Book Club

Since our year in Australia is a chance for Paul and I to travel and pursue interests beyond the hospital borders, I've been using the chance to do some reading. I wanted to keep track of the books I've been reading, and to see if anyone else is interested in reading/discussing any of these books. Also, I'm completely open to suggestions of books on other people's "Must Read" lists.

30. The Man who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and other clinical tales - Oliver Sacks. Dull. Although I have yet to finish the book, I am including because I don't think that I'll ever finish before leaving Australia. It is too tedious to get through. The clinical stories are interesting, and I started with great enthusiasm, having heard about the book since medical school. But the writing is pained, and Dr Sacks tried to wax philosophic about his patients' neurologic impairments which comes off as strained and possibly untrue. A text book or reading through case studies in the journals would have been more interesting and credible.

29. The Island - Victoria Hislop. This was a really good book. The story of three generations and a leper colony in Crete, Greece, I found the book completely absorbing. It won't be winning any Nobel Prizes for literature, but I found the writing extremely readable and the characters absorbing. It's good vacation reading, but only if you aren't hoping to go out and see stuff.

28. The Cupboard Full of Life - Alexander McCall Smith. Well, the detective work has taken a back seat to the description of the people and their lives. At this point, the 5th book in the series, it is getting a bit repetitive, and the same themes come up again and again. Seems like it is coming time for the series to end. That said, they are still enjoyable.

27. The Kalahari Typing School for Men - Alexander McCall Smith. A new theme, and a bit more focus on a different character made this a more interesting one than the third in the series. Perhaps the books will take a new turn.

26. Morality for Beautiful Girls - Alexander McCall Smith. Light read. If you like the series, this is fine. None are as good as the first in the series, though

25. The World According to Garp - John Irving - I love John Irving, because his books are heavily character-based, and Garp is his best-known most quintessential character. But, having already read "Widow for One Year", and "Until I find You" and a couple of others, I felt a little let down by this book. I was the story of Garp, a two-bit writer who, somehow, gains an element of fame from a short story and a so-so novel, a son with a strange, though interesting mother, a worry-wart father, and a crappy husband. It wasn't that I didn't like the characters that I felt let down, it was that I didn't care about them as much as I have come to in other Irving novels. Next I'll read "A Prayer for Owen Meany".

24. Slumdog Millionaire - Vikas Swarup - I haven't seen the movie. The book was really good. An interesting story of the life of an orphan boy living in the slums of Delhi and Mumbai and how he learns all the details that allow him to earn 1-billion rupees on an Indian Game show. I keep hearing that the movie is sad. The book is actually less sad than many other Indian dramas that I've read. Blessedly, it did not leave me with a feeling of helplessness and despair that so many others from that area do. There were sad bits, but none enough to make me cry, so I wonder if perhaps the movie does a better job at it. In any case, I thoroughly enjoyed the book and read it in one sitting on a plane. Recommended.

23. Brother Fish - Bryce Courtenay - I decided to read an Australian author, since we were in Australia. I've read "The Power of One" and "April Fools" by the same author, and I think that they are better books. This book followed two men through the Korean war, and then through their time post-war as they set up a business in a little island off of Tasmania. It also told the significantly more interesting story of the town librarian who comes from a background of White Russians, via China, and who joins the two men in their business venture. The book started slowly for me, describing the war scenes in Korea in painful detail. That was about the first 1/3 of the book. After that, though, I didn't want to put it down. The stories of people's lives were far more interesting. Overall, an okay time-killer book, but if you have limited reading time, I'd give it a miss and read "The Power of One" instead.

22. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest - Stieg Larsson - The final in the Millenium series, the book was good. It tied up the loose ends of the last books, and stayed true to the characters, with a very satisfying resolution to the nasty bad guys. I found it difficult to put down, but I had been truly hooked by the first two books. You should read the series. It is a well-written series that manages to avoid detective-style schmultz.

21. Someone knows my Name - Lawrence Hill - This is a novel well worth reading. Based in Mali, a slave boat, Charleston South Carolina, New York, Shelbourne Nova Scotia, Freetown Sierra Leone, and London England this is the story of one woman who is stolen into slavery from the arms of her mother. It follows her life, her bits of good luck (particularly her intelligence), and her unimaginable sorrows. It wasn't a book of complaints, as I worried that the book could be. Instead it is a story, heartbreaking and beautiful. I bought it in the little Alice Springs Airport, surprised to find a Canadian author there, and basically did not put it down until I had finished it. I would highly recommend it.

20. The Girl with the Pearl Earring - Tracy Chevalier - I picked up the illustrated version of this book in hardcover for a steal ($12 new!). It was worth it just for the copies and explanations of Johannes Vermeer's paintings. The book was interesting. A historical fiction that is one woman's explanation of who could have been the inspiration for the painting by the same title. I enjoyed the book, particularly thought that then ending was realistic and not too schmultzy, and got into the character.

19. The Tears of the Giraffe - Alexander McCall Smith. This second book in the series was not a good as the first one, to the point that I put the book down for a couple of months. It wasn't bad, it just did not hold my interest as well. There is already a formula for the books emerging, and if it does not vary a bit by the next, I will become bored. That said, the tone of the novel still is innocent and simple, and sometimes it is just nice to read books where the good guy wins.

18. The Girl who played with Fire - Steig Larsson - the second in the Millenium Series. This was better than the first (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo). I loved this, and was so disappointed when it ended. It is a detective/spy-type novel, with some thrill in it. But more importantly, at this point I really care for the characters. The writing is solid, and there were many moments in the second book where I went, "Oh, that's why things were that way in the first boook", even though I hadn't been left out in the cold after the first book. This one, however, leaves you needing to read the third. I devoured it in about 2 sittings, and can't wait for the last in the series to become available in English. I can't really describe the plot - don't want to give anything away. Read the series.

17. Widow for One Year - John Irving - I'm a John Irving fan, so I picked this one up as a "sure thing", and wasn't disappointed. Most of his books are mainly about the people, and some of the strange predicaments in which he places them. This was no exception. It was a story about a woman, Ruth, when she is 4 and only on the periphery of the story, then 30 and again when she is 35. It is also a story about her father, her mother and a man who comes into her life as a driver when she is 4 and keeps popping up. It was well told, flowed easily and I read it fairly quickly, wanting to know what happened to the characters. A really good read.


16. The Other Hand - Chris Cleave - A refugee from Nigeria finds the family she had met on a beach two years before, with some interesting consequences. This is the basic synopsis. The back of the book tells you nothing. It is hard to say much without giving away the book. It was well written, and I think it was supposed to fill you with hope in the love of children and the future, but it left me feeling depressed and angry at the terrible treatment of refugees in the UK. So, it was a good, well written book, but you have to be in the right mood to read it. Can be read in a couple of hours

15. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Stieg Larsson - This was an interesting book, and lighter fare that the three prior ones. It is one of a trilogy, called the Millenium Trilogy, written by a Swedish world expert in international business fraud. The basic premise is that a disgraced, but talented, business reported is hired by an aging magnate to solve the 40 year old murder of his niece. It had a few twists, and was cleverly written, so was quite enjoyable. I looked forward to picking it up each day. I'll read the next in the series.

14. The Stone Carvers - Jane Urquhart - This is one of my favorite books ever. The writing was prodigious. The description of events in one passage was so beautifully and simply written that it brought me to tears instantly. I reread many passages over and over again because their impact was so forceful. The story is based in the woods of Ontario, and is about a family from the mid-1800's through to the post-WWI era. This is a must-read. I will be bringing this one back to Canada, and will certainly re-read it at some point.

13. The Virgin Suicides - Jeffrey Eugenides - This was the first big book by the same author who wrote Middlesex. I really liked Middlesex. I liked this less. It is what the title advertises - about Virgins who commit suicide. Well, they weren't all virgins. The book opens telling you about the 5 beautiful sisters who, living under increasingly repressive house rules, all kill themselves. It is told through the starstruck eyes of the neighborhood boys. It is a twisted sort of coming of age story, and I couldn't help but bring up images of The Wonder Years when I was trying to imagine the girls' street and school. An interesting read, but not a must-read.

12. The Girl from the Chartreuse (La Petite Chartreuse) - Pierre Peju - This was a quick read. It was basically about a good man who hits a small girl in his van when she jumps out in front of him on the streets of a French city. It then looks at the results of this on the lives of the man, the girl and her mother. It was dark, and sad. The writing was good, but it left me feeling somehow unsatisfied. But, you can read it in about 3 hours.

11. Life of Pi - Yann Martel - I think that this book is a must-read. It is a story in 3 parts, and all have their bits of interest. At the beginning the book promises to make you believe in God. I'm not sure it does that, but it certainly makes you think about it. The basic premise is an Indian boy lives in a zoo with his family, who decides to immigrate to Canada. On the way, a shipwreck sees the boy stranded in a lifeboat with several animals. It's a story of what it takes to survive months stranded. If I say anymore it will be a plot spoiler, and I think that this should be read.

10. Lost Names: Scenes from a Korean Boyhood - Richard E Kim - This was another one that I picked up on the fly at a second hand bookstore. It was a historical semi-fiction about Korea during the Japanese occupation before and during WWII. It was a story about pride and the strength of family. As well as being interesting historically and culturally, it was really quite beautiful, and I'd recommend it.

9. The No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency - Alexander McCall Smith - A fun and innocent book that is easy to pick up and put down. Set in Africa, it is about one corker of an independent woman, her intelligence, love of home and homeland, and doing the right thing. I'm trying to find the next one in the series.

8. Still Alice - Lisa Genova - my mom gave me this one for Easter. I read it in about 2 days. This engaging story was about a woman at the peak of her career as a Harvard profession of linguistic psychology who develops early onset Alzheimer's Disease. It was fascinating to read this intelligent (fictional) woman's insight into her illness, and to see her perception of the world as her disease progressed. Where it could have been entirely depressing, it was instead uplifting as Alice connected with her family and herself in coming to terms with living with, instead of just dying from, Alzheimer's.

7. White Tiger - Aravind Adiga - I read this book in one day. I couldn't put it down, needing to find out what happened and why. Set in India from about the 80's to now, the main character describes his upbringing and struggle for something better culminating, as he tells early on, in murder. At times humorous his descriptions of life and servitude, I connected with the character through his letter to a Chinese Premier set to visit India to see its form of "democracy". The book managed a realistic description of modern day India that didn't leave me feeling as hopeless and empty as other books, like A Fine Balance. A must-read.

6. A Short History of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson - This book has gotten a lot of hype, which initially made me skeptical. It's non-fiction status also made me concerned that it wouldn't be that interesting. I was very wrong. Bryson discussed, basically, everything on earth, from it's formation and how to estimate its age, to the development of life and progression through the eras to the heavens and the interations of the stars. It was told with stories and humor and I loved every page of it. At the end of the book, I couldn't help but think - why am I working in hospitals?...the world and universe are so much bigger than that. The book was very successful in making me feel insignificant, but not in a negative way. I highly recommend this one.

5. The People's Act of Love - James Meek - A second-hand bookstore find that looked interesting, and was entertaining. It had some insight into life in the far north of Russia, but was otherwise mainly a mystery with a good twist.

4. Half a Life - VS Naipaul - This one won the Nobel Prize for literature. It followed an Indian man from his not-quite-belonging-to-any-particular-caste life in India, to schooling and discovery of his talents in England, to marriage and giving up of himself in Africa. Perhaps because I was not an English major and clearly do not have appropriate appreciation for literature, I'm not really sure why this won the Nobel Prize. It was a good book, but there was nothing in it that made me go, "Wow". There was nothing in it that seemed to be a unique idea, or to cross boundaries the way I expect a Nobel Prize winning book to do. If someone else reads it and has deeper insight into it, this is where the book club bit comes in - please share.

3. October - Richard Wright - A ho-hum book about a man in his golden years who learns that his daughter has cancer, and is then asked to accompany an old acquaintance, who he doesn't really like, in his journey to death. It was a story, and parts of in were interesting, but I kind of lost the overall point.

2. The Blind Assassin - Margaret Atwood - An interesting story within a story within a story. In essence, the story of a family and their tragedies through several eras. I must say that I was most interested in the made-up story of the blind assassin and wish that it had been more fully developed. But I enjoyed the book immensely.

1. A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini - An amazing and devastating book about the strength of women, their love, and their bonds in the face of unimaginable horrors. Highly recommend this one, but you need a bit of a strong stomach for some parts.