Hotei’s Neighborhood

Our third and final audiobook was the one we both agreed on. Not too much to say about this one. If you are familiar with the show it's what you would expect.

A lot of fun. This is probably better as an audiobook than reading it to yourself.

One funny line:

"Childrearing is arguably the most important of my core values. I believe in it, I practice it, and I ceaselessly promote it to my friends and followers. That said, generally speaking, I’m against children."

Who would have ever guessed that  a parody of conservative talk show hosts could be so funny so long?

On our road trip, I had the second audio book choice and I chose On Chesil Beach. While this was incredibly sad, it was also very beautiful.

McEwan is able to write about situational conflicts in such a harrowing, haunting way.

The story is of two virgins on their wedding night and set in the early 1960s.

The scenes in their honeymoon suite are amazing. When I read Murakami's sex scenes I am often struck by how he has no sensibility for sex and femininity. Those scenes were a stark contrast here as McEwan was able to capture so vividly and poignantly what the experience could be like for a woman who has experienced abuse in her past.

I have only read two of Murakami's books, so it might be a false impression, but I feel that, sexually, women are objects in Murakami's stories. McEwan left me amazed that a man could have such insight into a female experience.

Also, music plays an important role in this book. And I found myself thinking of both High Fidelity and Once. Although this one has the saddest ending, I think I prefer it to the other two.

We started a road trip and decided to take some audio books with us. The problem is that our reading tastes do not overlap. This one was my husband's choice.

At first I detested this book. I wondered how I would make it through the whole twelve hours. But eventually I realized that the narrative is both insane and very original.

The book is about human genes. And how they are becoming co-opted in strange ways by scientists and pharmaceutical companies.

The narrative is told without a main character. All the characters (and there are tons of them!) are given equal time. Some stories go somewhere, some don't. Some get picked up further down the line, others run into each other. Yes, it's a confusing as you would imagine, but it's also ingenious. It is the concept of genes as closely as could be represented in a textual format.

Didn't love it, but definitely can say I appreciated it.

(I would love to meet a parrot like Gerrard as well.)

I would never have picked this one up on my own. My book club chose it. After my initial resistance, I became absorbed in the story. If you have an appreciation for Gothic literature, you'll probably really enjoy this one.

The characters, while somewhat two-dimensional, are still fascinating in their personalities that range from well-meaning (but clueless) to all out psychotic.

One of the best aspects of the book is in how direct dialogue from two of the characters is limited. It lends an extra eerie quality to the story.

I would also recommend this book because it's one of the least predictable stories I've read in quite a while. I did figure out the "twist" shortly before it was revealed, and some in the book club felt it was contrived, but it's creative, so I can look past how unlikely it was.

Haha. I <3 King Julien.

This was my second book by Murakami. I picked this one up for two reasons. First it's his most popular book in Japan and the book that created his notoriety. Second, it's the only book he wrote that is straight-forward. He said in an interview that his reason for writing this book was to see if he could write a story without magical realism.

This book gave me a better feel for Murakami. In the future if someone asks which book to start with I'll recommend this one.

As in Kafka on the Shore I had a really hard time believing in the characters (they all feel like the same person to me) and caring for them (they feel two-dimensional).

The part that really didn't work was Murakami, a man, writing about female sexual experiences. It just didn't ring true at all. Just one example: two women had sex with one particular man and it was so good they swore off sex for the rest of their lives.

But, as in the previous book, I did appreciate the overarching story. What would it be like to continually know people close to you committing suicide? Or to continually be involved in three-way friendships?

What I learned from this sad to disturbing collection of Christmas tales is that Sedaris has major psychological issues with Christmas.

Six in all, the pieces are a mix of essays and short stories. The short stories include baby murder and intentional self-dismemberment.

The essays are not quite as disturbing, but still not what I would call funny. Even Santaland, which is one of the author's most famous pieces, was never one of my favorites. But most people find that one fall down funny. I don't get it.

Maybe I don't get it because I can't join the Christmas -is-the-most-depressing-time-of-year mentality. I mean, it's not like my favorite time of year, but I think we've all become a little too dramatic about how depressing we think the holidays are.

I'm starting to think I'm a freak just because I can accept the holidays as another day, and I don't spend the rest of the year either dreading them, plotting against them, or harassing people who say Happy Holidays as opposed to Merry Christmas. Times are weird.

I never had to read this book in high school or college. In fact, I didn't have to read anything by Hemingway in my academic career. I might be the only one...

I picked this one up because pretty much everyone who reads it says they hate it and if I haven't read an author I like to start out with the one people seem to anecdotally hate the most.

Although I have no interest in fishing, I did enjoy this book. I came away learning some things about fishing as well as a few tidbits of wisdom.

And the book was either not as over-the-top macho as I was expecting, or I've become impervious and need to find more girlfriends.

I love the cover of this book. Front and back. The simple green background and the bright, chalky letters make me happy.

Even if I had hated this book and David Sedaris, I would have read this one for its cover.

I know there are those who would say that's wrong, but I don't care. I just don't care.

My favorite essay was You Can't Kill the Rooster.

I'm going out and making one of those today!

Interminable. Draws a tear in a scene or two, but mostly full of yawns. I did not enjoy either Eric Bana's or Rachel McAdams' acting (although she's looking beautiful).

Really, not the kind of story that bears telling via the film medium. Skip it and spend the money on the book instead.