read | Summer House with Swimming Pool

Summer House with Swimming Pool by Herman Koch is intentionally and successfully unsettling. Right off the bat you learn that general physician Marc Schlosser has made a decision that throws his license into jeopardy. The novel then backtracks to the events that lead to his questionable actions.

The characters are unlikable, made even more so by their lack of redeeming qualities. This leads to an interesting cast, though if the character flaws were intended to make the people seem more realistic they fell short of their goal. While it's true that everyone has their faults, it seems that these characters give you no reasons to root for them. This took some getting used to, but I eventually enjoyed that when a character solves a problem it creates trouble for someone else.

This book is slow, but the writing is compelling enough to support the areas that are largely character driven. The beach vacation home as a setting (not to mention the cover design) makes this book seem like a fun summer read. The subject matter does not, so be prepared.

3 out of 5 stars

I received this book from Blogging for Booksfor this review.

read | Headstrong

Headstrong by Rachel Swaby is a collection of mini-bios of prominent female scientists. It covers fields from medicine to invention, so there’s a topic for everyone. The biographies are concise at about three pages each, and Swaby does a good job of describing scientific processes with the right balance of technical jargon and layman’s terms. It’s easy to understand the improvements the scientists were making and you still learn enough of the appropriate terminology to sound like you really know what you’re talking about if you want to explain what you’ve read to someone else. Most of the biographies weave in a considerable amount of information about the women’s personalities and life experiences to help you create a sense of who they were, an impressive feat in so few words. The biographies are very consistent in tone, which helps create a continuous feel if you decide to read the book in a couple of sittings. That being said, this is definitely a book you can pick up occasionally and leaf through a story or two.

This is definitely a book I would recommend to anyone interested in the STEM fields. I don’t think it would do much to dispel an existing dislike for science or math, but it would definitely be inspiring to someone who has an interest in science or learning in general. This book is straightforward enough for upper elementary schoolers, so it’s a good opportunity to introduce a fascination before too many worksheets make science seem boring. There are a few sections where a background in chemistry might be helpful, but then I enjoyed learning about Sally Ride and my rocket science expertise is non-existent. This feels like the kind of book a precocious protagonist would find invaluable, and it’s definitely a very readable gateway to nonfiction.

3 stars out of 5

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

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read | The Barefoot Queen

When I first heard of The Barefoot Queen by Ildefonso Falcones, its premise drew me in immediately. The story of a freed slave and a gypsy befriending each other seemed different from anything I'd read before, as did the fact that it was set in the middle of the eighteenth century in Spain.This book features cultures and locales that I have had minimal exposure to, and I was excited to explore a historical novel to which I brought virtually no prior knowledge.

This book includes everything from feuding to murder to political persecution. Caridad, a slave, is freed by her dying master as they sail from Cuba to Spain, and she is left completely alone as she arrives in a new land. She soon falls in with young gypsy Milagros and is soon swept up in the tense relations between gypsy families. Everything is shaken up when the king orders a roundup of all gypsies, and those who are not captured and imprisoned scatter across Spain. This book is the story of the struggles several characters endure while they try to find their way back to each other.

I have to admit, the size of this book had me putting it off for a long time. At 641 pages, it's a great investment if you're trying to fill your bookshelf. When I did finally get around to it, the book kept calling me back. Though it took a long time, I was reading it consistently all the way through. The book is divided into six parts, though I don’t think that was necessary. I don’t know if this was the publisher’s way of making the book seem less daunting, but for the most part the extra blank pages just threw me out of the otherwise seamless story for a few seconds. While the book is definitely near the cap of readable length for a standalone novel, there were sections of this book that I felt could have had much more detail. It’s a testament to how much I enjoyed the writing and the story that I wanted to read more since the book is already so long.

The Barefoot Queen is a great historical novel with a refreshing setting and compelling characters. My one warning is that it does involve several scenes of rape, both graphic and implied, and they are throughout the book. If you can handle the heavy subject matter (and the heavy weight of the 600 pages), definitely give this one a try.

4 out of 5 stars

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

Hour 9 | Dewey's 24-Hour Readathon

Snacking is, of course, an integral part of every readathon. And when you can come up with snacks that tie into what you're reading, it's so much better (unless we're talking about Hagrid's rock cakes). One of my favourite literary snacks comes from Agnes and the Hitman, and it's - brace yourself - sour cream and pecan pancakes. Actually the best thing ever. Fortunately my mom read this book and mastered the recipe before I got to the mouthwatering descriptions, so when the cravings hit she was ready to go. I don't think I ever do find the same recipe twice, but here's one posted by a fellow Agnes reader: http://www.dazzledish.com/blog/recipes/breakfast/pecan-sour-cream-and-buttermilk-pancakes/

Hour 3 | Dewey's 24-Hour Readathon

 

4 Seasons 4 Books
Starting at the top left and going clockwise:
Winter - Leafless tree from Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
Spring - Sun rays (at least from this angle) from The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon
Summer - A rose from The Barefoot Queen by Ildefanso Falcones
Fall - House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewsi. Because... you know, leaves.

Hour 2 | Dewey's 24-Hour Readathon

 

This quotation isn't from as big a classic as Catch-22, Joseph Heller's best known work. Catch As Catch Can is a collection of short stories, but I think it could still find a home in the classic section of a bookstore. I remember when I first came across this line I immediately sent a photo of the page to my brother to share in my excitement in finding my personality summed up in one line. This is probably the part where I should show that this is true by breaking into sarcasm, but I've gone there with text before and I usually come across as a lunatic or an idiot. So I won't do that. Sorry*.

*there it is!

read | Empire of Sin

Empire of Sin is a snapshot of history that often gets overlooked. While the 1920s are certainly not forgotten, it's rare to hear about them in a setting outside of New York City. This book provides an interesting view of part of US history from a refreshing new perspective.

I don't read as much nonfiction as I probably should, and I find that when I do I have trouble establishing a strong narrative. Nonfiction often reads like bullet points from a presentation, which is understandable given that the author doesn't have the freedom to elaborate beyond what history confirms. This book, while held together by the glue that is the city of New Orleans, feels disjointed. It was much easier for me to approach this book as a collection of short stories about the city than as a continuous novel. As far as the history is concerned, this is a fascinating look at unique stories. For anyone interested in the 1920s, old-school gangsters, or jazz this book is an interesting representation from a new perspective.
3 out of 5 stars

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.