The God of Small Things

Author: Arundhati Roy

Pub. Date: 1997

Winner of the Booker Prize

This is a well-acclaimed novel, and clearly popular in the UK (it has been on the Big Read and all). At first, while reading it, I found it lyrical and magical. I loved the way it circled around the center action and teased the reader with small bits of knowledge.

But then about 2/3 of the way through it, I got tired of it all. Instead of lyrical, it became tired and repetitive and pretentious. I was just ready to know what had happened and was getting annoyed with all the hints at it.

There's a fine line between artistic and pretentious, and for me, this book crossed it. Had it been a bit shorter, I would have still been caught up in it and liked it a lot. But no. It dragged on too long for my taste.

Grade: C-

The Sharing Knife: Horizon

2009

Author: Lois McMaster Bujold

Genre: Fantasy, Romance(ish)

I love the Sharing Knife series. It's a star-crossed lovers story, and masterfully written. There's a complex world involved and plenty of sex scenes involving a guy with a hook for a hand. The fourth, Horizon, was better than the third, I thought. I really enjoyed it. It's packed full of character drama as well as action. If it is the last one, as I suspect, I won't be too disappointed with the ending, either (though of course I want to know more).

The Graveyard Book

Author: Neil Gaiman

Year: 2008

Newbery Medal Winner!

This is a charming book about a little boy who, through rather unfortunate circumstances, grows up in a graveyard, raised by ghosts and other not-quite-living-things. Each chapter is a different but related adventure from the young life of Nobody, or Bod, as he is called. I am already a big fan of Neil Gaiman (he's my favorite author) but I hadn't yet read any of his children's/YA fiction. I was highly impressed. It's easy to forget that it's for young readers. Sure, it doesn't have hugely adult themes, but also, it is as complex and well-written as Gaiman's adult novels.

Overall, this was a very enjoyable book. I would recommend it for fantasy fans of any age.

Grade: A

Never Let Me Go

Never Let Me Go is shocking and profoundly moving. As you read, Ishiguro ever so slowly unfolds the twist, the reason the kids are 'special.' This book broke my heart a little, probably because of how ordinary the characters and their lives are. They know what is to become of them, but in other ways are naive. And, like I said, they are just so ordinary. I identified very closely with the main character, and long before the end I knew what was coming. Not in a bad way, because I wanted to see how it would unfold. This book is thought-provoking and masterfully crafted. I loved it.

Bloodsucking Fiends: A Love Story

Christopher Moore is one of my favorite comedic authors. Wikipedia calls his style "absurdist fiction" - that fits quite well, in fact. I have read several of his novels, but there are still a few I've not gotten around to. Bloodsucking Fiends was in my closet, and while looking for anything light after Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, I found it and immediately knew it would be perfect. It's about vampires: a beautiful girl gets attacked and wakes up to discover she's now a vampire. She finds a random guy to live with, who happens to be a young aspiring author. Craziness ensues, and well, you just need to read it. It's about an unconventional way of finding love. I can't wait to get my hands on the sequel, You Suck: A Love Story.

Grade: A+

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

It took me nearly a year to get around to reading this book - in fact, I started it sometime during my freshman year at college, and just could not continue. I finally picked it up about a week ago and dove in again. It struck me immediately that the style was akin to that of House of Leaves, and so I kept with it even though it wasn't the easiest read. This is not because it's not well-written, or insightful, but because the subject matter is tough. It follows a 9-year-old boy, Oskar Schell, who has lost his dad during 9/11. In addition to his search for meaning in all that death and his search for a lock which he found a key for in his dad's closet, the book follows his grandfather's struggle with his decision to leave before his son was born. His grandparents were in Dresden when it was bombed in World War II, and in this way Jonathan Safran Foer parallels the two events, effectively equating them to any act of war in which innocent lives are lost. This is not funny like Everything Is Illuminated, but Oskar Schell is a fascinating character to know the mind of. It's sad, poignant, and moving, and ultimately worth reading.

Grade: B+

A Salty Piece of Land

Surprisingly (at least to me), Jimmy Buffett is quite the storyteller. I didn't expect a celebrity novelist to be quite so entertaining, or so good at crafting a genuinely interesting tale. Granted, Buffett's songs are stories in themselves and he has written quite a few novels in his day, but still I didn't expect much from this book; I picked it up because my dad said it was alright and I wanted something to read that wasn't academic. So I was quite pleased to find that I really enjoyed it. It wasn't fine literature, of course, but it was similar to - and as good as - any Carl Hiaasen novel. So if you like Hiaasen, or Tim Dorsey, you'll like Buffett. This was a quirky and downright lovable story.

Grade: A

Hurricane Punch

Lovable serial killer Serge Storms is back with his substance-abusing buddy Coleman. In this one, they track a whirlwind hurricane season, 'riding' the storms by driving in the eye. People die along the way of course - but Serge is not the only serial killer on the loose. Someone else is killing people, and Agent Mahoney thinks it's Serge's personality splitting. The ending surprised me, actually. I didn't figure it out until just before it was revealed. It's hilarious, as expected from Tim Dorsey. Excellent.

Grade: A

The Darkest Evening of the Year

Dean Koontz's latest novel is about a woman who rescues Golden Retrievers whose dark past comes back to haunt her. Also her boyfriend just so happens to have a dark past that intersects. It's well written, and the parts about dog abuse, etc. make you sad for humanity. It has a sweet ending (deus-ex-machina!) and as many Koontz books do, involves odd supernatural occurrences that might be due to the existence of God. Overall, a good, quick read.

Grade: B+

No Country for Old Men (novel)

Ok, so the novel did indeed illuminate many things. It is, as is often the case, better than the movie - not worlds better, but better. Just on the virtue that the movie was not able to capture everything the book could. I know now that Ed Tom did not go after Chigurh - it's about him having to live with failure and getting old and dying.

Grade: A+

Cordelia's Honor

Jeff gave me this book for Christmas. It was most excellent. Lois McMaster Bujold is a great author, it turns out. I should have always known, since Jeff recommended her sci fi novels. The ultramodern Beta Colony descriptions are fascinating, and the links to the world we know are amazing too. The characters are lovable and it is really easy to feel their emotions with them. Good stuff.

Grade: A

Nature Girl

Carl Hiaasen's latest novel is just as quirky and fun as his others. He's really good at developing a lot of storylines and then bringing them together in unusual and unlikely ways. I enjoyed this... it's about a sort-of crazy woman who's trying to take revenge on a slimy telemarketer.

Grade: B-

Sofie Metropolis

This is a mystery-romance(ish) novel about a Greek girl in NYC who's trying to be a PI. It's quite along the same lines as a Stephanie Plum novel, but the combined efforts of 'Tori Carrington' (really a husband and wife team) cannot match Janet Evanovich at all. So basically a Stephanie Plum knockoff that's not as good. Oh well, at least it was entertaining.

Grade: C