September Reads Borrows and Bought

September Reads
Blade Runner or Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K Dick
Mermaid: A Twist on the Classic Tale by Carolyn Turgeon
Sifting Through the Madness for the word, the line, the way by Charles Bukowski
The Man From Beijing by Henning Mankell
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
The Male Brain by Louanne Brizendine
Y: The Last Man (Book 3) by Brian Vaughan and others (Graphic Novel)
Anya's Ghost by Vera Brosgol (Graphic Novel)

September Borrowed & Bought
(Borrowed from Library)
Blade Runner by Philip K Dick
Sifting Through the Madness for the word, the line, the way by Charles Bukowski
The Man From Beijing by Henning Mankell
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
The Male Brain by Louanne Brizendine
Anya's Ghost by Vera Brosgol
How to Discipline Kids without Losing Their Love and Respect by Jim Fay
Graphic Design for Non-Designers by Tony Seddon
(Purchased from Amazon & the death of Borders)
Y: The Last Man Vol 3 by Brian Vaughan
Blackout by Connie Willis
The Wolverton Bible by Basil Wolverton
Please Look After Mom by Kyung-Sook Shin
American Dream by Norman Mailer

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Ok, I seem to be too verbose on my summaries monthly so I'm going to break up the books from now on as (or as close to as my schedule allows) they are finished.  Today starts the back-log of Sept reads... one of which was Blade Runner formerly known as Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? but redubbed due to the amazing Ridley Scott movie of the same name.  I read this as a part of Portland's FIRST RULE OF BOOKCLUB group which reads a book, discusses and then watches the movie in one of our lovely local (and locally-owned) theatres!  I'm SO glad this was a pick because I might not have read the book otherwise (I rarely read sci-fi as I prefer it in the movie medium!)

I'd seen the movie already so I had a visual feel in my head that starts and ends with the eerie lighting & shadows, cool filters and a futuristic cityscape that Scott does so well.  But the book was so much more of a philosophical experience than a visual one really... which I loved.  The opening scene between husband and wife (Harrison Ford's character is married here and not remotely an android as the movie hints he might be)was as much humorous and familiar as it was frightening and reminded me of Farenheit 451.   Our hero doesn't wonder if he's actually human but he DOES wonder who holds humanity between humans and androids in this tale... and he increasingly questions his loyalty through the story despite moving forward with his profession of "retiring" rogue androids on earth. 

The moral decisions and issues of faith that are faced were so compelling and thought-provoking.  The book & the movie are so unique in theme and voice that Ridley Scott has really created something completely new which I have to admire for its own sake.  However one is missing something if one doesn't also experience the book.   I found the shared experiences that are part of the global religion both creepy and profound and sharing the journey of our hero/anti-hero matched that experience.

I highly recommend this story for all readers - not just genre lovers.  It is a stimulating and complex read.

August Reads Borrows & Bought

August's runaway winner (although it was an all-over interesting and enriching month of reading) is The Forgotten Garden, a book our bookclub chose to read and that was a delight to dive into.  It is compared to The Secret Garden in reviews and with some reason... they both have gardens.  Forgotten starts a little slow like Francis Hodges Burnett's novel does and Burnett makes a brief appearance in the tale.  Otherwise though the main similarities are the great female characters (in this case several generations of women across continents) and the feeling of wonder as you fall into the magic of the tale.  It's not perfect, especially in laying out the foundations of the personalities of the characters, but its memorable and satisfying and I'll return to it for a second (or more) reading in the future!

Otherwise, I bopped all around genres - some due to recommendations or a 2nd book club (Fermata and Hollywood), and some due to their classical nature and a desire to keep spreading my tastes or due to it catching my eye at the local bookstore display  (The Great Impersonation and Angelology).

With Borders bookstores going out of business (for real this time) and a surprise Amazon giftcard, I've been hard-pressed to refrain from buying sprees so I'm sitting on my hands figuratively through September to balance out my banner month of new books in August!  Highlights from purchases are/were The Forgotten Garden which I first read from the library but loved enough to own and reread, and I, Claudius which is a bi-annual favorite read and which I lost by enthusiastically loaning it out in years past.  My used copy from Amazon.com looks almost exactly the same as my old copy!  I have a lot of reading and a lot less acquiring to do this next month!