The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

30 pages in: This isn't literary, so I couldn't enjoy it in that particular way.

250ish pages in: I enjoy genre fiction, but as genre fiction, it wasn't sufficiently enjoyable. I don't even grasp the concept of painful genre fiction really. The characters were insufficiently developed for me to care about very deeply, which is surprising considering how long this book was. Likewise, important relationships like Vianne and Rachel weren't sufficiently developed even though they're important lifelong friends. Isabelle falls in love with a guy she barely knows and I couldn't care less. Okay so maybe it's like an action book? With action and nothing else?

About 300 pages in: But the thing that bothered me the most was the concept of the "Nazi with the heart of gold." We're not even talking about Hitler youth, we're talking about a grown man who seems fully cognizant of the Nazi plans. Who does in fact personally send Jewish people off to concentration camps. But he "doesn't like it" so somehow that's okay? But Vianne still thinks he's a really nice guy. Maybe that sort of thing seemed cute in 2015 before the 2016 election? Well, it wasn't, and F that. Evil nonsense like that is why the planet is burning right now. I get that people that are initially good can be corralled into doing evil things. That's part of the horror of the Third Reich! However, once a person gets to a certain point and doesn't turn back in any way-- let's not pretend that person is "good" anymore. If an active Nazi - no matter how he got to that point- isn't evil, then evil has no meaning.

301 pages in: Oh no, seriously, there's another 140 pages to go? Then the really bad stuff happens... I have other complaints about this section that I will skip because they're spoilers.

View all my reviews

The Stranger by Albert Camus

The Stranger by Albert Camus
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I didn't really get from this what I read I'm supposed to get from it. I liked the story mostly because I find the protagonist captivating like he's stuck in a dream, and because the author narrates an interesting perspective. But there's an underlying issue with the protagonist that seems not directly related to existentialism. Is he depressed because his mother died? Is he fundamentally a sociopath that until now has been functional and productive? I could imagine a main character who professes to be Christian acting in much the same way. Whether or not it matters in the long run, many humans would still personally suffer from harming another thanks to empathy and sympathy. And when he's confronted by death, the main character seems to reject whatever previous apathy he suffered from which seems to somewhat run contrary to existentialism, even though he doesn't reject his atheism.

View all my reviews

The Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan

The Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a cute very readable mystery book, and the kids get to learn a lot about Benjamin Franklin though it's sometimes difficult for kids to suss out the fictional parts.

View all my reviews

Swann's Way by Marcel Proust

Swann's Way by Marcel Proust
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It took me over 3 months, but I finally finished. I love this book; I hate this book. Proust's writing is sublime but he seems to detest the very concept of plot. I was happiest when reading about Swann's obsession with Odette and I was miserable all the rest of the time. Sadly the portion about Odette was only about a third of the novel and didn't start until about halfway through.

I can finally use this picture in a review.

View all my reviews

Camille: A Play in Five Acts by Alexandre Dumas fils

Camille: A Play in Five Acts by Alexandre Dumas fils
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Lots of wonderful lines but the premise feels a little forced. The beginning starts off like a comedy. My favorite line at the beginning is, "My dear friend if I were to listen to all the people who are in love with me, I'd have no time for dinner!"

But then the play devolves into tragedy tragedy tragedy. Even so, it never fully gains a sense of realism.

View all my reviews

Breathe by Anne-Sophie Brasme

Breathe by Anne-Sophie Brasme
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Interesting short French novel about Charlene's obsession with an American French girl that is awful to her. There's no surprise in the book, but only a meditation on the obsession. The writing is good and very interesting. It's true though that something is missing- after all Charlene appears to have a mental illness that pre-dates Sarah.

View all my reviews

Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari

Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is pretty different than the other humor books I've read recently. It's not a humor memoir. Ansari discusses aspects of modern dating compared to dating a generation ago, and he did a lot of research and employed researchers to assist him. It's interesting on its own with discussions of psychology and economics, but it's also very funny.

View all my reviews

Henry VI, Part 1 by William Shakespeare

Henry VI, Part One by William Shakespeare
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this historical play. I particularly enjoyed how bad ass Joan of Arc was, and the very moving scene between Talbot and his son urging each other to flee from certain death.

I don't usually do summaries of the books I review, but I'm going to do it for this play, mainly to get it straight in my head. It was pretty confusing to me since I didn't remember the chronology of events from studying European history.

England 1422
Henry V died in 1422. His brothers were the Dukes of Bedford and Gloucester. His son and heir Henry VI was still a baby. Bedford went to France to command the army, while Gloucester stayed to rule England until Henry VI is crowned.

Meanwhile in France
At this time there were military setbacks in France, where Charles "the Dauphin" was leading a rebellion against the English. Lord Talbot was the Constable of France, and a heroic English fighter. He's taken captive by the French.

Joan la Pucelle, (Joan of Arc!) convinced Charles to put her in charge of the army because she claimed to have religious visions of how to win the war and because she "proved" this by beating Charles in a one-on-one sword fight with him.

Bedford negotiated the release of Talbot. Joan won the next attack. Talbot and Bedford won the next one.

Wars of the Roses
Richard Plantagenet and the Duke of Somerset had a symbolic fight over red or white roses that's really about two houses of the Plantagenet splitting. Somerset is the red rose (of Lancaster), and Richard is the white rose (of York). Richard lost and was super angry forever.

Edmund Mortimer was a great-great-grandson of King Edward III, and was heir to King Richard II, his first cousin twice removed, but Henry the Fourth seized power from Richard II. Mortimer was imprisoned in the Tower of London, and told Richard Plantagenet that King Henry V had Richard Plantagenet's father (Richard of Conisburgh, grandson of King Edward III) executed. Mortimer said that once he dies, Richard Plantagenet will be the rightful heir to the throne, not Henry VI. Richard was pretty angry about this.

Henry VI Crowned
After Mortimer died, Richard petitioned the recently crowned Henry, who reinstated Richard's title, making him Richard 3rd Duke of York.

Henry then leaves for France, with Gloucester, Exeter, Winchester, Richard and Somerset. The French retook and quickly relost cities. Bedford died, and Talbot took control of the army.

Charles was scared, so Joan persuaded the Duke of Burgundy to stop fighting for the English and switch sides to the French. Henry arrived in Paris, heard about Burgundy switching sides, and sent Talbot to speak to him.

Henry asked Richard and Somerset to stop fighting about red and white roses, and and then chooses a red rose, Somerset's side.

Talbot was caught by the French again. Richard and Somerset were too busy fighting about the roses to save him. The English army was destroyed, and Talbot and his bastard son were killed. This part is super sad.

England Wins Anyway?
Joan was captured by Richard, acted like an angry witch, and then was burned at the stake.

Henry sued for peace. The French pretended to agree to the English terms. Charles is to be a viceroy to Henry. They still wanted to expel the English from France.

Suffolk captured a young French princess, Margaret of Anjou. He was into her. He plotted to keep her as a mistress and marry her to Henry so he can control the king through her.

Entire play available here: http://shakespeare.mit.edu/1henryvi/i...

View all my reviews

Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff

Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow. This book has everything. It's a literary beach read? The first half of the book is in the husband's (3rd person) perspective, and the story there is weird and really good. Then the second half is the wife's (3rd person) perspective and the story becomes more intense, detailed, and darker. The perspective is nearly omniscient by the end. It's mostly a story about loneliness, and being abandoned by family in all the different ways in which one can be. But it's also about staying faithful to family and friends and learning to help each other or ask for help when no one is deserving. (Or they are.) I think the thing I love the most is the story is made up of almost all anti-heroes that are made good, or partly good, only by their love of one another.

View all my reviews

Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris

Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

You know how a lot of humor books are just a little funny? Sedaris is no joke. This is so funny. It's even good on a reread. No matter how many times I read the Halloween scene, I always laugh. It's so great.

View all my reviews

Lords of Finance by Liaquat Ahamed

Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World by Liaquat Ahamed
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The topic is interesting and the writing is great, and if someone had cut this book in half it would have been 5 stars. As it is, it is nearly unreadable. The first time I tried I quit 50% of the way, but I own a copy so I tried again. The only way I made it through is by powering through the audiobook, meaning that when I zoned out I just rewound a bit a kept going. Every sentence definitely didn't get in my brain.

On the other hand, if you love monetary policy, this is the book for you.

View all my reviews

Casino Royale by Ian Fleming

Casino Royale by Ian Fleming
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This is the first James Bond book. I seem to feel the opposite of other reviewers in that I thought the writing was sort of fun and moody, but the actual plot was so bad that it was not salvageable. This is not a spoiler because this is at the very beginning: the plot is basically that Bond will destroy this Russian spy by beating him mercilessly at gambling. The final third is the worst most unbelievable romance ever. I'm going to read the second one anyway.

View all my reviews

The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan

The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World by Michael Pollan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In order to illustrate the very close relationship between certain plants and humans, Pollan uses the examples of apples (I will be drinking more hard cider), tulips, marijuana, and potatoes. It's a bit slow in places, especially the tulip chapter. The marijuana chapter is very entertaining and informative, and the potato chapter is the most terrifying.

I might reread Omnivore now as it's been a decade since I read it, and I didn't then have the same background info I have now. Also, this book encourages a lot of Pinker and Dawkins reading, so I might do that as well.

View all my reviews