books I’ve read lately, August 2011
- Room by Emma Donoghue. A haunting but somehow lovely story, told by a completely captivating narrator, which is very hard to do when your narrator is a five year old.
- Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson. This was a book club pick, and was a totally engaging little gem of a book. Would be a great vacation read.
- Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby. Hornby’s books are like the movies that get made from them – fun, cute, at least relatively smart. This one’s no different.
- Zeitoun by Dave Eggers. My God this is a powerful book. A look at Hurricane Katrina and it’s terrible aftermath in New Orleans, through the lens of one family. Zeitoun should be added to mandatory high school reading lists across the country.
- An Ornithologist’s Guide to Life by Ann Hood. I wanted to like this more than I actually did. Not bad by any stretch, but for the most part didn’t catch me the way that short stories often do.
- The Lovers by Vendela Vida. a lovely book filled with beautiful writing. I wasn’t particularly satisfied by the ending, but the gorgeous moments in Vida’s prose make up for the occasional missteps of plot.
- A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan. Stunning. Really, just incredibly excellent. Both completely captivating from a structural standpoint and gorgeously written. Add it to your list immediately.
One Comment
Loved Zeitoun. I’ve missed a few of Eggers’ latest but that one really grabbed me.