Book 48: Peony in Love

I've read a couple of Lisa See's other books (Shanghai Girls, Dreams of Joy, On Gold Mountain) and enjoyed them, especially On Gold Mountain. I thought I'd try this one as well.

Some of the "ghost" elements of the story were a little too wacky for me and I really didn't relate at all to the narrator. But it gave me some historical perspective on the Ming and Qing dynasties. Surprise surprise, the Chinese had a movement of female writers and poets long before the West did.

Book 44: Gilead

This was a re-read for me, which almost never happens.

I first read this when it was first published, about 10 years ago. This time, I listened to the audio book. Some of it was wonderfully read, but some parts of the reading reminded me a little bit of Santa Claus or some other stylized "older man" character. The knowing chuckle got to be an irritating disruption in the beautifully written narrative.

Book 34: A Thousand Splendid Suns

Many years ago, I read The Kite Runner, and though I don't remember it well, I liked it. This is also a story of Afghanistan, which is a place I would like to learn more about.

The story focuses on women's lives over a period of time in Afghanistan. The audio book is read by an Afghani, and I really enjoyed that aspect of it. The story is moving, but the writing style seemed a bit trite and formulaic. For instance, it seemed like every adjective came in a set of three. "The Rule of Three" is great, but it got tiresome after a while.

Book 30: Angle of Repose

This was a re-read for me, which is a very rare occurrence, so you know something must be up. What's up is that Wallace Stegner writes a fine book, and that's just what I needed.

Years ago, before time began, I took a class in college that was focused on Wallace Stegner's work. I'd never heard of him before then, but I could tell he was a great writer, even as a really dumb college student. The book was even better this time around.

Book 77: The Painted Girls

This is a historical fiction piece about three sisters during the belle époque in Paris.



Edgar Degas and his art play a fairly major role in the story, too. It's been interesting to look at the paintings and sculpture with the book in mind. Overall, it was quite a good read.

Book 66: Chains

This was a book club pick, and I actually read it!



It's a young adult title, and I liked it quite a lot--for a young adult book. It moved quickly, it didn't have too much annoyingly obvious exposition, and the characters and story were interesting.