It takes me a long time to build up the nerve to write these reviews, because I'm terrified somehow one of these authors is going to stumble upon this and hate me. But then I'll just find a gun, teach myself to load it, and shoot myself, so it'll be all good.
Hiroshima in the Morning (Reiko Rizzuto): somehow I was under the impression that this was a book about a woman who leaves her family in order to follow her creative yearnings. It's really not. I finished it, but barely. The story itself is very patchy, while the writing is sometimey. And, in case you're wondering, she never leaves her family during the book. Boo. Leave your family, woman.
Townie (Dubus, III): I got two thirds of the way through before I realized that I only have one life. Splashes of interesting scenes separated by many pages of "then I lifted more weights, then I kicked this dude's ass. Then I felt bad. Then I lifted more weights, then I kicked this dude's ass, then I felt real, real bad."
A Mercy (Morrison): I love her so much I finished it. But if it was any other writer, I wouldn't have had the patience for the 45 pages it took to even begin to understand what was going on (the whole book is only 124 pages). Not worth it. It's like a Tylenol PM dream-- the writing is wonderful, but there's just not much there in terms of story. I still love you, Toni.
Behind the Palace Doors (Farquhar): False advertising. This was not a fun look behind the scenes of royalty. It was cliffs notes for royal history. Finishable only if you have no money to buy a different ebook.
History of a Suicide (Bialosky): I so should have loved this book. Trying to understand tragedy through literature-- that's totally my thing! It turns out I only like it when I do it. Unfinishable, but I feel really bad about it. Not bad enough to finish it, but still.
The Source of All Things (Ross): OH MY GOD OH MY GOD READ IT RIGHT NOW. So good. She needs to write many many more books so I'm not forced to read outdoorsy magazines to spend time with her again. (Weird note-- when I first looked at this title I had no memory of reading this book whatsoever, even though it was only a few weeks ago. Yeah, weird, right?)
The Emperor of All Maladies (Mukherjee): Got to page 90 of 680. It got great reviews, so maybe it's just me, but I couldn't do it. By page 25 I just didn't care about cancer any more.
The Lost City of Z (Grann): A book about a man's obsession with other men's obsessions with a man's obsession? Sign me up! This book surprised me-- the topic itself (Fawcett's disappearance in S. America) wasn't terribly interesting to me, but the obsession was. The narrative itself has a lot of problems (it's clear this was written by a journalist, I'll just say that). When you get to the end, call me, because I want to laugh at you. And then you can laugh at me. Then I'll laugh at you again.
That's all I've got. Go ahead, argue with me. I dare you. But also tell me if you've read something amazing lately. It seems I have no taste when I pick on my own. I need guidance. Right now I'm reading Tina Fey's Bossypants, and I have to say I'm digging it. Turns out she's pretty funny. Who knew?
Speaking of which (totally not), did you see the article in the NYT that a scientist found connections between the African click language and all other languages, thereby solidifying the evidence for the theory that all language comes from one source and that the evolution of language is a story of short cuts and making things easier? I FUCKING TOLD YOU (someone who I don't know once argued this point with me. Wherever you are, stranger, SUCK IT. I win.).
