I’m proud that I managed full reviews of most of what I read this month, but there are, as always, some “also reads” this month…
Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver.
I picked this up as part of a reading challenge for my Goodreads book club. I was super excited because I’m a big fan of her work, and I heard from several people who said this was their favorite. Loved the beginning 1/3, liked the middle 1/3 and then tired of the last 1/3. I get her viewpoints and agree with most of them, but I hate being hit over the head with “message.” Plus, too many tidy coincidences. 3 stars for me.
“Now I’m starting to think he wasn’t supposed to be my whole life, he was just this doorway to me.”
A Hologram for the King by Dave Eggers
Maybe I should not include this in “Also Read” because I didn’t finish reading it. I gave up, which is sad. I won this book at Book Lovers Night and was so excited, but after 100 pages of a sorry-for-himself middle-aged white man whining and wasting his time, I just had to move on to something else. Dave Eggers is such a talented writer. I wish he would concentrate his efforts on better stories with more interesting characters. 2 stars
“We’ve become a nation of indoor cats, he’d said. A nation of doubters, worriers, overthinkers. Thank God these weren’t the kind of Americans who settled this country. They were a different breed! They crossed the country in wagons with wooden wheels! People croaked along the way, and they barely stopped. Back then, you buried your dead and kept moving.”
The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka
I listened to this to and from work and liked it, but didn’t love it. I think the Greek chorus style of this book may have worked better as a paper read. I found myself tuning out of the repetitive nature of the narration. Plus, I’ve read better treatments of the Japanese immigration and internment, so I didn’t gleam anything new from this book. 3 stars
“We lost weight and grew thin. We stopped bleeding. We stopped dreaming. We stopped wanting.”
alenaslife 
Gosh, how many books do you read in a month? Maybe I’m not picking books that grab me these days, but I’m buying a lot more than I’m reading.
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My goal was 100 books for the year so a couple books a week was what I wanted to do. Between hardcover and audio I’m managing to keep pace. But I too go through times when the books don’t move me.
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Check Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. Beautifully written novel!
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Yes, I read that and liked it much better than this one.
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I think I might have sjed a tear ot two.
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Don’t you think it would make a great film?
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Yes it would but unfortunately I usually dislike movie adaptations of books.
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I had the same feeling about prodigal summer. Looking back on it, though, it grew on me. The characters were really enjoyable, which saved it from being too preachy (although it was pretty preachy :))
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I certainly didn’t dislike it. I just got a little tired of it. But, yes, she does a great job with character development.
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