I am not going to sugar coat it. This book was awful.
It would be quite enough that this major publication is so poorly researched and edited as to be embarrassing but the fact that it actually garnered praise is mind-boggling. To summarize the plot, Marina, a pharmacologist working for a giant pharmaceutical corporation is sent to the Amazon for the duel purpose of tracking down a rogue and secretive researcher, Dr Swenson, and to establish Read more [...]
State of Wonder – Ann Patchett
I am not going to sugar coat it. This book was awful.
It would be quite enough that this major publication is so poorly researched and edited as to be embarrassing but the fact that it actually garnered praise is mind-boggling. To summarize the plot, Marina, a pharmacologist working for a giant pharmaceutical corporation is sent to the Amazon for the duel purpose of tracking down a rogue and secretive researcher, Dr Swenson, and to establish Read more [...]
In the Garden of Beasts – Erik Larson
In the Garden of the Beasts is the most recent work of non-fiction by Erik Larson and the second book of his I have read. I very much enjoyed his previous publication, for its gritty realism and narrative flow, but whereas The Devil in the White City chronicled a serial killer and the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, In the Garden of Beasts addresses a less theatrical topic. The complete title, In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Read more [...]
The Secret Life of Lobsters – Trevor Corson
Once I began to regularly include physical copies of books into what had been an almost exclusively digital reading queue for a couple years, it made sense to explore volumes I personally owned. I’ve had a hardcover copy of The Secret Life of Lobsters idling on a bookshelf for years, originally purchased because I was intrigued by the premise and charmed by the reviews. That said, I do find it important to include non-fiction at regular intervals Read more [...]
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan – Lisa See
HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR
2012 - YEAR OF THE WATER DRAGON!
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See is a book that initially found its place on my queue for diversity’s sake. It is an exploration of the friendship and bonds exclusively between woman and the inevitable impact these have both deliberately and unexpectedly on society at large. Admittedly, this premise alone would not have been enough for me, fearing something reminiscent of an Read more [...]
We The Animals – Justin Torres
We the Animals, which was just published this past summer of 2011, is the debut book from author Justin Torres and has garnered a fair amount of positive attention from critics. It is a vignette of a racially mixed (white and Puerto Rican) family in upstate New York, told in the first person by the youngest of three closely aged brothers. Having grown up in Western New York myself, also with two brothers (although I am the middle child), and being Read more [...]
The Hobbit – J.R.R. Tolkien
This past Christmas I received a fantastic gift from my better half; the extended edition blu ray boxed set of The Lord of the Rings. The nerd in me was overjoyed while viewing them and their accompanying bonus features (of which I am still only part way through) and all previous Tolkien related obsessions were immediately dragged to the surface for immediate consumption. After the many hours required to watch the extended film trilogy, I made Read more [...]
Kitchen – Banana Yoshimoto
Kitchen, by Banana Yoshimoto, was recommended to me early in 2011 and I had since been meaning to read it. It wasn’t until I was doing Christmas shopping and revisiting my Amazon wishlist that I decided to go ahead and add a cheap used copy to my order and check it off the list. It was an extremely short and painless read, but charming nonetheless. The book is a popular piece of contemporary Japanese literature and was a significant bestseller Read more [...]
