by Audrey Niffenegger
My favorite novel by Niffenegger, hands-down, is "The Time Traveler's Wife" - which many have seen in its movie form (sidenote: very well done adaptation).
That being said, "Her Fearful Symmetry" is an intruiging novel with four intriguing main subjects- two generations of identical twins, which alone suggests a mystical connection between two humans that others cannot understand.
The story revolves around the mysterious comings and goings at London flat vacated by the younger twins' deceased aunt- the twin of their mother. The twins quickly discover that they aren't as alone as they think they are...both in the living and in the deceased sense.
Becoming involved in the lives of their neighbors, the twins begin to question their deceased aunt's relationship with everyone around them....including their own mother, whose twin held secrets she never intended to reveal.
As the twins story starts to imbed itself in their mother's and their aunt's story, and eventually plays out, the roles and identities of these four twins become nearly interchangeable.
The book was engaging in the sense that you knew something wasn't quite right, but it wasn't easy to put you finger on exactly what was wrong. The ending, as well, will leave you with the sense that things may not have all come out terribly right in the world, which is another of Niffenegger's themes- happy endings that aren't, always.
Showing posts with label a great soak-in-the-tub book. Show all posts
Showing posts with label a great soak-in-the-tub book. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Monday, March 7, 2011
Cutting for Stone
by Abraham Verghese
I'll probably say this a few times this year, but my goodness, hands-down, no-contest, straight-up, BEST BOOK I HAVE READ SO FAR THIS YEAR.
"Cutting for Stone" is an amazing, beautiful, awe-inspiring, insert-fifty-glowing-adjectives-here type of book. Reviewers use words like "Richly written, vivid, masterpiece," and I couldn't agree more.
Set largely in Ethiopia and America in the 1950s- 1980s, the story is that of two twins born attached at the head. Surgically separated after the horrendous birth that kills their mother and drives their father to leave the hospital - and his babies- behind, the twins are raised by two doctors working at "Missing" hospital in Addis Ababa.
While each twin exhibits unique personality traits, their initial tie remains strong and causes intersections throughout their lives. Both twins will follow in their adopted parents' footsteps to careers in medicine, though their specialties and motivations will differ greatly. One twin will travel to America, and experience life as a medical resident in the 1970s & 1980s, before returning to Addis Ababa.
I literally couldn't put this book down, and am thankful that my mother had the presence of mind to give it to me in the chilly winter months, when I wasn't busy with work and could basically abandon my life for two days to read it while getting ready in the morning, brushing my teeth, eating breakfast, etc etc etc.
It's written by Abraham Verghese, a physician who also wrote "My Own Country," his story of working in an eastern Tennessee hospital and specializing in infectious disease during the onset of the AIDS epidemic, when the first HIV/AIDS patient arrives in the town. This book is absolutely on my list of books to read this year!
I'll probably say this a few times this year, but my goodness, hands-down, no-contest, straight-up, BEST BOOK I HAVE READ SO FAR THIS YEAR.
"Cutting for Stone" is an amazing, beautiful, awe-inspiring, insert-fifty-glowing-adjectives-here type of book. Reviewers use words like "Richly written, vivid, masterpiece," and I couldn't agree more.
Set largely in Ethiopia and America in the 1950s- 1980s, the story is that of two twins born attached at the head. Surgically separated after the horrendous birth that kills their mother and drives their father to leave the hospital - and his babies- behind, the twins are raised by two doctors working at "Missing" hospital in Addis Ababa.
While each twin exhibits unique personality traits, their initial tie remains strong and causes intersections throughout their lives. Both twins will follow in their adopted parents' footsteps to careers in medicine, though their specialties and motivations will differ greatly. One twin will travel to America, and experience life as a medical resident in the 1970s & 1980s, before returning to Addis Ababa.
I literally couldn't put this book down, and am thankful that my mother had the presence of mind to give it to me in the chilly winter months, when I wasn't busy with work and could basically abandon my life for two days to read it while getting ready in the morning, brushing my teeth, eating breakfast, etc etc etc.
It's written by Abraham Verghese, a physician who also wrote "My Own Country," his story of working in an eastern Tennessee hospital and specializing in infectious disease during the onset of the AIDS epidemic, when the first HIV/AIDS patient arrives in the town. This book is absolutely on my list of books to read this year!
Monday, February 21, 2011
Light of Day
by Jamie M. Saul
A few weeks ago, I happened upon a Borders' bookstore that was closing and had marked down their remaining inventory. Though the top two floors had already been seriosly picked over, I hit jackpot in the basement with books marked down to 99 cents!!
I picked up several, including "Light of Day," and figured that at 99 cents each, I'd lump any bad ones as a loss and happily put the $6 total I spent towards the one good one.
I haven't read them all yet, but so far? "Light of Day" makes the entire purchase worth it.
Why?
OH MY GOD.
Compelling storyline.
Amazing characters.
Intruiging friendships.
Revealing sub-plot flashbacks.
Twists and turns.
Everything, absolutely everything, requires you to keep turning the pages until you find out what's next. In the first ten pages alone, you meet Jack Owens, the character who will chart the course of the rest of the book through his actions and memories, and learn that he's a man haunted by the past- despite having left and moved to a small town to escape it.
And that's where the body is found.
I won't give away anything more, because you quite simply just have to go read this book, if you're the sort who enjoys intruige, suspense, and questions that don't always have answers.
A few weeks ago, I happened upon a Borders' bookstore that was closing and had marked down their remaining inventory. Though the top two floors had already been seriosly picked over, I hit jackpot in the basement with books marked down to 99 cents!!
I picked up several, including "Light of Day," and figured that at 99 cents each, I'd lump any bad ones as a loss and happily put the $6 total I spent towards the one good one.
I haven't read them all yet, but so far? "Light of Day" makes the entire purchase worth it.
Why?
OH MY GOD.
Compelling storyline.
Amazing characters.
Intruiging friendships.
Revealing sub-plot flashbacks.
Twists and turns.
Everything, absolutely everything, requires you to keep turning the pages until you find out what's next. In the first ten pages alone, you meet Jack Owens, the character who will chart the course of the rest of the book through his actions and memories, and learn that he's a man haunted by the past- despite having left and moved to a small town to escape it.
And that's where the body is found.
I won't give away anything more, because you quite simply just have to go read this book, if you're the sort who enjoys intruige, suspense, and questions that don't always have answers.
Monday, January 17, 2011
The Girl With A Dragon Tattoo Who Played With Fire and Kicked The Hornets Nest
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
The Girl Who Played With Fire
The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest
by Stieg Larsson
I jumped on the "The Girl" bandwagon towards the tail end of it, as the third book was coming out in hardcover form- worrying briefly and ultimately unneccessarily that all the previous hype had clouded the book for me, and I was destined to enjoy them, but not be blown away.
I was still pretty blown away.
Lisbeth Salander, and Mikael Blomkvist, have definitely been added the list of serial characters I love, making author Stieg Larsson's death just after finishing the third even more devastating, as Lisbeth Salander's tales of subterfuge and cyber espionage would reportedly have continued for at least several further novels.
(Side note: his partner, Eva Gabrielsson, retains the laptop on which he was working on the 4th novel. The rights to this book are currently being debated; there is also speculation as to whether it was meant to be the 4th book or actually the 5th book in the series, which was to include 10.)
The books center around massively intricate plots involving lots of conspiracy and government cover-up, which, if you know me, is exactly the kind of book I love to curl up with and dive into.
If you haven't read them yet, I'd make several strong reccomendations:
1) Wait until you can read them one right after the other. Rich in detail, plot, character development and with twists and turns along the way, these books seamlessly blend into the next, particularly the second and third. If you pause too long between them you'll risk forgetting the buildup of the previous.
2) The books, as you might know, take place in Sweden. The names of the characters, thusly, are Swedish. I found it a bit hard at times to keep track of who was who and got distracted at trying to figure out how to pronouce the names. I found I enjoyed the story much more when I let go of this and assigned a mental "face" to each name, which helped me keep track of the characters, particularly in the third book.
I am in the camp of "excited to see them make a movie" about these books, where some fans are hotly against and some are hotly for. Like any make-into-a-movie, I think there is merit to the idea and anticipate some adaptation.....and again, like any other, highly recommend the books first!
The Girl Who Played With Fire
The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest
by Stieg Larsson
I jumped on the "The Girl" bandwagon towards the tail end of it, as the third book was coming out in hardcover form- worrying briefly and ultimately unneccessarily that all the previous hype had clouded the book for me, and I was destined to enjoy them, but not be blown away.
I was still pretty blown away.
Lisbeth Salander, and Mikael Blomkvist, have definitely been added the list of serial characters I love, making author Stieg Larsson's death just after finishing the third even more devastating, as Lisbeth Salander's tales of subterfuge and cyber espionage would reportedly have continued for at least several further novels.
(Side note: his partner, Eva Gabrielsson, retains the laptop on which he was working on the 4th novel. The rights to this book are currently being debated; there is also speculation as to whether it was meant to be the 4th book or actually the 5th book in the series, which was to include 10.)
The books center around massively intricate plots involving lots of conspiracy and government cover-up, which, if you know me, is exactly the kind of book I love to curl up with and dive into.
If you haven't read them yet, I'd make several strong reccomendations:
1) Wait until you can read them one right after the other. Rich in detail, plot, character development and with twists and turns along the way, these books seamlessly blend into the next, particularly the second and third. If you pause too long between them you'll risk forgetting the buildup of the previous.
2) The books, as you might know, take place in Sweden. The names of the characters, thusly, are Swedish. I found it a bit hard at times to keep track of who was who and got distracted at trying to figure out how to pronouce the names. I found I enjoyed the story much more when I let go of this and assigned a mental "face" to each name, which helped me keep track of the characters, particularly in the third book.
I am in the camp of "excited to see them make a movie" about these books, where some fans are hotly against and some are hotly for. Like any make-into-a-movie, I think there is merit to the idea and anticipate some adaptation.....and again, like any other, highly recommend the books first!
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