Double-Stacked Bookshelves

Yet again, another Wednesday of "Why I Love", a meme hosted by Alexis at Reflections of a Bookaholic .  This week's theme is Favorite Chunksters .  I'll be honest, I'd never heard this term in reference to books until I read Alexis' post for today.  Evidently, a "chunkster" is a hefty/thick/dense/long book.  Well, I've read a few of those and have several that I list among my favorite books; namely Gone with the Wind , the later books in the Harry Potter series (I wouldn't consider the first three "chunksters"), Les Miserables , Anna Karenina , and others. But for today's favorite "chunkster", I'm going with Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children , which I read as a senior in college.  It was the only book we read the entire term (three months), though we did read critical theory and other supplemental materials in addition to this book.  It's an incredibly dense book that requires many things to fini

Another Wednesday has fallen upon us and that means it's time for another edition of "Why I Love Wednesday", a meme hosted by Alexis at Reflections of a Bookaholic .  This week's topic is Gifted Books .  While I don't tend to get many books as gifts (I can be slightly difficult to buy books for) and am more apt to give them, there are a few that have been given to me and were great gifts. First on this list would be Ingeborg Bachmann's Malina .  I received this book in the original German from my, much loved, German professor when I graduated from undergrad.  She wrote a beautiful inscription on the front page and it's definitely a book that I will keep for as long as I can.  I have yet to read the entire thing (it's in German, therefore a little more slow-going than an English version), but I am determined to one day finish it. Secondly would be a Christmas present I received from my parents years ago.  I have always been a huge fan of Nirvana a

I don't think I've been this disappointed in a book for a long time.  That's saying something... Nicole Krauss' The History of Love follows the journey of a book written sixty years prior as it makes its way from Poland to South America to New York.  This book is a history--a history of the love one person has for another.  It's been hidden (or lost) for years, but manages to resurface in an unexpected way.  Told from the perspective of two people, the aging Leo and fourteen-year-old Alma, it is a testiment to just how far people will go to discover the truth in times of healing.  This book manages to bring these two characters together in a roundabout way that is both fitting and justifying.  Pretencious...overreaching...angering...rough.  Have I said enough?  I had such high hopes for this book.  The plot sounded intriguing.  The synopsis sounded good.  The characters sounded interesting.  Instead, I was left completely underwhelmed by this novel.  I think wha

I finally got around to reading Stieg Larsson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo after having it for a long, long time and hearing so much about it.  I have yet to see the movie--either version--but they are both in my Netflix queue and I will watch them eventually.  Regardless, here's what I thought. Tattoo brings the reader into the lives of several people; namely Michael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander.  Blomkvist, watching while his career falls into shambles, has been asked to write a family history for a well-known, aging Swedish industry tycoon, Henrik Vanger.  However, things are not what they seem.  What Vanger really wants is for Blomkvist to spend a year investigating the disappearance of his neice some forty years prior.  Through this seemingly impossible investigation, Blomkvist comes into contact with Lisbeth and the two form a rather tenuous working relationship (with some interesting perks).  Lisbeth, an accomplished hacker and ward of the state, is socially a

It's Wednesday...evening.  Oops!  Anywho...today's installation of Why I Love concerns book recommendations.  While I seem to be the main book recommender (huh?) in my circle, I have had two books recommended to me by a friend, and I have to say that I fell in love with both.  I was surprised by this because I don't tend to like what everyone else likes or go with the mainstream.  Regardless, these were the books: The Story of Edgar Sawtell e by David Wroblewski:  I absolutely loved, loved, loved this book...times a million.  I remember seeing a synopsis of this book (before it became part of Oprah's Book Club) and thinking to myself..."Self, that sounds really good."  Alas, I forgot about it.  Of course.  Then a year or so later, my friend says "Hey, I have this book you should read.  I think you'll like it."  And that's how Edgar and his amazing self came into my life.  The book is about Edgar Sawtelle (ironic, right?), his family, and th

Another Tuesday has reared it's head in my world again and we all know what that means:  Teaser!  This week's teaser comes from Nora Roberts' The Witness .  Thank you Aunt Gayle for lending it to me over the weekend :)  And without further ado, the teaser... "Add guns, he thought, and a to-do could go from a scene to a ruckus to a bloodbath in a heartbeat" (424). Hmmm...wonder what this one's going to be about?  Happy Tuesday all :)