Sunday Salon: The Can't Finishes

I'm currently in the middle of a book that I think I just can't finish. This is a rarity for me. I'll read just about anything, and I generally just can't leave books unfinished, even if I don't like them. The book in question is my new Early Reviewer book, Any Given Doomsday by Lori Handeland. I was looking forward to it because I enjoy a good thriller every now and then, especially at this time of year. I'm about 2/3 through, and it's reading much more like a bodice-ripping romance novel than a thriller. There's only so much pulsing and throbbing that I can take. There's also a lot of sexual violence, which I'm finding disturbing. This is the first really bad review I'm going to have to give in the ER program. I've done mediocre reviews for sure, but I'm just not able to grasp on to anything here. I'm going to finish the book, because I need to review it, but I find myself taking more and more frequent breaks from reading it.

So, for discussion, what about you? When you get a really bad book do you force yourself to finish, or do you drop it in favor of the next one? How often do you find yourself in possession of a book you just don't like?

Review: Evil under the Sun

Hard to believe, with all the books I read, that I've never read an Agatha Christie before, but indeed, I have not. This was my first, and I can certainly see why Christie is the world's most-published novelist. If there's one thing Christie can do, it's tell a good story. And that's precisely what she does in Evil under the Sun. I can see why readers find Christie's work compelling; she draws her readers in quickly, with a large cast of thickly-described characters and a vivid sense of surroundings. Evil under the Sun brings us to a seaside resort, where a group of holiday-makers, including Christie's famous Inspector Poirot, find themselves attempting to deal with a broad range of personalities. Likely the most abrasive of all is the beautiful and capricious socialite Arlena Marshall. When she turns up dead in a remote part of the beach, it becomes Poirot's calling to determine her murderer. The resort's island location makes it unlikely that anyone outside the hotel could be responsible. Thus, Poirot must discover the murderer in his midst. Everyone, it seems, had a motive. Yet everyone too had an alibi. The answer turns out to be far more complicated than anyone had anticipated. Christie's gift is clearly to tell a gripping story. While there are no great lessons on morality or statements on the human condition within this it is certainly entertaining, enjoyable, and just a bit scary.

Agatha Christie, Evil under the Sun (Black Dog and Leventhal, 2006) ISBN: 1579126286

Also reviewed by Kate of What Kate's Reading. See the review here.

Herding Cats!

Here's another challenge I just have to join; it's based on a fantastic idea. Plus, this might just be the best reading challenge name, ever. May I present, 342,745 Ways to Herd Cats, OR tl;dr. The challenge is hosted by Bottle of Shine, and goes like this. Everyone submits a list of ten books they love. The list is compiled, and everyone reads four new books from the list. So, this challenge introduces us to other people's favorites.

It was a bit of a challenge putting the list together, but I've put together ten books I love. Without further adieu, my list is:

1. The Little Friend by Donna Tartt
2. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
3. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
4. Song of the Lark by Willa Cather
5. Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson
6. White Teeth by Zadie Smith
7. Brick Lane by Monica Ali
8. Beloved by Toni Morrison
9. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
10. Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood

I'm all excited to go check out others' favorites.

Naming Conventions Challenge

Yay, a new challenge! This one sounds like lots of fun. Since it's a little complicated, I'm going to quote directly from Maria of Reading My Way Through Life (our host).

Instructions
1) Write down your first name (or whatever name you usually go by)
2) Do any or all of the following (i.e. do 2a and/or 2b and/or 2c):
2a) For each letter, pick an author whose last name starts with that letter.
2b) For each letter, pick an author whose first name starts with that letter.
2c) For each letter, pick a book that starts with that letter.
3) Books can be cross-overs from other challenges, but each book can only be used once in this challenge. Authors may be repeated though.
4) The challenge lasts one month per letter of your name
5) Sign up by commenting to this post.

The books can be read in any order and the list changed at any time during the challenge.


So, my name is Laurie, which means my challenge is going to last six months. I'm definitely going to do 2c, and if I have time, I'm going to attempt 2a, and possibly 2b. Once I get into names, U is totally going to be my downfall. So, I'm all in and ready to go. I'll keep my progress updated here.

Here's what I'm thinking for 2c:

L: Lake of Dead Languages by Carol Goodman
A: After the Dance by Edwidge Danticat
U: Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mays
R: Rebecca by Daphne du Marier
I: I Like You: Hospitality under the Influence by Amy Sedaris
E: Evil under the Sun by Agatha Christie

And we'll take it from there.

Review: Songs in Ordinary Time

This novel tells the story of the down-and-out Fermoyle family. Living in Vermont in the 1960s, Marie Fermoyle and her three children live in poverty and desperation, for more money, more security, and more affection. Marie Fermoyle, a hardened cynic, is so desperate for all of the above that she falls victim to the wiles of a traveling con man who appears one day at her door. As a relationship between Marie and her visitor develops, the Fermoyle children are blatantly aware that their mother is being fleeced, but the emotional distance of all the family members makes it difficult for any of them to communicate or to trust one another. As Marie falls deeper under her now-boyfriend's spell it is the Fermoyle children who feel this lack of communication most acutely. The most difficult character in this book is Marie Fermoyle: cold, cynical, and emotionally abusive towards her children, Marie is clearly a woman who has been deeply wounded and is now striking back, albeit at the wrong people. In this book Morris has crafted a deeply complex narrative with fantastic character development. Truly, she has created a whole world in this Vermont town. The characters' lives are richly interwoven with one another, and actions by one reverberate to affect the whole. This is a deeply moving and engaging novel. It is a long book, but it never felt too long. I was deeply engaged in the story, and spent whole days reading this book to finish it.

A Second Post from Me Today

You're hearing from me again today because I've decided this evening that I must join yet another challenge. My new challenge is the 2nds Challenge, hosted by Thoughts of Joy. Here's the official word:

WHO: Anybody

WHAT: Read 4 books by authors that you have only read one other

WHERE: Mister Linky will keep track of monthly books read here on "Thoughts of Joy..."

WHEN: September, October, November and December, 2008

WHY: Because we love to read...why else?

So there we have it. When I started going through my TBR pile I realized just how many books fit into the 2nds category for me. Here's my list, but I can't promise I'll stick to it exactly. I'm planning:

1. Barn Blind by Jane Smiley (I've read Moo)

2. After the Dance by Edwidge Danticat (I've read Breath, Eyes, Memory)

3. Alentejo Blue by Monical Ali (I've read Brick Lane)

4. Cavedweller by Dorothy Allison (I've read Bastard out of Carolina)

I've got many, many more authors who I may substitute: A. Manette Ansay, Chris Bohjalian, Zadie Smith, Adriana Trigiani, Augusten Burroughs, Jacqueline Mitchard, and that's just to name a few.

So, we'll see how this one goes. If you'd like to join just click on the icon!

A New Challenge

I've decided it's time to join a new reading challenge, and I've chosen the Second Canadian Book Challenge (eh?). Between 1 July 2008 and 1 July 2009 I'll be reading thirteen books by or about Canadians. Sounds fun, some of my favorite authors are Canadian, like Margaret Atwood, and Alice Munro. It also seems fitting since I now live so close to the border that I hop over to BC rather frequently, and get myself to Vancouver as often as time allows. Thus far I'm 1.5 books into my thirteen, and unlike so many reading challenges where I already have a list a mile long before I even start, I'm going to be freer with this one. I'm going to let myself explore and pick up whatever looks interesting.