Gordon Korman

I remember enjoying Korman's books as a teen, and recently have read a few of his newer books and enjoyed them too. Korman's first books to be published were written while he was still in high school. I just read No Coins, Please, one of his earlier books, and there was a definite lack of believability in it--no parent in their right mind, even in the 80s, would send their 11-year-old child on a road trip with a couple of 18-year-olds they had never met--but I still enjoyed the sense of humor.

Awhile back I listened to Pop, which I recommend for an entertaining read that also has some depth to it.

Another Jodi Picoult

I just finished Picture Perfect, one of Jodi Picoult's older books. It's about a girl married to a movie star who ends up being abusive, and her struggle to get out of the relationship. It was intense, especially the second half, but I felt like there were too many things going on at once: a movie star's career, anthropology, Native American culture, whirlwind romance, amnesia, pregnancy, abusive backgrounds. It felt a little like Picoult was trying to bring way too many things in to the story. The ending felt rushed, too--like you had just begun getting into the heart of the story and she ended it. Still, a good book, but I would say her writing has improved through the years.

Brooklyn - by Colm Tóibín

I'm a sucker for character driven novels. I discovered this book by accident while randomly pulling books off the shelf in the library and looking at their covers to see if they looked interesting. Toibin is an Irish author, and in this story the main character is an Irish young woman who sails across the ocean to Brooklyn because she can't find work in Ireland.

The story follows her from Ireland to Brooklyn and is narrated, albeit in the third person, in her voice. It tells of her experiences in the strange world of America and about how she copes with her distance from her family, and how she falls in love with an Italian boy. I think what I loved so much about this story is that the reader grows and changes with the girl (I keep calling her that because I can't remember her name!) as she experiences new things. The writing style is not fussy or overdone; the prose is elegant and interesting and doesn't interfere with the story.

Although this work is fiction, long after I've finished this book I find myself wondering what happened to her, and what her life was like after the story ended. The book covers only about a year and a half of her life. Definitely worth reading if you like in depth character studies.

More Orson Scott Card

I know Amy already posted about Orson Scott Card, but he is fast becoming one of my favorite authors. Besides Enders Game, I've also read some of his other books in a series called "Women of Genesis". These are historical fiction novels about, you guessed it, the women in Genesis. Since OSC is an devout Mormon, he has a healthy amount of respect for Biblical stories and instead of skewing the story (like Anita Diamonte does in the Red Tent) he tells mostly faithful "interpretations" of the stories of women we've all read about in the Bible. So far I've read "Sarah", "Rachael and Leah," and half of "Rebecca." I like "Sarah" best so far. OSC's gift is his ability to create believable dialogue, and these books are beautifully written depictions of the culture and struggles of these women.

Additionally, I have listened to book One in OSC's "Memory of Earth" series on CD. These books are a return to the science fiction he is best known for and worth reading in my opinion. Like the book Amy reviewed, this story is set in the future on a planet called Harmony where the last survivors of earth fled after destroying their own planet in nuclear war.

Comment on The Help

I'm afraid that no one else will go back over the comments and find this one that Tawn recently posted about The Help so I want to encourage you to go back and read it--or at the very least read the book as she urges you to do in her comment: http://readreviewcrew.blogspot.com/2010/02/help.html.

In case you're interested, your email address can be added so you receive an email when someone posts a comment. I hate for follow-up comments to be lost in the archives.

Enders Game, Orson Scott Card

I really dislike sci-fi, but this book was well written and made me think and definitely kept me interested. This is set in the future, but as it was written in the 70's, it's a little interesting how things are skewed (Russians are the super bad guys on earth.) It's mostly about a boy who is groomed to save the world from the "buggers" and all that this entails, and incorporates all sorts of plot points from boarding type/military school, family love/bonds, keeping religion, etc. Try it, you might like it.

Songmaster, by Orson Scott Card

Thanks for the tip, Tawn. I probably wouldn't have read one of Card's books without encouragement, since they are sci-fi, but I really enjoyed Songmaster. There were some strange parts, but mostly it was a great book. It reminded me of Lois Lowry's The Giver trilogy (which I also recommend).

I listened to this book, which I recommend--one thing I don't like when reading a book is having character names that I'm not sure how to pronounce. The whole book I feel kind of disconnected from the characters because I'm not sure what their name is. It was only as I listened to the last half hour on my computer that I discovered one character's name is spelled "Rruk"---but since I'd been listening to it, I had no problem pronouncing it.

I have to admit it is fascinating to get someones take on what an alternate reality would be like. Songmaster is set thousands of years in the future, and it mentions the once-huge city of Seattle and how it's become just a small town.

I just realized that part of the reason I resist science fiction is because the mere thought of it brings to mind the few times growing up when I saw Star Trek episodes on TV and how much I didn't like it. I'm scarred for life...