I’m reading so many books these days that I can hardly keep track. So I thought I would add a book review post to my regular movie review at the end of each month. Though instead of using the handy star rating system, I’ve devised a different scale of my own. (Skip, read, re-read, recommend.) Hope you enjoy.
Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
Very funny novel following the adventures/exploits of Flora Poste, a busybody with the goal of making the world “tidy”, as she visits her distant relations on a farm in Sussex. Such a delightful book sustained by enduring wit and humor! (read, re-read, and recommend)
The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood
I've read one other of Atwood's books, The Handmaid's Tale, and neither it nor this one were disappointing. Both were well written, uniquely conceived tales of womanhood throughout the ages. This was particularly singular in form of style and structure... both modeled in ways from Greek mythology, literature, and drama. I enjoyed it, but I find reading Atwood requires at least for me a desire to immerse myself in feminist language, plot, attitude and sensibility not something that I'm always in the mood for in recreation reading. (read)
This popular fiction read is not my normal fare, but the movie trailers spiked my interest. I wasn't terribly disappointed. It was well written and the story was truly unique. A quite long book (500 odd pages if I remember correctly) and so becoming attached to the characters was really inevitable. Of course I was in tears by the end of the book, even though I had a feeling I knew how it would end. I guess the most interesting part of the book is the timeline. Each chapter is subtitled with a date and the ages of the characters involved... it all has to do with the issue of time traveling. Though I did find myself looking back once or twice for clarification of which version of each character was speaking (the book is also written in a split narrative of the husband and wife's perspectives), Niffenegger accomplished the feat of transporting the reader along with Henry, the time traveler of the title, on the backwards and forwards progression of his life. Definitely perfect for a book club, as it would bring up an interesting discussions: time, relationships, trust, absence, ect. (read and recommend)
Just, Margaret
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