Picasso's Woman Reading
- I, Rigoberta Menchu – Highly recommended memoir of a woman growing up in Guatemala, particularly if you are interested in Central American revolutions or women’s studies. Heart-breaking and informative.
- My Losing Season by Pat Conroy – I HATE basketball, but loved this memoir of sports and life at the Citadel. A must-read if you like sports stories and want to read one about a losing team for a change or if you’ve had a bad experience with military schools.
- The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood – Ohhh, how I love Atwood! This was an excellent companion book to Oryx and Crake. The stories are concurrent, but you really should read O&C first. This dystopian vision is dark and fascinating, without the overwhelming depression of The Road.
- Wicked by Gregory Maguire (audiobook) – The hubs and I started the audiobook on our big Christmas trek, and we both enjoyed it considerably. I may be 10 years behind on this one, but if you’re behind as well – check it out! The unabridged audiobook was a bit long for my taste at 19.5 hours, and it ended up being too long for even our over the river and through the bayou drive since we like to mix in some satellite radio time as well. We’ll be going to the musical when it comes through town in a few weeks!
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May 7, 2010 at 12:16 pm
wolfshowl
I read Year of the Flood first (because I was unaware of Oryx and Crake), and am currently reading Oryx and Crake. I’m wondering if reversing the order spoiled Oryx and Crake for me.
Fyi, I had to read the Menchu memoir in college, and halfway through one of the students came in and said that the memoir was false. Indeed, a lot of the information in it was false (think A Million Little Pieces level of false). More info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rigoberta_Mench%C3%BA#Controversies_about_her_testimony
May 7, 2010 at 1:02 pm
bookishbella
Reading them out of order will take away some of the mystery, but O&C is still a good read.
I’m sad to hear about Menchu’s memoir controversy. I’m still debating how I feel about memoir scandals and that dangerous line between artistic license and lies. The memoirist can include “remembered” conversations or creatively flesh out details because it makes the story more engaging and interesting, but at some point we stop being entertained and start feeling betrayed. I think I need to add Memoir: a History to my reading list.
Thanks for stopping by!
May 8, 2010 at 3:14 pm
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January 7, 2011 at 4:48 pm
A Year in Books: End of 2010 Survey « Bookish Bella's Blog
[...] Runners up: The Year of the Flood by Margaret [...]