Vacation Reading

Kevin and I just got back from an 8 day trip to Mexico with my family. It was awesome to relax, sightsee, spend time with my parents, and eat and drink lots of wonderful things. Check out Kevin's blog for photos from our trip. Many photos are posted on facebook too.

On the trip, I had lots of time for reading! Here are the books I was able to get through...

The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston
This non-fiction account of the serial killer in Florence for over two decades was a pretty good read. I can't believe that the real killer hasn't been caught! The book was written by fiction writer Preston and the primary reporter of the story. I was more drawn in for the first half of the book, than the second half. Who dunnit? We don't know.

Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafini
There are a lot of books about women's plights in the Middle East, but I thought this memoir had an interesting point of view. The author is a professor (in Islamic Republic of Iran for the story, currently in the US). She tells of the life of herself and her students during the tumultuous time of the Iranian revolution and Iraq/Iran war in the 1980s-90s. I loved how she broke the book into four sections, based on the books she taught in class: Lolita by Nabokov, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Henry James books, and Jane Austen books. I have ready Lolita (see my blog post on it here) and The Great Gatsby in high school. I found the writing a bit over my head, she does a very intellectual deep dive on the novels. But I enjoyed the comparisons of Iranian life to the novels and all the wonderful character description Nafini did.

Madame Tussaud: A Life in Wax by Kate Berridge
This biography felt like stepping into time in France in England during the times of Marie Antoinette. I was captivated by the first third of the book, learning about the life and times in France and England in the late 1700s to early 1800s. The book is quite a deep study on Madame Tussaud, but I remember seeing the museum in college, and being amazed at how life-like the models looked. In Madame's time, she touted her show as anatomical replicas, not wax figures, and she used the show to illustrate the prominent figures and news of the time. I thought this was an interesting read, out of my normal zone.

Room by Emma Donoghue
We read this for July's book club (my pick). I am really underwhelmed. I thought this was going to be a fantastic eye-opening read. I correctly guessed the reason the boy Jack was in his situation before even starting the book, and the whole story lacked the deep emotion I was expecting. I liked how the story was told through the voice of five-year-old Jack, that was a nice take. Overall, I'm pretty disappointed, since this book is a top seller.

I just started The Poisonwood Bible today (our flight got cancelled from Chicago to Minneapolis yesterday, sop I had ample reading time today). I'm enjoying it a lot so far.

Keep your eyes peeled for a guest blog soon - Kevin just read The Hunger Games and can't wait to discuss!