jennifermcbride
No Country for Old Men (Vintage International)
Although the movie is much better
The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ
A clever re-telling of the Christ story with Jesus and Christ being two separate men
Riven Rock
I really like Boyle's historical fiction
The Glass Castle: A Memoir
I enjoyed this true story about two ""unconventional"" parents raising their children in squalid poverty by choice. Does this constitute abuse or not? I'm not sure. Many parts are horrifying while other parts are heart-warming. Hmmm.....this story makes you think.
The Quiet Room: A Journey Out of the Torment of Madness
Definitely not literature--clunky
The Stolen Child
Changelings scare me
The Bell Jar
The description of Esther's breakdown seems so rational
Drop City
TC Boyle strikes again
 - Julia Leigh)
Disquiet (Penguin Original)
Main character is a stillborn baby. Slim and creepy
The Garden of Last Days. Andre Dubus III
A compelling read. The characters are loathsome but I was invested in their misery.
Death with Interruptions
A beautiful
Freedom: A Novel (Oprah's Book Club)
I loved Franzen's Corrections, but I hated Freedom. To be honest, I put it down by page 350, and I have NEVER not finished a book. There is no plot. It's 450 pages of whiny, vapid character development. I've never met characters that I absolutely did not care about. A friend of mine said, "Franzen captures a type of modern America that is overwhelmed by nothing...with too much freedom and not enough meaning in his or her life." Totally get that. The problem is that there is no subtlety in his message. Franzen is so obvious that it's almost insulting. The word "freedom" appears every 4 pages--come on, geez. I can hear a professor in some English class somewhere telling his students, "Make sure to highlight the word 'freedom' whenever you see it. This word is important to Franzen's message." Duh.
The Passage: A Novel
Two thumbs way up for this postapocalyptic page-turner. I could not put this book down. 700 pages flew by so quickly. The plot is epic, the character development is superb, the setting is written cinematically. Partly devestating like The Road, but partly inspirational like I've never experienced in apocalypse fiction. If you read it, please contact me. I'd love to talk to you about it.
The Magicians: A Novel
I enjoyed this novel about a group of student magicians who live in a parallel world. Sound like a fusion of Harry Potter and Narnia? Yes, but these comparisons are too simple for this beautiful yet brutal fantasy. Loved it. Looking foward to Grossman's next book.
The Comfort of Strangers
One of the most disturbing books I've encountered; disturbance doesn't hit until last 30 pages
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell: A Novel
I do believe in fairies
