WWW Wednesday–8/6/14

August 6, 2014 by bookmammal 24 Comments

Click to play along!

To participate in this weekly meme hosted by MizB, simply answer the following questions:

WHAT DID YOU RECENTLY FINISH READING?

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng is on a lot of lists this summer—and it should be. I really liked this novel—it takes place in Ohio in the 1970s and tells the story of a middle-class Chinese-American family, their relationships with each other, and how they cope with the sudden death of the middle daughter and the uncertainty regarding the cause of this death. This novel really recreates the time period well—a time when mixed marriages were an oddity and when racism was much more blatant in mid-America than it is today. Moving back and forth between the present and the past, and back and forth between the point of view of the five family members, this is a very moving story that makes the reader wonder how well we really know the ones we love. I finished this book several days ago and I’m still thinking about the characters–which I think is always a sign of powerful writing.

I’ve written several times about my complete love for Rainbow Rowell’s Eleanor and Park, and I enjoyed Fangirl and Attachments nearly as much—so I was anxiously waiting to get to the top of the library hold list for Landline. I’d been reading reviews that said it was much different from Rowell’s previous books, so I tried to go into it without any preconceived notions. I finished it a few days ago and (I know I’m going to be in the minority on this one) I thought it was. . . fine.  I didn’t hate it, I didn’t love it. I thought that most of the characters had potential, but I just didn’t get that invested in any of them. Most of all, I thought that the plot point involving the main character talking via a landline phone to the younger version of her present-day husband was rather contrived—and I think that Rowell is much too talented of a writer to need to use that kind of gimmick. Again, I know that I am completely in the minority here—Landline has been getting great reviews all over the place—but it just wasn’t to my taste.

WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY READING?

I’m listening to Delicious! by Ruth Reichl on my daily commute and it’s a nice, light read. I’m a big fan of “foodie” fiction and nonfiction, and I’ve been looking forward to listening to additional chapters each day as I drive to and from work.

 

 

I’m probably the most unathletic person you could ever meet, but I love reading about sports! I’ve read just about every sports book that John Feinstein has written, but I recently discovered that I’d missed reading One On One—his book about how he came to write some of his most popular behind-the-scenes nonfiction  about basketball, golf, baseball, and tennis. If you’re not into sports there probably isn’t much in this book that would appeal to you–but if you’re a sports fan, give it a try!

WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’LL READ NEXT?

As usual, I have absolutely no idea! It’ll all depend on what I’m in the mood for next.

How about you? Have you read any of these? What are you reading these days? Please share!