Monthly Reading: December 2011 (Sunday Salon)
Cover of The Sparrow: A Novel
Happy New Year! I did indeed receive a Kindle Touch for Christmas and am happily reading my first book on it, A Game of Thrones. This seems the perfect book for the Kindle, the reason why I wanted an e-reader in the first place. It saves me having to cart around a ridiculously large book; the Kindle fits snugly into the inside pocket of my purse instead. Also, I don’t have to get rid of the book afterward, as I surely won’t reread it. And an added benefit that I hadn’t suspected is that, when reading a novel with about a thousand characters, if I ever forget who someone is, I only have to touch the screen and become enlightened, rather than trying to flip back through the pages and recall where I saw the name last. So, in short, I am liking my Kindle. And I am liking Game of Thrones.
As for what I read in my last Kindle-less month… I completed four books, but one was a novella and one was a book of fairy tales, so December was actually a fairly light month for me. I also abandoned one book.
The highlight of the month was finally reading Mary Doria Russell’s The Sparrow, which turned out to be my favorite read of 2011. It really does have everything I love in a novel: an imaginative premise, terrific characters, beautiful writing and a moving theme that asks big questions. I remember someone recommending it to me years ago, and I’m only sorry I took so long to read it.
I also read a couple of short selections off my classics shelf: Hans Christian Andersen’s Fairy Tales, a collection that combines almost-forgotten childhood favorites with some stories I had never read; and The Turn of the Screw by Henry James, which is probably the first entry in the ambiguous ghost story sub-genre. I liked the Andersen better than the James, just because James’ writing style is a tad overwrought for me, but it’s such a short book, there’s no reason not to read it.
I read an advance review copy of The Mirage by Matt Ruff, which I have yet to review. The premise is an intriguing one: Instead of 9/11, two planes crashed into twin towers in Baghdad on November 9, 2011. However, it was a very odd story, and I have yet to decide how I reacted to it. I’m sure my feelings toward it are lukewarm.
As for the book I abandoned, it was Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart. This is the second of his novels I’ve attempted and given up on, which leads me to the conclusion that he is not an author I will get along with. Ah well, we can’t like them all.
Right now, besides A Game of Thrones, I am almost finished with rereading Howard’s End, another selection off the classics shelf. I’m hoping to read many more classics this year, all in actual book form. I’ll save my trashier reading for the new Kindle.
Roundup: 4 books read, 1 abandoned. Click the titles below for my full reviews or reading notes (some links will take you off this site). My rating scale is explained here.
Hans Christian Andersen’s Fairy Tales (Puffin Classics)
The Mirage (to be reviewed); The Turn of the Screw
I’ve made it a personal goal to read The Sparrow in 2012. A good buddy from Yahoo Groups recommended it to me about, oh, 10 years ago!!!! It’s about time I get around to it already.
Andi, read it!
Shteyngart was the first author whose work I ever started and then abandoned. I used to have a “stick with it till the end” philosophy but I simply couldn’t bear Absurdistan, so I suppose I have him to thank for all the hours I’ve saved on subsequent abandoned books. (I know this is irrational but I was so turned off by his writing that now if I see his name on the “praise for…” section of a hardcover dustjacket I put it back down.)
John- I have to admit that I truly don’t get all the praise for him. He reminds me of Chuck Palahniuk, who is equally unbearable to me.