jackyism

jaclynday:

I’ve read a few amazing books in the past week and a couple that were okay, but didn’t knock my socks off.

Here’s the rundown:

• The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson - I’m making my way through this series and this book was far better than the first. These books are flat-out fantastic and there’s not much else I can add except that Larsson’s writing style is wonderful to read (even translated from Swedish) and makes the great story that much better.
• Rise and Shine by Anna Quindlen - This is the first book I’ve read by Quindlen and I enjoyed it. It struck me as kind of a smart girl’s attempt at chick lit and that bothered me at first (if you’re going to write a chick lit book, just write it), but the story was engaging. My one major fault: the teenager in the story, a 19-year-old boy, talks nothing like a 19-year-old—let alone a male 19-year-old. It frustrated me the whole way through. 
• French Women Don’t Get Fat by Mireille Guiliano - Sound advice, but a little off-putting. It would be easy to take this book and go too far with it, and let’s face it: French women may have time to cook three-hour long meals and have access to fresh food markets, but it’s a little harder here. Her insistence that her recipes are no more expensive is crap. I’m completely on board with eating local and choosing fresh vegetables and cooking healthfully, but don’t kid yourself in thinking that this is in any way cheaper than buying frozen foods. But, in the end, her advice about portion size and balance was useful, but nothing I haven’t heard before. Maybe this book was an eye-opener when it was published several years ago, but you can get this same advice in any magazine or blog today.
• Apartment Therapy: The Eight-Step Home Cure by Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan - I loved this book. Instead of offering a whole list of trite design tidbits (“use warm colors in your living room!”), it instead tries to change the way you think about the word home. From reducing clutter, to creating calm spaces to eating and cooking at home with your family, this is more of a lifestyle book than a design one. (Not that there aren’t sound design portions in it.) It gave me some great organizational ideas and further cemented my belief that cooking and eating at home (without the TV on!) is one of the best things for relaxing at the end of a long day.
• Towelhead by Alicia Erian - My only preview to this book was an NPR interview I heard with the filmmaker, author and the actress who played the main character (Jasira) in the movie adaptation of this book last year. I still haven’t seen the film (although I want to now). This book was uncomfortable to read. I was cringing—on the outside—during some parts. On the other hand, it’s so well-written and so heart-breaking. I found myself initially resenting the main character a bit, but growing to be on her side. It’s hard to decide who are the “bad guys” and “good guys” in this book. The parts with Jasira’s boyfriend, for some reason, were the hardest parts of the book for me to get through. If you’ve read it, I’d like to know your reaction too.

Have you read any of these? What did you think?