Books I have read in October:
Since I’m broke and don’t have the Internets at home (or cable, for that matter) I have been reading at the pace of about three books per week. Here is a list, in no particular order, of what I’ve read in the last month and my brief thoughts on each title.
- Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman — This was the spring 2011 “One Book, One Chicago” selection and I actually had never read it before. I really enjoyed Richard Mayhew’s tale, which was really no surprise as I like Gaiman’s other books, such as American Gods. Though I found the eventual unraveling of the mystery of Door and the execution of her family a little anti-climatic and predictable. I was willing to overlook that because the meat in the middle of the book was so wonderfully written.
- Finny by Justin Kramreon — For the most part, I enjoyed this book. I found the 20+ year relationship between Finny and Earl quite compelling, almost an allegory for a relationship I’ve had with a particular man for half as long. The end made me cry. However, I felt like the character of Judith was somewhat unnecessary. And, at times I felt like the book changed voices (first to third) unpredictably, which caused me to be jarred out of the story. It was pretty clear this was a first novel (a fairly good one at that) - so I’ll look forward to seeing what Justin Kramron produces next… hopefully holding onto the charming aspects he has nailed already as a writer and improving upon where his structuring could really use some solid foundation work.
- Smokin’ Seventeen by Janet Evanovich — Light, fluffy, predictable. I enjoy the fact that you can pick up any Stephanie Plum mystery and be caught up on who Stephanie is, what has happened in books previous and what is currently happening in her life within the first chapter. I mostly read this because Joan Hilty suggested that perhaps Evanovich would be wise to turn her varied series into graphic novels to grab a female audience… and, honestly I’d not read her work until that came up, so I was curious.
- The Last of the Savages by Jay McInerney — A disappointing, fairly predictable, Holden Caufield-esque novel from an otherwise talented writer. Don’t bother.
- An Object of Beauty by Steve Martin — This was a re-read. I read it when it came out last fall and was disappointed in it. I wanted to give it a second chance, because I thought I might have been predisposed to dislike it by having recently read Shopgirl. But, no, it was still not very good. Felt like Martin was phoning it in. Which he’s entitled to do… but… yeah I was a little bummed I spent $25 on the hardback of the book.
- On Writing by Stephan King — Another re-read, I think that writers or anyone interested in becoming a writer should read this book at least once per year. The autobiography portion of the book holds up to being interesting the second time around, and the writing advice is interesting to look back on after a whole year of trying to apply said advice to your craft. A+ non-fiction, go buy it now.
- States of Confusion by Paul Jury — Jury, a Northwestern film school graduate, struggles to find himself while on a 48 states in 48 days roadtrip across America. I tore through this book (I started it last night and I finished it around noon this afternoon.) It’s funny, insightful, annoying in the way that 23-year old type-A overachievers (like my brother, Matthew - this book TOTALLY reminded me of him) can be and a pretty fun read. I hope Jury writes more. I enjoyed the hell out of this book.
Up next: The Fall 2011 OBOC title, The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellows. I’ve heard from a reliable source that this book is dry and humorless, but we’ll see… I’ll give it a shot.
