The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood (#8, Reader's Choice)

Oh where has the last month gone? For the past two weeks I tried over and over to make a dent in the Blind Assassin, and finally, last night I got hooked and sped through 300 pages to the finish line.

Margaret Atwood is a great writer with innovative ideas. Steph let me borrow The Handmaid's Tale over the summer, which was very 1984-esque, and although I found it creepy it was a good read. In her more recent novel, The Blind Assassin, the theme is more traditional--the rise and fall of a once prosperous yet twisted family--but Atwood still manages to weave a story within a story within a story. Yes, you read correctly, three stories for the price of one.

I haven't talked with Steph yet about her thoughts on the book, but when she gave it to me she said it had a mystery to it. Within the last chapter the narrator reveals the big "secret" and everything falls into place. But I am not sure if it was actually supposed to be mysterious or not because I had already decided that the cryptic lines were not actually cryptic, but obvious. So either I am really smart (obviously) or Atwood didn't intend to make her readers wait on the edge of their seat for all the answers. Either way, I enjoyed the book and I would happily recommend Atwood to all types of readers.

The Revenger's Tragedy by Cyril Tourneur (#8, Classic)

I never quite know what to write about the books I read for class. This was a really strange play. Reading it had me thirsting for the delightfulness of a Shakespearean piece. At least when Will was vulgar he did it with style and flair. In this play--I don't even really know how to describe it. Let's just say it is about a man, Vindice, who seeks revenge against a Duke who raped and killed his woman. It is a rather sick display of crazy as there is a scene where Vindice carries around the skull of his deceased fiancee, talking to her and then later tricking the Duke into kissing the veiled skull so as to poison him. Oh and don't forget the other subplot where Vindice consents to trying to convince his mother (he is in a disguise of course) to let the Duke's son have sex with his sister. Yeah.

So, that's about all I got for that. I suppose I should reserve my critical observations for an imminent paper. Up next--I hope it is Persuasion, as I have been slowly progressing through what is not a bad book at all--I just have lots of non-book things to read for school. If only short stories, poems, and scholarly articles counted.

Vanishing Acts by Jodi Picoult (#7, Reader's Choice)

A few years ago I read My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult, and although I never really got into her continuous narrator change, the book as a whole made me think. Thinking is good. When I saw Vanishing Acts sitting on my roommate's bookcase I thought it would be the perfect beach read for my trip to Costa Rica. Apparently, some time in the past few years I became a book snob and I found almost no redeeming qualities in this book.

I could appreciate the legal jargon in My Sister's Keeper but not in Vanishing Acts. To be fair, maybe I enjoyed it more because I find the topic of medical legal rights more interesting than family law, which is all a matter of taste. But, on the other hand, I found most of Vanishing Acts unbelievable and trite. I had a really hard time seeing the dad in jail teaching his cellmate how to make Crystal Meth. And the whole happily ever after ending?!? In what world does the best friend who has been pining over the girl for their whole lives finally get her and everyone is happy??? I don't think so.

Side Note: The night before my flight to Costa Rica I couldn't fall asleep (big surprise) so I picked up another book belonging to my roommate (I'm starting to entirely question her taste) just to pass the time, and I feel like I need to warn anyone and everyone against reading Every Sunday by Peter Pezzelli. Just don't do it. Unless you're in the mood for an obvious unfolding of the plot and awful writing stay away.

Straight Up & Dirty by Stephanie Klein ( #7, Nonfiction)

Oh what felicity it was for me to find this book in a closet of orphaned beach reads at our house in Costa Rica. I nearly jumped for joy. Yes, I am a fan of Stephanie Klein's website, Greek Tragedy--have been for a couple years--but for some reason I never really felt the need to purchase her memoir. Perhaps I sensed how much of it I had already read by obsessively checking her blog. Klein's blog is the only one I started reading and was so intrigued and fascinated by her stories that I went back to the beginning posts and read everything she had written. If you don't know her story, it is a compelling one.

I wouldn't put this book into the hands of any men because her stuff is on the girly side, but it is pretty hilarious at times. Becky gave me many a strange look as I sat next to her in the pool reading Klein's tell-all memoir. It is definitely not for those who blush easily. The title really means what it says: straight up and dirty accounts of Klein's bad marriage to a cheater and her subsequent struggle to put a horrible relationship behind her and find herself again. It is inspirational, if not a bit tedious. A lot of sections seemed like they could have been trimmed, as there are countless passages where she tells us the same things, over and over again. But those scenes are interspersed with the juicy scenes that make you crack up--like the time she let out a huge fart in front of her boyfriend for the first time and then got what she calls 'rhea, which is short for diarrhea, right before running a race with him. Good stuff.

Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald (#6, Classic)

If I had to compare this novel to any other book I would say Tender is the Night is the G-rated version of Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller. Both stories intertwine the lives of various American expatriates bouncing around Europe living a perpetual vacation.

The novel bounces between narrators, beginning with Rosemary, the young American who is the impetus or excuse for the downward spiral of Dick Diver. Nicole Diver, another narrator, Dick's wife and originally his mental patient, goes through life depending on Dick, until the very end when their marriage has completely unhinged.

Because the introduction and everything I have heard about the book claims that it is loosely based on Fitzgerald's dark life with his wife Zelda I expected a more tragic ending. I won't give away how it ends, but I was definitely surprised at the lack of "fireworks".

I didn't love the book. I get sort of bored seeing characters continue to make the same mistakes over and over, but I suppose Fitzgerald was trying to be realistic, hence its autobiographical nature.

The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri (#5, Contemporary Literature)

In the long line of terrible books I read during the summer there was one saving grace: Interpreter of Maladies. In this collection of short stories Jhumpa Lahiri created numerous scenes and characters that have stuck with me since. Normally I don't like short stories, I need more than twenty pages to become attached to what I am reading, but that was not the case with Interpreter of Maladies. Each night I read a new story and was taken on a brief, but memorable journey.

When I saw that her new novel, The Namesake, had won The Pulitzer Prize, I did not need any more encouragement to add it to my book list. Somehow, I am deeply disappointed by it. Even though she had an extra 250 pages to create her characters, I found them less real than those she put to life on twenty pages. Maybe my expectations were too high. Maybe if I were to reread Interpreter of Maladies I would realize I had built it up in my head. I keep going over the book, trying to find something about it I find special, but everything that her themes have been praised for, "the immigrant experience, the clash of cultures, the conflicts of assimilation" I found lacking in The Namesake. All the themes were present, but they seemed trite and unfinished.

I am not claiming it was a bad book, or that I wouldn't recommend it to friends and family. Unfortunately, for me, it fell below my expectations from an author I probably expected too much from.

Sanditon by Jane Austen and finished by Another Lady, (#4 Reader's Choice)

I love Jane Austen. I have read all her novels, seen each movie adaptation (Clueless is based on Emma and The Bridget Jones's Diary is based on Pride and Prejudice for those not aware), and watched various documentaries about her life. I would describe her books as the perfect blend of romantic comedy and fabulous writing. I find it refreshing to read a book that is funny, romantic, satirical, and has a happy ending, which is also good literature. I also like girl power, and Jane Austen found a way to create very strong and smart women who the reader cannot help but adore.

All that said, what about this "Another Lady" business? Jane Austen began writing Sanditon in 1817, just months before she died, and only made it through eleven chapters. The other author took everything exactly as Jane Austen had it and then finished the novel trying to stay as true to her style as possible. All in all, Jane Austen's original work accounts for just under one-third of the whole book. But, all the characters had already been introduced, and the scene set, so the final product is finished according to the traditional Jane Austen formula: a heroine, a hero, a false hero, another beautiful lady, a blubbering adult female, a well-meaning but imperceptive husband, a silly mix up, etc.

Being that there were only six completed novels before she died, I was excited at the prospect of diving into a seventh, even if it was only started by Austen. I think this "Lady" did a fine job at mimicking her style. Compared with the other Austen works it was definitely not my favorite, and most likely my least favorite, but I still enjoyed reading it. Now I want to read her other books again, but alas, on to book #5 of 2007.