Spoiled: Stories, by Caitlin Macy

I felt about this one like I felt about I'm Sorry You Feel That Way. People of questionable quality behaving badly and justifying it. Not much growth or change in the characters. This is the kind of short story collection I'm used to not liking, as I mentioned in the In Other Rooms, Other Wonders post.

Macy's written a novel, too, and I think I will read it out of academic curiosity, but my hopes are not high.

My Name Is Will, by Jess Winfield

The subtitle for this one is "A novel of sex, drugs, and Shakespeare," and that pretty much sums it up. I'm not sure how interesting it would be for someone not familiar with or interested in Shakespeare, but since I am both of those things, it was a lot of fun for me. Pretty vivid sex and drug scenes as well, interspersed with quasi-historical re-imaginings of Shakespeare's life and inspiration for his works.

It's fun to spot the re-purposed quotes from Shakespeare, though I'm sure I missed some. This is my next book club book, and I'm interested to see what people say about it.

The Elegance Of The Hedgehog, by Muriel Barberry

I liked this book so much. It was so dense and multilayered, and suffered no ills from translation as far as I can tell. I'll have more to say after I reread it. I don't think I can do it justice on one reading.

Edited to add: It's my turn to pick the books to vote on for September bookclub, and so far this has the most votes...yay!

Fever 1793, by Laurie Halse Anderson

I read this for my online book club, and was kind of disappointed. It's a pretty straightforward book. Not much to discuss, it seems to me. Interesting in light of the current swine flu epidemic, but on its own, just a basic YA story told through the voice of a young girl faced with unusual circumstances.

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, by David Wroblewski

I started reading this just before we went to Texas for a long weekend, and by page 13 knew that I would like it, and by halfway through, knew that I would have to leave it home (big, hardcover library books being no good on planes, especially when traveling with a toddler) and that was fairly agonizing.

I was really happy to get back to it, and thrilled that it lived up to my page 13 expectations. Loosely based on the story of Hamet, but not bogged down by it. The parallels were many, but some were very subtle, and wonderful twists, like the Ophelia stand-in. But, and this based on commentary from non-Hamlet readers in my online book club, not knowing Hamlet is in no way an impediment to enjoying this book. The story stands alone really well.

Wroblewski handled writing in the voice of the dogs so incredibly well. He made them legitimate characters, within the confines of what he imagined their mental and emotional capabilities to be. They're not cutesy, nor does he give them human-level intellects. Still some of the best writing I've read in a long time.

I cared so much about what happened to Edgar and his dogs, and even though I knew (based on Hamlet) what was likely to happen in the end, I was still ignoring household chores and whatnot to get there. One of the most compelling books I've read recently.

In Other Rooms, Other Wonders, by Daniyal Mueenuddin

I am not the biggest fan of short story collections. As a rule, they leave me unsatisfied and wanting more. This is a huge exception to that. Despite the different characters in each story (though all connected somehow, Altman-style), this book reads like a complete work. Not exactly beginning-middle-end style, but the book stands as a very satisfying read, and very illuminating. I'll look for more from him.

Pandora's Clock, by John J. Nance

Boring. Dumb suddenly-in-love story in an otherwise unremarkable thriller. Got this off of the thrift store table and it's going right back.

I'm Sorry You Feel That Way, by Diana Joseph

The subtitle of this is "The Astonishing but True Story of a Daughter, Sister, Slut, Wife, Mother, and Friend to Man and Dog." I am always skeptical of titles like this. Why does the author feel the need to say so much? Are they worried that we are too stupid to draw our own conclusions, or that we might draw conclusions about them that are not what they intended? I don't know, but I think the glowing reviews of this book are unwarranted. It wasn't bad, but it falls in the category of books about bad behavior that seem to say "Yes, I am a bad person, and I don't think that's so bad after all, right?" Which I don't agree with. Sure, good people make mistakes, but they don't glorify them. They try to learn from them and move on. There's no growth in this book, and therefore no change, and thus no drama, in the literary sense of the word.

City of Bones, by Michael Connelly

More great Connelly.

Moscow Rules, by Daniel Silva

Good one, but it feels like a set up for a sequel, which I am sure is already being written.

The Genius, by Jesse Kellerman

I liked this a lot! Interesting, unusual narrator: flawed, but made you want to see what he would do. Accompanied by a nice family history parallel that explains the current day mystery. I also thought he wrote really understandably about the art world.

Quiver, by Peter Leonard

Leonard got a good jacket quote from Michael Connelly, so I was expecting more than your basic unmotivated-character-thriller. The bare bones of a good book were there, and this is his first book, so maybe he'll do better next time.

Angels Flight, by Michael Connelly

More of the same great LA thrilling from Connelly.

Portnoy's Complaint, by Philip Roth

Well, now I've read two Roth books and feel like I have the right to say that I don't care for his writing. His style feels very dated, both in the older book and the newer one I read (the title escapes me and I don't care enough to look it up). Whiny. One note. Boring.

The Widows Of Eastwick, by John Updike

It was neat to read about the same characters so many years later, and I while I haven't experience old age, yet, it seems like Updike did a really good job describing how the women experienced the changes to their bodies and temperaments.

The Reader, by Bernhard Schlink

This was a really good book. We saw the movie not so long ago, which was fantastic, and I wanted to see how it read. A very simple book, which in my view is the best kind of book to adapt to film. When I studied the holocaust in college, I was most interested in what led the ordinary folks to perpetrate such terrible things, and this is an excellent dramatization of exactly that.

The Scarecrow, by Michael Connelly

Harry Bosch is my favorite, but the Terry McCaleb novels are good, too. Jack McEvoy is just not enough of a character for a whole book, and does really dumb things that I just don't buy that a savvy reporter would do. This is unusual for Connelly for me. If he writes another McEvoy novel, I'll read it, since I love Connelly so much, but I am guessing I won't care for it much.

Deaf Sentence, by David Lodge

I haven't read any Lodge before, but someone mentioned his name in the same breath as my favorite Richard Russo, so I thought I'd give him a try. It was a great book; really vivid characters and a quirky story. Very much like a British version of Russo. I will read more of his work.

Faithless, by Karin Slaughter

I didn't remember this one and had to look it up to remind myself, which is probably not a great sign, but it was an okay book. Again, characters behave in entirely unbelievable ways, but that's almost always the case in these thriller novels.

Ordinary Heroes, by Scott Turow

I realized I had read this before not too far it, though as usual, didn't remember how it ended. I really like Turow's style. It's a little richer than your average paperback thriller-type novel. I'm a sucker for WWII stories, too, and I liked how the contemporary narrator was mainly a way to tell the story, but I still cared about him without knowing too much about him.

Deep Fire Rising, by Jack Du Brul

Boring. The elements were all there, but people behaved ridiculously. A character can't be suspicious of everyone, but trust anyone. I just don't buy it.

No Great Mischief, by Alistair McLeod

Eh, I didn't care much for this one. One of those books that follows a family over time, but never gives you much information on the current members, or at least does it so late that you just don't care. Reminded me of weak version of Annie Proulx's prose style.

The Lincoln Lawyer, by Michael Connelly

Exactly what you expect from Connelly, with a slightly different main character. I love him.

Triangle, by Katharine Weber

Didn't care for this one. Nice idea to parallel the fire with present day characters, but something was missing in the execution. Too bad, since some of the characters were really interesting. It felt like there were three unexplored seeds for novels here, none of which are the novel she actually wrote. Too bad.

Black Seconds, by Karin Fossum

An odd book. Very simple, but possibly marred by a weak translation from the Norwegian. A classic murder mystery, but with good details.

The Nine, by Jeffrey Toobin

Interesting take on the Supreme Court. Lots of things I didn't know. Author seems to have a liberal bent.

Execution Dock, by Anne Perry

Part of a series about Victorian-era policemen. Or maybe a slightly later era; I don't pretend to know exactly. Entertaining, though.

The 19th Wife, by David Ebershoff

A sprawling, history-parallels-present-day tale of the Mormon religion and progression across the United States. The narrator is unexpected, and creates a nice counterpoint to the Mormon characters. It's a lot of book, and I really enjoyed it.