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listersgirlMargaret Atwood The Penelopiad
This is part of a new series of retellings of classic myths, in this case the story of Odysseus as told from the point of view of his wife, Penelope, long after she is dead. It was pretty good and quite funny, if nothing new, although I did like the use of the poetic Greek chorus.
Max Berry Company
I read this satire on corporate culture while I was at the leadership workshop, and it was the best timing ever. It's a very funny book, but it was even funnier because of everything that I was hearing during the day. A quote (the power has just gone out and the stairwells are all locked, if you want context):
Hee! Okay, maybe it's only funny if you've been talking about goal setting for three hours.
Neil Gaiman Anansi Boys
Hi, this was AWESOME. Awesome enough that it truly deserves those capital letters. It was family, and gods, and myths, and what happens when they collide, and it was AWESOME.
Nick Hornby A Long Way Down
I have figured out what Nick Hornby's problem is. He just can't write from a first person female perspective. That's why How To Be Good was so...bad. This book, about 4 people who meet when they're about to commit suicide and form an unlikely bond, alternates between the point of view of all four characters. All four stories were vaguely interesting, but the two women were fully awkward compared to the two men. Dear Mr. Hornby, please write from the male point of view and I will continue to read your books.
Anna Maxted Being Committed
I think I enjoyed this, although honestly, I don't really remember. Clearly it wasn't terrible, though, because I'm sure I'd remember that. So let's say, forgettable but fun chick lit. I did enjoy the fact that she was a fairly mediocre PI, though, instead of the classic office worker.
Richard Morgan Market Forces
This is the kind of sci-fi I really enjoy -- our world, just a bit into the future. In this case, a world where corporations are supporting land wars around the world, and market analysts compete for positions through racing souped-up cars. It was an interesting book. I'm going to check out other books by the same author, definitely.
Julie Powell Julie & Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Kitchen
I know opinions have been divided on this book, but I quite enjoyed it. Except for the parts where she started having a breakdown, and I just wanted to shake her and remind her that she could stop any time. But I enjoyed the blog writing style, and the tales of cooking disasters were highly entertaining.
Terry Pratchett Lords and Ladies
Another Witches novel, but darker than some of most of his other works. Very enjoyable.
Bill Walsh Lapsing into a Comma
Hi, I am a word nerd who reads grammar books for fun. It's interesting reading something like this, which is clearly arrived at from the position of someone working for an American newspaper. There were a few sections that were so contrary to what we would do in Canada (like the admonition to ignore accents on personal names!) that I started laughing. And some of his technology rules seemed very out of date, but the book is a few years old. Still, he writes entertainingly, and I wish more people would read books like this.
Jennifer Weiner Goodnight Nobody
I liked Jennifer Weiner much more before she started having kids. Now all her lead characters have kids and live in the suburbs, and I find it kind of boring. Plus, she totally fell into that trap of needing to add a mystery on to the story. Yeesh.
I also re-read The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell (still fascinating), and read three romance novels: The Duke and I and When She Was Wicked by Julia Quinn, and The Wedding Game by Jane Feather. I really love Julia Quinn. She is awesome.
This is part of a new series of retellings of classic myths, in this case the story of Odysseus as told from the point of view of his wife, Penelope, long after she is dead. It was pretty good and quite funny, if nothing new, although I did like the use of the poetic Greek chorus.
Max Berry Company
I read this satire on corporate culture while I was at the leadership workshop, and it was the best timing ever. It's a very funny book, but it was even funnier because of everything that I was hearing during the day. A quote (the power has just gone out and the stairwells are all locked, if you want context):
Senior Management hopes Information Technology is joking. The building shut down! What Senior Management wants to hear, right now, is that IT understands exactly what went wrong and can promise it will never happen again. You can say this for Senior Management: it knows how to articulate a goal. The strategy may be fuzzy, the execution non-existent, but Senior Management knows what it wants.
Hee! Okay, maybe it's only funny if you've been talking about goal setting for three hours.
Neil Gaiman Anansi Boys
Hi, this was AWESOME. Awesome enough that it truly deserves those capital letters. It was family, and gods, and myths, and what happens when they collide, and it was AWESOME.
Nick Hornby A Long Way Down
I have figured out what Nick Hornby's problem is. He just can't write from a first person female perspective. That's why How To Be Good was so...bad. This book, about 4 people who meet when they're about to commit suicide and form an unlikely bond, alternates between the point of view of all four characters. All four stories were vaguely interesting, but the two women were fully awkward compared to the two men. Dear Mr. Hornby, please write from the male point of view and I will continue to read your books.
Anna Maxted Being Committed
I think I enjoyed this, although honestly, I don't really remember. Clearly it wasn't terrible, though, because I'm sure I'd remember that. So let's say, forgettable but fun chick lit. I did enjoy the fact that she was a fairly mediocre PI, though, instead of the classic office worker.
Richard Morgan Market Forces
This is the kind of sci-fi I really enjoy -- our world, just a bit into the future. In this case, a world where corporations are supporting land wars around the world, and market analysts compete for positions through racing souped-up cars. It was an interesting book. I'm going to check out other books by the same author, definitely.
Julie Powell Julie & Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Kitchen
I know opinions have been divided on this book, but I quite enjoyed it. Except for the parts where she started having a breakdown, and I just wanted to shake her and remind her that she could stop any time. But I enjoyed the blog writing style, and the tales of cooking disasters were highly entertaining.
Terry Pratchett Lords and Ladies
Another Witches novel, but darker than some of most of his other works. Very enjoyable.
Bill Walsh Lapsing into a Comma
Hi, I am a word nerd who reads grammar books for fun. It's interesting reading something like this, which is clearly arrived at from the position of someone working for an American newspaper. There were a few sections that were so contrary to what we would do in Canada (like the admonition to ignore accents on personal names!) that I started laughing. And some of his technology rules seemed very out of date, but the book is a few years old. Still, he writes entertainingly, and I wish more people would read books like this.
Jennifer Weiner Goodnight Nobody
I liked Jennifer Weiner much more before she started having kids. Now all her lead characters have kids and live in the suburbs, and I find it kind of boring. Plus, she totally fell into that trap of needing to add a mystery on to the story. Yeesh.
I also re-read The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell (still fascinating), and read three romance novels: The Duke and I and When She Was Wicked by Julia Quinn, and The Wedding Game by Jane Feather. I really love Julia Quinn. She is awesome.