Book 70: Us by David Nicholls

"Us" is the story of a man who suddenly finds himself in a failing marriage.  He was not aware that it was failing and suddenly finds himself trying to figure out what went wrong.  Not only does his wife want to leave, his only son leaves in the fall for college.  He know realizes that the summer trip through Europe could very well be the last trip his family takes together.

Hmm. for me this story was not as profound as I would have liked.  It wasn't bad, it was a comfortable read and I enjoyed it, it just did not move me and I am sure this is a book that will fade from me sooner than later.  For a book that takes a harder look inside a struggling marriage I would recommend "Everything I Never Told You".

Book 69: The Buried Giant by Kazou Ishiguro

What fortunate timing I had in discovering Ishiguro when I did.  After falling in love with his writing I soon discovered his latest book was soon to be available.  It has been 10 years since he published his last book Never Let Me Go (the start of it all for me).  So I was super excited to finally get my hands on the book and dive in.

The Buried Giant takes place in the unrecorded history of England just after the time of King Arthur and his knights.  A mysterious mist has settled over the land and the inhabitants have difficulty remembering anything that is hours old, they are always living in the present.  An old couple decide to take a journey to visit their son who lives in another village.  On this journey they meet a knight of the round table, a warrior, and a dragon, and try to remember parts of their past.  Is it better to be blissfully unencumbered by the past or filled with memories that may cause pain?

I very much like the book, but I was not sure what I was thinking as I was reading it.  To start with, it did not "suck" me into the story as some of his other works, I struggled to find my footing.  Most of this, I think, is due to his choice of voice.  The characters speak in a stilted manner, one I found hard to follow. The dialogue just did not flow as nicely as some of his other work ( I have found out since that was deliberate).  And even when I came to the books end I was a bit unsure.  But it did not take long for the book to percolate down and become more meaningful for me.  The more I tried to describe it to friends or my husband, I found how much I enjoyed the topic Ishiguro was commenting on.  Memory.  Memory within an individuals life, in a marriage and also in a community and how the loss of memory may be a good thing or at the very least how the loss of memory can change how we live.

I recommend this book, with one caveat.  If you are not familiar with Ishiguro's other works I would start somewhere else and then come to The Buried Giant, but definitely come.

Book 68: An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

Admittedly I am not the target market for this book.  But having a daughter who is reading YA I will read them as well.

The story is about a geeky boy who seems to fall in love over and over again with girls who have the name Katherine.  After the breakup with the latest Katherine he goes on a road trip with his best friend and all sorts of learning happens.  Mainly, he can let go of Katherines and fall in love with a Lindsay.

Very readable, but I just did not find it fresh, you could see what was coming.  Of course I am comparing it to his other work Fault in our Stars which is a much more mature work.

Book 67: Everthing I Never Told You by Celeste Ng

This is a book that kept popping up as a recommendation, but I was hesitant to read it as it has to do with a suicide.  I am not sure why suicide is the thing that makes me reluctant, but it is.  In the end I am glad I read this one.

the story does revolve around the suicide of a families favorite daughter.  We learn about hopes and dreams and what happens when they are not fulfilled.  We learn about how parental pressure effects children or what the lack of parental attentiveness does. 

This is a very well defined family and each of the family members seem real and complex.  Neither good nor bad, but a mix and really just trying to figure out their place.

A very good book, I so recommend this one.

Book 66: Maude by Donna Mabry

How much bad luck can one woman have over the course of her life?  Well, Maude can tell you...quite a bit.

This book is written by Mabry about her Grandmother.  She is retelling the stories her Grandmother imparted to her about her life.  Maude started life in the 1890's and lived into the 1960's.  She saw many changes and had many tragedies befall her.

Maude is both likeable and unlikeable.  I felt for her, but hated some of the things she felt about her children.  But it was an book that had me turning the pages and wanting to know more.  Through out the book, I never got the impression that Mabry's Grandmother felt sorry for herself, instead she was stoic and just put one foot in front of the other until one day she stopped.

Book 65: Funny Girl by Nick Hornby

Another new release book I stumbled on.  I only mention this because I am usually decades behind book releases.

Can I just start out by saying I was dissapointed in this book.  I have only read one Hornby book and that was years ( 10+) ago (How to be Good), but I had high hopes because I loved the adaptations of High Fidelity and About a Boy (one day I will get around to reading them).  But Funny Girl really never got rolling.

Barbara is obsessed with Lucille Ball and dreams of getting out of her small town and being famous for making people laugh.  She stumbles into TV and becomes a success.  That is the premise of the story.  We follow her and the writing gang as the show progresses.

Barbara/Sophie (which I never felt suited her) is a very flat character.  Other than being told she wants to be funny there is very little to understand her choices.  Hornby did not get the girl right in this book.  The rest of the characters are all men.  I found I cared about the writing duo, but had a hard time keeping their names straight.  Would have liked more about their shared trouble and how each dealt with it.

The book was easy to read, but not very interesting.  I would not recommend it.

Book 64: A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

Have I mentioned I have a soft spot for grumpy old men?  Well I do and Ove is a great example.

Ove lives in Sweden and wakes up each morning with the plan to commit suicide.  Every day he is thwarted by insufferable neighbors.  Throughout the book we understand what has made Ove so grumpy and why he wants to end his life, we also see Ove coming back to life and learning to live and let go.

A very accessible book, and one that I jumped right into.