People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks (#12, Contemporary Fiction)

What is my deal? I have been reading books and then promptly forgetting that I have read them. Why I completely spaced out and didn't blog about Geraldine Brooks' People of the Book is beyond me. I actually really liked it and would definitely recommend it to friends--in a non Prep-like way.

The main character is Hanna Heath, an Australian manuscript conservator and the story basically arcs around her restoration of the Haggadah, a Jewish illustrated prayer book. Every time Hannah uncovers some detail or odd thing about the ancient book, we are thrown back in time and we get to find out what really happens. I found myself skimming Hanna's parts just so I could get to the neatly crafted historical chapters. I really liked the piecemeal way Brooks tells the story of the Haggadah. Definitely worth reading!

The Last Town on Earth by Thomas Mullen (#19, Fiction)

I brought this book back with me from my Mom's house in Florida a couple of months ago. I must have quickly skimmed the back and felt that it met my standards. When I finished the last book I was at home and no longer have my library card, so I had to choose from a book on my shelf. I grabbed The Last Town on Earth to check out the back cover, and I couldn't believe that it is a historical fiction novel about the Spanish Influenza outbreak of 1918.

Quite apropos, right? After the recent outbreak of swine flu it seemed like the book was just waiting for me to read it. With my job, one would think I have had an overload of epidemics, emergency preparedness, and reminders of the shortcomings of our health system, but I'm a glutton for punishment. So of course I decided to read a book about people dying from the flu-- and to be expected it has re-intensified my fear of people sneezing and coughing in public!

Apparently, the author found an article about how many towns in the Northwest quarantined themselves in an effort to keep the flu out in 1918. He ran with that and concocted a story about the idyllic and peaceful town of Commonwealth unraveling after making the decision to not let anyone in or out until the flu passed.

One of my major critiques of the novel is that it seems like he weaved in too many themes. Of course there is the fear of the flu, but then there is also the war going on and the town is mostly anti-war. Many of the men in town either did not register for the draft or have been spared as necessary workers. They are living and working happily secluded until they make the decision to quarantine themselves.

The author highlights the fact that when people are scared and backed into a corner they will do things you could never imagine. Commonwealth, a town built upon communal values and nonviolent resolutions becomes a free-for-all, each man for himself, and suspicious and blame filled place after the flu enters.

Escape by Carolyn Jessop with Laura Palmer (#18, nonfiction)

I found this book completely riveting. The writing and actual story-telling ability were mediocre at best, but the underlying story is just so out there, and she does an amazing job including tons of specific details and stories. I was hooked.

I am completely fascinated by extremist groups, specifically those that exist in the United States. In high school I did a report on the incident at Ruby Ridge. That was back before the whole Internet craze, so I actually had to read books about the incident.

The story is of Carolyn Jessop, who was born into a polygamist family. At 18 she married Merrill Jessop, 50, and became his fourth wife and went on to have eight children in 15 years. She details her entire life, and the abuse, neglect, and oppression that finally caused her to flee the cult. (Merrill Jessop went on to father over 100 children!)

After I finished the book I quickly googled "Warren Jeffs" and boy was I in for a treat. I got to watch videos of him--he looked absolutely nothing like what I thought he would look like, I imagined him older, and fatter. Here he is with one of his brides.

I also got to watch videos from the raid of the Yearning for Zion (YFZ) ranch in 2008, and interviews with practicing members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS).

I would recommend the book to anyone because it's just so amazing that this took place in the 21st century.

The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner (#17, Classic)

I believe that I have evolved as a reader by plowing through this one. Remember Virginia Woolfe and my distaste for that little literary technique she is so well-known for--STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS? Well, guess what Faulkner is so special for? Yeah. You guessed it--confusing the hell out of the reader.

The book is broken down into four chapters, all narrated in a different voice, and all taking place on different days. That seems simple enough, but throw in steam of consciousness, no punctuation, moving forward and backward in time with no heads up, and that makes for one confused bnizzle.

After reading the first chapter I had a fuzzy idea of the plot. I was aware that it was being narrated by the special needs brother, and I knew his narration jumped around in time, and I got that he had a special connection with his sister Caddy, but beyond that a lot escaped me. I was lost and confused and not all that interested in continuing.

So, I went online and found the wikipedia and sparknotes websites about the book. Is that cheating? Did it ruin it for me? At first I thought maybe yes to both, but honestly, I think it was the only move I could make to salvage the book for me. I went back into the book, with three-quarters left to go, and I knew who was narrating, what they were thinking, and what was going to happen, and it made the book way more enjoyable, and a more manageable puzzle.

I don't know that I will pick up another Faulkner book soon, but I have definitely not written him off.

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole (#16, Contemporary Literature)

Ignatius J. Reilly is quite possibly one of the most memorable characters of all time. Infamous may be the best way to describe him or possibly ridiculous and most definitely infuriating! Sometimes he says things that made me laugh out loud, and others made me want to throw the book down in annoyance.

I highly recommend this book to most people. Apparently it is classified as a "guy book." I'm not sure I can adequately explain what that means, but I think I would probably have to agree. There is a lot of potty humor, which I generally don't find all that entertaining, but somehow it works and doesn't come off in a slap stick manner. We read it for book club and we discussed this theme, and a lot of the other girls agreed they don't normally find potty humor funny, but somehow John Kennedy Toole made Ignatius gross, and disgusting, but did not lose all his civilized female readers. :)

There are a ton of great characters and themes and it all ties together at the end. It was funny in such a clever way. It really is too bad that this is his only book.

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison (#11, Contemporary Fiction)

How can it be that I have never read Toni Morrison? Her first novel, The Bluest Eye, has been on my list for a while. And yes my friends, it is an Oprah Book Club pick. In fact, Morrison is the most recurring author on that list with which I have had an ongoing love/hate relationship with.

My book club voted this one as our April read, but as we all started to read it, we all decided we didn't like it. It is kind of an unpleasant book; there isn't anything in it to lift the spirits and inspire you. It is what Morrison intended; a hard, unflinching look at the wide reaching effects of slavery on into the 20th century. The slaves were emancipated from their physical chains, but what about the emotional ones? The characters in this novel struggle with the paralyzing white ideals of beauty. Pecola is the subject of the novel, the specimen we have to study and watch unravel as she eeks out an existence that can barely be considered such by our modern day standards. It's not a small wonder that none of us particularly like this book. There is incest, child molestation, and other similar horrors. And there is no happy ending here.

On a technical note, Morrison is a great writer and I enjoyed the slow unfolding of the story through multiple points of view. I further illuminated the villainous characters and you couldn't help but be both disgusted by and sympathetic to them.

Perfume by Patrick Sueskind (#10, Contemporary Literature)

I am not one to forget which books I read and the order that I read them in, but somehow this one slipped my mind! Sarah got me this book for Valentine's Day and I thoroughly enjoyed it, even though I had to take a break in the middle of it to read the horrendous Jane Green novel, Second Chance.

Patrick Süskind's Perfume is perhaps one of the strangest stories I have ever read. Oddly enough, it was the book I read right after Jitterbug Perfume and you can imagine how much my mind was swimming in smells and scents and all things olfactory. Perfume is the story of THE supernose, which is someone (generally a man) has a nose that can detect the minutest of scents that go into perfumes. I don't want to describe too many details because I think I would have enjoyed the book much more had I known very little about the premise.

Perfume is historical, weird, gripping and oddly creepy. It will make you start to analyze the scents that make up your own world and it will make you yearn for the perfect perfume. If only I had a bottle of the ultimate perfume...