This was an interesting book. When I checked it out, I was kind of thinking, Am I really going to like this? I'm not a karaoke person. How is this memoir going to work for me? But it did. Rob Sheffield examines his own life, after suddenly becoming a young widow, through karaoke. He writes of how, in a way, karaoke saved him. The book goes way beyond that, but overall, it was just an easy, enjoyable read.
Night Film: A Novel
I feel like this will either be one of those books that you love or hate, no in between (and if you read it or have read it, please tell me which category you fall into). First of all, it's a mystery novel, but it's 600 pages. So it is not the fluffy mystery novel that you take to the beach. It's also one of those books where the author has created multimedia inserts to enhance the novel, such as newspaper articles and websites, to make it more realistic. This is a touch that I love.
Scott McGrath is a journalist who has an obsession with underground film maker, Stanislav Cordova. Cordova's films are so dark that they've been banned from mainstream movie theatres and are now, literally, shown underground: in subway tunnels and other hidden venues. The director himself hasn't been seen or heard from in years and is as mysterious as his films. McGrath lost his job over calling Cordova a predator. When Cordova's daughter is found dead, McGrath sets out to find the truth about her death and about Cordova, following a twisting passageway as dark as one of Cordova's film.
This book definitely pulled me in. I didn't want to stop reading it. I would bring it to work to read during silent reading time and I would think about it sitting on my desk and want to read it right then and there. It's good. Really good.
Oryx and Crake
Apparently the final book in this trilogy was just released, so I thought it was a good time to check out the first book. Snowman, formerly known as Jimmy, is the last surviving human in a post-apocalyptic world. Unless you count the children of Crake, who are somewhat human but are engineered to have some of the more desirable qualities of various animals. Throughout the story, Jimmy weaves the present with the past as he tells what happened to bring about the end of the world. I loved it and can't wait to read the next two.
What are you reading?
5 comments:
Night Film is super polarizing within the publishing industry. I'm going to give it a shot, but will skip the videos until after. I don't want to see the characters outside of what I envision in my head as I'm reading.
Night Film is already on my list, now I'm excited to get my hands on it. I just finished Transatlantic by Colum McCann and it was one of those books that I liked more and more the further I got into it. Beautifully written.
I'm reading The Ask and the Answer, the second book in the Chaos Walking series by Patrick Ness. HOOKED. And I love knowing when all three books in a trilogy are out and I can read them straight through. :)
I also read These Is My Words by Nancy Turner, ohhhhh it was good.
I'm reading some cheesy book "written" by Richard Castle - the TV show Castle. It's pretty silly.
I love your What I Read Wednesday posts! I'm adding Night Film to my want to read list. I read Year of the Flood (the second in the MaddAddam trilogy) and can't wait to read Oryx and Crake. I just finished The Sky Unwashed, a novel about Chernobyl - loved it! I'm reading Odd Thomas now - it was on my list forever but one of your posts from a couple of weeks ago reminded me to pull it out of my stack.
Post a Comment