February Reads Roundup

I read a couple more than this, but they'll have to go on next month's list, after I write the reviews. Still, I hope your February was slightly more productive than mine!

Best Pick of the Month:
Signed, Mata Hari by Yannick Murphy -- If you haven't read it, go pick up a copy, because you've been missing out: a quasi-ghost story/historical fiction, a narrator that may or may not be telling you the whole truth, and a brilliant writer who dresses it up in melodic, haunting prose.

Worst Pick of the Month:
The Dead Guy by Doug Hewitt -- If it's cliche, it could be okay. If it's cliche and badly written, run away.

Also Read this Month:
Slow Hands by Leslie Kelly -- this was just good sex, and good fun.


Yearly Stats to Date:

Total Books Read: 9
Total Recommended: 7

Male Authors: 5 (4 Recommended)
Female Authors: 4 (3 Recommended)


Read by Cassandra:
Sundays at Tiffany's by James Patterson


See last month's roundup here.
Visit the reads roundup archive page here.

January Reads Roundup

I started out the month with a good reading pace, but had to slow down when school started, but nonetheless, I'm very happy with the books I picked this month--there were several stand-out excellent titles and picking a favorite was more difficult than normal.

Best Pick of the Month:
The Keep by Jennifer Egan -- this was a difficult choice, because I read several Best of the Month worthy books, but this one wins it by a hair. Haunting, magical, hilarious, complicated, frustrating -- this book will have your head running in circles.

Worst Pick of the Month:
American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld -- I cannot emphasize how disappointing this book was. I'm more frustrated by good books with rotten endings than books that were rotten all the way through, because at least those I can stop reading before I become interested in any of the characters.

Also Read this Month:
The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga -- give it 100 pages, it starts out slow but builds into something scary and engrossing.
Sherlock Holmes was Wrong: Reopening the Case of the Hound of the Baskervilles by Pierre Bayard -- this was in the picture finish for favorite of the month. An absolutely hilarious and engaging literary criticism for those who don't read literary criticism.
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini -- beautiful.
The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas -- this book is a lot darker than I was expecting, in a very good way. Complicated characters overlaid with romance and adventure, what's not to love?


Yearly Stats to Date:

Total Books Read: 6
Total Recommended: 5

Male Authors: 4 (4 Recommended)
Female Authors: 2 (1 Recommended)

See last month's roundup here.
Visit the reads roundup archive page here.

December Reads Roundup

Looking back over the past month, I was surprised to realize that I gave more negative reviews than positive ones, and that both my favorite and least favorite book were Pulitzer Prize winners.

Best Pick of the Month:
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz -- I know you've heard the rave reviews already, but if you haven't picked this one up yet, you've been missing out! Possibly the best book I've read in a long, long while.

Worst Pick of the Month:
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson -- Beautifully written, horribly boring. Twenty years from now, college freshman will suffer through it in their Intro to Modern Lit classes.

Also Read this Month:
Away by Amy Bloom
The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
Memories of my Melancholy Whores by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J. K. Rowling

Stats:

Total Books Read: 7
Total Recommended: 3

Male Authors: 3 (1 Recommended)
Female Authors: 4 (2 Recommended)

Buy The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao on Amazon.com

Archive Page -- Best and Worst Picks

2009
February 2009
January 2009

2008
December 2008