It is quite common for me to hate books that everyone else loves, like Bel Canto, or that crawdad thing. So perversely, since so many people I know ofIt is quite common for me to hate books that everyone else loves, like Bel Canto, or that crawdad thing. So perversely, since so many people I know of hated this book, I kind of hoped I would like it, I mean obviously some one did as it won the Pulitzer. I didn't. I tried, I really did, I trudged along dutifully for a long time, trying to give it the benefit of the doubt, despite the unnecessary description that runs together with dialogue ( no quotation marks, of course, that's not cool!) that made it hard to read. Finally, I had had enough and started skimming and reading ahead to the overwrought ending. It seemed a mishmash of plot points from other novels combined into one, and despite its rather short length seemed very very long indeed....more
Weak two, points for the first part, which I started off well with.* I loved the atmosphere of these American women sweating in their girdles and stocWeak two, points for the first part, which I started off well with.* I loved the atmosphere of these American women sweating in their girdles and stockings in early 1960s Saigon. But the story never went anywhere. Any interesting possibility, like the mysterious American doctor, went nowhere. Then we switch to the present day for what reason? A completely squandered opportunity with what was a good idea. (I did, by the way, get that some of these characters were obnoxious, white savior types, but that's a very American way to be, of course they were, especially then. That's a duh. I don't know why that would need to be the whole point of the story, if indeed it was, I'm not even sure)
*one thing I loved...she mentions Barbie's wedding dress which cost an astounding $5.00. I got that dress for my seventh birthday, and I'll never forget the shock of opening the package. I couldn't BELIEVE that my parents spent that much money on a Barbie outfit for me. (it was a beautiful dress, Barbie clothes used to be extremely high quality)...more
2.5 This had a great start, I enjoyed the story of Dolly's childhood and her life on the farm, but after that it became one of those books where you a2.5 This had a great start, I enjoyed the story of Dolly's childhood and her life on the farm, but after that it became one of those books where you are just told the story, the characters are at a remove. It's very short for the amount of years it covers. Dolly buys a store, sells the store, gets a boarding house, sells the boarding house buys a hotel sells the hotel buys another hotel sells that hotel, etc. In the interim, she has a few problems with her husband and sometimes she likes her kids and sometimes she doesn't. We just get told all this, we don't really experience it, and Dolly herself becomes less and less likable. (I didn't realize until the end that it was a true story about the author's grandmother, but that just made me feel a little guilty for getting bored with it. ) Overall I felt it was sort of a missed opportunity....more
Giving up on this. From what I'd read this was supposed to be about the building of the Panama Canal, and I hoped for a big juicy sprawling tale. InstGiving up on this. From what I'd read this was supposed to be about the building of the Panama Canal, and I hoped for a big juicy sprawling tale. Instead, we get a collection of vignettes about a bunch of rather sad sack characters (with the canal building just as a setting more than anything else). I found them rather disappointingly dull....more
This wasn't terrible but neither was it memorable. I don't really know the point of it, since it's so short. If the idea was that most people wouldn'tThis wasn't terrible but neither was it memorable. I don't really know the point of it, since it's so short. If the idea was that most people wouldn't know anything about the actual history going in, then there are too many names and references to not be confusing, and if you do know all about this, it's nothing new. Also, I think the writing attempts to be poetic and striking, but mainly comes off as overly-dramatic. ...more
Abandoned. I was so interested in the idea of a historical novel about Venetian glassmakers. A couple of chapters in I did a quick check of reviews inAbandoned. I was so interested in the idea of a historical novel about Venetian glassmakers. A couple of chapters in I did a quick check of reviews in the hope that maybe things were going to pick up a little, as it was pretty slow going, and discovered what all those cryptic time references meant. Sigh. I skimmed through some more and decided to DNF. I so liked (at the time) my first Tracy Chevalier, Girl with a Pearl Earring, that it's taken me awhile to realize that I've been underwhelmed by everything else I've read by her. Love her settings and ideas, but the overall execution doesn't quite cut it for me....more
I heard about this author from a Tudor-related YouTube channel. I do read historical fiction related to topics of interest to me because I like the huI heard about this author from a Tudor-related YouTube channel. I do read historical fiction related to topics of interest to me because I like the human perspective it gives to what are otherwise names. But sometimes these books are a bit of a cheesy slog. When I started reading this, it surprised me that I whipped right along and found it pretty enjoyable. I'll continue with the series....more
There are books I don't like because they are clearly bad, and there are books that I don't like because I just don't get the point. I did not get theThere are books I don't like because they are clearly bad, and there are books that I don't like because I just don't get the point. I did not get the point of this. (and actually I DID get the point, I just didn't get the point of the point) There were moments here and there where I was momentarily mildly engaged, but for the most part I was not. The plot was not compelling, the characters were either unlikeable and/or not especially interesting and/or I couldn't figure out what they had to do with the story. Now this has won the Pulitzer and has had massive amounts of praise piled on it, so clearly I'm missing something, but someone needs to explain to me what I should have liked about this book, because it beats me....more
Now my track record with Jo Baker isn't great, so why did I read this...because I have a disturbing obsession with books about the Blitz? And this staNow my track record with Jo Baker isn't great, so why did I read this...because I have a disturbing obsession with books about the Blitz? And this started off as just that, a sort of slice-of-life war novel and I was doing pretty well with it. Then it started to veer off in a weird way. Is this about a serial killer? Then suddenly our main character is in the looney bin, and that was most unpleasant to read. Was everything that happened before imagined or something? How unreliable is our narrator, anyway? Wait, is it a SPY novel? Huh? I have no idea what this book wanted to be. But at least it only had one timeline, I guess we can be thankful for that....more
I knew going into this that it was a highly thought of, quiet, beautifully written novella that would provoke Profound Thoughts and Feelings. And thatI knew going into this that it was a highly thought of, quiet, beautifully written novella that would provoke Profound Thoughts and Feelings. And that concerned me, as I have a shallow, cold-blooded little brain that rarely has Profound Thoughts or Feelings. I figured whatever the story I wouldn't get them. And I didn't. But I agree that it was a nice, atmospheric little book. ...more
Oh wait, I didn't realize until now that this was a Tudor retelling? Let me think back for a bit. Okay, so Duke is Henry VIII, making Sallie ElizabethOh wait, I didn't realize until now that this was a Tudor retelling? Let me think back for a bit. Okay, so Duke is Henry VIII, making Sallie Elizabeth I, and Eddie is Edward VI and Mary and Phillip! oh I get that one, too...do I wish I'd realized that before reading this, or not? Well, moot point, too late. (And I don't recall any Tudors dropping bombs from airplanes.) I thought this had promise at the start, but the plot went off in a weird direction. It has a lighthearted tone but tons of horrible things happen, which just didn't jibe for me. Tudors aside there were some cliche moments/characters...Sallie herself was a cliche, the plucky heroine who finds her inner grit and takes charge. And she's only a teen-ager! Also I never like it when I predict at the very beginning of the book that something cornball will happen and it does (view spoiler)[ Sallie is NEVER getting married! Never! Except I knew she would end up with Tom, and guess what... (hide spoiler)] Overall I had hopes for this, but found it ultimately disappointing....more
This is long out of print, a novel written in the 1920s about the fight in the 1880s/90s in Los Angeles over where a major harbor will be built, in SaThis is long out of print, a novel written in the 1920s about the fight in the 1880s/90s in Los Angeles over where a major harbor will be built, in San Pedro or Santa Monica. San Pedro won in the end, and it was a major defeat for the big guy, Collis P Huntington, whose Southern Pacific railroad had the access to Santa Monica monopolized. So half of the characters in this book are real people and it reads as a non-fiction account of that struggle. Interspersed is a incredibly cornball, over the top romance. So it was alternately educational, and hilariously funny and as such mildly enjoyable. ...more
Sigh. I read this on a glowing recommendation, and look at all the five star reviews. Not really surprising, if it's the sort of thing you like, then Sigh. I read this on a glowing recommendation, and look at all the five star reviews. Not really surprising, if it's the sort of thing you like, then you will like it. BUT if you are a crabby snot like I am, you will find it tedious, sappy and lacking in credibility (as if someone in 1930s Kentucky would be so naive as to think that "love will conquer all" in a black/white relationship. Um, illegal, for one thing) Also, I guessed the big twist early on, so no shocked boohooing from grumpy me. ...more
I usually only read historical fiction about real people as an aid to solidifying my knowledge, as was the case here. And oh dear, this was a slog. ItI usually only read historical fiction about real people as an aid to solidifying my knowledge, as was the case here. And oh dear, this was a slog. It took me so long to get through I ran out of library renewals and had to check it out of a second library. I've read Alison Weir's non-fiction before, but never one of her novels, and it was so strangely written, like a middle grade for adults, or something. The first half was best, I really struggled once she marries Henry. I see there are pretty good reviews overall, but this wasn't for me. ...more
3.5 This settles I guess between a strong 3 and a weak 4. Odd book. At first I thought it was going to be a bit much, a little too quirky with very yo3.5 This settles I guess between a strong 3 and a weak 4. Odd book. At first I thought it was going to be a bit much, a little too quirky with very young children with better vocabularies than most adults, that sort of thing. And it moved very slowly. But I knew it was going to change tone later on so I stuck with it. It was certainly well written. It isn't often I find sentences worth stopping to reread, but I found myself doing that and I began to think I was really going to end up loving this. Then suddenly the action speeds up dramatically, we skip many years, and it becomes a war novel. Which is fine, I suppose, but this really should have been two separate books, there is just too much disconnect between the two stories and it left a lot of the first one sort of hanging. Several major characters just fade away. The second half was certainly a page turner and again, well written, but the French Resistance makes me nervous as it was just too fraught and you know that it would be phony for everyone to make it out alive. Unfortunately my guess as to who would and who wouldn't was entirely correct and therefore didn't affect me like it might have because I felt a bit manipulated. BUT overall I think it's pluses outweighed it's minuses and I would definitely read this author again....more
I don't know why I should be surprised at my rating, because I feel the same way about this book I felt about Hamnet. An original idea, some pretty prI don't know why I should be surprised at my rating, because I feel the same way about this book I felt about Hamnet. An original idea, some pretty prose, a lot of effort, but not much substance in the end. And both are about real people who died tragically young and you know that, and its a bummer, so then why did I read both? Because I'm so drawn to those settings? This book started off great, actually, a slice of life story of the Medici family would have been so much more enjoyable than this dreary march to tragedy. There IS a little twist ending, but it's imaginary. And not even satisfying, since (view spoiler)[although it's fine to think that Lucrezia really did get away and live happily ever after, her poor little maid still got murdered, so it's a cold hearted reader that breathes a sigh of relief (hide spoiler)] (also, the real Lucrezia's sister Isabelle was probably murdered by her husband, too, at age 34, so might she not have been a better choice if you are going to write about a murdered Medici?)...more
I don't know what it is about Kate Atkinson's writing that gets under my skin, but whenever I finish anything by her I always feel vaguely disturbed fI don't know what it is about Kate Atkinson's writing that gets under my skin, but whenever I finish anything by her I always feel vaguely disturbed for a time. This proports to be a fizzy, frolicky book about Nellie, a nightclub owner, in 1920's London, but she doesn't have any more screen time than other characters, who are all quite distinctive and interesting. And for a "fizzy" story it has a rather peculiar atmosphere and some very sad and affecting moments. An odd book overall, I suppose, but then most of her books are a little odd. But I like them....more
Very interesting. And not the story of John Wilkes Booth, but the entire family. You couldn't invent them, what with the famous drunken actors and preVery interesting. And not the story of John Wilkes Booth, but the entire family. You couldn't invent them, what with the famous drunken actors and presidential assassin and all. This succeeded in doing what good historical fiction does for me, which is to bring someone to life and make a real person out of them. And inspire you to read more. ...more
This was a bit lurid, but then I think anything about the Borgias is supposed to be a bit lurid, isn't it? Novels about real people aren't something IThis was a bit lurid, but then I think anything about the Borgias is supposed to be a bit lurid, isn't it? Novels about real people aren't something I read too much of just for fun, but when I'm embarking on a new historical period to explore I like to read them to get a more of a personal grip on the characters. (This got pretty personal, alright) So this did it's job. How accurately, I can't yet say....more
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