nomadreader

book review: The Silent Oligarch by Christopher Morgan Jones

noreply@blogger.com (nomadreader) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 11:00:00 +0000

The basics: At its simplest, The Silent Oligarch is an investigative thriller about Russian corruption and money laundering. Webster, a journalist turned private investigator, is hired to look into a notoriously corrupt Russian businessman and his lawyer.

My thoughts: The Silent Oligarch is an immensely readable thriller. It didn't keep me on the edge of my seat, but I was intrigued by it and appreciated the pace at which it unfolded. I was most impressed with how Jones could tell a complicated story with many players in a relatively straight-forward manner without me confusing characters.

What kept this novel feeling less like a thriller was the alternating narration. Webster, a journalist turned investigator with numerous international connections to call upon, and Lock, the lawyer, took turns telling their stories. Seeing corruption from both sides made this story much more human, which took away from the suspense somewhat, but I appreciated the nuance to this approach. Jones tells this story from the perspective that Russia is corrupt on every level:

“Every Russian is corrupt according to his station in life. If you are a schoolteacher, you sell grades. If you are a fishmonger, you give the best fish to those who can do something for you in return. Malin expected to be a mid-level technocrat taking a few million a year from the odd opportunity here and there. But he has managed to make himself a player and now it’s hundreds of millions, maybe billions.”

Despite all I have read about corruption in Russia, the optimistic idealist in me wonders if its really true for every single person. At times this sense of corruption seemed almost too neat and tidy. After reading (and enjoying) Snowdrops by A.D. Miller (my review) last year, I found many similarities in theme and tone, but Snowdrops was both a more subtle, devastating and ultimately more intriguing novel for me. To dismiss The Silent Oligarch, however, would not be fair, as it is not trying to be Snowdrops. Both have merits, both are debut novels by British writers who worked in Russia.

Favorite passage: “No crime was ever discovered in Russia unless someone more powerful than you wanted to hurt you.”

The verdict: The Silent Oligarch is an intelligent thriller that examines Russian corruption from the inside and the outside. Jones is a talent to watch, as he told a complicated, thrilling story in an incredibly accessible way. Recommended to fans of political thrillers and international thrillers.

Rating: 4 out of 5
Length: 336 pages
Publication date: January 19, 2012
Source: publisher, via TLC Book Tours

Convinced? Treat yourself! Buy The Silent Oligarch from an independent bookstore, the Book Depository or Amazon (Kindle version.)

To learn more about Christ Morgan Jones, visit his website. Also, check out the full tour schedule.

As an affiliate, I receive a small commission when you make a purchase through any of the above links. Thank you for helping to support my book habits that bring more content to this blog!

film review: The Artist

noreply@blogger.com (nomadreader) — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 11:00:00 +0000

The backstory: The Artist is nominated for numerous Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor and Best Director. It's already won Best Picture at the BAFTAs, Golden Globes, and Critics Choice Awards.

The basics: Set in 1927, The Artist is the story of George Valentin, an enormously famous silent film star. It traces George's fate as talkies begin to dominate the film industry.

My thoughts: I took many film courses in college, and I've sat through more silent films than I wish I had. (While there are some that stand up to my modern viewing sensibilities, most I would have preferred to see clips from.) I think even those only familiar with silent films in the abstract aspect will understand their conventions in this film and enjoy the seemingly inside jokes about silent films.

I hoped The Artist would move beyond its conventions and provide a modern take on silent film. I hoped it would explore the human condition in a meaningful way. It didn't, but despite these misgivings, there is a lot of good in this film. Jean Dujardin was amazing. He embodied the era in pose, facial expressions and tap dance. Berenice Bejo was every bit his equal, expect in screen time. The two had chemistry, humor and were delightful to watch. While the acting was excellent, the most interesting part of the film was how it played with sound. The few scenes in which the film stepped out of the confines of being a silent movie were inventive and inspired, but they were ultimately overshadowed by the film's predictability that rendered it mostly ordinary.

Where the film stalled, however, was in its storyline. Once the stage was set (and the first hour of the film is excellent), it took the humor, joy and pain and turned authentic emotion into melodrama. It didn't work for me, but I am clearly in the minority.

The verdict: Despite a strong premise, ultimately The Artist was too predictable and melodramatic to allow its excellent acting to truly shine.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Length: 100 minutes
Release date: it's in theaters now (see where it's playing near you)
Source: I paid to see at the Fleur Cinema (for only $6.50--I love Des Moines!)

As an affiliate, I receive a small commission when you make a purchase through any of the above links. Thank you for helping to support my book habits that bring more content to this blog!

book review: We Need to Talk About Kevin

noreply@blogger.com (nomadreader) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 11:00:00 +0000

The backstory: We Need to Talk About Kevin won the Orange Prize in 2005.

My thoughts: If you happened upon me on Twitter while I was reading it, you're probably surprised I not only finished the novel but ended up loving it. About a third of the way through, I bean to struggle mightily. Although I found Shriver's writing was gorgeous, the action was quite slow to build. As I bemoaned to Lu at Regular Rumination (who hated it), she admitted the ending was almost interesting. It, as well as my love for So Much for That (my review) and how many trusted friends loved this novel, convinced me to keep reading. Soon, something intriguing happened, and I was hooked again. I devoured the last half of the novel and haven't stopped thinking about it since I finished it a month ago.

We Need to Talk About Kevin gets billed as a 'school shooting novel,' 'the novel that will make you not want to have kids,' or 'a study of nature versus nurture.' None of those catchphrases do it justice, however. It's a deep character study of Kevin, but more so of Eva. When the novel lulled in the first third for me, it was because I was an impatient reader, ready for the action to catch up with what I knew. The novel is written in a series of letters from Eva to her husband. The title indicates this action, yet I always (erroneously) assumed the title was something people, i.e. principals, guidance counselors, and teachers, kept saying to Eva. The reader learns early on that Kevin is in prison and has a notorious reputation, which Eva has too: "I’m not sure what got into me, but I’m so tired of this. It’s not that I have no shame. Rather, I’m exhausted with shame, slippery all over with its sticky albumen taint. It is not an emotion that leads anywhere."

As Eva writer to her husband, she slowly works her way through their marriage and Kevin's life. The level of honesty and emotion Eva shares is devastating and authentic:

"Besides, much as I crave anonymity, it’s not that I want my neighbors to forget who I am; I want to, and that is not an opportunity any town affords. This is the one place in the world where the ramifications of my life are fully felt, and it’s far less important to me to be liked these days than to be understood."

One of the questions of the novel is the responsibilities of motherhood and how they differ from parenthood. As a childless person, I read this novel with utter fascination and relished Eva's frankness:

"We’d agreed that whether we became parents would be “the single most important decision we would ever make together.” Yet the very momentousness of the decision guaranteed that it never seemed real, and so remained on the level of whimsy."

I adored this book for two reasons: Shriver's writing and Eva's rawness. She bears her soul, the flattering and the unflattering, the guilt, the doubt, the joy and the questions, for the reader. As a character study of a mother, it's fascinating. As a character study of a woman, it's illuminating and inspiring, and it's an intriguing tale of marriage.

Favorite passage: "In the particular dwells the tawdry. In the conceptual dwells the grand, the transcendent, the everlasting."

The verdict: Despite struggling with early parts of this novel, I came to love it. Shriver is a lyrical writer who has created fascinating, troubling characters. The slow parts kept this novel from perfection, but it is still nothing short of brilliant.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Length: 432 pages
Publication date: March 31, 2003
Source: I bought it for my Kindle

Convinced? Treat yourself! Buy We Need to Talk About Kevin from an independent bookstore, the Book Depository, or Amazon (Kindle version.)

Then check out this interview with Lionel Shriver on life without kids and the film adaptation. It's fascinating.

As an affiliate, I receive a small commission when you make a purchase through any of the above links. Thank you for helping to support my book habits that bring more content to this blog!

A People's Read-a-long: Week 5

noreply@blogger.com (nomadreader) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 11:00:00 +0000

Welcome to Week 5 of A People's Read-a-long! We're reading a chapter a week, and the pace is perfect. (Missed the first four weeks? Check out my posts for weeks one, two, three, and four.)

My thoughts: Chapter 5, entitled "A Kind of Revolution," addresses the distracting impact of war on the lower and middle classes and the Constitution. This chapter is filled with cynicism and provides haunting parallels to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as the current state of Congressional elections.

Here are some snapshots of (correct, in my opinion) cynicism:

"Ruling elites seem to have learned through the generations—consciously or not—that war makes them more secure against internal trouble."

"In short, as Francis Jennings puts it, the white Americans were fighting against British imperial control in the East, and for their own imperialism in the West."

Under the illusion of the mandate that all must serve in the Revolution, in reality there were two ways to get our of military service: finding someone to replace you or paying a fee. While not surprising, this reality was incredibly disheartening. Again, this chapter seemed quite similar to those that preceded it, but when the focus shifted to the genesis of the Constitution, I found it quite intriguing.

The discussion of the politics behind the Constitution more fascinating than depressing, which was incredibly refreshing: "The Constitution was a compromise between slaveholding interests of the South and moneyed interests of the North." I realized I had maintained some of my childhood enthusiasm for the Founding Fathers and the Constitution when I was surprised to think of it as a document of compromise. Even now, with every legal decision based on Constitutionality of a law, it's hard not to revere it as a guiding document.

It is a fascinating document, and this passage resonates powerfully still today: "The Constitution, then, illustrates the complexity of the American system: that it serves the interests of a wealthy elite, but also does enough for small property owners, for middle-income mechanics and farmers, to build a broad base of support. The slightly prosperous people who make up this base of support are buffers against the blacks, the Indians, the very poor whites. They enable the elite to keep control with a minimum of coercion, a maximum of law—all made palatable by the fanfare of patriotism and unity."

I thought the last chapter was a watershed chapter, but it seems next week will be more of a departure as the focus shifts to women. I'm excited to see how Zinn tackles the issue next week.

Favorite passage: "We see then, in the first years of the Constitution, that some of its provisions—even those paraded most flamboyantly (like the First Amendment)—might be treated lightly. Others (like the power to tax) would be powerfully enforced."

Intrigued? Read along! Buy A People's History of the United States from an independent bookstore, the Book Depository or Amazon (the Kindle version I have seems to no longer be available, thus vindicating my habits of impulse Kindle shopping!) You don't have to post each week. Stop by Fizzy Thoughts and Life...With Books to join the conversation!

As an affiliate, I receive a small commission when you make a purchase through any of the above links. Thank you for helping to support my book habits that bring more content to this blog!

Sunday Salon: It's good to be home

noreply@blogger.com (nomadreader) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 14:37:00 +0000

It's been a quiet week around here, but after this amazing weekend, I finally feel like I'm back in a groove for reading, blogging and relaxing.

Reading:
I expected February to be a hectic reading month, but it has been even more hectic than I imagined. As a judge for the Indie Lit Awards in the Fiction category I'm busy reading the finalists, but I can't share my thoughts on those titles with you until the winner is announced in early March. You all know part of the joy I find in reading is sharing the books with friends, so I'm grateful for the discussions with my fellow judges in the meantime!

I'm also serving as a juror for Elle magazine's Reader's Prize for the May 2012 issue. With their publication schedule, I'm submitting my reviews this week. The titles I've read for them are The Red Book by Deborah Copaken Kogan, The Beginner's Goodbye by Anne Tyler, and The New Republic by Lionel Shriver. It's been fun reading these three titles, and I'm eager to see how my fellow jurors will rank them. I'll be posting my reviews closer to their publication dates in late March and early April.

I'm also thoroughly enjoying The Silent Oligarch by Christopher Morgan Jones and Gillespie and I by Jane Harris. I'll be reviewing both for TLC Tours in the next two weeks. After all of these commitments, I'm really looking forward to a few weeks of leisurely reading before the Orange Prize longlist is announced! I've been working on my predictions for this year's longlist too, so look for those in early to mid-March.

Blogging:
Given these time-sensitive review commitments, I anticipated the blog looking a little lighter this month, but I hoped to be able to read some other things in addition to review titles. So far, it hasn't happened, but I do still have a couple of lingering reviews from January. Both books were excellent, but I still find myself grappling with them. I plan to review both We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver and The Fallback Plan by Leigh Stein this week.

Relaxing:
I also realized how much I miss going to see films. Since we moved to Iowa last summer, I've been to the theater only three times. Some of my absence is due to the beautiful flat screen television we bought when we moved (Mr. Nomadreader refused to move the big-backed television across the country again, and I welcomed the excuse to get rid of the old television!) It is wonderful to watch tv shows and films in HD at home. But it's film award season, and there are so many films I'm eager to see. Yesterday I went to see Best Picture front-runner The Artist, and I'll be reviewing it Wednesday. Today I'll also be watching The Help from the comfort of my own couch. I wasn't wild about the book (my review), but I have a feeling I'll enjoy the film move than the book. I'm hoping to continue this pattern each week: one film in the theater and one at home.

I'm looking forward to a day of reading, film watching and relaxing. What are you doing this Sunday?

As an affiliate, I receive a small commission when you make a purchase through any of the above links. Thank you for helping to support my book habits that bring more content to this blog!

A People's Read-a-long: Week 4

noreply@blogger.com (nomadreader) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:00:00 +0000

Welcome to Week 4 of A People's Read-a-long! We're reading a chapter a week, and the pace is perfect. (Missed the first three weeks? Check out my posts for weeks one, two, and three.)

My thoughts: Chapter 4, entitled "Tyranny Is Tyranny," feels like a watershed chapter. Its focus is on the Declaration of Independence and its wording.The opening line of the chapter sets the stage perfectly: "Around 1776, certain important people in the English colonies made a discovery that would prove enormously useful for the next two hundred years. They found that by creating a nation, a symbol, a legal unity called the United States, they could take over land, profits, and political power from favorites of the British Empire."

What I found most interesting in this chapter was the discussion of the rights that come from owning property, and, in particular, voting. It's a clear extension of the class system. I found myself thinking of how this country would look if that were true today. I would never have been able to vote in an election. Would it make me want to own property? Perhaps. I find the very nature of property taxes fascinating. As a life-time non-property owner, I find it interesting that in most places property taxes fund schools and libraries. I'm a huge user of public libraries, and aside from fines I've paid, my taxes don't support them. Thinking of our public libraries and public schools, two tools for bridging equality, being funded through property taxes gave me pause. While I don't think owning property is necessarily a measure of class, particularly depending on where you live, it is heartening to think of those who are able to own property provide necessary public services through their property taxes.

Overall, this chapter felt very much like a continuation of the last two. I didn't have many new thoughts regarding it's content. It moved forward in time, but the theme of income inequality was the focus. It seems Zinn is setting the stage for the next big movement in history, as 1776 is a crucial year.

Favorite passage: "And how could people truly have equal rights, with stark differences in wealth?"

Intrigued? There's still time to join us! Buy A People's History of the United States from an independent bookstore, the Book Depository or Amazon (the Kindle version I have seems to no longer be available, thus vindicating my habits of impulse Kindle shopping!) You don't have to post each week. Stop by Fizzy Thoughts and Life...With Books to join the conversation!

As an affiliate, I receive a small commission when you make a purchase through any of the above links. Thank you for helping to support my book habits that bring more content to this blog!

Sunday Salon: On the comfort of reading

noreply@blogger.com (nomadreader) — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 17:34:00 +0000

This week has been a whirlwind of emotions and movements. Two weeks ago, Mr. Nomadreader's grandmother went into hospice. One week ago, she passed away. After a cross-country drive, this weekend has brought the happiness and joy of being with family as well as the sadness of saying goodbye. This morning, as I lounged on the couch at my mother-in-law's home reading a novel that will likely not make my best of 2012 list, I realized this novel will linger longer than many because it's the one I happened to be reading this particular weekend, and I love it for that.

I, like many of you, find immense comfort in reading. I love fiction that challenges me, that exposes me to new places and ideas, that make me marvel at imagination or use of language, and novels that make me feel things. Reading is a large part of my life, and it's a large part of my everyday routine. This weekend I've realized there is the comfort in the routine, and this weekend in particular, I probably don't want to read a truly amazing book; I'm not emotionally capable of reading some novels. I wanted something a little lighter, a little more comforting, yet one that still examined human relationships and the impact of death, love, and the decisions we do have control over. The Red Book, through serendipity, proved to be perfect.

I'll post my formal review of The Red Book closer to its publication date of April 3, 2012, but today it happens to be a novel I read on a very personal, emotional weekend. I can picture myself smiling when I come across it unexpectedly on someone's bookshelf five years from now. This book and I shared something special, even though its specialness had little to do with the book itself. The Red Book comforted me this weekend, and for that, I will forever be grateful. Tuesday, as we'll take this 1200-mile journey back to our current home, I'll be curling up Wild Thing, Josh Bazell's sequel to Beat the Reaper (my review). When I pre-ordered it for my Kindle months ago and noted it released on our anniversary, I pondered many scenarios of when I would read it and what that day would hold. This one never crossed my mind, but now the thought of reading Wild Thing aloud to Mr. Nomadreader as we drive across the country seems perfect, especially as I recall us sitting on the couch of our screened-in porch almost two years ago as he read Beat the Reaper and I read a book on planning a destination wedding.

Now tell me: are there books you associate with a certain time or memory because you happened to be reading it then?

As an affiliate, I receive a small commission when you make a purchase through any of the above links. Thank you for helping to support my book habits that bring more content to this blog!

book review: Running the Rift by Naomi Benaron

noreply@blogger.com (nomadreader) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 11:00:00 +0000

The backstory: Running the Rift won the 2010 Bellwether Prize. It's also this month's selection for Book Club (hosted by Jen at Devourer of Books and Nicole at Linus's Blanket).

The basics: Running the Rift is the story of Rwanda in the 1980's and 1990's, told mostly through the eyes of Jean Patrick. We meet Jean Patrick and his family when he is a young boy with a gift for running. Through Jean Patrick, Benaron explores the Tutsi/Hutu conflict over several years.

My thoughts: As I began to read this novel, I initially thought it was nice, but a little slow. As I read more, I realized I was reading it through the eyes of a modern person somewhat aware of recent Rwandan history. While it does seem slow if you have an idea of what is coming, I appreciated that Benaron began the novel in a place of relative normalcy for her characters.

For much of the novel, Jean Patrick comes off as optimistic (at best) or utterly naive (at worst). I think assessing him in those terms is far too limiting. Thinking of him as a character of this unprecedented time, it becomes much more muddled. Because the readers see the world through Jean Patrick's eyes, there are some clues we can pick up that he may not. Similarly though, there were some clues I was more alarmist than necessary. Even in times of atrocity and genocide, there were moments of grace.

Although I knew some about the recent Rwandan conflict, I realized I knew very little about the rest of its history:

“Be proud,” Uncle said. “Your heritage is the heritage of the mwamis, the Tutsi kings. If it weren’t for the Belgians and their meddling, we might still be ruled by the mwami today."

"Some were born here, some are the children of refugees, born in Uganda or Tanzania. Every time Hutu massacre Tutsi, more Tutsi flee the country. It wasn’t just in ’seventy-three, when our grandparents were killed. It started in ’fifty-nine with the first Hutu uprising when the mwami, King Kigeli the Fifth, fled. Then again in ’sixty-three and ’sixty-seven. No one wants to live in exile forever. And if you opened your eyes, you’d see it could happen again, is happening again.” He slapped the newspaper open and gave it to Jean Patrick."

“Ubwoko? It means ethnicity.” “Ah, Jean Patrick, you are mistaken. It was the Belgians who gave it this meaning. Before colonial days, the Kinyarwanda word ubwoko meant only clan. We had no word in our language for ethnicity.”

These bursts of historical knowledge enhanced the story, and I appreciate that Benaron established the characters first, the setting second, and third she brought in historical details. I learned a new vocabulary reading this novel, but I never forgot what a word meant or had trouble understanding the language of running or Rwanda. The slow builds, of character, setting, history, and action, made this tragic, haunting novel a very smooth read.

Favorite passage: "Your hope is the most beautiful and the saddest in the world."

The verdict: This novel is haunting. The slow exposition began to read almost like a thriller by the end. Jean Patrick is a character in fascinating times, but it was the supporting characters I was most enchanted with. At times I wished these characters could take a turn narrating, but ultimately, it took restraint to tell the story of a people and place through a single person trying to figure out what was happening.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Length: 384 pages
Publication date: January 3, 2012
Source: publisher

Convinced? Treat yourself! Buy Running the Rift from an independent bookstore, the Book Depository or Amazon (Kindle version.)

As an affiliate, I receive a small commission when you make a purchase through any of the above links. Thank you for helping to support my book habits that bring more content to this blog!

A People's Read-a-long: Week 3

noreply@blogger.com (nomadreader) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 11:00:00 +0000

Welcome to Week 3 of A People's Read-a-long! We're reading a chapter a week, and the pace is perfect. (Missed the first two weeks? Check out my posts for weeks one and two.) I'm still thoroughly enjoying this read-a-long. This week I even took Jill's advice and snagged a copy of Voices of a People's History of the United States, which is collection of primary source documents organized around the chapters of A People's History of the United States. I'm not reading all of them, but I'm dipping into the ones that most interest me. It's adding another fascinating layer to this book.

My thoughts: Chapter 3, entitled "Persons of Mean and Vile Condition," deals with the class system in the colonies. More specifically, Zinn addresses how class was impacted by the existing class system of Britain and how it shifted to include Indians, slaves, (white) servants, and former servants. I'm deeply concerned at what I see as our current class system in this country, and this chapter was fascinating and disturbing to see how long we've faced these problems:

"A historian who studied Boston tax lists in 1687 and 1771 found that in 1687 there were, out of a population of six thousand, about one thousand property owners, and that the top 5 percent—1 percent of the population—consisted of fifty rich individuals who had 25 percent of the wealth. By 1770, the top 1 percent of property owners owned 44 percent of the wealth."

In the last chapter I was fascinated by the difference in behavior between freed slaves brought to the U.S. and those born here. This chapter offered a similarly eerie glimpse into the behavior of freed servants:

"The first batches of servants became landowners and politically active in the colony, but by the second half of the century more than half the servants, even after ten years of freedom, remained landless. Servants became tenants, providing cheap labor for the large planters both during and after their servitude."

The illusion of America as a place to start fresh is once again dissected in this chapter as Zinn looks at who these people were before they came to the United States:

"The servants who joined Bacon’s Rebellion were part of a large underclass of miserably poor whites who came to the North American colonies from European cities whose governments were anxious to be rid of them. In England, the development of commerce and capitalism in the 1500s and 1600s, the enclosing of land for the production of wool, filled the cities with vagrant poor, and from the reign of Elizabeth on, laws were passed to punish them, imprison them in workhouses, or exile them."

Perhaps the most damning (and incredibly fascinating tidbit) about America not being an idyllic land of opportunity is this one: "Parliament, in 1717, made transportation to the New World a legal punishment for crime. After that, tens of thousands of convicts could be sent to Virginia, Maryland, and other colonies."

In the midst of a presidential campaign, where the rhetoric of liberty and equality are thrown around my candidates able to self-finance a campaign, I witnessed eerie similarities to the behavior of the ruling class in colonial times. The cynic in me came out strongly as I read this chapter and bemoaned how little has changed.

Favorite passage: "Those upper classes, to rule, needed to make concessions to the middle class, without damage to their own wealth or power, at the expense of slaves, Indians, and poor whites. This bought loyalty. And to bind that loyalty with something more powerful even than material advantage, the ruling group found, in the 1760s and 1770s, a wonderfully useful device. That device was the language of liberty and equality, which could unite just enough whites to fight a Revolution against England, without ending either slavery or inequality."

Intrigued? There's still time to join us! Buy A People's History of the United States from an independent bookstore, the Book Depository or Amazon (the Kindle version I have seems to no longer be available, thus vindicating my habits of impulse Kindle shopping!) You don't have to post each week. Stop by Fizzy Thoughts and Life...With Books to join the conversation!

As an affiliate, I receive a small commission when you make a purchase through any of the above links. Thank you for helping to support my book habits that bring more content to this blog!

Sunday Salon: January book club recap

noreply@blogger.com (nomadreader) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 15:27:00 +0000

My book club met this week to discuss One for the Money (my review) and Cleopatra, which I managed to read all of 6 pages of (I do want to read it, but I'm thinking of doing a chapter a week read-a-long after A People's Read-a-long is over because it is a dense book.) We had some nice discussions at a local coffee house. I most enjoyed the Cleopatra discussion, even though I had not read most of it. One interesting tidbit: we all agreed we'd never thought of Cleopatra as a mother before, but we were surprised it hadn't occurred to us that she had children.

As is often the case, we spend as much time talking about what else we're reading and what we want to read for next time as we do the books selected. We had so much fun this time, in fact, that we picked three books for March!

Room by Emma Donoghue (my review): Room was my favorite read of 2010, so I'm thrilled someone else suggested it.
Secret Daughter by Shilpi Somaya Gowda (my review): I suggested Secret Daughter because I adored it when I read it last year, but more importantly, I think the other group members will really enjoy it. I'm eager to discuss this one too.
Running Away to Home: Our Family's Journey to Croatia in Search of Who We Are, Where We Came From, and What Really Matters by Jennifer Wilson: Jennifer Wilson is a Des Moines author, and as the descriptive subtitle lets you know, this family decides to take a family sabbatical to Croatia. There's certainly the local factor that intrigues me, but I'm also fascinated by taking a family sabbatical. I confess to thinking of travel as something I loved when I was single, continue to love to do with Mr. Nomadreader, but I can't imagine traveling in that way once we have a child. I'm looking forward to sharing in their journey.

Look for my review of Running Away to Home in March. Until then, happy reading!

As an affiliate, I receive a small commission when you make a purchase through any of the above links. Thank you for helping to support my book habits that bring more content to this blog!

book review: What Looks Like Crazy On An Ordinary Day by Pearl Cleage

noreply@blogger.com (nomadreader) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 11:00:00 +0000

The backstory: I first read Pearl Cleage's debut novel, What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day, in 1997. I remember the day I picked it up at the library, filled with excitement that my favorite playwright had written a novel. I had ridiculously high expectations, and Pearl exceeded them all. She's my favorite author, yet I haven't read any of her work in the past three years. This year, I'm going back to the beginning to re-read (and then read) her novels in the order they were published.

The basics: What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day is the story of Ava, an HIV-positive black woman who sold her hair salon in Atlanta to get a somewhat fresh start in San Francisco, away from the string of men she's slept with. She decides to spend the summer with her sister Joyce in Idlewild, Michigan.

My thoughts: Although I read What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day almost fifteen years ago, I still remember the last line of the novel. It's my favorite last line of a novel. Despite its lingering memory, I realized I remembered little else about the novel. It was magical to read one of my favorite novels again, seemingly for the first time.

Initially, I was struck both by how brilliant Pearl Cleage is and how timeless this novel is. If I didn't know it was written fifteen years ago, I wouldn't have a clue:

"It almost doesn't matter what black community you go in now the problems are exactly the same. The kids are angry. The men are shell-shocked. The women are alone and the drugs are everywhere."

This novel tackles big issues and its focus is on the African-American community in particular. When Ava arrives in Idlewild, she's surprised to hear there's a crack epidemic: "I shouldn't have been surprised. Crack is an epidemic with a life all its own, just like AIDS. Small-town living doesn't save you anymore."

Ava and Joyce are an intriguing pair of sisters. Joyce, who has lost her husband and two children, maintains a realistic optimism about saving people:

"Joyce is good at this kind of stuff. She went into social work in the first place because she really believes that people want to take care of themselves and their children, and if they're allowed to do that with some dignity, everything else will fall into place."

Ava, meanwhile, has a more cynical edge. She's impressed her sister can maintain positivity and optimism to try to effect real change, but she struggles with a desire for vengeance too.

There is an underlying tragedy in this novel that haunts me. The world needs more people like Joyce. The world needs more novels and films to address the issues of our contemporary life. Still, there's hope and, more impressively, joy. Pearl Cleage celebrates life, love and goodness, but she doesn't shy away from the tragic realities of AIDS, crack and violence.

Favorite passage: "Most of the people up here think it's still 1958 and we're dealing with some high-spirited youngsters who are just sowing their wild oats. They can't see that this is something new. This isn't a phase they're going through. This is how they are. They don't know anything. They're selfish and mean and mad all the time."

The verdict: What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day shows no signs of age. It's as relevant than when it was first published. It's a brilliant novel and an astonishing debut novel. Whether on stage or page, Pearl Cleage is a master storyteller, and I'm continuously astonished she's not better known, more often read, and heralded as one of the great literary talents. This novel is a contemporary American masterpiece.

Rating: 5 out of 5
Length: 256 pages
Publication date: December 1, 1997
Source: I bought it for my Kindle

Convinced? Treat yourself! Buy What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day from an independent bookstore, the Book Depository, or Amazon (Kindle version.)

As an affiliate, I receive a small commission when you make a purchase through any of the above links. Thank you for helping to support my book habits that bring more content to this blog!

book review: One for the Money by Janet Evanovich

noreply@blogger.com (nomadreader) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 11:00:00 +0000

The backstory: One for the Money was one of my book club's selections for January.

The basics: The first in Janet Evanovich's wildly popular Stephanie Plum series, One for the Money introduces Stephanie, who was recently laid off by the lingerie company she worked for as an orderer. With bills piling up, Stephanie decides to try working for her cousin, a bounty hunter, to locate an old fling, Joe Morelli, an ex-cop and current fugitive wanted for murder, so she can collect the $10,000.

My thoughts: Originally written in 1994, One for the Money is starting to show its age somewhat. Stephanie's clothes are horribly dated. At one point she bemoans being down to her last pair of bicycle shorts. Fashion quibbles aside, I'm always fascinated to read mysteries set in earlier technological times. Car phones abound in this novel. For me, a technophile, the thought of chasing bad guys without a cell phone or car phone is truly terrifying, and in this novel the lack of access to technology heightened the fear.

As a character, Stephanie is interesting. She's at a tough time in her life, and her financial situation came off as quite contemporary. Faced with no leads in a field she'd worked in for years, she was running out of money and selling her possessions to pay her bills. For a novel partly established as realistic, Stephanie's family serve as a comic relief. I've heard these novels described as funny; I'm inclined to call them quirky. I never laughed out loud, but I did enjoy the cast of characters. Part way through the novel, I was compelled to look up the cast for the film version. It felt somewhat like the cast of characters on a television show. It reads like a series novel. Rather than setting up the personal relationships, they're firmly in place so the focus is on Stephanie and her work life.

Favorite passage: "Pride seemed out of place. Sorrow didn’t quite fit. There was definitely regret."

The verdict: I enjoyed One for the Money while I was reading it, but I doubt I'll be compelled to pick up the next one in the series. It's a fine novel, but ultimately it seemed forgettable.

Rating: 3 out of 5
Length: 288 pages
Publication date: August 26, 1994
Source: I bought it for my Kindle

Buy One for the Money from an independent bookstore, the Book Depository or Amazon (Kindle version.)

As an affiliate, I receive a small commission when you make a purchase through any of the above links. Thank you for helping to support my book habits that bring more content to this blog!

book review: Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel

noreply@blogger.com (nomadreader) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 11:00:00 +0000

Translated from the Spanish by Carol and Thomas Christensen.

The backstory: Like Water for Chocolate, Laura Esquivel's first novel, is one of the 1001 Books to Read Before You Die.

The basics: Told in monthly installments interspersed with recipes, Like Water for Chocolate, is the story of the De la Garza family in the Mexican revolution and filled with magical realism of love and cooking. The narrator is the great-niece of Tita, and the novel's focus is the life of Tita, the family's youngest daughter.

My thoughts: I first read Like Water for Chocolate in high school and utterly adored it. Re-reading it fifteen years later, I still enjoyed it, but the magical realism of love's positive and negative effects lacked the dramatic resonance it held for me as a teenager. It is the tradition of Tita's family that the youngest daughter may not marry and must spend her life serving her mother. Tita is enraged, angry and in utter agony when she learns her fate will be to care for her mother rather than live with Pedro, the love of her life. Pedro decides the best course of action is to agree to Tita's mother's wishes and marry Tita's older sister so he can still be near her.

Part of the magic of this novel is its ability to make its actions seem real. Magical realism at its best is emotional, authentic and believable. As I try to describe it, it can sound farcical or contrived, but Esquivel infuses this novel with true emotion. It's deceptively simple, which is why I loved it in high school. It is an accessible novel with young adult crossover appeal, but as an adult re-reading it, I see the novel differently. I think of it as a whole more now; I see the stories of each member of the family rather than drowning in Tita's emotional plight.

Favorite passage: "From that night on she would love him forever. And now she had to give him up. It wasn't decent to desire your sister's future husband. She had to try to put him out of her mind somehow, so she could get to sleep. She started to eat the Christmas Roll Nacha had left our on her bureau, along with a glass of milk; this remedy had proven effective many times. Nacha, with all her experience, knew that for Tita there was no pain that wouldn't disappear if she ate a delicious Christmas Roll. But this time it didn't work. She felt no relief from the hollow sensation in her stomach."

The verdict: While Like Water for Chocolate lacked some of the emotional resonance I recall feeling when I read it in high school, it's still an excellent novel of magical realism. It's a novel that evokes the senses and ties each to emotion.

Rating: 4 out of 5
Length: 256 pages
Publication date: September 6, 1992
Source: library

Convinced? Treat yourself! Buy Like Water for Chocolate from an independent bookstore, the Book Depository, or Amazon (Kindle version.)

As an affiliate, I receive a small commission when you make a purchase through any of the above links. Thank you for helping to support my book habits that bring more content to this blog!

A People's Read-a-long: Week 2

noreply@blogger.com (nomadreader) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 11:00:00 +0000

Welcome to Week 2 of A People's Read-a-long! I'm still thoroughly enjoying this read-a-long. It's incredibly easy to keep track of reading one chapter a week. I even managed to keep up while being away at ALA Midwinter most of this week (I'm coming home tonight...hooray for plane reading time!)

My thoughts: Chapter 2, entitled "Drawing the Color Line," focuses on slavery and its origins in the United States. I found this topic illuminating, depressing and simultaneously fascinating and difficult to read. Having read and enjoyed Property, Valerie Martin's Orange Prize-winning novel of slavery earlier this month (my review), I found myself connecting the dots between Zinn's history and the story of Manon in 1828 Louisiana.

What I found most interesting in this chapter was the role of racism. When I think of slavery, I think of racism, but Zinn outlined this distinction: "In the early years of slavery, especially, before racism as a way of thinking was firmly ingrained, while while indentured servants were often treated as badly as black slaves, there was a possibility of cooperation." It makes sense of course, when you think of who the early settlers were: "many of them were skilled craftsmen, or even men of leisure back in England, who were so little inclined to work the land that John Smith, in those early years, had to declare a kind of martial law, organize them into work gangs, and force them into the fields for survival." As I pondered this obvious idea I hadn't thought of before, I was reminded of Ann Weisbarger's phenomenal debut novel The Personal History of Rachel DuPree, where a black couple become homesteaders in South Dakota's Badlands (my review). Many of their neighbors bailed when times got tough, or tougher, there were other options. Times were indeed tough for the early settlers: "The Virginians of 1619 were desperate for labor, to grow enough food to stay alive. Among them were survivors from the winter of 1609–1610, the “starving time,” when, crazed for want of food, they roamed the woods for nuts and berries, dug up graves to eat the corpses, and died in batches until five hundred colonists were reduced to sixty." Slavery was their answer.

I find it fascinating that this notion of survival prompted slavery. It's a sign of the complicated nature of human relationships that slavery prompted racism. I imagine slaveowners let themselves begin to believe slaves were different so they could find a way to try to live with their actions. Justifying human behavior is a fascinating idea, and this chapter was filled with troubling justifications that begin to seem almost understandable in the times but still reprehensible to a thinking person:

"There may have been a kind of frustrated rage at their own ineptitude, at the Indian superiority at taking care of themselves, that made the Virginians especially ready to become the masters of slaves."

It's an uncomfortable chapter to identify with the positions of both slaves and owners, but it's an important one.

Favorite passage: "Slaves recently from Africa, still holding on to the heritage of their communal society, would run away in groups and try to establish villages of runaways out in the wilderness, on the frontier. Slaves born in America, on the other hand, were more likely to run off alone, and, with the skills they had learned on the plantation, try to pass as free men."

There's still time to join in! Buy A People's History of the United States from an independent bookstore, the Book Depository or Amazon (the Kindle version I have seems to no longer be available, thus vindicating my habits of impulse Kindle shopping!) You don't have to post each week. Stop by Fizzy Thoughts and Life...With Books to join the conversation!

As an affiliate, I receive a small commission when you make a purchase through any of the above links. Thank you for helping to support my book habits that bring more content to this blog!

Sunday Salon: First thoughts on the 2011 National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction

noreply@blogger.com (nomadreader) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 13:27:00 +0000

The National Book Critics Circle, of which I am a member, has announced the finalists for its 2011 awards. None of the five titles I voted for made the cut, but it certainly is an exciting list!

Open City by Teju Cole

The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides (my review)

The Stranger's Child by Alan Hollinghurst

Binocular Vision by Edith Pearlman (my review)

Stone Arabia by Dana Spiotta

I've read two of the five finalists already. I'm glad to see Jeffrey Eugenides make the cut, as I think The Marriage Plot is a wise, delightful novel. It's certainly one that appeals to book critics, given all of its overt literature references! It had plenty of hype, but the critical acclaim has been somewhat lacking on prize lists. While I thought Edith Pearlman's story collection Binocular Vision peaked too early (it's first story was it's best), I'm not surprised to see this National Book Award finalist here. As readers of this blog know, I greatly prefer novels to short stories, and this bias may be evident in my uneven reaction to this acclaimed collection of stories.

The three I have yet to read are all on my TBR already. Open City is one of the Tournament of Books contenders, and it's near the top of my TBR pile. Alan Hollinghurst's The Stranger's Child made the Booker longlist and the Tournament of Books field. Dana Spiotta's Stone Arabia made Entertainment Weekly's Top 10 of 2011, and I hope to make time for it soon too.

It's easy to focus on what's missing from this list, but I'm choosing to see it as a sign of how many excellent novels were published in 2011. None of these titles are a huge surprise; they've all appeared on another prize list or Best of 2011 list. With the Pulitzer list still to come, I'm still hoping Ben Lerner's majestic Leaving the Atocha Station can make an appearance on its list.

I'll be reviewing the three remaining titles in preparation for the March 8th announcement and bringing you my prediction (and personal preference) before the winner is officially announced.

Now tell me: which title do you think will win the National Book Critics Circle Award? Which one are you rooting for?

As an affiliate, I receive a small commission when you make a purchase through any of the above links. Thank you for helping to support my book habits that bring more content to this blog!

book review: Property by Valerie Martin

noreply@blogger.com (nomadreader) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 11:00:00 +0000

The backstory: Property won the Orange Prize in 2003.

The basics: Set in 1828 Louisiana, Property focuses on Manon Gaudet,the bored, unhappy wife of a slave owner who has fathered the oldest child of Sarah, a slave, and continues to sleep with her. The two women hate one another, and they both hate Mr. Gaudet.

My thoughts: Manon is a fascinating characters. It would be too easy to say she's not likable, as truly, her life was wretched. Martin sums up Manon's temperament brilliantly: "feeling thoroughly bored and aggravated by the whole business." It applies to so many situations. Still, as wretched as Manon's life is, she is a slave owner of some privilege. She is married to a man she despises and now lives in the country, which she is not too fond of either. Her relationship with Sarah is tenuous and fascinating, and it brings out Manon's cruelness. Despite her lack of love for her husband, Manon harbors jealousy of Sarah in some way. Sarah's relationship with Mr. Gaudet frees Manon of some obligation, for which she is grateful, yet she never manages to see Sarah as a teammate of sorts, united against an evil man.

Favorite passage: "After that everything happened quickly, thought it felt as if time itself had fallen open like a book, and each new impression was completed, even recollected, before the next began."

The verdict: Property is a gritty novel. It provides a glimpse into life on a Louisiana plantation in 1828, and it's not pretty, for slaves or owners. I was haunted by the proliferation of evil and utter lack of humanity. It's a powerful novel, and while I had certain expectations for a novel of slavery, Property both fulfilled the expected and transcended it. Martin is a talented writer, and there were several surprises, in both timing and action.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Length: 196 pages
Publication date: February 18, 2003
Source: library

Convinced? Treat yourself! Buy Property from an independent bookstore, the Book Depository, or Amazon (Kindle version).

As an affiliate, I receive a very, very small commission when you make a purchase through any of the above links. Thank you for helping to support my book habits that bring more content to this blog!

I'm Dallas bound for ALA Midwinter!

noreply@blogger.com (nomadreader) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 11:00:00 +0000

Tomorrow after teaching my first class of the semester I'll be off to the airport to catch my flight to Dallas for this year's American Library Association Midwinter Conference. I was blessed to be chosen as one of ALA's 2012 Emerging Leaders this year, and I'll meet my fellow ELs and begin work on our projects, which will culminate with a poster presentation at ALA's Annual Conference in Anaheim in June.

As you might imagine, my schedule is already pretty full with meetings, but I do want to take some time to see Dallas. I'd love to hear your suggestions of things (preferably near the conference center or easily accessed by public transportation) to do while I'm there and places to eat. So far on my list are the Public ArtWalk Dallas and the Sixth Floor Museum. And I'm always looking for suggestions of good food. Give me your best Dallas recommendations!

If any of you are going to be there, send me an email. I'd love to meet up!

book review: The Odds: A Love Story by Stewart O'Nan

noreply@blogger.com (nomadreader) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 12:46:00 +0000

The basics: Art and Marion's marriage is failing. They're giving it one last-ditch effort by spending a romantic weekend in Niagara Falls, where they also plan to gamble their way back to financial solvency.

My thoughts: The Odds: A Love Story is not the kind of love story fans of Nicholas Sparks would enjoy. It's a real love story, filled with miscommunication, disappointment, blame and exhaustion. O'Nan balances the whimsy of beginning each chapter with a set of odds related to its content with the increasingly depressing vision of Art and Marion's marriage. O'Nan gradually reveals the details of both how dire their marriage and financial situation are, as well as how it got there. More importantly, however, O'Nan seamlessly uses both Art and Marion as narrators. The reader comes to understand the marriage, and it becomes clear neither Art, Marion, nor the reader truly understand it from all perspectives.

Favorite passage: "You couldn’t relive your life, skipping the awful parts, without losing what made it worthwhile. You had to accept it as a whole—like the world, or the person you loved."

The verdict: The Odds is a quirky, fun, realistic portrayal of a modern marriage on the brink of financial ruin and divorce. Its biggest strength are the characters of Art and Marion, who are remarkably well-developed as individuals in this short novel. It's a travel novel, a character study, and a love story, but all three are firmly grounded in reality and resonate with wisdom and genuine emotion.

Rating: 4 out of 5
Length: 192 pages
Publication date: January 19, 2012
Source: publisher

Convinced? Treat yourself! Buy The Odds: A Love Story from an independent bookstore, the Book Depository or Amazon (Kindle version).

Now tell me: The Odds: A Love Story was my first Stewart O'Nan novel, but it certainly won't be my last. Which of his novels should I read next?

As an affiliate, I receive a very, very small commission when you make a purchase through any of the above links. Thank you for helping to support my book habits that bring more content to this blog!

A People's Read-a-long: Week 1

noreply@blogger.com (nomadreader) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 15:41:00 +0000

Welcome to Week 1 of A People's Read-a-long! So far I'm thoroughly enjoying this read-a-long. It's incredibly easy to keep track of reading one chapter a week. I may not post every week, but I wanted to share my initial thoughts and a couple of my favorite passages from Chapter 1 this week.

My thoughts: It's rare to find a non-fiction book without an introduction, and consequently, chapter 1 read like a combination of an introduction and a first chapter. Zinn provided context for his view of understanding history as he told the story of the first chapter: Columbus, the Indians and Human Progress. I appreciate Zinn's view of reading and understanding history as a modern person: "My point is not that we must, in telling history, accuse, judge, condemn Columbus in absentia. It is too late for that; it would be a useless scholarly exercise in morality."

I'm fascinated by how different societies, past and present, viewed gender. In chapter 1, I learned Iroquois societies were matrilineal. Furthermore, Zinn quotes historian Gary Nash, "no laws and ordinances, sheriffs and constables, judges and juries, or courts or jails—the apparatus of authority in European societies—were to be found in the northeast woodlands prior to European arrival." A French Jesuit priest who observed the Iroquois in the 1650's noted: "No poorhouses are needed among them, because they are neither mendicants nor paupers. . . . Their kindness, humanity and courtesy not only makes them liberal with what they have, but causes them to possess hardly anything except in common." Learning these things about Iroquois society initially made me horrified at the actions of Columbus. As I began to challenge myself to think like Zinn, however, and placed myself in the viewpoint of both groups at that time, I was struck how scared Columbus must have been to encounter a society so totally different than his own. I can marvel now, but wouldn't I have been frightened by our differences if I were with Columbus?

I also was fascinated by the reactions of those at Vera Cruz when a Spanish armada arrived. When "a bearded white man came ashore, with strange beasts (horses), clad in iron, it was thought he was the legendary Aztec man-god who had died three hundred years before, with the promise to return--the mysterious Quetzalocoatl. And so they welcomed him, with munificent hospitality." It's a chilling story of looking at history from both sides, gathering perspectives, and ultimately, I think, understanding tragedy. I consider myself somewhat of a history buff, but after reading Samuel Eliot Morison, a Harvard historian and Columbus scholar, "retraced Columbus's route across the Atlantic." It's a fascinating prospect of experiential learning and understanding. Would the inverse be possible? Could we retrace the steps of those whom Columbus destroyed upon arriving?

The verdict: I'm thoroughly enjoying A People's History of the United States and am eager to read chapter 2.

There's still time to join in! Buy A People's History of the United States from an independent bookstore, the Book Depository or Amazon (the Kindle version I have seems to no longer be available, thus vindicating my habits of impulse Kindle shopping!)

As an affiliate, I receive a small commission when you make a purchase through any of the above links. Thank you for helping to support my book habits that bring more content to this blog!

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy winner

noreply@blogger.com (nomadreader) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 12:51:00 +0000

Last week I announced a fabulous contest to win a Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy giveaway. To enter, I asked people to name their favorite spy book or film. Here's the list, in order of number of responses:

Jason Bourne
James Bond (with one vote for Casino Royale in particular)
Hunt for Red October
The 39 Steps
Charade

Jason Bourne and James Bond dominated the preferences of contest entrants!

And the two winners of the Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy giftpacks are...Melissa from An Avid Reader's Musings and Lisa! Congratulations!

As an affiliate, I receive a very, very small commission when you make a purchase through any of the above links. Thank you for helping to support my book habits that bring more content to this blog!

book review: Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

noreply@blogger.com (nomadreader) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 11:00:00 +0000

The backstory: Bel Canto won the Orange Prize in 2002. Ann Patchett's latest novel, State of Wonder, was my favorite read of 2011. In 2012, I'm reading all of her backlist, beginning with Bel Canto.

The basics: In a South American country, the vice president hosts a birthday party for a Japanese businessman to entice him into building a factory in their country. Mr. Hosokawa has no intention of building a factory there, but attends because Roxane Coss, his favorite opera soprano will perform for his birthday. When terrorists arrive to kidnap the president, who did not attend, they are instead left with many other hostages.

My thoughts: Ann Patchett and I clearly share a fascination for how people react in extraordinary situations and the depth of humanity. In Bel Canto, the terrorists are as human as the hostages, and I found myself illogically rooting for them at times. In many ways, this novel is the story of Mr. Hosokawa and Roxane Coss, but Gen, Mr. Hosokawa's translator, stole the book. Gen is Japanese but fluent in numerous languages: "Sitting alone in his apartment with books and tapes, he would pick up languages the way other men picked up women, with smooth talk and then later, passion." Most importantly, he was able to translate for all of hostages. The hostages were an intriguing motley crew of people from around the world. Through Gen, they found ways to communicate. A shared love of Roxane's singing transcended language and provided unity.

Favorite passage: "Some people are born to make great art and others are born to appreciate it. Don’t you think? It is a kind of talent in itself, to be an audience, whether you are the spectator in the gallery or you are listening to the voice of the world’s greatest soprano. Not everyone can be the artist. There have to be those who witness the art, who love and appreciate what they have been privileged to see.:

The verdict: Bel Canto is a wonderful, thought-provoking, invigorating novel that examines the humanity in all of us. It is a fascinating story of hostages and captors, but it's also more. This novel is a celebration of the arts and the human spirit.

Rating: 5 out of 5
Length: 352 pages
Publication date: May 22, 2001
Source: I bought it for my Kindle

Convinced? Treat yourself! Buy Bel Canto from an independent bookstore, the Book Depository, or Amazon (Kindle version.)

As an affiliate, I receive a very, very small commission when you make a purchase through any of the above links. Thank you for helping to support my book habits that bring more content to this blog!

Announcing the 2011 Indie Lit Award shortlists

noreply@blogger.com (nomadreader) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 11:00:00 +0000

The 2011 Indie Lit Award fiction shortlist:

Dance Lessons by Aine Greaney

Cross Currents by John Shorts

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones

The Last Time I Saw Paris by Lynn Sheene

The 2011 Indie Lit Award shortlists were announced this weekend, and I can't wait to start reading the titles that made the fiction shortlist (for which I am a judge this year). It has everything I look for in a shortlist: a book I've read (The Night Circus), a couple of titles I've been meaning to get to (Cross Currents and Silver Sparrow), and two titles that are new to me (Dance Lessons and The Last Time I Saw Paris.) There's an impressive variety of settings in these novels: Scotland, Thailand, just about everywhere, Atlanta and Paris. I'll be reading these titles over the next two months and discussing their merits with my fellow judges. I won't be posting reviews on these titles until the winner and runner-up are announced in mid-March.

Now tell me: which title are you most excited to see on this year's shortlist?

The shortlists for the other categories are available on the Indie Lit Awards web site.

As an affiliate, I receive a very, very small commission when you make a purchase through any of the above links. Thank you for helping to support my book habits that bring more content to this blog!

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy giveaway!

noreply@blogger.com (nomadreader) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 11:00:00 +0000

Since I first saw a trailer for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy last month, I've been eager to see it, so I was thrilled to be asked to host a giveaway in conjunction with its national release today. The film, based on John le Carre's novel, is set in 1973. It's a Cold War spy caper involving the MI6. The cast includes Colin Firth, Gary Oldman, John Hurt, Benedict Cumberbatch, and David Dencik.

Here's the trailer:

Two winners (U.S. only) will receive:

a copy of the book with movie tie-in cover (below)
a t-shirt
a Post-It note cube
a voice recorder pen

For more information about the film:

CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED. THANKS TO ALL WHO ENTERED!

Note: I received the featured gift pack in exchange for hosting this giveaway. The gift pack is valued at $43.

As an affiliate, I receive a very, very small commission when you make a purchase through any of the above links. Thank you for helping to support my book habits that bring more content to this blog!

A People's Read-a-long

noreply@blogger.com (nomadreader) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 05:01:00 +0000

Jill at Fizzy Thoughts and Jenners at Life...with Books are hosting A People's Read-a-long for Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States. I've been meaning to read this book since 1997, when I saw Good Will Hunting. Instead of reading the book, however, I proceeded to see the film six times in the theater and many, many more times once it came out on video (and then dvd.) It's one of my all-time favorite films. Mr. Nomadreader and I own both a print copy and a Kindle copy, and we're both going to participate!

The read-a-long is my kind of sensible one: it starts Monday, January 16th, the federal holiday for Martin Luther King, Jr. Chapter 1 is due that Monday. Each Monday thereafter, a chapter is due. The read-a-long will finish Monday, July 9th with the 25th chapter.

I swore off read-a-longs last year when I failed at Anna Karenina, but I think non-fiction will work better for me. I like to read at my own pace with fiction, but I'm much happier with arbitrary stopping points and goals for non-fiction, which I rarely read to begin with.

I haven't decided if I'll post about the chapter each Monday or not. Jill will post every Monday and those posts will serve as discussion posts for those so-inclined. My tentative plan is to share 1-3 things I learned in the chapter on Mondays. I hope I can convince Mr. Nomadreader to share his thoughts (or his 1-3 things too).

Want to join in? Buy A People's History of the United States from an independent bookstore, the Book Depository or Amazon (the Kindle version I have seems to no longer be available, thus vindicating my habits of impulse Kindle shopping!)

As an affiliate, I receive a commission when you make a purchase through any of the above links. Thank you for helping to support my book habits that bring more content to this blog!

graphic novel review: Watchmen by Alan Moore

noreply@blogger.com (nomadreader) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 11:00:00 +0000

The backstory: Watchmen is on the list of 1001 Books to Read Before You Die.

My thoughts: When I sat down to finally read Watchmen, I knew very little about the actual plot. In the first few pages, I had little idea what was going, but soon I began to understand how the characters and scenes fit together. I read a fair number of graphic novels, but Watchmen made me slow down my reading in a way no other graphic novel has. There is so much detail in each box, and the shifting of perspective is cinematic and intricately detailed.

I was also impressed with the character development. Between each chapter, there was a multimedia section to offer context. There were excerpts from an autobiography of one of the characters, news articles and other 'found objects.' I was fascinated by this unexpected mix of materials, and it brought a richness to the characters that continued into the graphic novel sections. As someone married to a comic book fan, I caught numerous funny and smart references to superheros, but I'm sure there were countless more I missed. Those who are familiar with superheros will find many inside jokes, but those who aren't will still be wowed by the story itself.

I expected to sit down and read Watchmen in a few hours, but instead it took me six hours. As I read, I was enchanted. My mind was engaged, and I was curious to see not only what would happen, but how the characters would end up. The last chapter was my least favorite, which lessened my enjoyment somewhat overall, but it's still a graphic novel I admire, enjoyed and recommend.

The verdict: Watchmen is a classic. As I read it, I was wowed by the complexity of the story, the detail of the art and the timelessness of both.

Rating: 4 out of 5
Length: 436 pages
Publication date: September 1986-October 1987 (serial)
Source: I bought it

As an affiliate, I receive a very, very small commission when you make a purchase through any of the above links. Thank you for helping to support my book habits that bring more content to this blog!