Sunday, January 13, 2019

The Vacationers by Emma Straub

The VacationersThe Vacationers by Emma Straub
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this book, and I especially liked the character of Carmen. There's not a lot of information about her at first, but as she is revealed, she is the character that reveals the most about all the other characters.

View all my reviews

Saturday, January 12, 2019

Where should we begin? by Esther Perel

Where should we begin?: The Arc of LoveWhere should we begin?: The Arc of Love by Esther Perel
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I thought this short audiobook was really interesting though it sounded more like a podcast than a book. I also found the session with a mother and Monique to be off-topic and jarring in a series where all the other sessions were romantic relationships.

View all my reviews

Friday, January 11, 2019

This Fight Is Our Fight by Elizabeth Warren

This Fight Is Our Fight: The Battle to Save America's Middle ClassThis Fight Is Our Fight: The Battle to Save America's Middle Class by Elizabeth Warren
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I love this book because it does a perfect job of explaining why I'm a liberal on the economics side of the equation. It's more of a policy book than a memoir and you'll get a sense of exactly where she stands on everything except foreign policy because, let's face it, neither party has a cohesive foreign policy right now.

It's clear that Warren has toughened up a lot over the years, especially since joining the Senate in 2013. She's not interested in taking any bullshit anymore. I wasn't initially that excited about a Warren presidency as I felt she missed her opportunity in 2016, but I've changed my mind completely after reading this and her other memoir. (I also read her much earlier personal finance book.)

Also, be assured that this is not another Trump book. He's mentioned because it's a bit unavoidable, but it's not about Trump; it's about making the economic system a fair system for everyone.

View all my reviews

Thursday, January 10, 2019

Even Cowgirls Get the Blues by Tom Robbins

Even Cowgirls Get the BluesEven Cowgirls Get the Blues by Tom Robbins
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I did not like this book. Forget liking the characters, I didn’t even believe the characters. It’s silly without being funny. It’s sexual without being sexy. It meandered in a way that made me feel the minutes of my life ebbing away. As a bonus, it’s layer upon layer of problematic.

I’m confused about the positive reviews because it feels like I read a completely different book than the one they are referencing.

View all my reviews

Wednesday, January 9, 2019

A Fighting Chance by Elizabeth Warren

A Fighting ChanceA Fighting Chance by Elizabeth Warren
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was approximately 15-20% memoir, 75% policy (which I loved), and 10% about her dogs.

I really liked this book because it cleared up a lot of questions I have about her. A lot of it was about the evils of the bank lobbying industry and the "snake oil salesmen" in the banking industry.

It stops right after she becomes a Senator for Massachusetts, so I'm interested in reading her second memoir as well.

View all my reviews

Monday, January 7, 2019

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

We Were LiarsWe Were Liars by E. Lockhart
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I don’t typically read cozy mysteries but I assume this is one? A young adult cozy mystery? That's ultimately not so cozy.

View all my reviews

Saturday, January 5, 2019

Thursday, January 3, 2019

Forest Bathing by Qing Li

Forest Bathing: How Trees Can Help You Find Health and HappinessForest Bathing: How Trees Can Help You Find Health and Happiness by Qing Li
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a short book, but it's chockful of information. I couldn't tell how strictly scientific the advice is but it seems worth a shot to connect with nature and give it a try. Since the author discusses a number of Japanese forests I think this book is especially helpful for someone living in or visiting Japan. There are also many tips that can be applied even if you're not in Japan though.

View all my reviews

Wednesday, January 2, 2019

Outline by Rachel Cusk

OutlineOutline by Rachel Cusk
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I loved this book mostly because I loved the ideas and the sentences. There was nearly no plot to speak of. The main character kind of wanders around talking to people in Greece. Mostly they tell each other stories about their pasts. She's in Greece to teach a writing class so there's also a brief scene in her class.

Here are some ponderous sentences I enjoyed nonetheless:

"The person she was involved with now, she said - a man named Konstantin- had given her for the first time in her life a cause to fear these tendencies in herself, for the reason that - unlike, if she was to be honest, any other man of her experience- she judged him to be her equal. He was intelligent, handsome, amusing, an intellectual: she liked being beside him, liked the reflection of herself he gave her. And he was a man in possession of his own morality and attitudes, so she felt for the first time, as she had said - a kind of invisible boundary around him, a line it was clear, though no one ever said as much, she ought not to cross."

The story about the dog is horrifying. And we're adopting a puppy on Sunday!



View all my reviews

Tuesday, January 1, 2019

Reading Resolutions 2018-2019

It's hard to check my general goals to read more of particular authors last year so I won't do it this year, but I can check some of the specific books I said I wanted to read.

Kevin recs:
Anna Karenina - Pevear translation
Madame Bovary - Lydia Davis translation
Tender is the Night- Fitzgerald
Alice Munroe Selected Stories
Flannery O'Connor Complete Stories
Lunch Poems by Frank O'Hara
Elizabeth Bishop Complete Poems
Stop Time- Frank Conroy
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage by Alice Munroe

Dad related goals:
Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
The Decay of the Angel by Yukio Mishima
Spring Snow by Yukio Mishima
The Temple of Dawn by Yukio Mishima
Gödel, Escher, Bach by Douglas Hofstadter
The Shining Mountain by Peter Boardman

Okay, so for 2019, I want to read these:
2061 by Arthur C. Clarke
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues by Tom Robbins
Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner
Under the Volcano by Malcolm Lowry
The Unincorporated Man by Dani Kollin
The Magus by John Fowles
A History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russell Gödel, Escher, Bach by Douglas Hofstadter
The Shining Mountain by Peter Boardman
Tender is the Night- Fitzgerald
Stop Time- Frank Conroy
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...