2nd Half June Reads Borrows and Bought

The second half of the month capped off 2 books that were about as opposite as one might find aside from comparing reading a scientific journal to erotica.  I read them in parallel so it was a bit discombobulating  (what a great onomatopoeia!) 

Let's get the girly beach read out of the way first: Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin

I could denigrate the book as a fluff piece but its really as good (and better written) as most of late that attempt to describe the often complex relationships that form between women, particularly when formed in adolescence. The reality is that these friendships are more intimate than most marriages which means the good, the bad and the very ugly come into the relationship. They're usually more subtle than Margaret Atwood's portrayal in Cat's Eye and this is a decent description. So, for female psychology... sure, check it out. Here's your warning; the author, like the narrator, attempts to set-up the reader into a false dichotomy: either you love the vain, selfish, thoughtless but vivacious beauty, or you side with the loyal, smart, average and maligned narrator (best friend to the beauty). The truth is, they're both bitches. Of course the queen bee takes the cake and I dutifully hated and rooted against her, but the narrator is a spineless, passive-aggressive leech who doesn't learn a thing through her experience stealing the beau and never identifies what she wants. Dissatisfying to finish. The only reason I would want to read the sequel (which promises to be worse due to being from the point of view of the queen bee) is to hope for some actual growth in the characters to resolve my annoyance with this book.

Now on to the gritty crime noir epic....

The Cold Six Thousand by James Ellroy....pretty much 180degrees from Borrowed except perhaps for seeing every characters dark side (some of them don't have light sides) and disliking all of them. The 1960's tale starts (and never ends) with JFK's assassination in Dallas and continues along a reasonably explained trajectory of consequences for the cast of characters involved. It's impressive & overwhelming and I had to wonder if the frenetic prose is due to the author partaking of similar uppers as his characters.  I was grateful I'd seen "The Aviator" and some History Channel Mob pieces as well as read "Lies My Teacher Told Me" and even "The Help" because I would not have been able to track most of this otherwise (its like a Russian novel for #'s of characters and their nicknames). My generation wasn't taught the recent history of our parents so we're ignorant of the events of most of the 60's and I certainly didn't grow up with all the racial slurs spouted in these passages! This was a revealing, thought-provoking take on what might have been behind the very real events and motivations of the movers and shakers in the Kennedy, Vietnam and Civil Rights era(s). Warning: this is beyond Elmore Leonard for grit.... Leonard is a tourist's sampling of noir compared to the violence here that compounds one's horror with the sneaking suspicion that much of it must be true.

I broke my fast for new books big time towards the end of the month due to a lovely gift card I couldn't resist spending ... I'm very much looking forward to reading and gifting these (the parenting book is a gift I don't currently need myself though I LOVE the title The Three-Martini Playdate!) in the month(s)to come.

First Half June Reads, Borrows & Bought

I finished two books in the first days of June so my month is artificially weighted this round.   To get a jump on this, I'll split my record into first & second half this month.  Good news: I've made it through half the month without borrowing or buying any new books (whew!).

China Mieville came to Powells at the end of May, inspiring me to pick up a couple of his books and hear his reading (or rather his delightful vocabulary and British accent!).  He writes what some call "weird fiction" but I would describe as a cross between steam punk and modern lit.  I'm always on the lookout for new, smart takes on fantasy since I love the genre but have to filter through a lot of crap to find the gems.  It's been awhile  since I've attended a book reading and this time exceeded my expectations for a few reasons - 1) Mieville is marvelously clever and a joy to listen to (and fun to look at!) & 2) the audience made for excellent people-watching and they asked interesting questions rather than the pretentious I-worked-on-this-question-for-a-week-so-I-would-sound-deep questions I'm used to cringing at during modern lit author readings (or worse, poetry readings!).

My first reading of Mieville was his foray into children's books & while the tale didn't blow me away, it encouraged me to read more if only to see how he continually creates new worlds to explore.

Now, to hit the highlight of the month so far...  my book club read The Help by Kathryn Stockett several months ago and I chose to read the alternate book instead because I thought the story would be heavy and depress me.  I didn't hear much of the conversation about the book but in the intervening months, a friend here and there have mentioned how much they liked the book and wanted to discuss it.  Then, with the impending movie (and I like Emma Stone so I'll likely see it), I finally decided to plunge in and read the tale. 
I was blown away.  I found the characters so incredibly vivid and believable, and could empathize alike with those breaking with and those brainwashed by their culture.  The story has a little bit of everything; a girl establishing her independence, racial issues, class issues, familial love and conflict, danger, history, loss and hope.  Instead of a story of ignorance and blame, this was a story of one woman's emergence from Plato's cave and the myriad impacts in her life both difficult and wonderful.  If there is a moral to the story, it matches that of "Mean Girls:" we are all women facing similar challenges in the world... if we would just help each other, we can change our lives and our futures for the better.

May Reads, Borrows and Bought

This was a month of sampling multiple books at once before knuckling down to finish any.  As a result, 3 of my books completed the first week of June which sorely tested me for my chronological reporting.  However, I will stick to the facts and use this as an excuse to say a little more on my fewer reads than I normally post for a respectible number. 

Despite the few completions, this was a banner month for picking up books: the library had a sale, an author came for a book reading to Portland, and Borders had too many great coupons!  As a result, my vice is extremely apparent this month but I'm excited about the selections and already anticipate getting through several in the month of June!