Book Reviews

I'm way, way behind on book reviews, so I'm doing them group style. Here we go!

Angle of Repose, Wallace Stegner

It took me four (4) months to read this book. Not because I wasn't interested, but just because I had 2 Stephanie Meyer books to read, 4 SDBBE books, and a few library books in the middle.

This book is a classic, but a good classic. It tells the story of a historian who is researching the life of his grandmother, Susan Ward. Susan married a man who was way ahead of his times in engineering. The result of that was that most of his ideas were ahead of both the technology of his time and the vision of his counterparts. As the couple went from disaster to disaster, the book details the loss of faith that Susan experiences in her husband and the possibilities for their family. She uprooted herself and her family more times that I can count, living her life through the correspondence she sent back East to her more successful contemporaries.

It is a stunning book (despite the longevity of my reading time; it never takes me that long to read a book, with the exception of Anna Karinina, which is my nemesis). The prose is beautiful, and resonates on so many levels. I would recommend it to anyone, although it is quite long and detailed. But you won't be dissappointed if you give it a chance.

High Fidelity

I read this for my last SDBBE round three book. (SDBBE is a book exchange that I belong to where you read books that are mailed to you from other readers. There were 4 readers in my group, and so each month for four months, I would recieve a book that I would then mail on to another reader. We all read and commentate in the books with different colors of ink, so by the time you get to the last one, there are lots and lots of comments to go through as you read.) I really enjoyed it. I've read another book by Nick Hornby, but I liked this one a lot more. It took me a little bit to get into, but I really enjoyed the humor in it. The best part was that since it was the last book that was exchanged, I had 3 other commentators reading it along with me. It is so fun to get to know the people in your group and recognize their humor. My group has the trial of trying to decipher my handwriting in each of the books I pass on. Sorry about that, May, Isabel and Britt!

But I liked High Fidelity. I'd like to see the movie now. I love John Cusack, and I can totally see him playing the main character, Rob. Thanks, Isabel!

Midwife's Story

This was the 3rd SDBBE book. I love stories about babies being born, and so I loved this book. I wish I had the guts to do what they do (have babies with a midwife, in their house), but I don't. Plus I really love my OB/GYN, and can't imagine having a baby without his help. And, since the midwife helps mostly Amish women, I'm out of the running all together.

Anyway, this book really hit a personal note. One of the chapters talked about a girl who's baby died a few months before birth, and how the midwife had to deliver the baby, knowing it had passed on. I read that chapter with tears in my eyes, remembering my dear sweet niece who had the same experience. I can't believe how strong God makes some women, and how tough the trials have to be. It was a great book; thanks a lot for picking it, Britt.

Breaking Dawn, Stephenie Meyer

I am glad that this series is over. I liked this book a lot more than Eclipse, but I still can't get back to how I felt after reading Twilight. I think that Bella is whiney, I think Edward became a characature devoted to carrying Bella around, and I think that Renesmee is the dumbest, ugliest baby name ever.

I thought Bella's gift was pretty cool. But I think she worries about all the wrong things. Who doesn't look in the mirror on their wedding day? How could you have that little interest in marrying the man you love? And why couldn't she have screwed up just a little, have been a little bit vulnerable as a new vampire? Why did she have to be so controlled? I think it's a cop out. Sorry. Again, glad the series is over.

Whew. I felt all summer like I was moving from book to book, crossing them off in my head as I finished them like a grocery list. I've got a few books on the shelf right now, and I don't feel pressured to read anything, which is a great feeling.

I'm going to post this; maybe I'll come back later and add pictures of the books. And maybe I won't.