Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Recently Read: A Lot of Meh

A couple of books I really wanted to like. One I did.

1. South of Broad by Pat Conroy: I couldn't decide if this was terrible or not. The thing keeping me from declaring it truly terrible was the fact that I couldn't put it down -- it just kept getting more and more outrageous. I like Pat Conroy. Is he a genius writer? No. But everything of his that I've read before, I enjoyed. With this book, it seems like he took every theme that was popular in all of his other books and threw it into one. You have suicide, mental illness, church abuse, mommy issues, etc. Then add in some AIDS and a hurricane, and wow, sort of a mess. Disappointing.

2. Beginner's Greek: A Novel by James Collins: I probably should have saved this for the beach. I might have enjoyed it more. It had promise -- Jane Austeny chick lit. And overall, I liked the characters. But man, this book was long. I found myself speed reading through certain sections just waiting for something, anything to happen. While the love story was interesting, I liked what I interpreted as a love letter to New York City a bit more.

3. Between Two Worlds: My Life and Captivity in Iran by Roxana Saberi: I saw Saberi speak at last year's Simmons Leadership Conference, and bought her book on the spot. She chronicles her time in prison as a journalist in Iran, detailing her interrogations and her so-called court case. She is very respectful of Iran, but I found myself alternating between "what the hell is wrong with these people" and wanting to laugh because the Iranian government's level of paranoia was preposterous. The book ends rather abruptly and I wanted to know more about what she is doing today, but I guess that's what the Internet is for.

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