Review: Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl

Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Somehow, I missed reading Anne Frank in school. It was never assigned in the classes I took. I keep seeing the book mentioned in “best book” lists online, so I decided it was time, before I turned 60. I found this version, “The Definitive Edition”, on audio. It contains the unedited version of the diaries. Ends up Frank’s father originally released an edited version of his daughter’s diaries, removing some or all of Anne’s mentions of sex. This version reads like you’d expect a teen girl’s diary would read. Only having heard about Frank’s story, many times, I had assumed it involved hiding behind the walls and living in spare spaces of a house, like other Holocaust movies portrayed the hiding of Jews. I was surprised to learn that there were multiple families living together in a building annex off of a factory. Also surprising was the time spent successfully hiding, even going about some normal things like taking correspondence courses. Frank’s descriptions make you feel that, while she lived through extraordinary circumstances, that people can adapt and make the most of their situations. It really is a hopeful book.

Until it ends, abruptly.

A very strong story.


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Review: A Long Petal of the Sea

A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I read this, or rather listened to the audiobook, as part of a college alumni reading group. I’ve only read one of Allende’s books previously, and this one seemed to be of the same type. I enjoyed the long family saga, moving between continents and decades. However, based on the length of the book, you could predict the surprise near the 2/3 mark, so it didn’t have that turn of events that you kind of hope for in these kinds of novels. OK, but written in an enjoyable manner. And for me, a nice change of pace. I believe I might have enjoyed it more if I actually read along with the group and participated in the discussions live, instead of speeding through it to beat the library due date.

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Review: Normal People

Normal People by Sally Rooney
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I noticed as I listened to this audiobook that I enjoyed the writing. There were passages of observations that were memorable. I also noticed that the story felt similar to some movies, at least as a base. That is, until it got a bit kinky. Then it felt like a lot of movies. I must say I liked the writing enough to want to listen to another by Rooney. Or it could be that I really appreciated the narrator, Aoife McMahon. She has a wonderful Irish voice. Had this been read by a typical American narrator, I suspect I’d never consider another Rooney book.

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Review: When Breath Becomes Air

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow. You know the topic of the book when you start, but Kalantihi begins with his autobiography, where you understand that he was smart, with wide interests from literature to medicine, and ambitious to make his way in the world. He describes his life, then he describes his life impacted by a cancer diagnosis, in a reflective way. I found this very interesting throughout, well written and well thought out, even though he didn’t actually finish the book. It’s one of those books where you feel you learned something applicable to your own life, even though that didn’t seem to be the book’s intent. I rarely re-read books, but I can easily see myself rereading this as I get older.

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Review: Zero Gravity

Zero Gravity by Woody Allen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Allen provides us with 19 stories. 18 of these are “of a type” that use wild, descriptive character names and focus on wordplay, and are all around ten pages, give or take. These also are full of not-so-subtle references to the kinds of information covered in 300 level or higher liberal arts courses in college, as well as recent issues of People magazine. Hopefully you’ve been paying attention. The final story is quite a bit longer, has characters with normal, forgettable names, and feels a bit lower key, less manic. I found this the best of the bunch. With the shorter stories Allen is showing us his cleverness. In the final story, “Growing Up in Manhattan”, he’s showing us his storytelling ability, and I find that was the most memorable story in the collection. Overall, I found a little goes a long way. If I ran across one of these shorter stories, say in a magazine with a variety of other stories and types of writing, I’d like it quite a bit. But reading a book’s worth in a row became more of a chore the farther you went.

I won this book in some internet contest, but that didn't impact my review.

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Review: Saga: Book One

Saga: Book One by Brian K. Vaughan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I’ve not read many graphic novels, and none that struck me like this one. While many of the graphic novels that I have read seemed like a small step up from the comic books of the past, this felt like a novel illustrated. The story seemed more complex, not in a way to make the story more interesting but more as a reflection of the world that the author built. The characters were entertaining, the art was good. And I’m figuring out where to add the next volume to my reading list, sooner rather than later.

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Review: Every Cloak Rolled in Blood

Every Cloak Rolled in Blood by James Lee Burke
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Burke heads deep into ghost territory in this one, deeper than most of the recent Dave Robicheaux books. Combine that with a protagonist who is a cantankerous, retired 85, but in whose actions seem half his age, and you have a couple of main aspects of this book that tend to turn me off. Burke is really stretching his reader’s believability. But the writing makes up for this. And the complexity of the story helps – there’s a lot going on here. A great feel for place again, this time small town Montana. I’ll keep reading him, but he’s moving closer to Poe or even Lovecraft as time goes on.

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