The way I choose what to read is a little haphazard. I judge a book by its cover and by the few lines I read here and there. If the book doesn't suck me in in the first page or two, it's going to be akin to walking through a swamp in scuba fins.
Which brings me to the book I've been reading:
The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake
By Aimee Bender
I was hopeful because not only was there a picture of lemon cake (yum!) on the cover, but the plot read a bit like "Like Water for Chocolate" which is a great story and a good movie.
I "bit" into this book during our flight from Seattle to Chicago and found it anything but appetizing. At first I was intrigued, but as the book plodded on, the plot just got weirder and weirder and not in a way that makes you want to keep reading. At least, not me.
When I finally finished it (gleefully), I set it on my nightstand and just glared at it. What a disappointment. Can really anyone get published these days?
I've started a new book now that I can't wait to share with you. It's a true story about a free-spirited Jewish woman who grew up in Berlin in the early 1900s. She bucked traditions in big ways, determining that she wanted to have a child by any man that she loved. She loved three men apparently. And with the second world war looming, you can guess she had some rough times as well.
That's next time. In the meantime, if you are interested in lemon cake, I highly suggest just checking a recipe book.
What are you reading? I need some fresh suggestions!
I didn't mind that book as much as you did, but I did find the ending bittersweet ... if not sour.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't even figure out what really happened at the end. I was so lost.
DeleteYou are my favorite. Can I say that? I found your blog through Deanna's and each week I've read one of your posts that she links and gotten a chuckle but it took until now to connect that they're all from the same hilarious woman. I am sitting here... Waiting for my visiting kid sisters to fall asleep (10 & 12 yrs, studio apr), which means I have to be still as a mouse in headlights ... With no light. Thank you iPhone on dimmest setting and brand new hilarious blog. Actually, stifling my snickering IS a bit of a challenge so I can't thank you for ALL your funniness. Anyways, I started this dissertation comment to tell you some good books... I'd suggest Me Talk Pretty One Day for humor, Girl w/A Dragon Tattoo for grippy-ness, Name of the Wind for fantasy-that-feels-like-non-fiction-in-that-you-feel-like-a-better-person-after-reading-it and... The Steve Jobs bio is pretty good so far. Oh! Time Traveler's Wife is really good despite the romance-novel-aura it projects and the movie (no offense... It was kinda standard in my view). Although, who needs a new book when you've got this monster comment?
ReplyDeleteWow, thanks for...all that..all those comments!! So fun to wake up to this morning, like lots of eggs in my Easter basket (what???). I've seen Me Talk Pretty...and been intrigued by it, so I'll check that one out. Girl w/Dragon--the movie freaked me out enough, I'm sure the book is even more graphic. Time Traveler's Wife was good? Because the movie made me turn it off within the first 15 minutes! Thanks for the suggestions!
DeleteYeah, I was waiting for my then-boyfriend one day when I decided to kill time at Borders (rest in peace). I just pulled Time Traveler's Wife off the shelf and started reading and was waiting and waiting for it to get sappy. No dice. I went back and read that book at that Borders for the next few days in a row. So I caved and bought it. In the movie, they completely changed it (waiiit! I know I sound like everyone else, but hear me out). In the MOVIE, the girl is like, 'I can't believe you time travel away from me, you monster." And he's like, "But I can't help it" Fight fight, kiss kiss. In the book, she KNOWS from the get-go that he time travels so any strife they have comes from REAL problems. Real. Interesting and dynamic problems. Stupid movie. Simplified it and made the entire plot revolves around the girl being so stupid-girly.
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