| Year 3, Book 61 |
[Aug. 21st, 2008|06:47 pm] |
41. The Sum of Our Days by Isabel Allende
Another memoir from Isabel Allende. Her first memoir Paula details her daughter's tragic death from medical mistakes made treating her porphyria. This book is basically written to her daughter telling her of all the things that have happened in the life of her family since her untimely demise. I will admit that I have been somewhat disappointed in many of Allende's recent works. Her first book "The House of the Spirits" is one my all-time favorites. Aside from her non-fiction books I haven't cared much for her recent books, and after reading this book where she describes writing many of the books I think I finally figured out why. Her early books are all based on her experiences growing up in Chile, while the more recent books diverge covering various histories and times in California. I think her Chile based books are full of much richer material, whereas she is drawing too much from research in her newer books and not basing it on personal experience. Just a thought. At any rate I loved this book. It made me have confidence in Allende's writing again. I give it a 9 out of 10. |
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| Year 3, Book 62 |
[Aug. 21st, 2008|06:56 pm] |
42. When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris
Another book of personal essays written by Sedaris. It resembles closely "Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim covering stories from his life with Hugh, his travels, his childhood, and living in France. I don't think it was nearly as good as some of his earlier works. A few of the essays provided a small chuckle, but nothing really made me laugh out loud. And some of the essays such as his bizarre essay on Princeton were very misguided. I give it a 5 out of 10. |
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dwhren's journal
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