September Reviews

[September reviews in October... just go with it]

On a scale of one to shitty, my reading lately has been a 97 lately. I can blame work, the baby, and being tired, of course. But I think one of the biggest culprits is choosing the wrong books to read. As school was starting I began Margaret Atwood's The Year of the Flood, which was outstanding, but pretty dense. Then, feeling bad about the stack of books sent for review, I started Tana French's The Secret Place, which I am currently trying to slog through (still, trying to get into it after one hundred pages...). I really don't feel that bad, though. This is the life of a reader- embracing the ebbs and flows (blogging, too).

Anyway, preface, aside, here's what I've finished lately:

The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger

224 pages 

I'm not going to patronize you guys with a summary. I'm just not. I read this yet again, for work.

Verdict: Fun to teach, easy to read, a tad overrated.

The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood

448 pages

This is the second book in her trilogy, following Toby and Ren through the dystopic landscape established in Oryx and Crake. The Gardeners, a sort of religion centered around the environment (cough-cult-cough-cough), take both women in at different points (Ren with her mother), and we see what happens when both women once again reenter society and must endure the "waterless" flood. 

Verdict: Atwood's writing is flawless, and while I'm typically not into sci-fi, this series has impressed me immensely.

'Master Harold'...and the boys by Athol Fugard

60 pages

I read this Apartheid-era play once again for work, as it is what we're currently working on. Hally, a young white boy struggles with his alcoholic father's return home from the hospital. He deflect his anger on Willie and Sam, two black men who work at his family's tea room. The play is bursting at the seams with metaphors, complex relationships, and misleading simplicity. 

Verdict: I like it more each time I read it.

729 pages