Read 50 books in 2007

Native Son is another one of those books I’m reading because it’s on multiple top 100 novels lists, and, oddly enough, they keep ending up to be fabulous. This one was no exception to that rule. I really like books that not only have a terrific plot line, but make me think about the world that they are set in and how things are different now, or worse, how things have not changed at all and really should have by now. Please read this, particularly the defense’s monologue at the end. It’s long, but it makes such relevant points that more people should pay attention to.

About the end of the world, and what happens slightly afterwards. It’s pretty good conceptually, but I really wished that the plot had been a little bit thicker and better developed.

Not the type of book I’d normally pick up, for sure. I read it because my sister handed it off to me to return to my mom, and a book left in my possession more often than not gets read. This book was apparently written to make the author feel better about herself after working the job from hell and being a jerk to her friends. Dear Ms. Weisberger, it’s nice that you learned something, but you really don’t need to publish a novel to show the American public that. On the whole, we don’t care. On the plus side, The Devil Wears Prada did have refreshingly less Hollywood-ending than the movie, but I think the theme was better suited to be a movie and not much else. On the whole, I wouldn’t bother reading it if I were you.

I have so many things to say about this book, but I want to say them in dialogue, not just throwing them out in a few brief paragraphs on the internet. I am throwing the book itself at a few friends of mine, because trying to talk about certain things Dawkins said to people who haven’t read it is frustrating me. The God Delusion has made me think like almost no other book I’ve read this year has. Read it if you aren’t afraid of being pissed off about religion, or atheism, or both.

Here is the deal about this book. I saw the movie before I knew it was a novel, and I adored the movie. There were so many absolutely great parts that had me rolling on the floor laughing, or ecstatically happy, or other emotions that fall into the general category of “good”—and none of these parts that I loved was in the book. This made the book less fun. A good book, don’t get me wrong, just less fun, and very different from its cinematic adaptation.

I reread this today. This book should be changing the world.

To be honest, I had no intention of reading this when it was first given to me by my pastors when I graduated. It looked like another boring book on faith and how God loves you. Instead, when I opened it a few months later, it turned out to be brutally honest, stories about faith that were blunt enough to talk about things like drug addiction, use the word fuck, and criticize the government all at once. Score one for the Christian left. I’d read more books by Lamott.

Everyone else was doing it.

I will admit, though, the last 300 pages were completely gripping. I couldn’t put it down.

I liked this book better the first time I read it, but it was worth it for the last chapter. It’s just beautiful, and the whole book breaks my heart.

I’ve been away working at camp all summer, and haven’t gotten a chance to update my booklog. I read this in June, and wow. I can’t explain in words how good this book is. It’s in my top 5 of all time just for the way Irving effortlessly weaves a story, making you burst out laughing and then punching you in the gut when you least expect it. Everyone needs to read this, today, preferably. You will not regret it.