52-book challenge: February was all about 13-year-old boys

Believe me, I’m as shocked as you are about still keeping up with this challenge. There should be worldwide festivals happening any moment now to celebrate this level of commitment.

Here’s what February involved.

Into the Wild – Jon Krakauer

Quick summary

In April 1992 a young man from a well-to-do family hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness north of Mt. McKinley. His name was Christopher Johnson McCandless. He had given $25,000 in savings to charity, abandoned his car and most of his possessions, burned all the cash in his wallet, and invented a new life for himself. Four months later, his decomposed body was found by a moose hunter…

Three-line review

My favourite read this year, to date. I admit I have some resentment towards McCandless for putting his family through such hell, but this is a damned good book. The fact Krakauer managed to piece together such a story based on little information is unreal.

Quote

“So many people live within happy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future.”

(I later Googled the image of McCandless holding his “good-bye” note to the world. His eyes and smile were filled with genuine peace and happiness. I have nothing but admiration, even if Alaskans apparently hate his guts.)

*****/****

Buy Into the Wild, feed me.

The Round House – Louise Erdrich

Quick summary

One Sunday in the spring of 1988, a woman living on a reservation in North Dakota is attacked. The details of the crime are slow to surface as Geraldine Coutts is traumatized and reluctant to relive or reveal what happened, either to the police or to her husband, Bazil, and thirteen-year-old son, Joe. In one day, Joe’s life is irrevocably transformed. He tries to heal his mother, but she will not leave her bed and slips into an abyss of solitude. Increasingly alone, Joe finds himself thrust prematurely into an adult world for which he is ill prepared.

Three-line book review

The first book I’ve read by Erdrich, and definitely not my last. Somehow Erdrich makes it possible to relate to a 13-year-old boy. I don’t know what that says about me. Either way, Erdrich’s style is something I really dig.

Quote

“We passed over in a sweep of sorrow that would persist into our small forever. We just kept going.”

*****/*****

Buy The Round House, feed me.

The Cat’s Table – Michael Ondaatje

Quick summary

In the early 1950s, an eleven-year-old boy boards a huge liner bound for England – a ‘castle that was to cross the sea’. At mealtimes, he is placed at the lowly ‘Cat’s Table’ with an eccentric group of grown-ups and two other boys, Cassius and Ramadhin. As the ship makes its way across the Indian Ocean, through the Suez Canal, into the Mediterranean, the boys become involved in the worlds and stories of the adults around them, tumbling from one adventure and delicious discovery to another, ‘bursting all over the place like freed mercury’. And at night, the boys spy on a shackled prisoner – his crime and fate a galvanizing mystery that will haunt them forever.

Three-line review

I really, really love Ondaatje and his writing, but I couldn’t love this book. I slogged through most of it like I were wading uphill through molasses. Perhaps I had just grown sick of 13-year-old boys at this point.

Quote

“In spite of this, our table’s status on the Oronsay continued to be minimal, while those at the Captain’s Table were constantly toasting to one another’s significance. That was a small lesson I learned on the journey. What is interesting and important happens mostly in secret, in places where there is no power. Nothing much of lasting value ever happens at the head table, held together by familiar rhetoric. Those who already have power continue to glide along in the familiar rut they have made for themselves.”

**/*****

Buy The Cat’s Table (Vintage International), feed me.

Tuesday’s With Morrie – Mitch Albom

Quick summary

Nearly 20 years after their first lessons, now dying college professor Morrie imparts his wisdom to student Mitch during weekly Tuesday meetings. A gentle mentor imparts the lessons of a long life.

Three-line review

Screw Albom and his dangling questions and dramatic short sentences. This book doesn’t deserve three lines, but Morrie deserves three stars.

Quote

None.

***/*****

Buy Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life’s Greatest Lesson, feed me.

Next up: my first John Irving book. Seriously. What are you reading?

  • February 27 2013
    William Faucher

    Congratulations! Seems like you’re doing great so far!
    You really make me want to attempt a similar challenge.

  • February 27 2013

    I just finished Ru by Kim Thuy. It was Gill Prize finalist and a beautiful read. A quick one too. I like the format of your review.

    • March 05 2013

      Thanks, Leigh! I added Ru my “to-read” list. Looks interesting!

  • February 27 2013

    Excellent! I’m in Paris, so I’m fittingly in the middle of Earnest Hemingway’s memoirs from Paris. After this I plan on diving into a book about famous expats and their time in Paris. Very thematic of me, I know.

  • February 27 2013

    Excellent! I’m in Paris, so I’m fittingly in the middle of Earnest Hemingway’s memoirs from Paris. After this I plan on diving into a book about famous expats and their time in Paris. Very thematic of me, I know.

  • February 27 2013

    Excellent! I’m in Paris, so I’m fittingly in the middle of Earnest Hemingway’s memoirs from Paris. After this I plan on diving into a book about famous expats and their time in Paris. Very thematic of me, I know.

  • February 27 2013

    Excellent! I’m in Paris, so I’m fittingly in the middle of Earnest Hemingway’s memoirs from Paris. After this I plan on diving into a book about famous expats and their time in Paris. Very thematic of me, I know.

  • February 27 2013

    Excellent! I’m in Paris, so I’m fittingly in the middle of Earnest Hemingway’s memoirs from Paris. After this I plan on diving into a book about famous expats and their time in Paris. Very thematic of me, I know.

  • February 27 2013

    Excellent! I’m in Paris, so I’m fittingly in the middle of Earnest Hemingway’s memoirs from Paris. After this I plan on diving into a book about famous expats and their time in Paris. Very thematic of me, I know.

    • March 05 2013

      I’m pretty ashamed to admit I haven’t read any of Hemingway’s novels. SOON.

  • February 28 2013
    Caroline Eubanks

    Love it! I’m on Stern Men by Elizabeth Gilbert.

  • February 28 2013
    Caroline Eubanks

    Love it! I’m on Stern Men by Elizabeth Gilbert.

  • February 28 2013
    Caroline Eubanks

    Love it! I’m on Stern Men by Elizabeth Gilbert.

  • February 28 2013
    Caroline Eubanks

    Love it! I’m on Stern Men by Elizabeth Gilbert.

  • February 28 2013
    Caroline Eubanks

    Love it! I’m on Stern Men by Elizabeth Gilbert.

  • February 28 2013
    Caroline Eubanks

    Love it! I’m on Stern Men by Elizabeth Gilbert.

  • February 28 2013
    Caroline Eubanks

    Love it! I’m on Stern Men by Elizabeth Gilbert.

  • February 28 2013
    Caroline Eubanks

    Love it! I’m on Stern Men by Elizabeth Gilbert.

  • February 28 2013
    Caroline Eubanks

    Love it! I’m on Stern Men by Elizabeth Gilbert.

  • February 28 2013
    Caroline Eubanks

    Love it! I’m on Stern Men by Elizabeth Gilbert.

  • February 28 2013
    Caroline Eubanks

    Love it! I’m on Stern Men by Elizabeth Gilbert.

  • February 28 2013
    Caroline Eubanks

    Love it! I’m on Stern Men by Elizabeth Gilbert.

  • February 28 2013
    Caroline Eubanks

    Love it! I’m on Stern Men by Elizabeth Gilbert.

  • February 28 2013

    Loved Into The Wild. The movie was good, but the book was so much better.

  • March 04 2013

    Reading this inspired me to order Into the Wild! I just (finally) finished Middlesex. I think I lived two lives in the time it took me to get through that beast. And somehow, after it was all said and done, I enjoyed it.

    I love the format for your reviews! I hope you don’t mind if I do something similar on my blog giving credit back to you, of course, for the idea! If you do mind, please let me know, and I’ll change it/take it down!

    -Cyndi

  • March 04 2013

    Reading this inspired me to order Into the Wild! I just (finally) finished Middlesex. I think I lived two lives in the time it took me to get through that beast. And somehow, after it was all said and done, I enjoyed it.

    I love the format for your reviews! I hope you don’t mind if I do something similar on my blog giving credit back to you, of course, for the idea! If you do mind, please let me know, and I’ll change it/take it down!

    -Cyndi

  • March 04 2013

    Reading this inspired me to order Into the Wild! I just (finally) finished Middlesex. I think I lived two lives in the time it took me to get through that beast. And somehow, after it was all said and done, I enjoyed it.

    I love the format for your reviews! I hope you don’t mind if I do something similar on my blog giving credit back to you, of course, for the idea! If you do mind, please let me know, and I’ll change it/take it down!

    -Cyndi

  • March 04 2013

    Reading this inspired me to order Into the Wild! I just (finally) finished Middlesex. I think I lived two lives in the time it took me to get through that beast. And somehow, after it was all said and done, I enjoyed it.

    I love the format for your reviews! I hope you don’t mind if I do something similar on my blog giving credit back to you, of course, for the idea! If you do mind, please let me know, and I’ll change it/take it down!

    -Cyndi

  • March 04 2013

    Reading this inspired me to order Into the Wild! I just (finally) finished Middlesex. I think I lived two lives in the time it took me to get through that beast. And somehow, after it was all said and done, I enjoyed it.

    I love the format for your reviews! I hope you don’t mind if I do something similar on my blog giving credit back to you, of course, for the idea! If you do mind, please let me know, and I’ll change it/take it down!

    -Cyndi

  • March 04 2013

    Reading this inspired me to order Into the Wild! I just (finally) finished Middlesex. I think I lived two lives in the time it took me to get through that beast. And somehow, after it was all said and done, I enjoyed it.

    I love the format for your reviews! I hope you don’t mind if I do something similar on my blog giving credit back to you, of course, for the idea! If you do mind, please let me know, and I’ll change it/take it down!

    -Cyndi

  • March 04 2013

    Reading this inspired me to order Into the Wild! I just (finally) finished Middlesex. I think I lived two lives in the time it took me to get through that beast. And somehow, after it was all said and done, I enjoyed it.

    I love the format for your reviews! I hope you don’t mind if I do something similar on my blog giving credit back to you, of course, for the idea! If you do mind, please let me know, and I’ll change it/take it down!

    -Cyndi

    • March 05 2013

      Oh goodness, by all means, steal away! This whole 52-book challenge has totally fired up my creativity and passion for reading again, and I LOVE knowing what other people are reading. Let me know when your post is up!

      Middlesex was probably my favourite read from last year! But you’re right, beast of a book. I seem to have a thing for old man authors.

  • March 04 2013
    Hogga

    good book recos

  • March 07 2013
    crw

    I’m also slogging away at Cat’s Table. Does anything ever happen in this book? Is there a conflict? I’m losing motivation fast.

    I also hate the Into the Wild guy. Never read the book but I can’t find it in my being to make a hero out of someone who wanders into one of the most world’s harshest environments without a clue how to survive. Sorry. This story is a sore point for me.

    Back to books. Love John Irving. Fascinated how he uses sport to develop characters and how there’s always one person in every book that’s missing some body part. Not sure what’s up with that but it works for him. Look forward to your review.

  • March 07 2013
    crw

    I’m also slogging away at Cat’s Table. Does anything ever happen in this book? Is there a conflict? I’m losing motivation fast.

    I also hate the Into the Wild guy. Never read the book but I can’t find it in my being to make a hero out of someone who wanders into one of the most world’s harshest environments without a clue how to survive. Sorry. This story is a sore point for me.

    Back to books. Love John Irving. Fascinated how he uses sport to develop characters and how there’s always one person in every book that’s missing some body part. Not sure what’s up with that but it works for him. Look forward to your review.

  • March 11 2013

    I got behind in February but on track for my monthly goal of two books a month. I’m at book 6 (and re-read Bossypants for the second time! Almost done).

  • March 31 2013

    Here’s my post on what I’m reading: http://nearafar.com/2013/03/25/24-book-challenge-reading-list-q1-2013/ Shameless self promo, yes.

Leave a Comment

CommentLuv badge

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

FREE CANDIE FOR ALL!
SUBSCRIBE TO RECEIVE POSTS DIRECTLY TO YOUR INBOX