November Reading (a little early)

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

The best written descriptions of traveling the European countryside – ever -- her writing is exquisite. This book made me want to hop on a train and backpack. Unfortunately the mystery regarding Dracula and his heirs, while compelling in the beginning, dragged on and on and on and on and on. I’d like to tell you that it has a worthy ending….nope, can’t do it. I’ll be picking up Kostova’s next book cause she is such an awesome wordsmith albeit with major plot issues. Maybe she got a new editor for her new book.

Julia’s Chocolates by Cathy Lamb
Hands down the biggest piece of shit I’ve read in awhile. I’d like to give this a redeeming sort of footnote but I can’t find a way to do it.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
My first Jane Austen book! And it was free on Kindle! Free Kindle gets me to read all sorts of stuff. Now I'll know what people are talking about when they talk of Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley and Mr. Collins and that tramp Lydia. This is a rather fun book. I don’t really know if Jane Austen deserves quite the rep she has but I found reading the novel enjoyable, if a little hard to piece together the exact sentence structure Austen utilized. Whatever it was I’m pretty sure I was not taught that form in 3rd grade.

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Such a cool book. This thing grabs you on page one and doesn’t let you go. I loved the characters, found the writing magical (in part 1) and precise (in part 2), was entranced by the storyline, and found the entire package a satisfying way to spend a rainy weekend. Good read for any booklover.

Boneshaker by Charlie Priest
Go GRRLLL sci-fi writers! Seattle! Steampunk! Zombies! Need I say more? Okay, I’ll say a little more. I wasn’t very involved with the characters until the second half. In fact, I probably would have put the thing down if I got it from the library. Fortunately for me, I paid for it and I’m a sucker for committing to my mistakes once I pay for them. But I’m glad I stuck it through, this was one hell of a ride. Priest is a good writer but she could work on her pacing a little; otherwise I enjoyed this after getting through the beginning. There is also, at my age, something endearing about a 35 year old female protagonist in steampunk gear.

American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House by Jon Meacham
Here is my favorite quote from the book: "So it was that the former Secretary of War decided to kill the former Secretary of the Treasury." If that doesn’t get you to read it, then nothing will.