some books that i've really loved reading the past several months. ...and just so you don't think i love everything, one that i absolutely detested:
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
rating: 5 out of 5
A modern story written in the 'gothic' tradition, I loved The Thirteenth Tale because of the main character's love and adoration of books, the dark mystery and the lush descriptions. The story line plot twist is amazingly smart.
Apparently the 'properness' and reserved nature of Margaret, the main character, didn't sit well with British readers and this book finally did well over the pond becoming a NY Times best seller in 2006.
This is Diane Setterfield's debut novel and I look forward to her sophomore
story.
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
rating: 4 out of 5
Hosseini's second novel is by far, grittier and more heart wrenching than his first, which in my opinion had a story arch of a hollywood movie. This book made me rethink my position in Canada's involvement in Afghanistan.
What shines through, much like the Kite Runner, is his utter love of the Afghanistan people and what the country used to be before the many wars ravaged the landscape and cultures.
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
rating: 5 out of 5
I bawled while turning the last few pages. BAWLED!! And I know that the movie, despite starring Viggo Mortenson will not even come close to how good this book is.
Like James Frey, this book is written without quotation marks, but unlike Frey, McCarthy writes in a way that makes quotation marks seem unnecessary.
The Shack by William P. Young
rating: -200 out of 5
Awful, awful. The author tries to explain how a loving and fair God can allow bad things to happen to good people. Apparently this book, published independently, has a huge following because of the way it helps people understand this point. I didn't like this book at all and found the author's reliance on race generalizations to be extremely offensive. And in the end the book doesn't offer an answer to the question, instead asks people to just 'trust' God because everything that happens to you happens for a reason. So basically, if you trust and love God you don't have to take any responsibilities for things that happen to you because it all happens for a reason. Trust God and you don't have to be accountable for anything! yay!
The writing becomes really bland and repetitive near the end as well. I hate this book and pushes me towards becoming an atheist.
The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill
rating: 5 out of 5
The amazing tale of Aminata Diallo, a young girl abducted from Africa during the slave trade and well, I don't want to give anything away. It is beautifully written and is hard to imagine with all the details that it was written in the 20th century.
i need some book recommendations for the winter season. do you have any?
