Your recommendations?

As you can see, it's been some time since I posted my recent reads on this blog. A bout of laziness, less time spent reading, and the end of the semester simply caught up with me. In order to get myself back on track, I've posted entries for the books I've read in recent months (as best I can remember), but I don't have the time now to review and discuss them. I'm headed overseas for three weeks, and I plan to revive this blog upon my return. I'll be reading a lot, too: long flights with no sleep (I'm not a plane sleeper), lazy days with family in Spain, and the onset of summer in general should get me going again. In the mean time, perhaps you would be so kind as to post your book recommendations in the comments section here? I'd love to hear what you're reading.

20.12: Fifty Shades of Grey (Book 1 of the Shades of Grey trilogy), by E.L James (iBook edition, Pub. 2012)

I first heard about this book--which is actually the first of a trilogy--when visiting my aunt in City Island. After looking into it and learning that more copies have been sold online than any previous book in such a short time, or something of the the like, I had to check it out and see just why it is so popular. Having done so, I've found it really boils down to one thing: discreet, readily-available porn for women.

Porn might be a bit strong. I suppose some would make an argument for the label of erotica instead, and I could go along with that, but I would have to draw the line at calling it a romance. It's all about the sex, with a bit of storyline thrown in between encounters. Frankly, seeing as it's in a digital format, it seems like it would be easy to package it with the appropriate pump-and-grind soundtrack for the full effect. You'd need a decent number of whip and chain sounds mixed in as well, though, as this isn't your run-of-the-mill sex. Forget the bodice-rippers of past days, featuring what the main male character would declaim as "vanilla" sex: the majority of the sex here is of the S & M variety, and even when it's not, we're told that it really should be, and eventually will be. Like the main character, we should feel a bit horrified and guilty about that fact, while also finding it pretty hot.

I'm not judgmental or squeamish about what folks do in their bedrooms--or their torture chambers, as the case may be--but I really disliked this book for a number of reasons. Sure, there is some sexy stuff in it, and it's set in the hip Pacific Northwest, and everyone is beautiful and/or rich. However, it really grates on me that the protagonist of the novel, Anastasia Steele, is pretty much an adult version of Bella from the Twilight series. Like Bella, Ana has a mother living far away with husband/boyfriend number something, a father nearby who is kind but clueless, and friends who are completely unaware of anything she does. She is also beautiful without knowing it, smart without seeming to do any schoolwork or reading, and clumsy as all get out. Throw in an emotionally unavailable, brooding vampire--oh, I mean boyfriend--and there you have it.

In addition to being disappointed that a sexy novel aimed at women has to have such a terrible female role model and relationship at the center, the quality of writing is pretty dreadful. Even the names--a dominant named Christian Grey and a (potential) sub named Anastasia Steele--are ridiculous. About a third of the way through the book I stopped reading and then forced myself to go back and finish. I didn't really care about the characters or what happened--and I certainly don't have any interest in what unfolds in books two and three--but I felt like I should finish the first book so I could lambast it a bit more knowledgeably. 

Don't take my word for it, though. In addition to its original digital format, the book has now gone into print. The fact that it's the first book to make that transition--the reverse of usual publishing formats--is likely the most interesting thing about it.

18-19.12: Sizzling Sixteen and Smokin' Seventeen (Stephanie Plum novels), by Janet Evanovich (iBook edition, Pub. 2010/2011)

I've written about Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum books before, and that's just as good a place as any to get the scoop if you are unfamiliar with the series. Check out my post for Books 11-14 and Book 15 before continuing.

The funny thing about Evanovich's novels is that I thoroughly enjoy reading them and then promptly forget what they are about almost as soon as I set them aside. It's been a few weeks since I read Sixteen and Seventeen, so all I haveare some vague associations of Stephanie's scuzzy cousin/boss getting kidnapped, the bail bonds office being burned down, Stephanie flirting with Ranger and Morreli, and Lula and grandma Mazur making me laugh hysterically. Along the way a lot of friend chicken and donuts are consumed.

And, really, that's just about perfect for summer reading, don't you think?

17.12: The Power of Six (Book 2, Lorien Legacies), by Pittacus Lore (2011 hardcover)

Finished yesterday. No time to review, but hope to catch up this summer. Stay tuned.

16.12: At Home: A Short History of Private Life, by Bill Bryson (Kindle, Pub. 2011)

Diqui bought this when she borrowed my Kindle for a trip last year, and Eddie and I have been reading it aloud when we travel or in the mornings when we have some time together on weekends. Finished in April at home.

15.12: The Rook, by Daniel O'Malley (iBook, Pub 2012)

Downloaded in SFO, read on way back from NYC in March.

14.12: The Demi-Monde: Winter (Book 1 of the Demi-Monde Saga), by Rod Rees

Downloaded in SFO and read on flight to and in NYC in March.

13.12: The Last Bookstore in America, by Amy Stewart (Kindle edition, Pub 2009)

First off, let me say that I have not failed to notice the irony that I read a novel about the decline of the bookstore on my iPad. Added to my guilt is the fact that Stewart is a local author and does, indeed, own a bookstore in my hometown. In fact, it's pictured on the front cover of the book. My guilt is slightly assuaged by the fact that I plan to purchase copies of the book in print as Christmas gifts for a number of people, but I've never been as aware of the issue of eBooks than I was while reading this book.

With that said, I have to say that I fully enjoyed this book. I downloaded it in the airport when traveling and found myself chuckling aloud at many parts. Much of the reason for my hilarity was the thinly-veiled discussion of small-time life in Eureka and surrounding Humboldt County. I recognized a good number of the characters--or at least parts of some people cobbled together to make a single character--places and settings were familiar, and social norms and attitudes were spot on.  While I think we likely come off a bit more charming and quaint in the book that we are in real life, reading this can give folks some idea of what it is like to live in rural, liberal, environmentalist, and--yes, of course--marijuana-influenced Northern California. I'd be curious to hear what folks that don't live here thought of the book.

As an aside, I want to mention that this is Stewart's first fiction release, but she has a number of amazing books on gardening: The Earth Moved: On the Remarkable Achievements of Earthworms (2005), Flower Confidential: The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful (2008),

Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln's Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities (2009), and Wicked Bugs: The Louse That Conquered Napoleon's Army & Other Diabolical Insects (2011). They make excellent gifts for the gardener, botanist, or nature lover in your life. Go buy them now. At your local bookstore.

11.12: A TeenLit novel that I currently can't recall

When middle age gives me a break, I'll post this entry. I'll remember--in the middle of the night, when I am doing the dishes, or another time I least expect it.