April - May - June - July Readings

 

These are my last four months readings.

Let's get down to business.

 

 Crappy photo alert.

Insomniac City by Bill Hayes: I really liked this book. I really don't like New York but somehow I always love its rendition in movies and books. I also loved the little details in this book. The very mundane and yet extraordinary sweet situations.

Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris: Since Girl on the Train, which was probably the first thriller I ever read, I'm having a hard time enjoying the others. It's like every single thriller I read where a woman is the main character/narrator, there is domestic violence involded. This book was no exception. Not a big fan.

Jamaica Inn by Daphne Du Maurier: I love her style so much! She manages to set such eerie atmospheres. The story wasn't much when I look at it, but the atmosphere was killer.

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler: What a gutwrenching book. I loved it. Loved the style, the simplicity of it and yet the powerful messages she conveys. It hurts to read sometimes but it is so good and meaningful.

Out by Natsuo Kirino: I kind of enjoyed this book. I love how Japan is depicted. The story was quite original. I'm not thrilled though.

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett: A little corny for my taste. Even though I'm well aware it is a kids book.

Running With Scissors by Augusten Burroughs: I loved this one. Loved the crazy dysfonctionnal family Burroughs was raised into. Reminded me of The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, which I really loved.

The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett: Didn't do it for me. I didn't quite grasped the humor of it I guess.

Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser: Against all odds I really enjoyed this book. I wasn't expecting to. It's funny how people seem to love it or hate it. No in-between. Dreiser's style is often vividly criticized in the negative reviews I read. I don't quite understand why.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon: This book was fun and super fast to read. I read it by my window drinking very good beer and eating smoked mozarella. I have a very vivid and awesome memory of the good time I had reading this book in these conditions. :)

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson: Didn't like it at all.  Stories of people on drugs are not fun if you're not on drugs yourself I suppose.

Alys, Always by Harriet Lane: Ok, not great.

Judgement Day by Penelope Lively: Couldn't get into the story for the life of me. Didn't like the style at all and found the overall book very boring.

Thousand Cranes by Yasunari Kawabata: Mmm... I don't remember much about this one and how it made me feel... I think it was OK but not great.

Native Son by Richard Wright: The first half of this book blew my mind. It was still good after that but I was a little less into it. I don't remember why now. I read this book at the end of may so my memory is a little hazy now. But Richard Wright is such a solid writer...

The Ballroom by Anna Hope: Meh. Corny. 

 

Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt: Very decent read with a good story. 3 stars.  :)

Some Prefer Nettles by Junichiro Tanizaki: I wanted to read this book so much. I spent more money that I usually do for it. And I was disappointed. The pitch of the story ( a couple on the rocks) really left me wanting to know the whole story but I didn't get much into it in the end.

The Lake House by Kate Morton: I brought this book on vacation reckoning it would be a nice vacation read. It was. Not great, a little corny but page turner nonetheless.

Revenge by Yoko Ogawa: It took me a while to get into and get the point. I'm not over the moon with this book but it was definitely interesting. Loved how the different stories were linked to each others.

Charlotte Sometimes by Penelope Farmer: Loved this one. Perfect example that children litterature doesn't have to be corny. Kids are not morons.

The Woman in Black by Susan Hill: I regret that I didn't read this one in the winter by candle light. :) It was exactly what I was expecting and it was good. Cool.

Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler: Sequel to parable of the Sower. I was not disappointed. Can't wait to read more Octavia Butler. (This book is a birthday gift from my brother :) )

The Witches Of Eastwick by John Updike: Didn't like this one much. Didn't find the witches relatable. Maybe I missed the point. I thought they were all phonies trying to pass as free spirits and free women, they were just mean and obsessed by a man that could do to them pretty much whatever he wanted. Yak.

Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier: Nice and easy read. This is the second book I read by Tracy Chevalier and I enjoyed both, but there is something missing. Maybe in her style, I can't explain.

Histoires Vraies 1 by Pierre Bellemare et Jacques Antoine: I'm a big fan of French legend Pierre Bellemare. He passed away very recently. In honor of his passing I read this book. It's always fun. And despite the fact that the title says 'True Stories', they sound so fake and you can't find anything about the events and people they talk about on the internet. Weird!

The Mortgaged Heart by Carson McCullers: I started this collection of short stories a couple of years ago, I finally finished it! God, what a writer McCullers is!!! Such beautiful prose. Her words unwind like a movie in my head everytime. I very much enjoyed Who Has Seen the Wind.

Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates: Latest heartthrob. The characters were so realistic, it hurt. I finished the book with a knot in my belly and nausea. 4 stars. Maybe 4 and 1/2. :)

This is it for the last four months. :)

Can't wait to read more!

Here is the blog post I did for January February and March Readings.

Cheers!

2017 Readings

2017 has been a good year bookwise.

I read 56 books and a bunch of them were really awesome. But Let's start with the 'not so good' IMO.

 

These just didn't do it for me.

Some more than others.

Some were cute and corny (Wating to Exhale), some were plain corny (Here on Earth).

Some were too dense for me (Heart of Darkness), some were a disappointement (the Orchid Thief).

Some bored me (Orlando, The Corrections). 

The rest was just ok -.

I was very disappointed by The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead. I had seen this book everywhere and it had such good reviews. It turned out I didn't like it at all. The main character was far from likeable, and the story, just meh.

Ballard's Crash was another book I didn't like. 250pages of sex and cars, cars and crashes and sex... Enough already.

 

Another pile of books I didn't really appreciate, or didn't appreciate at all.

Corny to death: A Reliable Wife, One day, the Door to December, The Little Friend.

Boring to death: Henry and June. 

I wish I had enjoyed  Beloved by Toni Morrison but the style was too dense for me, the story was awesome though.

The God of Small things was not too bad.

The Killer inside Me was a weird one, I was pretty disappointed. I couldn't help comparing it to American Psycho, a book I love, and IMO it didn't hold a candle to it. :s

The Tales of the City: I tried reading it a decade ago and got so bored after a hundred pages. Same thing, it bored me a lot but this time I finished it.

I don't even remember The Autobiography of my Mother by Jamaica Kincaid. :s

 

These I liked better.

Books I liked pile #1 

Fun, easy reads: The Shining, Mama, The ABC Murders, Dumb Witness, The Virgin Blue, And Ten There Were None.

Interesting reads: Cat's eye, The Fire next Time, Girls visions and Everything, Reflection in a Golden Eye, of Mice and Men, East of Eden, I Put a Spell on You.

The thing is I sorted out my books into piles. I am going to sell the first two piles of books since I didn't like them. The rest (the other three piles) I will keep.

I didn't quite like How to Kill a Mockingbird, but I can't sell my copy because it is covered in notes in ever colory of the rainbow.

 

Books I liked pile #2 

Fun easy reads: Halloween Party, Murder on the Orient Express, Garden Spells, Dancing Shoes, The Girl on the Train (made me want to read more thrillers in 2018).

Interesting reads: The Remains of the Day, The Handmaid's Tale, The Edible Woman, Eileen, The Luminaries.

 Books I loved. (In no particular order)

Surfacing by Margaret Atwood: This book unsettled me, I felt so weird after reading it, very ill at ease. It made me want to read more Margaret Atwood, which I did. It's probably the author I read the most in 2017 :p

Rebecca by Daphné Du Maurier: I loved it so much!!!! The atmosphere, the style, the characters, the suspense... There's nothing to throw away in this one... This book kept me awake twice till 3AM. Can't wait to read more du Maurier.

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler: When I finished it I was a little disappointed by the apparent simplicity of the plot. But it is not so much the plot, but the idea of the plot that gave me much food for thought. Another author I want to read more from in 2018.

Alone in Berlin by Hans Fallada: I don't know why I bought this book. Anything with a remote link to war is a no-no for me. I loved this book. It was beautiful. The story is grasping and the characters fascinating.

The Glass Castle par Jeannette Walls: What a captivating story of this weird family. I loved the style and the characters. Awesome!

Things Fall Apart par Chinua Achebe: Very fluid read about a boy in his African village.

Martin Eden by Jack London: Didn't think I would like this one for some reason but I loved it. The story speaks to me since Martin Eden is basically my BF. :D

The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall: I really loved the part where Stephen is a kid. After that it was good but not as good. Very interesting read nonetheless.

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison: What a beautiful book. This one touched me to the core.

The Imperfectionnists by Tom Rachman: Found this book on the street in Toronto, didn't think it would be any good, well, it was!!! Such a gripping story of all these characters linked together somehow. The story unfold in a series of short stories about each character. Very well done.

 

At the very end of 2016, I started using index cards to write a little something about every book I read.  2017 was my first whole year doing this and I enjoyed it immensely.

 

I don't write about the books exactly but more about what I felt reading them, what I was doing (mostly eating or drinking). I talk about food a lot, reading these cards made me hungry.

 

A mess of books.

Sorry for the crappy tablet pictures.

In 2018 I'll try to make a monthly article of my readings, because reviewing  50+ books in one post is just not working for me anymore.

2018 is going to be a good book year I reckon. I found a very cheap bookshop online (The monster Bookshop on Amazon, it calculates the shipping fees!!!) and got a little crazy, buying 80 books :/

Oh well, I don't even regret it the tiniest bit. On the contrary :)

2016 Readings - Comics Edition

I discovered comics in 2016. And started a little collection of my own.

I'm not completely a stranger to comics, my dad owns more than 2500 and I read a bunch of them when I was a kid. He is more into historic stuff or comics like Tintin.

I started at the beginning of the year with these.

Nemi by Lise Myhre: It all started with this. I kept bumping into strips of this comic on the internet and read a whole bunch, I wanted to own the real thing. I'm not a big fan of virtual stuff when it comes to music or movies or books, I like to have the object in my hands. Nemi is OK, sometimes very funny, and I love the 'coup de crayon'(pencil work?).

The Worrier's Guide To Life by Gemma Correll: I had seen this book in a shop prior, and I have to say the titlle spoke to me of course. I was a little disappointed with how little material there actually is in this book. Lots of blank pages. But it over all it was cute.

Adulthood is a Myth by Sarah Andersen: I pre-ordered this one. Some of the strips are hilarious and oh so true!!! This one is my absolute favorite. Especially true for me in 2016.

My favorite of this batch was Soppy by Philippa Rice. I adored the drawings and the story, something so mundane and yet so beautiful. So simple yet I'm sure it came with A LOT of work. It's also very touching.

Then in June, my birthday came, and Greg had the brilliant idea to give me comics as a present. It was awesome. :p

Qui mange des couteaux by Zoé Jusseret: Kind of weird in the story, there is no dialogue.but the drawings are master pieces. Each one is a work of art.Very enchanting.  

Commando Culotte by Mirion Malle: Learning about feminism  through movies and TV shows. I liked it so much I bought a copy for my brother's birthday.

Kiki de Montparnasse by Catel et Bocquet: Very interesting biography of this parisian icon. I loved the black and white drawings.

Then came our trip to Toronto in September.

Black Hole by Charles Burns: I wanted to read this classic. I found it for CAN $8. I'm not a big fan of the graphic style, the story was intriguing but a little too dark for me maybe.

Killing and Dying by Adrian Tomine: Probably my least favorite of all I bought in 2016. Didn't like it much. 

Wendy by Walter Scott: I loved it. The story of this quite superficial girl who wants to be an artist. I guess I really like everyday life stories.

The aftermath, back from Toronto.

Julia Wertz: I really love what she does. It's funny, it has no filter and above all it's autobiographical! Everything I think I love in a comic.

The aftermath part 2.

Patience by Daniel Clowes: Last year I read Ghost World for the first time, loved it and thought it would be nice to read a little more by Daniel Clowes. Well, this was completely different from Ghost World. I found it OK. I had a good time, but not quite my thing though. 

Back from Memphis, Greg strikes again. 

When I got back from a vacation in Memphis with my brother, Greg had got me these. For no reason. How thoughtful is this.

Culottés 1 by Pénélope Bagieu: Stories of different strong women through history. They are not particularly famous but they stood their ground on whatever was thrown at them. I loved it so much I pre-ordered the second volume that should be in my mailbox by February 2nd. :D

Le Féminisme by Thomas Mathieu et Anne-Charlotte Husson: Even though it was rather interesting, I wasn't thrilled by this one. Too dense, too much information in too little space.

Well, Greg clearly has a pattern, feminism!!!

To finish the year with.

See You Next Tuesday by Jane Mai: Even though this one was very autobiographical, I didn't quite like it. I couldn't explain why. Maybe because things were so disconnected from one another. I don't know.

Fun Home by Alison Bechdel: I'm in awe of her work. Such an incredible graphic style, a touching story, so many references to books... This is such a precise work. I can't wait to read more by her.

Wendy's Revenge by Walter Scott: I'm very disappointed by this one. It lacked something the first volume had. I can't quite put my finger on it. I think the first one was more straightforward, maybe honest and this one was just quite the same story all over again but without spunk.

And the winners are...

My two favorites are:

This is probably why I am so disappointed in the sequel, this one set the standard pretty high for me. 

It was so entertaining and interesting at the same time. I can't wait to get the second one in the mail!!

With the money I got from my family for Christmas, I indulged myself in a little shopping spree. 

These are the first three books I received, I'm waiting on another half dozen to show up.

I'll probably die soon, when our appartment will collapse under the weight of our books, comics, CDs and DVDs... We live in such an old building...

Well, I regret nothing. Maybe that I didn't get into comics sooner.

2016 Readings 2/2

2016 readings, Part Two. 

Category Books I liked.

J.R.R. Tolkien - The Lord of the Rings: After having seen the movies countless times, I thought it was time I gave the books a read. And it was so worth it!!! 

Jamaica Kincaid - Lucy: Loved the style and the story of this au-pair living with an American family.

Kurt Vonnegut - Breakfast of Champions: Very original and fun. I particularly enjoyed the story of the alien who communicates through tap dancing and farting. Still has me laughing like a mad person.

John Fante - Ask the Dust: Loved the story and the style.

Andrea Levy - Small Island: Except for the war time scenes (I really don't like anything about war stories or stories during war times), I really enjoyed this book and the relationships between the characthers that were beautifully written.

Carson McCullers - the Member of the Wedding: Love her style, love her stories. So much atmosphere, emotion and beauty in darkness.

Yvvette Edwards - the Mother: Her previous book was my favorite from 2015 so I was very excited when I learnt that she was releasing a book in 2016. The story of a mother whose son got killed, how she copes with it.

Jamaica Kincaid - My Garden Book: I've been very interested in plants and flowers this year. I spent a lot of time taking care of my little hanging garden at the window and was very happy to find this book. It was nice to read about somebody else's garden. The only thing I didn't like was her tendancy to collect flowers as if they were mass production goods, sounded like consumerism, not love of nature.

Fannie Flagg - Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe: Very carefully crafted story, Good time for me.

Andrea Levy - Fruit of the Lemon: Loved the story of this England born girl from two Jamaican parents who decides to go visit Jamaica for the very first time as a young adult.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - Americanah: Awesome read. Love the style. I guess I really like when authors oppose two different cultures.

Stefan Zweig - Chess game: Original story. Very well written.

John Steinbeck - The Wayward Bus: So many books... I'm almost done...I'm starting to lose it. Well, I loved this one. I don't remember why exactly, even though I didn't read it that long ago. I guess it's because it's a feel good book and I can't wait to read more of Steinbeck's. I have a couple in stock. 

Doris Lessing - the Grass is Singing: Once again I don't really remember a lot about this book. Just that I really liked it. Hum...

Ralph Ellison - Invisible Man: Kind of dense sometimes but a great read nonetheless.

Alice Walker - The Color Purple: What's wrong with my memory??? I know I liked it but I can't recall much.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - We Should All Be Feminists: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is F****** brilliant.

Bret Easton Ellis - Less than Zero: I love, love his style.

Carson McCullers - The Ballad of the Sad Cafe: Not my favorite from her, but still good, still good.

Maya Angelou - i know Why the Caged Bird Sing: I love how funny she can be. Her life clearly deserves to be told. She is strong and free.

Hermann Hesse - Siddhartha: This one really hit close to home. Findind your way in life, making your own path, even though that's not the road your parents wanted you to take. That's how I took it.

Maya Angelou - Gather Together in my Name: I was glad to find the sequel to I know Why the Caged Bird Sing in this one.

Two books I loved.

Anthony Burgess - A Clockwork Orange: It took me a while to grasp the depth of this one but in the end it blew my mind. I have never seen the movie and I'm glad the book was my first approach to this incredible story.

Richard Wright - Black Boy: I wasn't expecting such a tale. I can't explain why I loved it so much but I did. The story is poignant, the style is easy and yet interesting.

And these are my top 3 books of 2016, in no particular order.

Betty Smith - A Tree Grows in Brooklyn: What a wonderful book! Full of rich characters. I loved it so much I bought my Mom a copy. I particulary enjoyed the character of the aunt. What a fun and free woman.

Carson McCullers - The Heart is a Lonely Hunter: I trully discovered McCullers work in 2016, and this book is everything I was waiting for in a book. Deep characters, beautiful story, atmosphere. The ending, even though I didn't see it coming, was really something I wanted to read some day.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - Purple Hibiscus: This book!! Kids living in a very strict and respectable family spend their vacation at their 'cool' aunt's home with her own kids. It was powerful and fresh. 

Well, that's it for the novels and autobiographies. I'll soon do a post of the comics I read in 2016.

Now I'll just go knit a sock to unwind after reviewing all these books...

2016 Readings 1/2

First of all, happy new year!!

Now that's out of the way ( :p ) on to the books I read in 2016. Reading as many books as I could was my resolution for 2016 and I can gladly say I achieved this goal. I read 63 books, I have never read that much in a year in my entire life. I have never bought that many books as well (novels, comics and photography), I would say I bought a hundred books in 2016.

I spent the summer months and beautiful spring days at the window reading and it's really something I would like to do again this year. It was simply awesome.

Today I said goodbye to this old friend, the big stack of books by my bed and I will try to review each one of them as well as I can, since it's been a while and I don't remember clearly all of them.

It shouldn't be a problem next year because I bought a tiny binder with index cards and I'm planning on reviewing each book I read in it as soon as I finish it.

It was quite a challenge to take a decent pictures of all the books together and I quite failed I would say. But it doesn't matter, this post is about books, not pictures.

Let's start with the ones I didn't like.

Murakami - A Wild Sheep Chase: I read a couple of Murakamis before and really enjoyed them. But this one felt redundant and not as beautifully written as the others. The plot was kind of like the other two I read, some kind of investigation, people disappearing, but this time I didn't buy it. I thought it was quite absurd and not in a good way.

Doris Lessing - Love Again: I found this book pretty dull. I have not much alse to say about it, it just didn't do it for me, too slow, too cheesy at times.

Sarah Marcus - Girls to the Front: I got pretty interested in the Riot Grrrls movement in 2015 and bought this book in Portland while I was there on vacation. Well, I didn't think it was very interesting. I'd rather watch the movie The Punk Singer, it's an awesome movie and has a clear angle on the movement through Kathleen Hannah's experience. Unlike Girls to the Front, it is straighforward and has rythm.

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil - John Berendt: I don't remember much now but I know I was pretty disappointed with how this book turned out. I thought there would be more to the plot than what there actually was.

Graham Greene - The Heart of the Matter: Too dense for me.English is not my mother tongue and this one was pretty hard on me. Not that much because of the vocabulary but because of the synthax.

Simone de Beauvoir - La Femme Rompue: I HATED IT! If you want to feel bad and witness women going powerless and pathetic, well that's the book for you! I wanted to slap the characthers in the face.

Graeme Smsion - The Rosie Effect: I read the first one just before, and even though it was not a master piece, it was clearly not as corny and silly as this one. 

Milan Kundera - The Unbearable Lightness of Being: Quite like Graham Greene, too dense for me. But some beautiful things along the way.

Mark Helprin - Winter's Tale: Still my worst read of 2016. I did a whole post about it when I finished it here. I will not discuss it any further :P

Next category is Books-I-didn't-like-a-lot-but-had-something-very-interesting.

Muriel Barbery - L'élégance du hérisson: Nice read with a lot of beautiful little things that makes you feel good inside.

David James Duncan - The River Why: Unique and quite dense for me at times, but really funny now and then.

Edith Wharton - The House of Mirth: The style is always a little hard for me but I like her stories. I had read The Age of Innocence before and liked it. This one, in my opinion, is not as good but good nonetheless.

Jean-Paul Sartre - La Nausee: I'm glad I read it but it was kind of hard on my mood. It's all in the title, Nausea. Not a feel good book at all.

H.G. Wells - The Invisible Man: Pretty entertaining. And very clever.

Toni Morrison - Jazz: Once again, a little hard to follow for me but a few nice things. I bought a couple of other books by Morrison that I still have to read, because I want to see what else she can do.

Audre Lorde - Sister Outsider: A very hard read for me but very interesting. 

Vladimir Nabokov - Lolita: It was OK, only OK. 

Sandra Cisneros - The House on Mango Street: I read this one in college, sold my copy and had the urge to read it again, so had to buy it again. It's original and easy to read.

Iris Andreski - Old Wives Tales: I heard about this book in Sister Outsider, and wanted to read it to learn more. 

Category : Easy-read-not-so-interesting-but-still-had-a-good-time

Alice Hoffman - Pratical Magic: I love the movie. But the book, except for the main characters, has nothing to do with the movie. Yet, it was awesome to follow the same characters in different stories.

Stephen King - Thinner: Fun easy read.

Fannie Flagg - A Redbird Christmas: Cheesy AF. Not a very good story but easy read.

Stephen King - The Long Walk: Fun easy read.

Rani Manicka - The Rice Mother: Easy read. Some characters are unbearable but I think that was the point. Not so fond of the story.

Kathleen Stockett - The Help: I'm torn about this one. It was not a master piece but it was very entertaining but I was quite mad to see that it was yet again the story of a oh-so-kindhearted white woman coming to the rescue of black women.

Eowyn Ivey - The Snow Child: Much better than I expected. Nice little story in a snowy and secluded little house.

Mineko Iwasaki - Geisha of Gion: After I read Memoirs of a Geisha and didn't like it, I read somewhere that the book by Iwasaki was accurate, and Memoirs was not. Geisha of Gion was a nice easy read, and very interesting to learn about geishas.

Edward Kelsey Moore - The Supremes at  Earl's All-you-can-eat: Fast, easy read. Not very good but fun.

PG Wodehouse - Stiff Upper Lip Jeeves: It was the first book I read in 2016. I don't remember much now. I only know it was funny at times.

Yangsze Choo - The Ghost Bride: I had a good time with this one and was pleasantly surprised by the end.

Graeme Simsion - The Rosie Project: Quite corny but fun.

Stephen King - Desperation: Fun easy read.(yeah, I don't rack my brain too much when I talk about a Stephen King's book)

That's enough for one post. To be continued with the books I actually liked ;)