I've decided that this blog will be a great place to post about the books that I read - 'cause I read a lot of books. I will post about the books, both good and bad, that I feel are blog worthy. This may end up being every book I read - I'm not sure how discriminating I'll be.
First off, I'd like to recommend to anyone who likes to read a lot (or even if you don't like to read a lot), to keep a list of the books you read. I started keeping a spreadsheet with this information in 2004 and have even added books that I remember reading in my childhood. It's a pretty intense spreadsheet, too - with ratings, when I finished reading the book, who recommended it, etc. It sure comes in handy when people ask you for books to recommend.
As this is my first post about books, I shall share 2 of my favorite books: The Good Earth by Pearl Buck and Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See. These 2 are a good pair as they both take place in pre-revolutionary China. The Good Earth is more about the male's perpective of this culture and Snow Flower is about the female's.
The Good Earth: I'm still not sure what it is that I love about this book. Perhaps it's because the characters are very human, and because it is about a culture that I don't know much about, and it is beautifully written. Probably all of those reasons.
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan: This book is a real page turner. I found myself fascinated by the life of these 2 women who tread to keep themselves afloat in a world full of extreme cultural pressures and expecations.
As I am not one for elequoent words, I recommend that you look up reviews for these books online. They definitely get my thumbs up!
3 comments:
I'm glad you're doing this book review thing because I love to read and always appreciate reviews. I have read both of these and add my recommendation to yours. Good picks! And I was glad to discover that I haven't read any of your un-recommendations, so no time wasted there.
Jen Swendsen
I read the Snow Flower book for a class my first semester back at school, and I loved it. Well written - very interesting - about a time and place that I knew little about. Good call Amy.
I read this book last summer and loved it.
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