I've been reading up a storm lately. I don't know what has sparked this sudden vigorous urge to read, but it's downright lovely. I made a goal at the beginning of the year (some might call that a "new year's resolution") to read 20 new books this year, and I'm 4 down with 3 in progress.
Book #1 - The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
I host a book club about once a month, and this was one of the books chosen by one of the other girls. I wasn't over the moon about it, but it wasn't Twilight. (Good Lord, Stephanie Meyer, you may be Mormon, but you really are a terrible writer - sorry to all the Twi-fans out there, but they really do suck). I give it a...I don't know, a 3 out of 5. It was semi-okay. The plot was pretty predictable and the main character didn't seem to have much depth, but it was a quick read that made you want to finish, even though you pretty much knew how it was going to end. It was one of those things where you're thinking "I know what's going to happen, but I have to finish so I can make sure that's what happens!" Wouldn't read it again, and probably won't read the other two, though. One thing that IS cool, though, is that Peter from Narnia is rumored to play Peeta. I like him. :) Only because he's High King of Narnia...
Book #2 - The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton
This was one of those books that I saw at Barnes & Noble and thought "hm, this looks interesting," so I bought it, took forever to start it and now I tell everyone I meet about this book. Okay, that's not true, but I do rave about it when the topic naturally lands on books. I love, love, love this book. 5 out of 5, no 7 out of 5. It was that good. I'm a sucker for a good "discovery" book. Not a mystery, like a "who done-it" kind of a mystery, but a family secret mystery. And that's what this book is. I have tried endlessly to explain the timelessness this book has, but apparently I'm not good at it, because everyone is always like "oh, what's her name again? Katie Morley, okay, I'll remember that." No, Kate Morton, and yes, you will remember, because I'm requiring all of my friends to read it. You know, when you have time. It's a hefty book, 550ish pages, but oh, oh, oh, so worth it! Here's a little description of the book (that I stole from Amazon):
In 1913, a little girl arrives in Brisbane, Australia, and is taken in by a dockmaster and his wife. She doesn’t know her name, and the only clue to her identity is a book of fairy tales tucked inside a white suitcase. When the girl, called Nell, grows up, she starts to piece together bits of her story, but just as she’s on the verge of going to England to trace the mystery to its source, her grandaughter, Cassandra, is left in her care. When Nell dies, Cassandra finds herself the owner of a cottage in Cornwall, and makes the journey to England to finally solve the puzzle of Nell’s origins. Shifting back and forth over a span of nearly 100 years, this is a sprawling, old-fashioned novel, as well-cushioned as a Victorian country house, replete with family secrets, stories-within-stories, even a maze and a Dickensian rag-and-bone shop. ...It’s a satisfying read overall, just the thing for readers who like multigenerational sagas with a touch of mystery.
Man, all of the characters are so vivid and Morton does such, SUCH, a fantastic job of not only bringing them to life, but also all of their emotions, trials and desire to discover the past. I want a job where I can discover family secrets. That's what I want to do with my life. Too bad mine doesn't have any cool ones. So, if you read a book in the next 20 years, make sure this is it. Seriously. I'll be checking up on you.
Book #3: The House at Riverton by Kate Morton
Oh, warning, though: if you don't like tragedies, don't read this book. What Morton does (or at-least, what she has done with her first 2 books) is take a well known story, rips up the roots and replants it in her garden, letting it take on a whole new look in a new setting, but at the heart of it, it's recognizable to the original. The Forgotten Garden, was obviously, The Secret Garden, and this one was "Romeo and Juliet." But don't let that sway you! They are both entirely their own story, they just have hints of the others in them. I bawled my eyes out at 4 AM (because I couldn't stop reading and I was almost done) at the end of this one and it was so...poetic and tragic. Oh my gosh. Worth reading, for sure. 5 out of 5. The 7 stays reserved for The Forgotten Garden.
Ok, Book #4: Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes
This is where the movie part of the title of this blog comes in. I saw this movie when it came out years ago and really loved it. It's all about a divorced woman who finds herself and happiness by moving to Tuscany, buying a centuries old house and fixing it up. It was funny, adventurous and heart-warming. So, when I was in one of my "I want to see the world" moods (as I often am) and wandered into the travel section at the bookstore, I found Under the Tuscan Sun, proudly displayed, and decided to buy it. This was another book that took me forever to start to read. And even longer to finish, but that wasn't because it wasn't good.
Let me start by saying that the book is absolutely nothing like the movie. Okay, that's a bit much, it's almost nothing like the movie.
Similarities:
Woman named Frances
Buys a home in Tuscany
Fixes it up
Has a couple of Polish guys work for her
The end.
In the book, Frances is married, happily, and buys the home with her husband as a summer home. They fix it up, and get it started that summer, but most of the awful things, like walls crumbling down and men scrambling to run away so they don't die, happen while they are back home for the winter and they find out about them on the answering machine. They mostly finish fixing it up somewhere about half-way through the book and the rest of it talks about Tuscany and how amazing it is. She does have the same poetic language, though. "The grapes even taste purple" (probably shouldn't use quotes, because I'm pretty sure I'm paraphrasing). She includes recipes that she made and really delves into the heart of Italy and what makes the people tick. I loved it so much more than the movie. I thought the movie was superficial (after reading the book) and if I had been the author, I would have been so pissed.
The reason it took me so long to finish is because I didn't want it to end. It's like...when you go to a restaurant and order this fantastic entree and just gobble it down because it's so amazing, but then dessert comes and you savor every single bite, making it last as long as possible. It's not because it's necessarily *better* than your entree, it's just richer and you'd ruin it if you scarfed it all down. 5 out of 5. Maybe 4.5, because she sure did talk about some churches an awful lot.
-I certainly didn't intend for this post to be this long, I'm sorry-
Okay, so I'm most certainly one of those people who read more than one book at a time. I have to be "in the mood" to read a book, so if I don't feel like reading the one I'm reading, I start another one. And there are different times for different books.
Right now, I'm reading:
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
Dubliners by James Joyce
The Continuous Atonement by Brad Wilcox
Now, I haven't seen the movie "Eat, Pray, Love" and I've heard it's terrible, but if it is, it's nothing like the book, because the book is amazing. Ah.Maz.Ing. Simply.
And Joyce, who has anything bad to say about Joyce? Well, who that I am willing to listen to. Because those who think he's not a genius...I think they're idiots. Sorry.
And there is always room for a good ol' fashioned Church book.
I'll reserve full details of my opinions until after I'm finished with them. Dubliners will probably take a while, because it's one of those books that simply take a while.
