Hall, if not a genius, is some kind of storyteller. Even if you think the concepts he pus forth are a bit "out there", read it just to be blown away by the whole paradigm shift....what we think of mentally ill people may not be what they are experiencing at all. I'm gonna think about this book for a long, long time.

I loved Bel Canto a few years ago, so thought I'd try Ann Patchett's new book. I didn't think this book was nearly the book that Bel Canto was, but it was still a good offering. Ann Patchett is a wonderful character author, building family relationships and portraying setting in such a real way. It's not the kind of book that will have you staying up late and tormenting yourself, but you'll be glad you read it.