A few weeks ago I mentioned that I had not shared any audiobook reviews in a while and that it was because I hadn't liked my recent books so much. Someone commented that I should share the good and the bad. Going forward I am going to try to review every book that I read or listen to. Unfortunately I've has a rash of bad or mediocre ones lately. I'm not going to review them all but here are a few highlights before I get into today's book.
A Dance to the Music of Time: First Movement by Anthony Powell: Worst book in over a year. I started it twice and could not finish it. This is billed as one of the great novels of all time and I agree if the objective is to cure insomnia. There isn't one character in the book who I had any interest in. It's a story about a bunch of average people going through an average life. I can read my own diary for that tale.
Fat Tuesday by Sandra Brown: I like some of her books but this one is completely ridiculous. Good narrator though who kept me interested until the end.
The Winter Sea by Suzanne Kearsey: This book is two stories in one. The narrator is a writer who is writing historical fiction off the coast of Scotland. So it's 2 stories in one. The book that she is writing and everything that happens to her while writing it. She experiences "inherited memory". If you are into Diana Gabaldon you will probably like this book a lot. Time travel, inherited memory and other phenomenon aren't for me. It wasn't a bad book, just not my type. The story she wrote is really good. It was the other stuff that ruined it for me.
The New Year's Quilt by Jennifer Chiaverini: I got this book to listen to in the car while Mom and I drove to Lancaster PA. In this book Sylvia and Andrew are newly married and going to visit his daughter. The book is a mostly Sylvia reflecting on (wallowing in) the past. She's awfully self-centered for someone of her age. Here's the deal on these books. When the main character insists on introducing herself as "Silvia Bergstrom Compson Cooper" you can be pretty sure that I'm not going to like her. That is nothing but arrogance. I can't tell you how many times either Mom or I shouted "oh, get over yourself" while we listened to this one.
I told you I had a backlog of negative reviews! Here's one more.
Gone Girl is one of the freakiest books that I've read in a long time and that's exactly what it's meant to be. Remember the movie "War of the Roses" with Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner? This book is like that on steroids.
Here's the publisher's summary:
On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne's fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick's clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn't doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife's head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge.
Under mounting pressure from the police and the media - as well as Amy's fiercely doting parents - the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he's definitely bitter - but is he really a killer?
As the cops close in, every couple in town is soon wondering how well they know the one that they love. With his twin sister, Margo, at his side, Nick stands by his innocence. Trouble is, if Nick didn't do it, where is that beautiful wife? And what was in that silvery gift box hidden in the back of her bedroom closet?
It wasn't a technically "bad" book. The narration was good and the story kept me engaged. It's just that I felt dirty and gross when it was over. This is one of the sickest stories that I've read in a long time. It's really popular and has gotten great reviews. If you are into psychological thrillers this book is for you! If sick, evil people creep you out, pick something else.
Good news! The book I'm listening to now is one that I like a lot.
