A Week of Reading

My apologies for being away so long.  Unfortunately, I am not as good at  multi-tasking as I would like to think I am.  I've been spending all my spare time reading and little of it at the computer.  The good news, though, is that I finished two books this week and am half-way through a third.

Early this week I finished Tipperary by Frank Delaney.  This was an ARC I received from LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program through Random House.  Tipperary is a novel of historical fiction that takes place in Ireland during the years of the Irish rebellion and its subsequent civil war in the early 20th century.  It is the story of one Charles O'Brien, who is struggling to find himself and win the love of April Burke, the woman he adores but who continually rejects him.  When he discovers that April is the owner of the crumbling estate adjacent to his family's home, Charles determines to help her rebuild it, even if it is at the cost of his life.  Charles and April find themselves caught between both sides of the rebellion and the civil war.  The couple mirrors the country as they battle each other for love and control.

Ordinarily I would find this book fascinating.  But the way it was structured almost undermined it entirely.  The author used a narrator, who had his own agenda for telling this story.  The narrator was really more of a nuisance than a help; it was often difficult to determine who was speaking.  Also, in a way of providing background information on Ireland's cultural history, the author had a tendancy to provide examples that rambled aimlessly and did little to make a point.  In addition, the main character, Charles, was portrayed as a naive, bumbling fool for the first 40 years of his life.  This made the first 1/3 of the book almost unreadable.  Once I got to the heart of the story, though, it seemed to straighten itself out and turned out to be enjoyable reading after all.

I switched gears entirely with Bill Bryson's The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid.  It is a memoir of Bryson's childhood during the 1950's in DeMoines, Iowa.  Although I didn't come on the scene until the late 1950's, I can still relate to many of the attitudes and cultural phenomenon of the time from my own Midwestern childhood.

I can't remember the last book I read where I couldn't see the text because of the tears streaming down my face from laughing so hard.  I started this book Wednesday night and finished it on Thursday. 

Currently I am reading American Gods by Neil Gaiman for my F2F book group that meets next week.  I've never read anything by Gaiman before, but I've certainly heard a lot about him and his books.  The man has quite the reputation and the following.

I am half-way through the book, and to be honest, I'm not sure what I think.  The mythology aspect is interesting.  But the plot seems to be repetetive, with the same thing happening to the protagonist over and over again, only with different characters in different places.  I realize this is an over simplification, but it is how it appears to me.  I keep hoping that something in it will click with me before the end of the book. 

Wishing everyone a week of contented reading...

 

Comments

[SamHouston]

I loved the Bryson book, too, and had to be careful where I read it because he had me laughing out loud a few times...could be embarrassing in a bank line, etc.

I'll be curious to hear what you think of American Gods. Gaiman seems to be one of those authors that readers either love or hate. I've heard both extremes and, honestly, that's put me off him so much that I haven't yet tried one of his books for myself.

[Ex Libris]

Sam, that's precisely the reason why I haven't read Gaiman until now. I have a tendency to shy away from authors that everyone else raves over. As of yet, I haven't figured out what the attraction is. I'll let you know if/when I do.

[jenclair]

I think I need the Bryson book; I need to laugh!

I've only read one Gaiman all the way through, and he didn't grab me the way he does some readers. I didn't hate it, but it wouldn't encourage me to read another, either.

[Janice]

I listened to the Bryson book on CD ... while driving ... had to pull over to the side of the road because I was laughing so hard, tears streaming down and couldnt see.

I like the HP books on CD because of the voices, the accents ... makes it so real. Jim Dale is a genius with voices; apparently he did over 200 for the HP series.

[Ann Darnton]

I possibly shouldn't say this, but I found the first half of American Gods (which I also had to read for my F2F group) better structured and easier to follow than the second half. Perhaps you'll be able to persuade me that I was wrong.

[Ex Libris]

jenclair: As of right now, I feel the same as you about Gaiman. I just don't understand the draw.

Janice: Welcome! If I had listened to Bryson on CD, I would have wrecked the car! Someone else recommended the HP books on CD to me - I will definitely have to listen to them. I can't seem to find the time to work HP into my reading at all, so it would be good if I could listen to them.

[Andi]

I felt that way about American Gods myself. That the premise was better than the execution. But, I've read other Gaiman offerings since then and enjoyed them (Coraline remains a favorite).

And I've never read Bill Bryson! But I'll remedy that soon since A Walk in the Woods is winging its way to me as we speak.

[Ex Libris]

Ann: Well, I'm glad there's a change-up in store in the second half! It might make it a little more interesting :) I'll let you know what I think once I've finished it.

Andi: I won't write Gaiman off completely - I've heard others say that American Gods wasn't their favorite by him. But I truly can't see his genius yet. Maybe I need to sacrifice something to the gods and then I'll be enlightened?

[Heather (errantdreams)]

Thunderbolt Kid sounds pretty fascinating. It's been too many years since I read American Gods to remember why I loved it so, only that I did. :)