books

936 pages.

Somebody recommended A History of the Modern World over on Ask Metafilter and I leapt over to the San Francisco library's website and requested it.

It's 936 pages. Not counting the (excellent-looking) appendices and bibliography.

I don't know what I was thinking.

Wow. So far I love this book. I'm especially wowed by Haas's ability to craft a brilliant simile. I'm enjoying the story, the characters, and the writing. So far, it's superb.

This was a pleasant read. The main character, Alice, was likable enough (although I was occasionally impatient with her over-accommodating ways early in the book), and I enjoyed the plot's journey - I was slightly surprised by Alice's ultimate career shift, and there were a number of nice moments along the way.

Not a huge favorite, but enjoyable.

I picked this up while browsing the fiction shelves at the library. The cover illustration is beautiful and intriguing, and the plot description on the flap drew me in enough to check it out.

What enchanted me was the writing. Davis is poetic and mystical and simultaneously precise and clearly descriptive. The striking language is never gratuitous; Davis keeps the story unfolding.

I think this may be a book I need to own, just so I can reread the beautiful sentences, to revel in them, to learn from them.

I really want to actually read this book, but I haven't been able to make the time to give it my serious attention, and it has to go back to the library.

From flipping through it, I'm particularly interested in Dean's acquaintance with Stanley Milgrim, and I'm curious, now, to read Dean's other books as well.

I hope to return to this sometime later this year if my workload slows a bit.

I sought this out after seeing it mentioned in John McPhee's Coming Into the Country.

I'm nearly finished with this - really enjoying it so far ...

I've been putting off reading this, thinking it would get me all inspired to write ... which is not a good frame of mind to be in at bedtime. Having skimmed it, though, I think I can read it for enjoyment and give it a quick second pass, taking notes and inspiration, later, during daylight hours.

Well, that was one of my fastest reads in a while. It's nice to be able to sit and read for hours at a time. It's a luxury I hope to indulge in more often.

I enjoyed this book more as it went along. At the start, I didn't like Bernice, and I started longing for a book with likable characters. By the end, though, I liked nearly everybody.

I'm enjoying this immensely - I suspected I would.

I especially love the sabbatical year in Ibiza. A house filled with books, and an enormous garden, and no responsibilities - I would love that.