As you all well know, my favorite thing about vacations is getting lots of reading done! Which I managed to do once again, even though I actually drove here and didn't have that valuable waiting-around-in-airports reading time.
Calvin Baker's Dominion
Actually, that Gary Nash book I read for class a couple weeks ago turned out to be pretty good backround reading for this historical novel, which centers on a freed slave in the early 1700s, as he tries to build a life for himself and his family. There are brief interludes of the supernatural, but on the whole this is a novel about family, homesteads, and the Revolutionary War. A.
Lisa Unger's Beautiful Lies and Slivers of Truth
These suspense/mystery novels focus on a young New Yorker named Ridley Jones, who in the first one finds herself caught up in a search for her identity that quickly takes some sinister turns (the big surprise ending--which didn't quite work for me--was actually ruined by a review I read of the sequel, so if you want to remain unspoiled, avoid the media, or whatever). The sequel is more of the same, pretty much. There are a few false notes--a little too much New York name-brand dropping, which was distracting from the main thrust of the story, and some poorly written love scenes (I don't like the phrase "silky hardness", even if it is just referring to abs. It's a little romance novel-y)--but on the whole these were engaging stories, perfect for reading while working on my tan. B for both.
Helen Oyeyemi's The Icarus Girl
This reread is our next library book discussion book; it mainly deals with a lonely and troubled young half-Nigerian, half-British girl who discovers her new friend isn't who she thought she was. This almost made my top books list of 2004 (I think it was 2004) but was beaten out by Diana Evans' 26a, which has some similar themes without as many of the supernatural elements. Still, it's really riveting--A.
I'll be back home tomorrow, at which point I'll upload photos and catch up on email.
No comments:
Post a Comment