Monday, May 21, 2007

On a winning streak...

Finished The Reader over the weekend. I was actually impressed. It had many of the themes I like in books; books, reading, the holocaust, a good plot. It had some nice twists and turns. At times I wished the pace was a little faster. But in the end, I was satified.

Next up:

The Bookseller of Kabul.

I actually picked the book because I thought it might take me a while to get through. I am leaving for a trip in 2 days and I was looking for something that would tide me over until I got back. To my surprise, I might actually finish it before we leave. (Not that that is a bad thing!) But I am totally loving this book. More on it later....

Monday, May 14, 2007

Bored...

Finished The Keeper of the Lime Rock. Honestly, it bored me. I mean, yea it's cool a woman ran this lighthouse and rescued all these people. I just didn't think it was such a big deal. I do understand that back in that time period it was a big deal, but not now. I guess I should try and see the historical value of it. But the book was pretty dry. Eh.. so it goes...

Next up: The Reader by Bernhard Schlink. I am a taken off by the fact it was an Oprah book.. but I will live. (After all, she did pick my favorite book of all time as one of her books.. so not all her choices can be THAT bad, right?)

Monday, May 7, 2007

Nightmares

Finished over the weekend Windows on the World. This book is giving me nightmares. It a fictional story about what happened during the 102 minutes after the first plane hit the World Trade Center in the restaurant called Windows on the World on the 107th floor. I am a bit fascinated by 9/11 so that is what triggered me to read this book. I never really thought about some of the events in such depth before. It's really a bit heart wrenching to think about all these people who were in the restaurant and literally trapped until either they burned to death, suffocated or the tower feel. They were up there for over an hour and half. Yes, I realize it's fiction, but I bet the story is actually quite real. (Though of course we would never know, as no one in the restaurant survived.)

*sigh*

Currently reading:

Keeper of the Lime Rock by Lenore Skomal. It's about Ida Lewis, who was the first woman to be awarded the American Cross of Honor for her heroic effort in saving lives. I am about 60 pages in.. it's interesting. I said I was going to read more non-fiction so here we go. It's a short little book and I should be finished in a day or two.

Tuesday, May 1, 2007

Disasters

Just finished Why New Orleans Matters. At first, I didn't think I was going to like this book. I thought the author was pretty arrogant and annoying. But then the book grew on me and I really started to get the feel for the New Orleans that he felt. It must be a great joy to love a city so much. In the end, I thought it was a very well written love story.
I thought the book would focus more on Katrina, but it didn't really unil the last 60 pages or so. I thought I would be disappointed by this, but I wasn't. I thought, in the end, the book was laid out beautifully.


Apparently I am in a disaster book book phase:

Next up (or should say already reading)

Windows on the World by Frederic Beigbeder