My Favorite Three
City of Thieves by David Benioff: 10 out of 10 stars; reviewed in April 2011
Even if the summary of my existence makes boring reading--school, college, odd jobs, graduate school, odd jobs, more graduate school, mutant superheroes--I've had a good time existing.
The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry: 10 out of 10 stars; reviewed in April 2011
The world is indeed beautiful and if we were any other creature than man we might be continuously happy in it.
Away by Amy Bloom: 10 out of 10 stars; reviewed in June 2011
He asks Lillian's help, he says he has no right to ask more of her but he does, and Lillian thinks that she's the same way--who isn't--we're all like cats going back to the ones who put out the milk.
Unexpected Pleasures
Bangkok 8 by John Burdett: 7 out of 10 stars; reviewed in June 2011
The sadistic vivisection of life into hours, minutes, seconds was one of the few hardships never inflicted by the soil.
The Final Solution by Michael Chabon: 8 out of 10 stars; reviewed in June 2011
To the modern detective, truth is rarely its won reward; usually it is its own punishment. And if you cannot track mystery to the back of its ugly cave, then be content to stand at the edge of the dark and call it by name.
Requiring a Certain Headspace
Fieldwork by Mischa Berlinski: 9 out of 10 stars; reviewed in May 2011
Also, I thought to myself, maybe this is normal for them. Maybe this is how evangelical Christians mate.
Flaubert's Parrot by Julian Barnes: 6 out of 10 stars; reviewed in June 2011
Books say: She did this because. Life says: She did this. Books are where things are explained to you; life is where things aren't. I'm not surprised some people prefer books. Books make sense of life. The only problem is that the lives they make sense of are other people's lives, never your own.
Pygmy by Chuck Palahniuk: 5 out of 10 stars; ; reviewed in June 2011
Next sing how past visited arid landscape aboard equine of no title.
Bottom of the Pile
L'Affaire by Diane Johnson: 3 out of 10 stars; reviewed in June 2011
Cross Bones by Kathy Reichs: 3 out of 10 stars; reviewed in June 2011
Hunting the Ghost Dancer by A. A. Attanasio: 4 out of 10 stars
Men were like the clouds, he thought, moved by invisible forces that rose out of the earth and descended from the heights. The clashing of those forces shaped men as wind shaped clouds. Great men learned to read the wind and to partake in their own shaping. No one, not even the greatest of men, could choose their own way. Acceptance, and with it participation, were the only choices beyond ignorance. He thought this good. Life was simply as one found it, beautiful and terrible in its simplicity.
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