Day 24 :: A Good Book I've Read

I'm kind of avoiding this topic because I have a confession: I haven't read in so long. I have only read three, THREE! books this year. And none of them were that good.

We were going to book club My Side of the Mountain this summer, but we never got around to it. Here is my Goodreads review on that book: Boring. Too unrealistic for me to enjoy. The things this little boy accomplished would be a big deal for a grown man. No little boy could live alone for a year. Where is his mother?

I also read The Long Walk: The True Story of a Trek to Freedom. Here is my review on that one: I enjoyed how this survival story shifted from man v man to man v nature. 
I loved how all the people the men met along the way followed strict rules of hospitality. It is refreshing to see how kind people can be to each other compared to how cruelly the men were treated in the work camps.
I do question some of the missing details. Like, how could their shoes possibly last the whole year? And it seems like they went unrealistically too often without water.
But I liked it. I read it on the flights to and from Houston.

And the last book I read this year was And the Mountains Echoed. I really loved the beginning of this book. I loved the characters. But by the end, I felt like it was repetitive and it had dropped the characters I was so invested in. It just wasn't a very satisfying ending for me. 

I love his writing though, and I love his characters, although there is always so much sadness and tragedy involved. I have to put on my thick skin when I read his books.

If I had to pick my favorite read in the last five years, it would be The Secret Race. (read Oct 2012) this book is crazy. i read it in about 24 hours and couldn't put it down. from the beginning it just takes you on a truth train ride. there isn't a lot of meandering around - it's just beginning to end THE story of what really happens in bike racing. (of course i always assume there is embellishing and exaggerating in memoirs.) 

interesting how, really, you have no choice but to dope if you expect your body to endure something like the tour de france. even more so, it's the accepted culture of the sport.
anyway, i am a bit of a blow hard here because it's not like i am a huge cycling fan - more like a casual observer - but it's amazing what goes on in the world of cycling. i always knew it wasn't a clean sport, but this has made me leery of the purity in all sports. just one more thing in pop culture for me to furrow my truth brow at.

And two honorable mentions: 

Peace Like a River (read Oct 2012) this might even be a five star book because the writing is so unbelievably wonderful. it's poetic without being pretentious or cumbersome. 

One random part that stands out to me is the description of a man coming out of the post office and it's windy and cold. It's just a beautiful random part.
there are tons of great allusions to literature, the bible, and history. i love swede's sundown poem.
i love the characters. you're not sure who's "good" and who's "bad" (well, yeah, there is a definite bad guy at the end), but by that i mean they are all flawed.
the main characters and the minor ones as well are so familiar.
it's a bit mysterious and miraculous, yet down to earth, even though the words and phrases are elevated and even complex.
i really loved it. i might even give it five stars if i can't stop thinking about the writing.

Pope Joan (read April 2012) the way humans upgrade and evolve is fascinating to me.

for example: babies. at one point in their life, they can't even feed themselves. eventually that same being will have the ability to drive heavy machinery. you know what i mean? the learning and development is exponential.
similarly, the evolution of civil rights, medicine, logic, technology - all of that - is mind boggling. like how women in the 9th century were viewed as worthless and almost evil. "the size of a woman's uterus is inversely related to the size of their brain." wow.
i just can't believe that the society in the 21st century is the same human race as the society in the 9th century.
other thoughts: i find it interesting that many of the religious men chose to ignore the fact that Jesus appeared first to a woman - before, even, his disciples. surely that has a lot of meaning and symbolism. it does to me, anyway.
this book gave me a lot to think about. it made me want to learn more about the dark ages. what a strange, frustrating time in history.

book reviews from five years ago