The Opposite of Loneliness: Essays and Stories
I believe Lyndsay recommended this one. The author, Marina Keegan, died young. Five days after her graduation from Yale, she died in a car crash. This book chronicles her writing, both fiction and non-fiction. I am not a short story person, but this book grabbed me. Although in some of her stories I could see overlapping themes that might have otherwise become tiresome, she had a voice beyond her years. A voice that could have had the potential to become a brilliant writer, made even more prolific by her death. I think, of course, it's easy to marginalize this book and admit that other young women who die in a car crash who maybe didn't go to Yale or have an upper-middle class upbringing probably wouldn't have their writings posthumously, but in the end, it's still a book that struck a chord with me.
The Magicians: A Novel (Magicians Trilogy)
I love it when I find out about a book series after it's all been published, so I don't have to wait around for new books to be released. This is like Harry Potter (and a little bit of Narnia) with a kick. High school senior Quentin is bored. Bored with life, bored with his friends, bored with the world around him when he suddenly finds himself whisked away to a secret magic college. This book chronicles his four years in college and expands into the adventures of the magic world beyond. While this is a fantasy novel, it's also a book where the characters seem unbelievably human and at times, unbelievably frustrating. I loved it and can't wait to read the other two.
What are you reading?
8 comments:
I think my E read those Magician books and enjoyed them!
This week I read a book recommended by my E: If I Stay. Which I'm sure you've heard of since you're surrounded by people that age. It's a bit of a tear jerker though I found it a bit immature. Not bad, just not as strong as I'd hoped.
And I read a book that I'm SO GLAD I discovered: Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson. Set in remote Norway it's the story of an older man who takes himself to a small, rustic cabin to live alone. While there he remembers a seminal summer of his childhood. It's like a coming of age tale in those memories but also coming of age as an older man. Beautiful voice. Calm, quiet and yet steadily builds to the climax of the story. It's one of those stories that lingers with me... his relationship with his father, the small peeks into his own life as a husband/father, the solitary lifestyle he's choosing for himself now... I really enjoyed it.
I have the Magicians on my to read list, with about a thousand other books...reading is going a lot slower than it was in the summer...weird, right?
I finished Landline - I actually liked it more than I thought I would (maybe because so many people said they didn't like it so my expectations were low?) but maybe I didn't like it as much as I wanted to like it....does that make sense to anyone but me?
Currently reading the Steady Running of the Hour. I am liking it a lot. Read half the book in one day, but the second half may take me a while since I keep falling asleep at night.
A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman. SO SO GOOD.
Steph
I'm so glad I have you people to tell me what to read.
Yes it was me who recommended the Marina Keegan book. Like you I'm not a short story person, but this one did hook me.
I started The Untold last night (because you and Barb told me to.)
The Magicians, YES. Love that series and so excited for the third one. I'm waiting for the library to get it, and then i'll buy it in paperback to match my other two (I might be weird, but getting the final book in hardcover and having the other two in paperback would make me twitch a little inside whenever I looked at it).
I'm reading Half the Sky, The Art of Hearing Heartbeats and the always thrilling Psychotherapy Integration for school. Just finished An Untamed State, about a Haitian-American woman who is kidnapped in Haiti. Dark, very dark, but well-written account of what a human being can and cannot take.
Sadly, the only book I've read this week is one on the new slr camera hubby bought. I am bound and determined to figure it out, but reading a damned camera book is NOT interesting at all!
I just started reading Attachments by Rainbow Rowell. I never heard of this author until you talked about being a fan of hers on this blog. Thanks for the recommendation!
Post a Comment