Weekly Review #13

This week I managed to get quite a bit of reading done. I feel like I have somewhat made up for the last couple of weeks when I didn’t get so much read. I’ve also made the decision to put Amitov Ghosh’s novel Sea of Poppies on hold for a while because I”m not really enjoying it. There are some parts I like but others I don’t and I’m getting too bogged down with the parts I don’t like.

I suspected that I might enjoy The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka and I finally got the opportunity to read it Friday night before I left to do my bowling for bowl for kids (that was a lot of fun, and it was a great opportunity to spend some time with people from work). It’s a story I knew but I didn’t know how it would end but once I got into the story I knew how it would end so it wasn’t quite a surprise that I would have liked it to be. But it was enjoyable.

I also managed to finish Andrew Davidson’s The Gargoyle which is one of the best novels ever. I really enjoyed it and you can read my full review here. Be sure to read this novel if you ever get the chance.

This week’s Theatrical Thursday will be on a show I saw this week that isn’t book related but I wanted to express my opinions on the show. I made the trip to Toronto this past Wednesday to see Jersey Boys. Here is a clip of the London cast doing one of the numbers from the show to tempt you back on Thursday:

I’ve got a few other books on the go now; an ARC copy of Dr. Alan Godwin’s How to Solve Your People Problems, Tom Wolfe’s The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, and The Bedroom Secrets of the Master Chefs by Irvine Welsh.

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Weekly Review #12

This is a little later than usual but this week has been turned on its head a little.  I’ve had make some adjustments to my work schedule (starting earlier) because I’m off tomorrow evening to see Jersey Boys in Toronto.  Due to this change I wasn’t thinking yesterday and so didn’t do my weekly review then…so you get it now.

I didn’t get nearly as much reading done as I wanted to this past week.  I did get started on The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson and I must say this is proving to be one of the best books I’ve read this year.  Thank you to all of you that suggested I read it.  I’m almost half way through already and I have already fallen in love with it.

On the flip side I’m still struggling through Sea of Poppies and more and more is being missed because my mind likes to use this time to wander.  But I’m determined to keep at in hopes that it’s rewarding in the end.

I did get another one of the Fables books finished this week and I must say it was great.  This is one of the best graphic novel series I’ve encountered.  But then again I haven’t been that involved in the graphic novel scene.  I’m really enjoying my encounters with graphic novels thus far.

Coming up this week in Theatrical Thursday is a look at Boy in the Striped Pajamas.

Until next time happy reading.

Weekly Review #11

This week I didn’t get even half the reading done I wanted to. It was rather disappointing. I got one book finished and some started. I wanted to have one other book finished before the end of the week but that just wasn’t going to happen. I also got back to doing Weekly Geeks which was great this week, I really enjoyed answering the question.

I finished Rabbit, Run by John Updike finally this week.  I enjoyed the book but there were some times I had difficulty really getting into the book.  I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the Rabbit books throughout the year.  The copy I have has the second novel, Rabbit Redux in it too.  I just need to take some time away from the book for a bit.

I’ve also got Sea of Poppies and there are some portions of the novel I’m really enjoying but others I could easily do without.  There are several stories going on right now, which I’m sure will merge together at some point soon, but some of them I seem to be tuning out while I’m reading (not a good sign is it).  I’m interested to see where Amitav Ghosh is going with this story.   So far it has a similar feel to Lawrence Hills The Book of Negroes.

I’ll get the other book I started this week finished within the next few days so all is good on that front.  Until next weeks review happy reading.

Weekly Review # 10

This past was a rather eventful week in the Canadian book work with Canada Reads 2009 having taken place.  As usual I had a lot of fun listening to the panelists discuss the books up for the top prize.  Now I’m sure many people are hitting the book stores and local libraries for copies to the winning novel, The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill.  Now that Canada Reads is over for another year CBC has finally come to their senses and have started a book club, which so far seems fantastic!

While being engrossed with the Canada Reads contest I also got some reading completed this week.  I finished Michel Tremblay’s The Fat Woman Next Door is Pregnant which I had difficulties getting into but in the end I’ve enjoyed the novel.  That makes for three books completed for the 2nd Canadian Book Challenge.  I also have the other two novels that were on the Canada Reads 2009 short list.

I also finished my first giveaway and there were some great novels suggested by those that entered the giveaway.  From that list I’ve already gone out and purchased one of the books on the list, The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson and I’m really excited to get reading this book.  But before I get to that one I have a couple other books that I’m reading right now for book club purposes, Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh and An Abundance of Katherines by John Green.

This past week I also managed to finish the graphic novel Watchmen.  It was alright but I’m sure I’ll give a more substantial review than that later this week.  I wanted to finish it before I watched the movie this weekend.  And I found the movie to be mediocre at best but that’s also for another time.

This week I hope to get An Abundance of Katherines finished as well as finishing John Updike’s Rabbit Run, which has been put on the back burner for a while so I hope to get the last few pages finished this week.

Until next time happy reading.