February 2016: Required Reading
Better late than never!
January 2016: Required Reading Results:
1. The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber - (4/5 Stars) I love how reflective this book is, and I realize that the best science-fiction are of this sort. Outrageous worlds and creatures are but secondary. And Faber's most recent sci-fi offering is less concerned about the extraterrestrials and their worlds, but more about the workings of communication, the intricacies of language. And religious faith is also theme to be remarked upon, and Faber has such an open-minded view of Christianity that you don't have to worry things turning entirely too preachy.
2. Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary D. Schmidt- (4/5 Stars) What's amazing about Gary D. Schmidt's writing is how skilled he is in making the setting the pop. I pretty much got a very clear picture in my head of Malaga Island even down to it's weather. At one point I even felt chilly just reading about the sea breeze. That and because Lizzie Bright is an informative history lesson (Malaga Island is a real island in Maine, whose interracial community was forcibly evicted in 1912) and a riveting adventure story at the same time. But most importantly it is a story that teaches compassion and unprejudice treatment.
February 2016: Required Reading
1. The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan - I am already done with this book! And my god, did this book kill me. It is poetic and penatrating and self-aware and soul-crushing and spirit-uplifting all at once.
2. Persuasion by Jane Austen - This is a buddy read with Meliza of Mecanism and to be honest I was disuading her from picking this title for our joint read, for no other reason (I quite enjoyed Price and Prejudice) other than I wasn't quite feeling up to reading (more like decipehering) the formal language of classic British literature. But I already gave my word, so now, it is a truth universally acknowledged, that I shall henceforth be reading Persuasion this February. :)
That's about it. Have a great February everyone!
January 2016: Required Reading Results:
1. The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber - (4/5 Stars) I love how reflective this book is, and I realize that the best science-fiction are of this sort. Outrageous worlds and creatures are but secondary. And Faber's most recent sci-fi offering is less concerned about the extraterrestrials and their worlds, but more about the workings of communication, the intricacies of language. And religious faith is also theme to be remarked upon, and Faber has such an open-minded view of Christianity that you don't have to worry things turning entirely too preachy.
2. Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary D. Schmidt- (4/5 Stars) What's amazing about Gary D. Schmidt's writing is how skilled he is in making the setting the pop. I pretty much got a very clear picture in my head of Malaga Island even down to it's weather. At one point I even felt chilly just reading about the sea breeze. That and because Lizzie Bright is an informative history lesson (Malaga Island is a real island in Maine, whose interracial community was forcibly evicted in 1912) and a riveting adventure story at the same time. But most importantly it is a story that teaches compassion and unprejudice treatment.
February 2016: Required Reading
1. The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan - I am already done with this book! And my god, did this book kill me. It is poetic and penatrating and self-aware and soul-crushing and spirit-uplifting all at once.
2. Persuasion by Jane Austen - This is a buddy read with Meliza of Mecanism and to be honest I was disuading her from picking this title for our joint read, for no other reason (I quite enjoyed Price and Prejudice) other than I wasn't quite feeling up to reading (more like decipehering) the formal language of classic British literature. But I already gave my word, so now, it is a truth universally acknowledged, that I shall henceforth be reading Persuasion this February. :)
That's about it. Have a great February everyone!
I knew you'd be done with The Narrow Road very soon! Judging from your reaction, I guess... you liked it? :D
ReplyDeleteMore like "love it"! I am changing my mind about Man Bookers! I adored The Sense of an Ending, and now this one. I mean I'd go read The Luminaries and Bring Up the Bodies (or Wolf Hall first), but gah, they're doorstopper thick. :)
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