Books - the good and the not-so-good.

There are three things in life that I will pay full price for: skin care, footwear, and books.  Skin care and footwear will need to wait for their own individual entry however since I'd like to take the time to talk about books.

When I was a kid, my mom was constantly reading to me.  I don't think I've ever thanked her for doing that because by the time I was in the third grade I was reading at a sixth grade level (please forgive my small moment of shameless narcissism).  Anyhow when I started seventh grade at a brand new campus I soon learned that carrying around all of these books that weren't relevant to your classes (or any books for that matter) just wasn't acceptable for members of middle school strata.

A couple of years later in high school we were assigned to read 1984 by George Orwell.  This was the first time in a long time that I read a book that was surprisingly enjoyable.  This is not to say that the plot of 1984 is enjoyable - in fact it's rather depressing - but from that moment on I realized I appreciated the dystopian-esque, "what-if" sort of genre of book.

Fast forward to one month ago here in Tualatin.  To prevent myself from going stir crazy in my small apartment and to also just have some form of human interaction, I frequent the nearby Barnes & Noble on an almost daily basis.  Right before the holiday season started, B&N had two tables devoted to their "Buy 2, Get 1 Free" deal.  On one of these tables was 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami.  I had been dying to read this book because 1) people had been saying great things about it ever since it was published 2 years ago, 2) I had read Murakami's After the Quake and enjoyed his style, and 3) because it was a tribute to my beloved 1984 by Orwell.  I also purchased Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell on a whim, and Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling of The Office and The Mindy Project fame.

  

I started out with 1Q84 thinking it would take me the rest of the semester to read.  It's a pretty hefty book (1000+ pages) and the last time I read something this gigantic it was when the final Harry Potter book was published.  I was so, so, so, so wrong however.  I finished 1Q84 in 2 days.  It was a book I couldn't put down but in a very bizarre way.  If you're interested in reading this book and don't want to read spoilers, please skip ahead to my blurb about Cloud Atlas or Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?

1Q84

This book could've been AMAZING.  It sucked me in to this world of fantasy and sci-fi with weird sex and gory murders and just an overall bizarre and somewhat creepy book that I couldn't put down.  It's actually made up of 3 books which can be purchased individually if you desire.  It was getting so good towards the end when I realized that I only had about 50 pages left to read and I had WAY too many questions that this book just wasn't answering.  It's a happy ending, but it left me with a sense of "But wait!  What about this!?  You didn't explain this yet!" and "Is it really over?  Am I missing something?  Did I just spend two days reading this to come to a totally unsatisfactory ending?"  Don't get me wrong, it's written beautifully and I'm pretty impressed about the translation to English.  Other translated books that I've read are choppy or have glaring grammatical issues but this one didn't.  It read well and that's what got me hooked.  Would I recommend it?  Maybe.  But go in with no expectations because I feel mine were a bit too high.

Cloud Atlas

I think David Mitchell just might be my new favorite author.  Cloud Atlas is made up of six short stories, each referring to the previous work and previewing the next.  I can't really explain much more without giving away the main component that makes this book absolutely wonderful so I'm sorry if I'm being incredibly vague.  Cloud Atlas was a bit confusing to read at first because each story has different characters, a brand new plot, and is written in six entirely different styles; the first story is written like pages from a diary, the second is written in the form of letters to a lover, the third is set up like an action-packed mystery novel, etc.  To think that one man wrote this entire book makes it that much more enjoyable.  I haven't seen the movie however and heard it had bad reviews, but I would still highly, highly, highly recommend this to anyone.

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?

One of the reviews of this book is that Mindy Kaling is like Tina Fey's younger sister.  I would agree.  She's brutally honest and incredibly funny and if you want to read something that you can finish quickly, literally laugh out loud to, and feel like you're getting a small peek into someone's world without being too weirded out or too intrusive, Mindy's book is the one for you.  Unlike the other 2 books I purchased, I did not question the existence of life, nor did I muse around the idea of reincarnation while reading Mindy's book.  It's witty, quick to the point, and fun - which is what it's meant for.

I wonder if anyone else has read these books and felt similarly (or differently) about them than I did.  To those of you reading this - which I know is a very small amount - feel free to comment your thoughts below!