The Kite Runner

The Kite Runner
By: Khaled Hosseini
Time to read: 1 week
Pages: 371

Wow, this book was an amazing read – harrowing in its straight-forward truth and blatant candor. Hosseini shows Afghanistan and its character through a group of characters and how they've changed over the course of forty or so years. It also shows how much turmoil Afghanistan has been through and how long the country has suffered.

Amir tells the story of his friendship with Hassan and how their different beliefs and ancestry (one a Sunni Muslim, the other a Shi'a) effect both of them while growing up. Unforgivable acts take place, yet, somehow, the people who do these acts find redemption, and deservingly so. At times you will find it excruciating to read this tale, but it is worth it in the end. The hate you feel at points eventually subsides, and the reader too wishes for Amir to find peace.

I don't want to give too much away, so I'll leave you with this quote from Isabel Allende: "This is one of those unforgettable stories that stays with you for years. All the great themes of literature and of life are the fabric of this extraordinary novel: love, honor, guilt, fear, redemption."

Gone with the Wind

Gone with the Wind
By: Margaret Mitchell
Time to read: 3 weeks
Pages: 1024

This is one of my all-time favorite books. Next to Harry Potter, which this was a time filler to read before I start Deathly Hollows.

I've always been interested in the Civil War from a Southern point of view, and this book is the epitome of Southern living in the 1860s. The book opens in 1861 with a 16-year old Scarlett O'Hara flirting with twin brothers on the front porch of her large, Southern plantation, Tara. The book progresses through the war years, Reconstruction and then post-reconstruction time.

Scarlett moves from Tara, which is 25 miles south of Atlanta, to Atlanta during the war. Much to her dismay she is forced to work in hospitals and help dying soldiers. She flees Atlanta right before Sherman burns it to the ground on his infamous march to the sea.

After the war she is forced to completly rebuild her family's plantation..for the first time in her life she is forced to work along side the black people who have always done her bidding. Then she is in constant fear of Carpetbaggers or Yankees coming to kill, rape or steal everything that she has worked so hard to build up after the war.

I won't say too much about the love triangle in the book between Scarlett, Rhett and Ashley. Essentially she thinks she loves Ashley, and she realizes too late that it's really Rhett she loves.

I love this book a lot, and I hadn't read it in about two or three years. But re-reading it as a more mature reader made me able to better analyze the characters and their motives. Rhett is nothing but a cynical ass hole, who deeply loves Scarlett. If Scarlett lived today, she would be some big wig corporate exec., but since she lived in the 1860s, she was considered 'fast,' 'manly' and many other things. But, I admire her just the same.

I'm not much for the movie Gone with the Wind, but the book is great. If you like historical fiction I would definately reccommend it!

Four stars!

Middlesex

Book: Middlesex
Author: Jeffrey Eugenides
Pages: 529
Time to read: more than a month
Claim to fame: Oprah's Book Club

This book isn't exactly a page-turner, at least not until the last two or three chapters, but it is interesting in how the author writes the book. He interupts himself so many times in this story that you'd think you'd get annoyed and want to throw the book down, but you don't. You don't because each interuption gives you another look into some part history, whether it's the author's history or world history. It's a facination read in that sense.

"Middlesex" is about a person, Callie/Cal, who is born a hermaphrodite. As a child, no one knew anything was wrong, so she grew up as a girl. To be honest, most of the book, Callie is present. In order to get to the present of what is happening, the author carries the reader back to Greece, where her grandparents grew up. Eugenides slowly tells the story about how Callie/Cal came to be by explaining the details of first her grandparents' lives, then her mother's, father's, aunt's and aunt's husband's lives, and finally comes to Callie growing up. Throughout this, each chapter opens with Cal speaking about his life at the current time (age 25-35?).

To be forthcoming, this book involves love in all forms: incest, inbreeding, homosexuality, hermaphroditism, etc. One thing I will credit the author with is writing about love from all these angles and never writing about it like it's wrong. It made the family in the story seem that much more real because they were the ones living this life and if they didn't believe they're feelings were right, then the reader would have had much more difficulty reading this story.

If you're looking for a long, in-depth read, try this book out. Otherwise, it may not be your cup of tea.

Hey, guys!

Ok, to start, my name is Margaret. I just graduated from Ball State University in Muncie, IN with a degree in theatre. I'm currently living in Fort Wayne, IN. I am a waitress at Applebee's and the head marching instructor for the high school I graduated from. In November, I will be moving to Washington, D.C. No, I have no idea what I will be doing once I move there.

Books I have read recently and would recommend:

If Minds Had Toes
This book is about a teenage boy who travels to the World of Ideas and meets a bunch of old, dead philosophers. This book made me smile and really deals with whether or not the examined life is worth living.

Freakonomics
This book is so thought-provoking. In it, an economist takes everyday problems and trends, looks at the numbers, and analyzes it. One of the questions he answers is what teachers and sumo wrestlers have in common.

Elsewhere and its sequel, Nevernever by Will Shetterly
In these novels, Shetterly uses the setting of Terri Windling's Bordertown books and creates his own characters. These two books are about a boy named Ron who runs away from home to find his older brother. Throughout these books, Ron discovers what it means to live in Bordertown and who he is. It's very much science fiction but I enjoyed reading it.

Ok, that's it for now.

All the President's Men/The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

Finally, I finished something!

Book: All the President's Men
Authors: Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward
Pages: 336
Time to read: Three-plus weeks

I don't generally read non-fiction, but this remains a must-read for journalists. Two key reporters of the Watergate investigation walk you through their steps of uncovering possibly the largest political scandal of all time. At times, I felt like this book was taking too long, but in retrospect, it was similar to the frustration the reporters felt. This isn't a read-before-bed kind of book, but it is an important one.



Book: The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
Author: Ann Brashares
Pages: 294
Time to read: 44 hours

The Sisterhood series is quickly becoming a fixture in young-adult chick lit and for good reason.

Brashares shares the stories of four teenage girls (juniors-to-be) who are scattered across the globe for the summer. Naturally, the plot follows the pants and their adventures as well. It is a feel good book with a clan of characters who may as well be the girls next door, although they lack the depth that you would find in a true classic. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants is an easy read, but perfect for vacation or a weekend.

Speaking of being scattered, the six contributors of this blog are living in six different states: Pennsylvania, Indiana, Kansas, New York, South Dakota and Oklahoma.

The Historian

Book: The Historian
Author: Elizabeth Kostova
Pages: 642

This book was really cool. It is a fiction novel about the life, death and afterlife of Vlad Tepes...who was Dracula. I don't want to get too much into the plot since it is a suspense mystery, but the book is told through three people - A professor, Rossi; his student, Paul; and Paul's daughter, the nararator. Rossi and Paul both receive books that have only a dragon in the middle, then mysterious events begin to happen. Rossi disapears, Paul's cat dies, and a strange librarian begins to follow Paul and Rossi's daughter, Helen.

Paul and Helen travel through 1950's communist Eastern Europe - Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary in search of Dracula's tomb and Professor Rossi.

I would suggest this book to anyone who likes a little fantasy and a little suspence, and vampirical activity.

Two very enthusiastic thumbs up!

bookclubwoo!

Hello hello!
I'm Jacky. Graduated from KU Journalism in December and now live in New York working for a magazine. I've been ready A LOT on the subway, so i'm super excited for new suggestions (and books to avoid). About me: I do not like high heels. Green is my favorite color. I hate sweating. I get excited when I see famous people. I categorize tomatoes as vegetables.

All-time favs:
Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life by Amy Krause Rosenthal
If I write a book (wait...WHEN i write a book...) i want it to be like this. organized by random thoughts, words and subjects. hilarious, insightful, well written and completely enjoyable. the kind you hate finishing.

Tomcat in Love by Tim O'Brien
Yes, this is the dude who wrote those war novels you had to read in high school but this has nothing to do with war. It's about a linguistics professor and the relationships in his life. For those of you with a love of words like me, you'll appreciate how the character analyzes sentences, conversations and words. My book is heavily highlighted. Very witty and touching.

The Time Traveler's Wife
It's incredibly long but totally worth it. An unconventional organization, in that it chronicles the relationship between a man who can time travel and this girl/woman. Beautiful story. Superbly crafted (whatever that means; i just felt like saying it).

I just finished reading my first two Jodi Piccoult novels. First I read The Tenth Circle and thought it was decent (it has comics interspersed throughout the chapters, which is a cool idea). Then I read Keeping Faith, about a girl whose parents are having marital problems and she starts having religious episodes. Keeping Faith was amazing, more so for the plot than the writing. I was constantly trying to guess what would happen next and was continually surprised.

I also just finished Love Walked In. I was skeptical when I started it, but quickly became obsessed. It's the story of a young girl whose mom goes crazy and a single woman who falls in love. Their paths cross and show amazing examples of what love is, what people do for love and what happens when that love is threatened. The author did a great job of having different voices for the two characters...the chapters alternate between Claire and Cornelia. I had warm fuzzies through many parts of this novel.

Step On A Crack

Book: Step On A Crack
Author: James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge
Pages: 383
Time to Read: 1.5 weeks

Out of all of James Patterson's books, this is not the one to read if you want to start reading his works. I'm a dedicated reader of his works, so I've noticed the nice, neat formula he's started to use in his books, not menton bringing on an underling to do all the dirty work and then slapping his name at the top of the cover art.

Anyway, the main character is Mike. He's a police officer who seems to be doing everyone else's job except his own. He's dabbled in dealing with the press during high-stress situations; he's been a negotiator; and he's worked with the hostage rescue team. So instead of giving him one role to play, Patterson/Ledwidge make him do all three jobs. Why not, right?

The crisis situation has a former president's wife getting killed and then at the funeral, a team of men take over the church with several celebs, politicians and the like trapped inside. A ranson is demanded and the police/FBI do as much as they can to get it together while stringing the bad guys along. Along with this crisis, Mike's family is trying to handle their mother's impending death from cancer. And all of this happens days away from Christmas. Uplifting story, huh?

In true Patterson fashion, we know Mike will be a saint of a guy, he'll use his pyschiatric/sociologist background to somehow figure out who the criminals are...even with little to no clues to go on, and someone on the criminal team will have been working on the good guy's side during the whole dilemma.

Even though I've just totally trashed this book, I still love Patterson. Every now and then he'll give you a great mystery. It just hasn't happened for a while now. If you would like to read some of his better works, try "Kiss the Girls," the Women's Murder Club series of books (there are 5 of them now), or "When the Wind Blows." These books include some of his more inventive and better laid out plots.

Howdy, y'all

Okay, no I'm really not that hick-ish, but it seemed like a great way to say hello. I go to grad school at the University of Kansas. I'm a journalism major with an emphasis in copy editing. And no, I won't go all crazy on you if you mess the language up (I'm likely to do so in this first posting anyway). I grew up in central Kansas and got my bachelor's degree from Kansas State University in English (creative writing). I love reading and watching movies and TV shows. Right now, I'm working in Tulsa in an internship position. The city is great fun. Anyone who hasn't been here should check it out.

The books I love to pieces are: Maus I & II, The Sound and the Fury, The Notebook, Their Eyes Were Watching God, The Horse Whisperer and The Bride Stripped Bare.

Oh, and Erin, if you're willing to lend out your Jodi Picoult collection next semester, I would love to begin reading her work. I've been hearing good things about her books.

My Life

Book: My Life
By: Bill Clinton
Number of pages: 957
Time took to read: From 5-22 to 6-16

I both liked and disliked this book. It was the story from his birth, until he walked out of the Oval Office and met George W. to take over the Presidency.

A lot of the stories he told were very interesting. His father died before he was born, his grandfather was one of the few white men in Arkansas to sell groceries to black people in the 50's, he was a Rhodes Scholar and studied at Oxford and traveled the world. During his Presidency he played golf with Tiger Woods, etc., etc., etc., But, what I didn't like about it was how political heavy the story was. I was super confused through most of his political tenure in Arkansas. I didn't know any of the politicians names that he was referring to. I started looking up some, then I just gave up. And, even during his Presidency I was too young to remeber the Watergate case against him, so I had to Google that to understand what was going on. Near the end of the book, he spent so much time discussing peace treaties between Israel and Palestine, and though I have heard of Yassir Arafat, I didn't completly get what was going on, so I just skimmed those parts. But, it is a farily interesting book about a very interesting man. Don't expect too much about Monica Lewinsky...it's covered in about 15 pages or so.

Ranking: 2 stars out of 4.