A Long Way Gone

So, I really did like this book. It started out slow for me. I wonder how much of the beginning was sort of "made up" versus being the actual truth. He was so young, how could he possibly remember all of that. I mean, I am sure it is all based on what he does remember, but I doubt that it's exact. Once he was actually recruited into the army, that is when the book got really interesting to me. I was pretty blown away by his story. This book reminded me a lot of What is the What in a way and I think I do prefer that book this one. I really found the story of his rehabilitation to be the most interesting part of his story. It’s truly amazing that they are able to rehabilitate any of these young men after the horrors they had been though. I had never really thought much about it until I read this story. I do have to say though, I HATED the ending. What? I was upset that he didn't go on to tell his story of how he made it to the US after everything he had been though. I get what he was trying to do with the ending, but it was too abrupt for me. I really want to hear how he was able to make it out of Guinea and into the US. Besides the ending, this book was really quite fascinating and really set my brain in motion.

Here's the Story

I found this book to be quite engrossing. Who knew Marcia Brady was a cocaine addict. Yes, the book was also very sad. I think Maureen McCormick is probably still pretty messed up, even though she tried to tie the book up in a happy ending. I am not so sure I buy it. I did however like that she really barred all this memoir. I really found it fascinating. The only complaint I had was that chronologically she jumped around a lot. I had a hard time keeping track of what year it was. She would tell a story about something that happened in the 1984 and then a few paragraphs later would talk about something that happened either earlier or later and then come back to 1984. Other than that, I was actually impressed with her writing. Every easy to read, yet again, very engrossing. For anyone who likes the Brady Bunch or is even interested in the 1970’s or who just likes a good memoir, I would recommend this.

The Uncommon Reader

I think some of the British humor was lost on me, I still enjoyed this short read about the Queen of England discovering the joy of literature late in her life. It was funny, though again I think some of it went over my head. I thought the characters were well developed for it being only a 120 pages. Nicely written, not a word was spared.

The Talking Horse and the Sad Girl and the Village Under the Sea

I much prefer Mark Haddon's novels to his poetry. There was maybe one poem I actually enjoyed; mostly they just didn't make any sense to me. I have never been much of a poetry fan to begin with (exepct for Longfellow and Bukowski) but for some reason I keep trying. I think I should just give it up and realize poetry just isn't for me. This book of poems did not help.

Eyes, Breath, Memory

I really enjoyed this book. The characters were very fullfilling. I loved the Magical Realism touch to it. It was beautifully written, but bordered just a bit on chick lit. That's okay though, it was still a great, quick read. I am looking forward to reading Danticat's other book, Krick, Krack.

Gifted

I was excited about this book. I thought the premise was interesting, But in the end I was disappointed. There wasn't much follow through on some of the initial parts of the story line that I liked (her first trip to India for instance). It started of varying between the mother, father and Rumi's point of view, but stopped once she went to Oxford and I thought that was disappointing. I also had a hard time connecting to the characters. Rumi was just to weird for me, and the mother really got on my last nerve. I also didn't like the father character at all. Plus the ending did nothing for me. So it goes.