Americanah

I heard Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie speak on NPR about her new novel Americanah and immediately placed a hold on the book. Yet I wasn't sure I would actually be able to get into it because I've been pretty fickle lately. But Adichie is an amazing writer and I fell in love with her main character Ifemelu, a woman from Nigeria who comes to America. She leaves behind her true love, Obinze. The two try to maintain a long distance relationship, but Ifemelu's desperation and degradation of trying to make it in America build and eventually tear the couple apart. The book explores Ifemelu's search for her identity and her journey as a writer, and also gives the reader a portrait of her relationships with men after Obinze and their eventual reunion. I absolutely loved this book. It tackles race issues, relationships, and identity and I enjoy books that touch on any of these, but to have them all explored so eloquently in one beautiful novel was the kind of book that I never want to end. I will definitely be reading more of her novels in the future.

This One Is Mine

I knew that Where'd You Go, Bernadette would be a tough book to follow. It was the kind of nearly perfect book that makes even good books seem dry in comparison. When I was lamenting about my conundrum of what to read, Alan asked if Maria Semple had any other books out. I knew she had written only one other (her first novel) so I found that and dived in.

This One is Mine looks at the lives of two women, Violet, a rich married women who has an affair, and Sally, her neurotic sister-in-law whose mission is to snag a man. The novel is readable, but falls flat. I considered putting the book down several times as it's quite flawed. And yet, it was somewhat entertaining enough to continue so I did. I finished, but definitely can't recommend it. And yet I'm glad Semple wrote it as I feel sometimes it takes writing a delightfully flawed novel to teach one the art of fiction. She sure nailed it the second time around...

Where'd You Go, Bernadette

I was looking at a list of authors coming to an independent book store in Milwaukee when I saw the cover for Maria Semple's Where'd You Go, Bernadette. It definitely caught my eye and I read the blurb which put the novel at the top of my books to read list.

The novel's premise is an interesting one. A precocious young girl (Bee) does well in school and is rewarded with anything that she wants and she chooses a family trip to Antarctica. Her mother (Bernadette) goes missing the eve of the trip and Bee compiles letters, emails, and more to create a portrait of her mother and to piece together the tale of her disappearance.

I enjoyed the book as soon as I began reading. I love all of Semple's characters in the novel and they have such rich voices that pull the reader in. Yet the book gets better and better and eventually I was sucked into the story in that way that makes one abandon everything that should be done to find out what will happen next. It's funny with an element of mystery, smart and literary while still being very readable. It's an addictive read, one that I recommend. The only bad part of the book is that it's one of those books that makes it difficult to get into another book when it's over as everything else seems flat.

Admission

I have always been a sucker for the glossy trade paperbacks. Not buying them as I rarely purchase new books, but picking them up, reading their back covers, and continuing to covet them days later. Such was the case with Jean Hanff Korelitz's novel Admission, which is available in trade paperback with the faces of Tina Fey and Paul Rudd on the cover as they star in the new film adaptation. I thought about that book for weeks, not even knowing what it was about, before putting it on hold.

I loved this book and the way that Korelitz pulled me in, first with her prose, then with the story. I fell in love with Portia Nathan, the main character and found myself engrossed in what would happen with her. She is an admissions counselor at Princeton University and the novel gives the reader a glimpse of the process of college admissions while telling a heartfelt tale about love and confronting one's past. I hadn't seen the movie trailer before I began reading and the book's jacket cover doesn't give much away. One night, when I was only 15-20% into the book, I watched the movie trailer, which more or less gave away the climax. I'll admit doing so tainted the reading experience, but I still rather enjoyed it. I will probably check out the movie, but can already tell it doesn't stay true to the original story and looked a tad hokey. But I did love the characters and the story and am interested to check out more of the author's books.

The Beauty Myth

Naomi Wolf's The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty

 Are Used Against Women was another used book sale buy.

 It's an amazing book, one that challenged the way I think about myself and about society's accepted ideas of beauty. (And to think it was mine for all of twenty cents.) The book examines the way that beauty--and the obsession with obtaining it--is undermining and alienating women in professional, sexual, and personal terms. It dissects the culture of beauty and the messages women receive from the media and society. I loved the book for its intelligence and anger and Wolf's ability to present these ideas so powerfully that it truly effects the reader. I attended a make-up party while I was reading it and wrote about it on my other blog. I had barely cracked the cover and already Wolf's ideas were affecting me. The Beauty Myth was the first book I read by Naomi Wolf, but I'm anxious to read another, so it certainly won't be my last.

Love Medicine

I haven't been very good about blogging about what I read these days, but it's true my reading pace has slowed considerably. I still enjoy reading, though I don't have quite as much time to do so. I also haven't been "wowed" by many books lately for whatever reason. Louise Erdrich's Love Medicine was no exception. It was well written, like all of Erdrich's books, but wasn't super gripping. It took me a while to get through it, but overall I did enjoy it.

It's a beautiful, literary novel that tells the stories of men and women who live on the Chippewa reservation in North Dakota spanning over several generations. The stories weave in and out of one another in the way that Erdrich does so skillfully. It's her first novel, but didn't remind me of a first novel due to the grace and fluidity of the storytelling. I definitely recommend it for anyone who likes slow literary novels that have rich characters. If you want something faster with a solid plot line, this book is not for you.

The Secret History

I found Donna Tartt's The Secret History at a used book sale and grabbed it as it is mentioned in a novel that I love. The book is a Christmas gift from one character to another in About a Boy. I knew nothing about the book aside from it being alluded to in that Christmas present exchange scene, but bought it, and let it sit on my shelf for months before picking it up to see what it was about. I flipped inside and read the first page and decided it was the perfect book to follow The Casual Vacancy.

The novel is about a young man who goes to college and finds himself intrigued by and then pulled in to a group of students. They are studying classics together, the group of 4 of them, the narrator becoming the fifth student. All their classes are taught by the same professor and there are no other students in any of the classes. The small group comes to change the way they think and their morals. It's a difficult novel to sum up without giving too much away as the novel's power comes from the way it unfolds. It is described as a psychological thriller. I haven't read many psychological thrillers so am not entirely familiar with the genre, but found the book extremely well written and well paced. It wasn't that fast paced, addictive kind of read, yet still was so enjoyable and gripping that I didn't want to put it down. Overall, it was a very enjoyable read.