Link to 2015 Reading Journal

my2015readingjournal.blogspot.com

"Blood Memory" by Greg Iles ****

◆  Audiobook
◆  Originally published in 2005
◆  German author

Review:  Greg Iles definitely knows how to tell a multi-layered story very well.  As is often true with his novels, the protagonist becomes a vehicle for the exploration of a human experience via the examination of its psychological, social, and physical perspectives.  Iles has demonstrated the consistent ability to describe the macro and micro of complex issues, in this case incest/sexual abuse.  Set in New Orleans, the protagonist moves from confusion to complicity to clarity in a manner that strikes this reader as realistic and very human.  Nice twists and turns as well, which are de rigeur for a good serial killer mystery.

"The Time Regulation Institute" by Ahmet Hamdi Tanpinar *****

• Book Club selection for November 2014
• Turkish author
• Originally published in translation in 2014
• Originally published in 1962
• Author lived from 1901-1962, going through the transition from the Ottoman Empire to the secularized, Western style society envisioned by Ataturk.
• Review:  An absolutely brilliant satire of capitalism and bureaucracy set during the transition period in Istanbul under the rule of Ataturk. The forced adoption of Western priorities did not sit too well with traditionalists of Istanbul and this novel is one of the results! I laughed out loud multiple times reading this.  The writing is somewhere in the vicinity of Salman Rushdie and Gabriel Garcia Marquez.  Just imagine all the time lost by adding up the minutes misplaced by clocks set to the wrong time?  I know...mind boggling......right?  Well some bureaucrat at the Time Regulation Institute figured it out.  Way too funny!  

"Snow Hunters" by Paul Yoon *****

• Book Club selection for December 2014
• US author
• Originally published 2013
• Review:  This debut novel is absolutely exquisite!  Paul Yoon is a phenomenal writer.  His prose is poetic and profound, yet simple.  This is a tale of tragic loss and the transformative power of kindness.  In a short novel with minimal dialogue, the protagonist is a veritable phoenix, surmounting unimaginable loss, yet retaining kindness, compassion, and love.  A meditative, touching tale.  A must read!!!

"The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells" by Andrew Sean Greer. **

◆  Audiobook
◆  Originally published in 2013
◆  US author
◆  Review:  Another time travel novel.  In this novel time travel is induced by electroshock treatments which lead the protagonist to repeated visits to parallel lives. Bland.

"Cannery Row" by John Steinbeck. *****

• Audiobook
• US author
• Originally published in 1945
• Review:  I love John Steinbeck's prose! Meet a marvelous cast of characters who reside on Cannery Row and come to life at night. Exquisite! Enough said!

"The Child: An Audible Drama" by Sebastian Fitzek ***

• Audiobook only
• German author
• Originally published in 2014
• Review:  This was a story translated from the original German and only available performed as a combination narrated/dramatic production by Audible.  Listening to it was like listening to an old time radio program with sound effects and the intensification of the emotion of the story.  The rhythm of the story was occasionally disrupted by the switching from narrator to performers and back.  The story itself is the suspenseful, dark, and poignant tale of loss, the search for love, the acceptance of the existence of both good and evil, and acceptance.  Not bad at all.