Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett (read 7/11/19 to 7/13/19)

At first I felt that it is weird that this book doesn’t have chapters.

I forgot how much I love Pratchett’s tone, he really doesn’t take himself or his stories seriously. Which is why he is so much fun to read.  I really flew through the book, without chapters there are no natural stopping points lol

I really enjoyed the characters they were wacky and fun.  There was lots of humor, mostly of the dry British variety.  Good ending, leaves you wanting to read the next one.  Super fun 

How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill (read 6/29/19 to 7/11/19)

This book was not at all what I expected, but then again that is what I get for thinking I know what is going to be in a history book.This had a lot more about the Roman Empire than I expected, the entire first 67 pages in fact. It was fascinating to read about the rise of the monks and Catholisim in Ireland, and how it effected all of Europe.  I really enjoyed the writing tone, it was a history book, but the author had a sense of humor.  He kept it light with lots of puns.

Stonemouth by Iain Banks (read 6/3/19 to 6/9/19)

So this book is full of a lot of ambiguity regarding whatever the event was.  I felt like we didn’t move far.  I want to know what is going on though.  I don't care for time jumps and this book was particularly jarring for me.  I don’t like the flipping between past and present in the same chapter.  It’s confusing to follow.  We would flip in the same chapter an I wouldn't realized ht time period had changed at first.

It’s slow and most of the action is in memories of the past.  I was expecting more.  It felt like it took forever to get the story really moving.  

Overall this was an ok book, I had hoped it would be a little more fast paced.

A Man Called One by Fredrick Backman (read 5/4/19 to 5/27/19)

This is not my first Backman book.  I read My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry and Britt-Marie Was Here.  This is written in the same style, I would call ironic minimalist.   He does not portray the characters in his book in a good light on the surface but they are always deeper than they appear.  And he pokes fun at society a lot.

Over grows on you, like so many of Backman’s characters they are really unlikable at first but as you get to know them and their history they become loveable.

The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen (read 4/22/19 to 5/4/19)

This book made me feel really uneducated. I wonder if that is because the war was so bad for us and we lost that it isn’t taught as throughly as the wars we won?  I had a hard time finding a grove on this book...it drags for me.  I didn’t like this book, and after some reflection I realized I wasn’t supposed to. I didn’t like it because it made me uncomfortable. It showed some glaring gaps in my education when it came to the Vietnam war and the aftermath. I knew that out soldiers had been mistreated when they came home, but I had never given a thought about the treatment of the Vietnamese here or in Vietnam. And that made me uncomfortable to realize. This war showed everyone in a poor light, no one was on the right side everyone had an antagonist part to play. The world is violent, the author didn’t sugar coat it to make it easier for the reader, and he shouldn’t have. Maybe we have too sugar coated and blind to a giant historic event because it was unpleasant and we lost. This is one of those books that makes you not only look at the story, but society and yourself, and I didn’t like it because it wasn’t a favorable light. But with that being said I feel like at the end it clicked. I had borrowed this book from the library but I am going to buy a hard copy. I know I will want to read at least once more and I feel like this is a book my kids should have access to when older.

Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur (read 4/4/19 to 4/4/19)

This was a BOTM read.  I do not like poetry.  It all feels too short, not matter the subject.  I feel like if I took snippets from letters and diary entries and put them in "poetry" format that I could have a book too.  The only poem I liked in the whole book was “The Vacation” on pg. 97.

So I already knew I wasn’t a big poetry fan, when this book was selected by the club.  I never have been.  Poetry rarely speaks to me like it does for some people.  I don’t have a favorite poem, and I don’t enjoy reading it.  I think that I always want there be more, more story, more something than poetry can give me.  Epic poems are better for me.  And this book did nothing to change that for me.  I thought this must have been a throw away book, published by an established writer and that it’s renown much be based on her reputation and not the book. But when I read that THIS was her first book and it is what earned her the renown, I literally threw up my hand and said I give up literary world.  In my mind, this book was not poetry, it was rants and soundbites.

Future of Silence Fiction by Korean Women (read 2/13/19 to 2/18/19)

This was the February BOTM pick.  This was a book of Korean short stories originally published in 1989, and had been expanded and republished in 2016.

O Chŏng-hŭi: “Wayfarer”: I think there was so much more to this story that we missed somehow. Besides the fact that she was accused of killing her lover because she was in her slip. And it sounded like she asked for the divorce not him? Did she ask for one because she was tired of the accusations? And if he didn’t want it why did he abandon her in the mental hospital? And what happened with her daughter? Why did the daughter say “mommy forgive us what we did was a crime”. Then later she said her daughter was a liar? I need to re-read the story.

Kim Chi-wŏn: “Almaden”: I agree the stories do not wrap up at the end...very strange.  Did anyone catch the hunger refrence? “She felt as if he had the soul of a beggar; he was a hungry man who could never be satisfied.” Its not as predominate as in the first story, but it was there. Maybe I’m just looking now.

Sŏ Yŏng-ŭn: “Dear Distant Love”: Her aunt had the right of it. Wow was she brainwashed or what. Staying with and for that asshat! What was the suffering supposed to lead her to? And why didn’t she take her kid and marry the lawyer or go to America? Ugh that was awful. I mean the writing was good, but man was it bleak

Pak Wan-sŏ: “Identical Apartments”: Oh my god this story was so boring, I couldn’t stand the author...she was a jealous petty bitch. The whole story was tedious and I couldn’t wait for it to be over.

And tha pact that she pittied her husband was awful too

Kong Sŏn-ok: “The Flowering of Our Lives”: I think she is a lesbian that wants to be a prostitute but isn’t? She the hunger and food was predominant again

Han Yujoo: “I Ain’t Necessarily So”: I have no idea what the point of that story was, all I can say is thank god it was short!

Kim Sagwa: “It’s One of Those the-More-I’m-in-Motion-the-Weirder-It-Gets Days, and It’s Really Blowing My Mind”: Ok this was a weird one! Was he dreaming, did he really go postal and murder those people? Were we inside the head of a schizophrenic? 

All the death happened at diner tables...and the sister became a pig?

Ch’ŏn Un-yŏng: “Ali Skips Rope”: Ok so I didn’t realize until the end that the narrator was a young girl. It made more sense then. This one seemed to make the most sense of all the ones we have read so far.

Kim Ae-ran: “The Future of Silence”: This one made my eyes glaze over, and I realized halfway through that I wasn’t retaining any of it and I had to start over.

This was depressing, and sad. And very sci-fi.