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I love reading writers who have that special gift of making you feel like they are talking to you personally. Rather than curling up with a good book, you feel like you are curling up with a good friend on the couch and having a good ole chat.
I have just absolutely devoured David Lebovitz’s The Sweet Life in Paris. As a devotee to his blog already, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on his book. And it was worth the wait! The book is a funny and insightful collection of his experiences moving from San Francisco to live and work in Paris.
David (I feel we are first name basis now!) is able to poke fun at both the French and American – and some stereotypes are true! The book is a joy to read; he has such a lightness of touch.
Another writer who has this special gift is Helene Hanff, who is famous for 84 Charing Cross Road. But it is Underfoot in Show Business that really got to me.
Hanff detials in humourous fashion her years as a struggling playwright in New York City in 1940s & 50s. I remember curling up and to this book late at night and being completely transported to the show biz world of New York in the 1940s. The love she feels towards New York City is palpable in these pages.
Now, this is what a GREAT teenage vampire novel should be about! Scott Westerfeld’s brillantly imagined Peeps totally rocks all over the badly written schmalzy Twilight series.
Peeps is a riveting combination of sci-fi, thriller, horror and overall a rollicking good read. I absolutely devoured this book. I loved the main character, Cal Thompson, a geeky biology graduate who becomes a reluctant vampire hunter.
The melding of science, biology and vampire mythology into a contemporary story works really well. In this novel vampirism is caused by a parasite, and infected humans are known as “parasite positives” or peeps for short. In the alternate chapters, Westerfeld provides a humerous account of how specific parasites work in nature.
The book really works because of Westerfeld’s grasp of characters and his razor sharp dialogue. I was really quite sad when the book was over and wanted more. I hope Westerfeld is working on more tales of Cal and his adventures.
I’m about to check out Westerfeld’s other books, which means a foray in the teenage section of my library as his books are classified as ‘teenage’!
Oh speaking of great things, I am now officially addicted to David Lebovitz blog! I've been reading his blog while waiting for the arrival of his book Living the sweet life in Paris. As well as brillant photos of mouthwatering food, he is just such a sharp funny writer who brings a distinct view to living and eating in France. I must also admit a large amount of envy at Lebovtiz's Parisian life!
On the topic of food, another of my special order has just been approved - Under the table : saucy tales from culinary school by Katherine Darling. The book is Darling's account of her time at New York's famed Frency Culinary Institute.
I absolutely love these "kitchen confessional" type of books.
I've seen a few episodes of De Botton's show on TV but haven't read any of his popular books on philosophy. According to this report, Australians are huge fans of his practical 'brand' of philosophy.
So it was with a few high expectations that I approached his latest book, The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work. What a great topic! And I was especially interested in what the book had to offer, considering the many angst driven discussions I’ve had with friends over the past year about work and what work means to our lives. (Is it oh so very Gen X to have a mid life crises in your 30s?)
Overall, I was really disappointed in De Botton’s book. It failed on many accounts. Firstly, the bulk of the book was too descriptive, lacking in substantial analysis and at times so shallow. For example the chapter on entrepreneurs, which could have been so fascinating, was too short and read like a magazine puff piece. Oh there was some attempted analysis with comments on the late capitalism, consumerism etc but they seemed like an afterthought.
Secondly, I felt De Botton was too dismissive of the occupations he was supposed to be analysing and reporting on. There was a real element of condescension and also sometimes pure snarkiness running through many of his descriptions of the "workers" he meets. Caleb Crain makes the point clear in his NYT review calling De Botton on his mean-spiritedness and superficial judgements.
Thirdly, the language really annoyed me! It was so unnecessarily complicated and induced some eye ball rolling. In some parts of the book I thought, “is he really trying to construct the longest sentence with the biggest words?”.
Gee, I think I’ve really slammed this book! But it is coming from a good place, as I so wanted this book to be interesting, relevant and resonant.
On a side note, what is fascinating is the dust-up that has happened since Crain's review. De Botton posted quite a snarky comment on Crain blog ending with the rather lovely lines: ""
(Eye-ball rolling on "schadenfreude" - oh please if you're gonna diss someone it is so not necessary to put a foreign word in!!!)
LOL, you've got love the next posted comment - "Oh dear...".
Order Up! Am soooo excited as my library has upgraded and you can now request the purchase of books online.
YAY - My two request were accepted and put on order:
Hungry Monkey just arrived and have read the first few chapters. It's really funny, Matthew Amster-Burton has a sharp and self-depreciating wit. Oh and there are recipes too!
I don't have children, so what to feed a baby isn't really on the top of my list of things to ponder. But I have reached a certain age where many of my good friends have started to have children so let's say I'm reading this one to gain a better understanding of what they have to go through. The chapter on called Adentures in Breastfeeding was particulary illuminating!
The second book, Living the Sweet Life in Paris is pastry chef David Lebovitz's food based memoir about living in Paris. The book covers two of my favourite things in life - Paris and pastries. Check out Lebovitz's blog for recipes and mouth- watering pics of his creations.
Oh, did I mention his other book is called the Great Book of Chocolate? Mmm maybe I need to place another order......
Somehow I keep going back to authors like Patricia Cornwell and Lee Child when I should just stop.
Is it the optimist or masochist in me?
I keep hoping that their latest book will be good and they get back the form that made them such fantastic thriller writers.
But alas, after reading Child’s 13th Jack Reacher novel, Gone Tomorrow, I have given up hope.
Gone Tomorrow is a strangely flat and subdued affair, with no real suspense or action. Actually, what action there is comes right at the end and is so formulaic and boring I almost slept through it.
It's really sad because part of the fun of reading Child’s Reacher novels like Echo Burning and Tripwire, are the action sequences and military setting. The first few books were fantastic, brillant opening sections that got you right into the story and just kept you turning that page in suspense.
This latest book is the opposite. The narrative is quite convoluted with a lot of unnecessary exposition. Child tries to get Reacher involved in wider political issues, like Afghanistan and US Senate race, but done so superficially and badly. Really he is better off leaving it to a master like Frederick Forsyth.
In the end I just didn’t care about the characters or story, it was a bit like “yeah I’ll keep reading, but is something interesting going to happen…like soon?”
I just think that there is a point where there is nowhere for the character to go anymore. No doubt about it, Child has definitely reached that point with Reacher in this novel.
I am happily back to Ian Rankin’s Inspector Rebus series, book 4 Strip Jack.
Ahhhh, it's so nice to be reading good writing again. Rankin is such a brillant story teller.
Maybe reading Rankin has really spoilt me for other crime and thriller writers?
I love reading writers who have that special gift of making you feel like they are talking to you personally. Rather than curling up with a good book, you feel like you are curling up with a good friend on the couch and having a good ole chat.
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