read a book a month in 2008

The Fountainhead
Ayn Rand

The Fountainhead

Bridget Jones’ Diary
Helen Fielding

I know that I shouldn’t love this book (after all, it’s an affront to serious feminist ideals), but I do, I do, I do. Whenever I feel that my own life is becoming just a little bit ridiculous, Bridget never fails to show me that I could be ever-so-much-more neurotic. I have read the book countless times, and each time, I laugh afresh! V good.

””The rich, divorced-by-cruel-wife Mark – quite tall – was standing with his back to the room, scrutinizing the contents of the Alconburys’ bookshelves… It struck me as pretty ridiculous to be called Mr. Darcy and to stand on your own looking snooty at a party. It’s like being called Heathcliff and insisting on spending the entire evening in the garden, shouting “Cathy” and banging your head against a tree.” – Bridget

Heart and Soul
Maeve Binchy

Ugh. Just ugh. I’ve heard her described as the modern-day Austen. That statement is akin to blasphemy!

The novel basically concerns itself with a heart clinic in Dublin, and the various people who come across it in some way. Her characters and bland and under-developed, and her plot is irritatingly predictable. The wicked repent of their sinful ways, the good triumph and everyone, of course, ends up happily ever after.

What Girls Learn
Karin Cook

This novel is an unapologetic statement about how hard it is to grow up when you’re a young girl. Its treatment of adolescence, sexuality and discovery are at times heartwrenching and at others sickening, but always honest and always poignant. I felt as though I relearnt many things from reading it, and dwelt on feelings and experiences from my own trip into adulthood.

How to Mske an American Quilt
Whitney Otto

“In How to Make an American Quilt you will meet the ladies of the Grasse Quilting Circle. Glady Jo, her sister Hy, and friends Anna, Marriana, Constance, Sophia and Em gather once a week in Glady Jo’s home to assemble quilts. Their current project is to assemble Hy’s grand-daughter, Finn’s, marriage quilt. It is during this process that we get a glimpse into each of these women’s love stories and learn what stitches & fabrics their individual marriages are made up of.” – from amazon.com

This was a beatiful story about how interwoven we all are, and how love binds. I was almost tempted to capture my own life in a quilt when I put it down.

The Woman in the Fifth
Douglas Kennedy

If I had to describe this book in one word, it would be bizarre. There is a undercurrent of “otherness” (not necessarily evil, but just resignation to the fact that humans are violent, base, and cruel) that twists its way through the novel. The times that I felt this most acutely was, interestingly enough, when the author is describing the more domestic tasks his protaganist undertakes.

The novel also represented Paris in a way that somewhat shattered my illusions of the city as a lovers’ retreat. Kennedy’s Paris is the world of immigrants, where the the concept of identity is irrelevant, and people aren’t what or who they seem.

Recommended. Don’t judge the book by its cover!

Anthem
Ayn Rand

I. Ego.

• Anthem
• The Woman in the Fifth
• How to Make an American Quilt

I have been a busy bookworm!

My Family and Other Animals
Gerald Durrell

My Family and Other Animals is “an autobiographical work by naturalist Gerald Durrell, telling of his childhood spent on the Greek island of Corfu between 1935 and 1939. It describes the life of the Durrell Family on the island in a humorous manner, and also richly discusses the fauna of the island. It is the first and most famous of Durrell’s Corfu trilogy, together with Birds, Beasts and Relatives, and The Garden of the Gods.” (Wikipedia)

Oh my! Oh my! Words cannot express (not nearly as well as Durrell’s can, anyway) my delight upon re-reading this book. It is laden with magic, wonder and absolute simplicity. I finished the last page and seriously contemplated buying a one-way ticket to Athens, catching a boat to Corfu and spending a good few years exploring the island, swimming, attending parties and eating. Sigh.

The Time Traveler’s Wife
Audrey Niffenegger

The Time Traveler’s Wife is “an unconventional love story that centers on a man with a strange genetic disorder that causes him to unpredictably time-travel, and his wife, an artist who has to cope with his frequent absences and dangerous experiences.” (Wikipedia)

This book, true to its title, did in fact transport me (yes, I know that’s an awful pun). It was about beautiful, pure love that stretched across decades, elastic and forgiving. I cried at the final chapter, and was reflective, breath-taken and slightly melancholy for days after finishing it.

“It’s dark now and I am very tired. I love you, always. Time is nothing.”