Remember back in...oh, 2009, when I decided I needed to keep better track of what I'd been reading? So I told you about all these books, and then never did it again?
Well, I'm feeling like maybe I should do that again. Mostly I'm just grateful that I have a chance to read at all! Then again, what else is there to do when it is so hot outside, besides watering my garden?
The Source--James A. Michener
Just like the rest of Michener's books, this is a loooong one, coming in at 1088 pages. The plot follows the tiny settlement of Makor from its founding with prehistoric man forward and touches on Hebrew, Greek, Crusader and Muslim history before ending in the 1960's with the war for a separate Jewish state.
I really enjoyed this book. It felt so relevant to events occuring today and gave me a much clearer understanding of current issues. Michener is a compelling author, forcing you to consider philosophies much different from your own. When I read his books, I feel like I'm actually thinking again, something I don't have to do very often lately. I love the history in each of his books, and this was no different. I learned way more about the history of the Middle East from this book than I could from any class. If you can hang through the whole story, you won't be disappointed.
The Host--Stephanie Meyer
Another alternate world, but instead of werewolves and vampires, alien beings called Souls have subdued the human race and implanted themselves in human bodies. One Soul, Wanderer, has been implanted in a body whose owner, Melanie Stryder, refuses to leave.
Where do I start? I thought the premise of this book was so intriguing. Trying to picture another consciousness in my body boggled my mind. The first few chapters of this book were really good. And then, the storyline got mired in Meyer's usual problem--her characters' emotions. Just like Bella, the Wanderer/Melanie character thought, felt and emoted way too much. Meyer seems to only know how to write one type of female character, the self-sacrificing martyr who falls in love with the wrong guy. And just like Jacob and Edward, the male characters in The Host are impossibly good looking, have unexplainable tempers and are too stupid for their own good. Meyer tries so hard to keep her romances clean that they feel contrived and cheesy. The ending was predictable at best. Dave stayed up to finish it last night because, as he told me, it was like swimming the 500--"you know it's going to be awful, but you have to see it through just once."
The Help--Kathryn Stockett
You've probably seen the movie previews, so I'm not going to bother with a synopsis on this one.
How I love this book! I actually listened to it from Audible.com while sewing, and it was so much fun that I looked for other projects to do so I could keep listening. This story is so fantastic, the characters are so deep and well developed that they feel like old friends, the circumstances so real and sometimes raw that you hurt. I'm not sure if us living in the South had anything to do with how much I enjoyed this book, but it definitely rings true to our current surroundings. One of my favorite parts of this book were the accents--it's written in the vernacular and every sentence is just so right, so pitch-perfect. Read it and you will hear what I hear every day. I'm saying it again--this is my favorite book I've read in a very long time.
Obviously, I've read a lot more books over the past 2 years than just these. But these are what I felt like "reviewing" for now. I am going to try to do better about keeping track and posting my Nightstand Books in a more timely manner. If you've read something amazing, let me know--I'm always in the market for something riveting!
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