This is my third Chris Bohjalian book and the third time I am giving his book 3 stars. I really hate the 3 star rating. It is the least descriptive raThis is my third Chris Bohjalian book and the third time I am giving his book 3 stars. I really hate the 3 star rating. It is the least descriptive rating available. Did I like it? No. I didn't. I thought the characters were unlikable and bleak. Sure, the setting had them in Italy during the end of World War II, when things were most likely the least hopeful and actions were the most desperate, but the war only partially influences these characters' motives and choices. They are, generally, a selfish, self-absorbed and unsympathetic bunch. I also don't really think the format of mixing a first person anonymous psychopath confessional, family saga set in 1944 and police investigation in 1955 worked well. I kept waiting to care more - about the horrible murders and the hidden motive and the back story of the female detective who was clearly suffering from the memories of her own past.
So, why 3 stars? I didn't like it, even though my 3 stars claims that I did, but 2 stars, for me, is a book that is poorly written (I reserve 1 stars for books that I hate) and Bohjalian has talent. I just don't particularly like what he does with his skill. I think I'm done with this author. ...more
This book was a surprise for me. I have become a bit into reading books on my ipad. I held out on having an ereader for so long because I love books..This book was a surprise for me. I have become a bit into reading books on my ipad. I held out on having an ereader for so long because I love books...love the way they feel in my hand...love they way they stack on my nightstand. But, I also know this about myself: I am a homebody. Ebooks and the kindle deals make it easy for me to avoid the library, a place I love but a place that requires me driving through traffic to get there and dealing with a toddler who doesn't seem to sympathize with my desire to stand next to a shelf of books, tilt my neck sideways and read the titles of thousands of book bindings.
This path of least resistance has led to me reading a number of books I don't think I would have checked out at the library or bought a physical copy of from a bookseller. I Am Livia is the perfect example. The subject matter, a historical fiction rendering of the wife of Cesar Augustus, Livia Drusilla, isn't something I knew anything about or figured I was very interested in. Turns out, I really learned quite a lot about this time period and the major characters involved in the assassination of Julius Ceasar, his heir and his rivals. I've never been to Italy so the closest I've ever come to studying or carrying about the ancient Roman Empire is when I visited Israel last year and saw so many ruins testifying of their ingenuity, ambition and cruelty. This book definitely has a much more sympathetic opinion of the Romans and their building projects, defense of slavery and conquests, although those things were never the focus of the book. This was much more about the possible love story between a powerful leader and a woman whose own history is molded much more by rumors and speculation than known facts. She was, after all, a woman. Perhaps that's why I enjoyed it so much.
The writing doesn't stand out as amazing, nor does the plot or characters, but it isn't void of compliments. I believe the author did a good job weaving her fiction into an actual history. I don't feel like I've been on a fool's errand and although I certainly can't claim any sort of expertise about the Roman Empire and these major historical figures, I no longer feel as ignorant. I like that. ...more
The Rosie Project is a lighthearted romantic comedy that, in spite of itself, asks an interesting and emotional question: can someone on the autism spThe Rosie Project is a lighthearted romantic comedy that, in spite of itself, asks an interesting and emotional question: can someone on the autism spectrum (Aspergers) love and be loved in a romantic way? Don Tillman is a brilliant professor of genetics and enjoys his organized and structured lifestyle but would like a wife. Because dates usually go so poorly for him, he devises a way to sift through potential candidates through a detailed questionnaire. His requirements are impossible to fulfill for any one woman (and should there be that one woman, Don's own suitability would probably be in question) and, most likely as a joke or a dare or some other unkind motivation, his one adult friend, Gene, a professor of Psychology at the same university, sends Rosie over to Don's apartment. Rosie, unaware of the wife project, shares with Don her frustration of not knowing who her biological father is. Even though Rosie doesn’t fit his what-i-want-in-a-wife criteria, he likes her and offers his help in identifying her father through his ability to test DNA samples and their complicated friendship develops.
Because of Don's inability to follow social norms, this development is filled with comedy. Intellectually, it feels mean to me to find amusement in another person's lack of awareness but Don is so smart and so unaffected by being considered weird that the book comes off as very fun. I doubt whether that is always the reality for those who live, love and work with people with Aspergers. I think the thing that was the hardest thing for me to admit was that there was no way I could ever fall in love with a man like Don. Interestingly, even though we are reminded through Don's character that he has few friends and has never be involved with anyone romantically, the ultimate question becomes can Don love someone in return? I appreciated the author's answer to the question and thought about Don and Rosie for days afterwards. That's good work for a romcom!...more
If you've ever wondered how to forge a fake copy of old paintings or get confused about the difference between wet on dry or wet on wet technique or nIf you've ever wondered how to forge a fake copy of old paintings or get confused about the difference between wet on dry or wet on wet technique or need a use for the industrialized size oven or the preservative formaldehyde you've got lying around your studio, this is the book for you.
Shapiro writes in great detail about each of these and even though I was curious about whether or not Claire Roth and her forgery of a fictional Degas painting would be traced back to her, I found the bridge between her plot and all of the shoved in facts having to do with history and art a bit tedious. I also disliked Claire and her over the top melodrama. Talk about a girl who gets worked up about things. One more negative was that I felt annoyed reading fake letters from a ridiculous woman about her connection to Degas and his fake painting and the fact that none of the modern day characters had access to. It would have made things connect so much better of the letters had turned up or if we were as blind about motive as the other characters.
I'm trying now to think of the positives so I'm not such a negative nelly and they are I likes the Boston location, I liked some of the how-to-paint facts and, like I mentioned earlier, wondered how it was going to turn out for the forgers. Definitely a meh book for me....more
This was exactly the kind of book I needed to read to get me out of a serious reading rut. Not frothy light but light enough to allow me to escape intThis was exactly the kind of book I needed to read to get me out of a serious reading rut. Not frothy light but light enough to allow me to escape into the history, action and romance without weariness. The best part of the story is set in Scotland in the 1700s and highlights the Scottish people known as Jacobites trying to plot the return of their exiled King James from France to rebel against the newly formed union of Great Britain. There is also a modern storm which alternates but it not nearly as enjoyable or believable because it involves an author who discovers that she is able to chanel memories from her ancestor who lived during the time and at the location she has moved to write her book. She throws in some medical terms to try and make it less hokey-pokey than it is (memories being passed along in the DNA much like nose shape and temperament) but I never believed in her trances that allowed her to write a perfectly accurate history in stream of conscious form. In spite of my pooh-poohing of the modern day story, I liked the history, flow and outcome. It feels good to finish a book in less than 3 weeks! ...more
I’ve never read Alice Munro before. Maybe the flashy “Nobel Prize� winning emblem on her books finally made me take notice. I didn’t read the fine priI’ve never read Alice Munro before. Maybe the flashy “Nobel Prize� winning emblem on her books finally made me take notice. I didn’t read the fine print, however, because I was surprised when I realized Dear Life is a collection of short store and not a novel. I honestly felt a bit broken hearted when the first story ended and I knew I wasn’t going to get any more of those characters.
I have no doubt that I would prefer Munro to write novels because that is the format I enjoy best and because she is an absolute genius when it comes to writing nuance and that which can’t be seen. To pack so much feeling and personality into a short story is pretty incredible. I shouldn’t begrudge her her preference but I do wonder why and wish I could read something she wrote that could develop more plot, because everything else - her characters, settings, point of view, is perfect. Still, I will definitely be picking up more Alice Munro. This is exactly the kind of writing I love. ...more
I always forget that David Sedaris’s work is probably better read over time than in all one sitting. I laughed out loud during his first story and whiI always forget that David Sedaris’s work is probably better read over time than in all one sitting. I laughed out loud during his first story and while each essay is independently funny, all combined they sort of start to run into each other. I like his writing best when he uses his own POV and didn’t really like his fake first person letters but his trash collecting in England and book signing at Costco had me dying a little. What a funny man....more
This book felt extremely uneven to me. Part mystery, part horror film in print, part tour of New York City and upstate New York, and part “how to undeThis book felt extremely uneven to me. Part mystery, part horror film in print, part tour of New York City and upstate New York, and part “how to understand� black magic and the occult, I didn’t particularly enjoy the sum of all its parts.
I love mysteries and this is a mystery, for sure. Scott McGrath is a disgraced and eager-for-redemption investigative journalist whose reputable career was ruined when he attempted an expose on cult horror film maker Stanlisas Cordova (think Stephen King but worse because Cordova’s films were so debased and horrible that they had been banned and watching them was only possible with bootleg copies or secret underground screenings). When Cordovos’s daughter dies from an apparent suicide, McGrath sees it as an opportunity to finally redeem himself and prove that, somehow, Cordova and his twisted lifestyle were responsible for her death. His discovery of the “whodunit� and, more complicated, the why, are actually quite scary. At least, I felt very nervous and tense at times. When it left the mystery and delved in depth into the horror film references, I wondered why I was still reading. I avoid horror films at all costs because I don’t enjoy scaring myself. I don’t want to know about torture scenes and absolutely terrified women.
Remarkably, in the midst of all this tension and worry, I often felt bored by McGrath constant defense of his investigation as well as uninterested about the various plots and purposes of the made-up horror films he felt like we needed to know all about to truly understand the setting. Sometimes, I’ll ask my son about something he read or a movie and, instead of summarizing, he proceeds to retell me the story in as much detail as he can remember until I can’t take it anymore. I wanted to cut McGrath/Pessi off and shout, “Summarize the important point!�
There is also a lack of cohesiveness between the known world and this occultist world surrounding Cordova and his uber-fans. The chapter that isn’t a chapter (all the other chapters get numbered but there is an entire section nestled between black pages) is hard to read. I’m sure it’s supposed to be but between the history of the past Cordova films and the surreal telling of McGrath’s journey, is so confusing that I ended up skimming. It didn’t seem to matter all that much.
The ending, or endings, were very unsatisfying to me. I didn’t care for the conclusions about belief in occult or magic and I didn’t care for any of the characters� journeys anymore.
I did enjoy this as an ebook. It is my first time checking out an ebook from my library and I was surprised I lucked out choosing something so obviously made for the digital format. The story is filled with screen shots of web pages and newspaper clippings and those, in color and looking like actual web sites, looked perfect on my iPad. There was also something to download for an even more interactive experience but I was less invested by the time that capability was revealed.
So…good stuff. Bad stuff. Boring stuff. Techie stuff. It’s a mixed bag for me. Good but not great. ...more
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