I have watched another book club die. We finally took this one off life support last month and it slipped away unnoticed. Surely someday we'll be part of a bigger book club again, but for now, my husband and I are in a book club of two. We are currently reading
The Magus (which is AWESOME). I'm enjoying the new format, because we end up having tons of mini book-club-moments before we even finish the book.
Speaking of mini-book-club moments, while looking over my Must Blog list, I noticed that at least ten of those books were selections for the recently deceased book club. I'm not sure I could write an entire post on any of them, considering how long it's been since I read each one, so get ready for me to knock out a bunch of reviews at once.
I'll start with the most recent:
The Cement Garden, by Ian McEwan. This was my second book by this author (see
Atonement), unless I'm forgetting another, but it won't be my last; I find McEwan's writing pretty unimpeachable. (Maybe not as perfect as Kazuo Ishiguro's, but whose is?) This rounded out an unexpected trio of recently-read books set in England's heatwave of 1976 (see
here and
here), and it was easily the most controversial of the three: the story of four recently-orphaned siblings (without any of the romantic Victorian notions implied in that phrase) and their decisions and behaviors upon finding themselves suddenly autonomous before their concepts of morality were fully formed. It was unnerving how McEwan made me complicit in the siblings' conduct. Things that should have horrified me were made to seem reasonable through these children's eyes.
Under the Skin by Michel Faber. This story was interesting and unique (a female driver preys on male hitchhikers), although I think Faber revealed the mystery behind the main character's actions too soon. If just one line had been cut (the one about the chef), leaving the word "vodsel" enigmatic for a bit longer, I think it would have been a vast improvement. I couldn't really picture what Isserley looked like, either. Somehow her description didn't sound anything like Scarlett Johansson, but I'm still interested in seeing the movie anyway.
The Melting Season by Jami Attenberg, in which a not-so-bright Nebraska girl leaves her crumbling life behind her and makes a run for Las Vegas. I think I first heard of this book in one of those single-paragraph book reviews in a magazine . . . and I
think that magazine was
Glamour, if that tells you anything. I wish I could re-read that review now, so I could see what drew me to this book. I'm fairly certain it wasn't anything about penile enlargement surgery, anyway.
The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton. Unfortunately I found this one disappointing when compared to Morton's
The House at Riverton. It's the story of a girl who was raised in Australia; on her twenty-first birthday she's told that she had an unremembered childhood in England. There were plenty of secrets and mysteries, but I think the book suffered from my excessively high expectations (the ones that had me thinking Kate Morton's books are great big thick bundles of awesomeness). That's not to say I didn't enjoy it--it was still pretty great--but I didn't love it the way I thought I would.
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. LOVED IT. It's the story of a cad whose wife disappears under suspicious circumstances, and it's really just a thriller without any especially literary characteristics (though I have no complaints about the writing), but it was full of twists and turns and suspense. I still remember with startling clarity the shock of the text message Nick receives four days after Amy vanishes. And there was just NO good place to stop reading this book. No doubt about it--this one reached critical mass, and early on. I've since read (and loved) Flynn's other two books, though this remains my favorite of the three. I'm looking forward to the movie adaptation out in September. Ben Affleck will make a perfect Nick Dunne, if I can get over the way he always seems to be spitting while he's talking.
Stay tuned for Part II of The Book Club Report . . .
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I loved this too! And I thought right away that you would too. When I started it I thought, boring wife dies mystery, blah, but oh boy was I wrong! This book took so many twists I never saw coming it was difficult to ever put it down! I will be reading her other two soon! I heard Ben shows full frontal in the movie... I would see it anyway, but just saying. ;)
ReplyDeleteDid you see the movie? I did, and I thought they did a great job with it. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I hadn't read the book, though--if I didn't know what was coming. And (in case you don't already know)--I'm pretty sure the only full frontal in the movie was Doogie Howser, not Ben . . .
ReplyDeleteHa, no I heard it was Ben! Well obviously I haven't seen it, but I will. I read Sharp Objects and loved it even though I was pretty sure who the murderer was early on. Maybe even more than Gone Girl, partly because I could empathize with the main character and I seem to like books better where I can route for someone. I was upset that the cop never saw her again after... but then I changed my mind because he never could have appreciated her the way the young kid did, even if that was a little "Mrs. Robinson".
ReplyDeleteI am currently working my way through Dark Places and enjoying it too, but the jumps between people is really killing me. Oh, and I met up with Jill and she had just finished Dark Places and loved it, so I told her the read the other two books!
Have you heard of/read The Girl on the Train? Supposed to be the new Gone Girl. Guess I'm waiting to come across a cheap copy of it, but I'm planning to read it at some point.
ReplyDeleteNo, I haven't heard about The Girl on the Train, I'm going to check it out! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteOnly 743 request at my library!! I put my name on the list and we'll see where it stands when
ReplyDeleteI finish my current book!
Haha! Wow, obviously I'm not the only one who has heard it's a good one.
ReplyDeleteFinally got the book Girl on the Train, only took 2.5 months! Last I checked, I was 200 something on a list over 800, then whoop I got the email saying they had a copy for me. Hope I can read it in three weeks because I won't be able to renew it!
ReplyDeleteDid you read it? I will post my review when I finish it!
Still waiting on my copy of Gone Girl the movie!! I think that's been a longer wait!!
ReplyDeleteLoved The Girl on the Train! It was very reminiscent of Gone Girl is style. Not quite as good, but worth reading. The characters were not quite as developed, the main girl in particular just kept making bad choices. Whenever she had a choice she'd choose the wrong one and I just wanted to scream at her. Kind of like watching a horror movie and yelling, "No, don't go in there!" and they always do!!! I did enjoy the twists and turns in the story though.
ReplyDelete