A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens

Like everyone, I know the story from countless movies and adaptations, but I had never read the original.  When Audible put this up for free I thought I'd try it, in part because I've found myself appreciating the classics more and more -- no matter what I thought of them in high school.  I didn't have a good memory of Dickens, but this story was better than almost all modern adaptations, and I found the writing (well, listening) very enjoyable.  Will put Dickens on that very long to-read-again-someday list...

The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society, Mary Ann Schaffer

This was a great choice for an audiobook, and the multiple narrators saying who they were and who was writing to whom was really helpful, especially as I tend to dip in and out of audiobooks in 15 minute increments. 

The structure of using letters to tell this story was fun & the story itself held my interest.  Characters were uneven in the development and credibility, and I wonder if Juliette came across as more sympathetic in print than her reader in the book conveyed by her tone.  I didn't think the book was a masterpiece, but it was very enjoyable as a story & the audio format worked really well for once. 

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Steig Larsson

To be honest, crime mystery bestsellers are not really my genre, so this review should be read in that context.  I also had just finished a real masterpiece (East of Eden, John Steinbeck) and Larsson's writing had a hard time standing up to that standard. 

The writing was the weak point of this story, although there are moments when the writing is unobtrusive and there is the occasional clever turn of phrase, the heavy and direct style sometimes became annoying.

The best point of this book was the characters -- clearly Larsson has given them a lot of thought, and humanity.  While all are a bit exaggerated, the main characters are developed individuals.  The central character is almost certainly a largely autobiographical character of the author, but he has a few flashes of insight into this person that keep things from getting too dull.  The small interactions & references to his daughter & first wife are an example of this. 

The story itself was pretty much a standard crime mystery, with a bit of corporate and personal greed/vendetta woven in for a second storyline.  I don't think the second storyline worked that well, in particular after the deroulement of the main story had ended.  The second story wasn't interesting enough or charged with enough drama to warrant an additional 100 pages, but the book was such a fast read that getting through it wasnt a problem. 

I'd give a B- and will probably go ahead and read the rest of the series -- but mainly because they're already on my bookshelf & my husband is reading them at the same time.  

Reading Lolita in Tehran, Azar Nafisi

I listened to this over about 2 weeks - found some of the description of the Tehran ambiance through the revolution until the author's immigration to be a very good point of view of understanding what that was like to live through, in particular for an educated woman.  Some of the sections of the book were a bit self-indulgent and stories that seemed to have no purpose.  The author comes off as very full of herself and her intellect in multiple sections, yet never communicated any real brilliance to me. 

As an audio recording it was well done - good narrator, decent pace (pace of the book in parts is quite slow however). 

It made me want to listen to other memoirs in audiobook - the format seems well adapted to this kind of material.  I wouldn't seek out more work by Nafisi, but she did give some reading ideas for the future.

East of Eden, John Steinbeck

I picked up this book thinking I was going to struggle through it -- I had not enjoyed reading Of Mice & Men & The Pearl in high school, and I doubted I'd like this too much. Was I ever wrong.

I found the writing style amazing, the story and characters sharp and clever and completely timeless, the pace quick and interesting. I'd easily put it as the best book I've read this year, and into my "best books ever" pile as well.

Truly a pleasure to read, and gave ...more I picked up this book thinking I was going to struggle through it -- I had not enjoyed reading Of Mice & Men & The Pearl in high school, and I doubted I'd like this too much. Was I ever wrong.

I found the writing style amazing, the story and characters sharp and clever and completely timeless, the pace quick and interesting. I'd easily put it as the best book I've read this year, and into my "best books ever" pile as well.

Truly a pleasure to read, and gave me more courage to go back to other classics & of course to read more Steinbeck too. 

 

Sophie's World, Jostein Gaarder

I liked that this book gave a good overview of philosophy, and found the explanations of most of the philosophy easy to digest & simple, but the structure of the book was so gimmicky that for me it didn't work well, and in particular after 2/3 I just wanted it to be over. I finished it out of stubbornness - I rarely leave books unfinished, but this one tempted me to.

Rarely have I read a book that I didn't enjoy reading that I got so much out of. As a novel for me it doesn't work at...more I liked that this book gave a good overview of philosophy, and found the explanations of most of the philosophy easy to digest & simple, but the structure of the book was so gimmicky that for me it didn't work well, and in particular after 2/3 I just wanted it to be over. I finished it out of stubbornness - I rarely leave books unfinished, but this one tempted me to.

Rarely have I read a book that I didn't enjoy reading that I got so much out of. As a novel for me it doesn't work at all, as far as the writing style goes I wasn't very impressed (and found it quite uneven) but for just the philosophy angle & cleverness of a new approach, I'm more forgiving. 

Broken Open, Elizabeth Lesser

I listened to Broken Open over the past week or so.  I don't even remember buying it, but it was a good find for this time in my life.  I don't know if there was any particular part that stuck out for me, but the overall message that we have a lot to learn from the tough times in life was an important thing for me to hear right now.  I didn't care much for the author's tone and I thought her stories were weak and self-indulgent next to some of the stories of other people (or things she could have included) but I still got something out of the book.  I wouldn't recommend the book or the audiorecording unless it was to someone else going through challenging times, however.