Mini Reviews from Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon!
Yep, it takes me a while to do anything on the blog lately, but I'm hoping that with summer and no classes and all that, that I will have some more time in the upcoming months. Anyway, here are some short review for the books that I read during April's read-a-thon.
1. Simon Rich, The Last Girlfriend on Earth: This is a book of short stories that I heard recommended on the Bookrageous podcast. Each of the stories is about love, but in the most unconventional way. For example, there is a story told from the perspective of a condom that remains unwrapped through many relationships inside a young man's wallet. Another story is about a young girl whose imaginary friend (a billy goat) wants more from their relationship. Each of the stories is only about five pages long, and they are really a delight to read. This would be a great airplane book as long as you don't mind an occasional laugh out loud.
2013/Reagan Arthur- Little, Brown/ 209 pages/ My copy is from the library.
2. James Lasdun, Give Me Everything You Have: On Being Stalked: I hadn't read a memoir in a while and this one had a gripping premise. College creative writing professor James Lasdun is stalked by one of his former students who tries to ruin not only his personal life, but his career. The first half of the book is fascinating in a somewhat voyeuristic way. Lasdun's reflections on his own implication in the events that occur are also interesting, and in the end the book is a reflection on both relationships and on privacy. Sometimes the strands of the book seem impossibly divergent for something of its size, but it was a worthwhile read.
2013/ Farrar, Straus, and Giroux/ 218 pages/ I purchased my copy
3. Rainbow Rowell, eleanor & park: Ummm, squee? This is such a dear book. The characters, high schoolers Eleanor and Park, feel so real, and I was rooting for them so hard, that at the end of the book, it made me sad that they would have to stay between its pages and that I couldn't keep following what would happen to them next. This book is a little bit John Green and a little bit John Hughes. The imaginary soundtrack is amazing. Just read it, okay?
2013/ St. Martin's Griffin/ 336 pages/ My copy was from the publisher via Net Galley.
**The book images in this post are affiliate links. If you click on them and purchase the books, I will receive a small commission.
1. Simon Rich, The Last Girlfriend on Earth: This is a book of short stories that I heard recommended on the Bookrageous podcast. Each of the stories is about love, but in the most unconventional way. For example, there is a story told from the perspective of a condom that remains unwrapped through many relationships inside a young man's wallet. Another story is about a young girl whose imaginary friend (a billy goat) wants more from their relationship. Each of the stories is only about five pages long, and they are really a delight to read. This would be a great airplane book as long as you don't mind an occasional laugh out loud.
2013/Reagan Arthur- Little, Brown/ 209 pages/ My copy is from the library.
2. James Lasdun, Give Me Everything You Have: On Being Stalked: I hadn't read a memoir in a while and this one had a gripping premise. College creative writing professor James Lasdun is stalked by one of his former students who tries to ruin not only his personal life, but his career. The first half of the book is fascinating in a somewhat voyeuristic way. Lasdun's reflections on his own implication in the events that occur are also interesting, and in the end the book is a reflection on both relationships and on privacy. Sometimes the strands of the book seem impossibly divergent for something of its size, but it was a worthwhile read.
2013/ Farrar, Straus, and Giroux/ 218 pages/ I purchased my copy
3. Rainbow Rowell, eleanor & park: Ummm, squee? This is such a dear book. The characters, high schoolers Eleanor and Park, feel so real, and I was rooting for them so hard, that at the end of the book, it made me sad that they would have to stay between its pages and that I couldn't keep following what would happen to them next. This book is a little bit John Green and a little bit John Hughes. The imaginary soundtrack is amazing. Just read it, okay?
2013/ St. Martin's Griffin/ 336 pages/ My copy was from the publisher via Net Galley.
**The book images in this post are affiliate links. If you click on them and purchase the books, I will receive a small commission.
Eleanor & Park! Squee indeed. :)
ReplyDeleteThe Lasdun sounds incredibly interesting. I'm going to keep my eyes open for that.
The Lasdun is fascinating in parts and a little rambly in others, but it is only about 200 pages, and definitely unique.
DeleteI'm SO glad you liked Eleanor and Park as much as I did! I finished it on Friday night and gushed about it in my video blog post today.
ReplyDeleteAnd I acquired The Last Girlfriend on Earth this weekend! I will be jumping on that ASAP. I could use a short read to keep my reading mojo going.
I have been having a major slump this year, and feel like I haven't been finishing anything, but both of those books were a pleasure.
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