Busy reading

I haven't been posting much lately, but I have been enjoying my reading. In the last month I have read more than I did in the last 6 months and I have really enjoyed all of the books. I thought I would share them. (I also think I should keep a record of the books that I read since I can't remember from one year to the next.) I have been reading a lot because I have been enjoying it but I also wanted to get ahead with some of my Book Club books read before Roadshow starts (tomorrow) and I don't have time for any more reading.

Enders Game by Orson Scott Card

Wow, what a surprise. I picked it up at the library and just about died when I saw the space ships racing across the skies. That and the fact that Card is an LDS author made me almost put it back on the shelf, but it was a book club book so I took it home with me and so enjoyed this book. Well written, intriguing story, quick pace. Just a good read.

The Other Boleyn Girl by Phillipa Gregory

Just a little trashy for me. Not as bad as a grocery store romance (not that I have ever read a grocery store romance), but the nature of the story calls for a little trash and Gregory served it up. I did think it was an interesting read. I really enjoy historical fiction except I am afraid I take too much of it for fact. The whole idea of royalty and glamor is gone for me. The story around Henry VIII has become a little more real and he as become quite the villain in my history book. What a mean, foolish and quite disagreeable person.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

Another well written book. More of just a story. There are no surprises, just a narrative of a little girl, Francie Nolan, growing up the daughter of Irish immigrant parents in pre WWI Brooklyn.

My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok

I think it could have been finished in half as many pages, but I still enjoyed the story. It kind of bothered me that the author used the full name of the characters all the time. Asher Lev said... Yudel Krinsky's store... Jacob Kahn... I was also hoping for a bit of insight into Jewish culture (is it alright to use fiction to help me develop my understanding of cultures, events, ideas?) and I was a little flabbergasted that this particular group of highly educated people didn't have a whole lot of control over their own lives. This group of Hasidic Orthodox Jews rely so much on what the Rebbe dictates that even very personal decisions are left to him, and he seems such an impersonal character. For example the Rebbe decides that Asher Lev should study art even though he has only talked to the boy a couple times. He also decides that Asher Lev needs to study Russian and French so when Asher Lev gets his class schedule and it includes these courses, he questions his adviser until the adviser explains that the Rebbe wanted Asher Lev to take these courses. Is this really the kind of relationship the had/have?

I just started The Birth House by Ami McKay

I will have to see how this book fares although it isn't calling me to read it over blogging after the first three chapters, but my bed is. I have a busy day with RoadShow tryouts and casting tomorrow. I hope things go well.