Sure enough, right after I wrote my last 24 Books update, I ordered the next Robin Hobb book — and finished it in a few days. I loved both volumes (it’s Robin Hobb, after all), but of course the second one was much more satisfying — a lot of character stuff paid off. And then it ended, and I longed for her to go on for another book or two or three, because what happens next is bound to be fantastic. I hope it’s in the works.
Audiobookage: I started to listen to Terry Donnelly’s reading of Anne Enright’s The Gathering. The book won the 2007 Man Booker Prize (I had a college course all about Man Booker Prize winners and love to get reading material from the lists of winners and finalists), and it seemed like it was going to be really good and interesting and well-written — but Donnelly’s reading was so overdramatic. So. So very very. I couldn’t stand it; I turned it off after maybe 10 minutes. I’m not counting this one, obviously, though I’m putting the printed book version on my library list to give it another whirl later.
In contrast, I absolutely adored Simon Prebble reading Christopher Isherwood’s A Single Man. Prebble is one of my favorite readers, and this book was a really lovely little snapshot. Doesn’t hurt that I was imagining Colin Firth the whole time (he played the main character in the screen adaptation, which is also currently on my library list — haven’t seen it yet). Beautifully written and read.
I don’t remember where I read a recommendation for Rebecca Stead’s When You Reach Me, but thanks to whomever! I listened to Cynthia Holloway’s reading and really enjoyed it. It’s a YA book (the main character is a twelve-year-old girl), but I happen to love YA fiction. It’s a nice, age-appropriate look at friendships and parent relationships, and has a wonderful “mystery” that coalesces at the end. It’s really only a mystery to the narrator (especially if the reader has looked at the back of the book or any kind of review or plot synopsis), but I still liked Stead’s pacing.
Rounding out June, a departure from my usual: Lone Survivor, by Marcus Luttrell with Patrick Robinson. It’s the story of Marcus Luttrell, a Navy SEAL, the lone survivor of an anti-Taliban operation high in the mountains of Afghanistan. I was in tears by the third page. Luttrell spends the first half of the book showing just what it means to be a SEAL — how he started on that path, and the unbelievably grueling training that candidates undergo. The remainder is the recounting of Operation Redwing: four SEALs heading into the Hindu Kush to find and hopefully capture or kill a Taliban leader, their discovery and the resulting battle, and ultimately Luttrell’s amazing rescue by the people of a small village. It’s riveting stuff, and I stayed up much, much too late last night reading it. I have the utmost respect for the grit and determination of those SEALs.
The only downside in this fascinating, funny, heartbreaking book are the occasional political — not asides, exactly, and I hate to call them outbursts, but — it’s clear that Luttrell has no love lost for what he calls the “liberal media” and what he sees as its role in the deaths of his comrades. I don’t really want to get into a whole big political discussion about it, but as one of the “lefties” he randomly lambasts I found myself feeling pretty alienated during those portions of the book, when otherwise I had nothing but respect, admiration, and gratitude for him. It’s a pretty complicated situation over in the Middle East (how’s that for understatement?) and I realize I don’t even understand the tip of the iceberg — well. Anyway. If you can look past the small smattering of politics (or are in sympathy with them, I suppose), I highly recommend this book. Fascinating read. I have the opportunity to hear Luttrell speak next month (which is how I heard about the book in the first place), and I’m very much looking forward to it.
2010 Book Count: 17 (+4 fluff)
January: 2 (+3 fluff)
February: 4
March: 3
April: 2 (+1)
May: 1
June: 5