Yesterday I finished Daughter of Fortune by Isabelle Allende. I was originally intimidated by the thickness of the novel, but in fact I finished it in ten or so pre-sleeping reading sessions. I did take it along with me on my train ride into the city to visit with a friend because I was so close to finishing and had to find out what might happen next.
The book started a bit slow in the build up, but around the moment you think the story is starting to get tedious it takes off like a rocket and whirls you through an intricately woven tale of love, social expectations, the California gold rush and family secrets.
There was one or two moments where I literally was shocked in to saying "Holy Crap" because Allende really drops bombshell revelations into this fantastic story. There are several interwoven stories all integral to the novel. One common theme is that of women struggling with their 19th century existence and wanting more. So many of the female characters fight the traditional role of women during the time and not with out consequences (mostly social) but with some personal satisfaction in spite of the norm.
I was certainly not expecting to love this novel based on my lack of interest in early North/South American history. However, Allende so masterfully creates a tale that taps into the raw emotions and racial tension that it is impossible not to immerse yourself in the life of the characters.
Monday, May 28, 2007
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Dreams...
I finished Einstein's Dreams the other day and picked up Daughter of Fortune. It is a bit of an intimidating book only because it is quite thick (not the actually text, just the measurement of the book).
Einstein's Dreams was a very nice quick read and thought provoking. There were so many different concepts of time I could not possibly pick a favorite or describe a majority of them since they intermingled in my head. That must be what happens when you read Dreams before doozing off.
Einstein's Dreams was a very nice quick read and thought provoking. There were so many different concepts of time I could not possibly pick a favorite or describe a majority of them since they intermingled in my head. That must be what happens when you read Dreams before doozing off.
Sunday, May 06, 2007
School's Nearly Done...
And I am reading!!! I have been able to read so much more latelt...it is great!
I fininished Ancestors of Avalon, by Diana Paxson, and ended up enjoying far more than I anticipated. Some parts I felt a bit distracted from the break in typical style of the Avalon books, but really over all if you have been considering reading this book I would say do it...you may not love it all, but you probably will enjoy it.
Next up on the nightstand was Little Earthquakes bu Jennifer Weiner. I have already read Weiner's Good in Bed and In Her Shoes so I was looking forward to reading this book. Considering all of the new babies that have and will be arriving lately it was a humorous look into the life of a group of friends brought together by motherhood. This is also a nice lighter read than many of the books that I have picked up lately (exactly what I needed among the stress of the end of my final semester of school).
Right now I am reading Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman. It is a very short book that has chapters about different concepts or possibilities for time based loosely on Einstein's theories. Since I am in no way a physics expert I can not say if they are anything close to Einstein's theories, but they are fascinating. The idea of people living far away from to center of the earth on stilted cities to slow down time or the current moment is the only time known (no memory) is presented in short chapter essays that tickle the imagination and satisfy sci-fi fantasies. A teacher I worked with used this as source material for an art project for her seniors. I also have another book that this teacher used which is a collection of fictional tales told by Marco Polo to Kublai Khan titled Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino. Also in the stack is Perfume, a murder mystery, and both will wait until I read my BooksFree.com books.
Since I am back to my increased consumption of books I have opted to re-join BooksFree.com to be a bit economical about my reading habits. In the interest of full disclosure, I am not receiving money for an endorsement of this service so I feel that my opinion is relatively unbiased. This website offers a subscription based book borrowing service much like NetFlix. I used this service prior to going back to school and liked the convenience of having a few books arrive every so often. The downside is that many of the books I want to read are not available but selection is pretty decent. One plus is the customer service is pretty good. One set of books did not arrive so they quickly got my next books in que shipped out and due to a shipping issue they bounced back so the company sent those books plus the next two on my list to make up for the problems. I have received Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, Daughter of Fortune, and the graphic novels Persepolis and Persepolis 2.
There should be much to report in the next few months!
I fininished Ancestors of Avalon, by Diana Paxson, and ended up enjoying far more than I anticipated. Some parts I felt a bit distracted from the break in typical style of the Avalon books, but really over all if you have been considering reading this book I would say do it...you may not love it all, but you probably will enjoy it.
Next up on the nightstand was Little Earthquakes bu Jennifer Weiner. I have already read Weiner's Good in Bed and In Her Shoes so I was looking forward to reading this book. Considering all of the new babies that have and will be arriving lately it was a humorous look into the life of a group of friends brought together by motherhood. This is also a nice lighter read than many of the books that I have picked up lately (exactly what I needed among the stress of the end of my final semester of school).
Right now I am reading Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman. It is a very short book that has chapters about different concepts or possibilities for time based loosely on Einstein's theories. Since I am in no way a physics expert I can not say if they are anything close to Einstein's theories, but they are fascinating. The idea of people living far away from to center of the earth on stilted cities to slow down time or the current moment is the only time known (no memory) is presented in short chapter essays that tickle the imagination and satisfy sci-fi fantasies. A teacher I worked with used this as source material for an art project for her seniors. I also have another book that this teacher used which is a collection of fictional tales told by Marco Polo to Kublai Khan titled Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino. Also in the stack is Perfume, a murder mystery, and both will wait until I read my BooksFree.com books.
Since I am back to my increased consumption of books I have opted to re-join BooksFree.com to be a bit economical about my reading habits. In the interest of full disclosure, I am not receiving money for an endorsement of this service so I feel that my opinion is relatively unbiased. This website offers a subscription based book borrowing service much like NetFlix. I used this service prior to going back to school and liked the convenience of having a few books arrive every so often. The downside is that many of the books I want to read are not available but selection is pretty decent. One plus is the customer service is pretty good. One set of books did not arrive so they quickly got my next books in que shipped out and due to a shipping issue they bounced back so the company sent those books plus the next two on my list to make up for the problems. I have received Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, Daughter of Fortune, and the graphic novels Persepolis and Persepolis 2.
There should be much to report in the next few months!
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