Madame Bovary ~ Gustave Flaubert

A classic ... I throw one in every so often ... but this one I’ll throw away!
Discussed on First Tuesday Book Club.

It is rare for me to give up on a book.
I like an old-fashioned read.
I want to enrich myself with classics.
I admire Marieke’s opinion on FTBC.

BUT .... agghhhhhhhh! I couldn’t do it!

I just couldn’t cope with this book. A lot (lot, lot, lot) of blah blah blah. Yes, I can discuss the finer points of Emma’s behaviour but it just isn’t worth it. I figure that maybe the problem is that in today’s world Emma is just a little naughty and self-centred ... no big deal.

First Tuesday Book Club

American Gods ~ Neil Gaiman

Oh Boy! Hard going!
An “Alphie” favourite ...but not for me.

I found this difficult going. It was a grand premise about the “old” gods brought to the “new” world and being replaced by “new” gods. (Hey! Have I seen that storyline on “Supernatural”??) A battle looms.

Lots of good references to old gods that were worshiped and the new gods of consumerism and technology but this book could have done with a good edit. It turned very ho-hum where it could have been good.

There was virtually no climax. I did not feel engaged with the characters. The theme was muddy and confused.

A REAL page turner ... as I skipped so many pages to get to the end.

Oh Mexico ~ Lucy Neville

** RECOMMEND **

Non Fiction
Full of the flavour of Mexico ... just can’t look at that cover the same way!

This was a fun read!!! After completing Uni, Lucy spent time living and working in Mexico City. This captures the chaotic lifestyle of Mexico as she regales the reader with stories about finding a job, finding a flat, finding a boyfriend. The book is subtitles “Love and Adventure in Mexico City” and there is lots of both.

Lucy is the daughter of Richard Neville and writes with loving, but derogatory terms about her parents and their parenting.

The cover is gorgeous ... till you reach the section where she tours the churches and gets the background to the Virgin of Guadeloupe.

Ahhhhhh! Mexico!!!!!

FEBRUARY 2011

Valentines for Book Lovers

Jasper Jones ~ Craig Silvey

Lots of kudos, lots of accolades, lots of awards .... but ...
If only they had promoted it as Young Adult Fiction!

It is great storytelling with some wonderful repartee and smart dialogue between characters. The plot and the mood do justice to the prejudices of time and place. It is suspenseful and believable.

So what’s my problem? The reading level is Young Adult. The vocab is limited; the writing is overblown in places; the story superficial : All this would be “forgivable” if I was reading it as Young Adult/Teen rather than as the Indie Book of the Year or Miles Franklin Winner

Water For Elephants ~ Sara Gruen

Yet another NYT Bestseller ... I’ve have got to stop trusting that list!
Fluff.

There is little to stretch the imagination or enrich your vocabulary but the historical background was well researched and was interesting.

The story is set in a travelling circus during the depression. The love story is simply an upgraded Barbara Cartland. It has been made into a movie ... and while I didn’t think much of the book, I wouldn’t mind seeing the movie as I am sure it would make a great period piece.

Not a keeper but it was a quick read.

The Death Instinct ~ Jed Rubenfeld

My first Kindle download!
An historic Who-Done-It.

Story is set in New York and various European locations during and after World War 1. It is based around investigations into a bomb exploding outside the J.P. Morgan Bank and the US Treasury building. There are some interesting facts about business and government manipulations to protect their Mexican oil interest (has anything changed!!!!).

The plot involves a doctor’s romance with a French girl who studied with Madame Curie so there are some additional interesting trivia bits to be gleaned from this. The writing style is loose.

Interesting but forgettable.

How To Live Safely In A Science Fictional Universe ~ Charles Yu

Chosen from the New York TImes Bestsellers Christmas List.
Sorry, Santa, I didn’t like it!

So so so Not-For-Me. Not much to say about it ... underdeveloped comment for an underdeveloped book.

I did enjoy reading some brain stretching sci-fi BUT there were pages and pages of scientific gobbledygook about the science of the time travel machine.

The plot was thin to non existent. Shame, because the themes of searching for his father lost in time and the lack of commitment to reality are there but trapped in a time loop.

JANUARY 2011

My Mother She Killed Me ~ Kate Bernheimer (ed)

“Forty new fairy tales by assorted authors”
Missing the magic!

My love of fairytales is not “Disneyfied”; I know they are dark with an underlying malevolence but there is a moral and and a magic to them that I felt was missing in so many of the stories in this anthology.

There were a few that I enjoyed but most of them bore little resemblance to the fairy tale they were meant to be “inspired” by. They were grim or bizarre or confused. There were many that were just plain “duds”.

Some excellent writers contributed to the collection (eg Jim Shepherd & Neil Gaiman ... no wonder the word “dark” comes to mind!!!). My favourite would be the version of “The Little Mermaid” - a creepy, well nuanced short story.

An “Alphie” favourite but not my cup of tea.