Sometimes, this writing a blog post every day is pretty difficult...*sigh*
For tonight, I thought I would just share a link to my Goodreads page to the books I've read so far this year, sorted by rank.
This year, I've read 6 books that I've given the top rating on Goodreads, 5 starts, to - Rules of Civility by Amor Towles, Room by Emma Donoghue, 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles C. Mann, Guernica: A Novel by Dave Boling, 11/22/63 by Stephen King, and The Revisionists by Thomas Mullen.
Quickly, my favorite thing or impression or lasting impact on each book, each of which I would recommend for anyone interested...
Rules of Civility - the prose was so very readable and impressive, and the character/narrator was memorable.
Room - Different from any other book I've read - combines human psychology, emotion, and social constructs of reality in a story that was compelling and makes you empathize for the characters.
1491 - The book was packed, and I mean loaded, with research and data on the early Americas, and it truly updates and informs and provides new foundations to many of the things one learns in high school history classes concerning pre-Columbian America.
Guernica - Historical fiction on what I think is one of the lesser known atrocities of WWII, and conveys so much of the passion, cultural and national pride of the area, along with themes of love, redemption, sacrifice, and pain that frequents war novels.
11/22/63 - Time travel to the past to stop the Kennedy assassination; great writing, fascinating characters. There's a lot to like about this book - long, but in that good I don't want it to end, way.
The Revisionists - Can easily lead to discussions of political and moral philosophy, centered on the ability to change or control the past; a story that leaves the questions or the characters goodness and morality, sanity, and the true nature of reality up to the reader.
I have always been disappointed by Stephen king.
ReplyDeleteI think I've only read one other book by him, The Green Mile. Never been much interested in his usual genre of work; and this book (11/22/63), being more historical fiction, was outside of that, and I ended up enjoying it - but its just as long of a read as the Game of Thrones books.
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