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Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Two more books
I remembered today at the library that I'd read these, and they were really good so I wanted to mention them. Besides, what else am I going to blog about? "IT IS HOT. GARDEN IS GOOD. EATING OWN ZUCCHINI."
Oh, and "I CAN DRIVE STICK SHIFT." I haven't stalled the new car in ages. Or, OK, ten or twelve days.
Anyway. Shut up Rachel, on with the books.
The first one I saw sitting there on the New Books shelf looking all hurt because I'd forgotten to blog about it was Belong To Me by Marisa De Los Santos. (I actually think I wrote a twitter post mentioning this book, but that doesn't count, now does it.) This is a sequel to her first novel, Love Walked In, and I liked it very, very much. It picks up about five years after the previous book left off, as Cornelia and her husband (whose name I have, I'm ashamed to admit, forgotten) are moving to the suburbs. I was afraid at first that it was going to be yet another annoying "suburbs are eeeevil" novel, but it wasn't. It's a very busy novel, with a lot of things happening to a lot of people. I had a paragraph-long synopsis typed here, but I've just deleted it because the story is all the more delicious for being allowed to unfold a page at a time in front of you. I heartily recommend this book. Kat, thanks so much for pointing this author out to me.
Then I saw Run sitting there with the Ann Patchett books and realized that I hadn't blogged about it either. I think I may have even read that one before... Christmas? Can I have, possibly? I'm trying to picture myself reading it -- was it here, or at my parents'? Hmm. ANyway. Run was not as... shoot, how to describe it, as -- ethereal? beautifully unlikely? as the other Patchett books I've read. There's no deceased gay magician whose female assistant was in love with him; there's no opera diva taken hostage at a party. There's just a little girl who loves to run, and a pair of motherless college-aged brothers whose father is a Kennedy-ish politician, and a car accident in the snow, and a bit of a mystery as to how all these elements fit together. Patchett, as usual, writes a vivid and memorable story, and if it's not so brilliant a gem as Bel Canto, it's still very, very good and well worth the reading.
Comments
I don't think I've ever read any Ann Patchett... I should make a note to fix that in the fall when the good library opens again, ho hum.
Posted by: Beck at July 9, 2008 08:25 AM
You're welcome! I need to get Belong to Me back out of the library - I got it out in the middle of moving and just wasn't in the right frame of mind for it. And I always, always, forget Cornelia's husband's name. Doesn't it start with a T?
Posted by: Kat with a K at July 9, 2008 02:27 PM
Teo! (I looked it up as I was putting in a library request.)
Posted by: Kat with a K at July 9, 2008 02:29 PM
