Painted Horses

by Malcolm Brooks

Painted Horses is Malcolm Brooks' first novel.  As a novelist myself in the final stages of (what I hope is) my first published work, this especially drew me to this book.  It has come highly recommended by my personal literature aficionado and librarian: my mother.  It also had received stellar reviews, which is what made my mother recommend it in the first place.

This novel is set in the vast landscape of Montana where young Catherine, an archaeologist from a well-bred East Coast family, finds herself at her first official job.  She is charged with uncovering Ancient Native American relics in a canyon which is to be flooded, in order to potentially preserve the land from the dam.  This canyon also has a roaming herd of mustangs that tie into the story line.  There were so many aspects to this that appealed to me: horses, archaeology, relics, young female protagonist.

Further, the book was a love story.  The two characters who you so badly want to be together are continuously drawn together and apart throughout the plot, leaving you always wanting more.  I was hooked on the love story, and for that reason couldn't put the book down. 

The plot drags on for quite awhile, introducing a few odd characters here and there, and then reaches its climax toward the very end.  The ending was a little bit of a disappointment to me, as it made so much of the plot seem all for naught.  But the ride building up to it was captivating.  It sold me on the open spaces and untamed wilderness of Montana, and now I find myself wanting to plan a trip to see it for myself.  And from what I've read, most people enjoyed the cliffhanger finale... so I guess you'll just have to find out for yourself.

Thunderstruck

by Erik Larson

I found this book in a Little Free Library in front of a house by my sister's house.  This is the coolest trend, if you have never heard of it.  This particular library was an adorable little elevated cupboard out in front of the house, that could be mistaken for a birdhouse.  The idea is that you can borrow any book you wish from the library if you replace it with a book that someone else could read.  I had been wanting to read Thunderstruck for awhile and was thrilled to find it there.

Erik Larson writes entirely in my favorite genre: historical novel.  Although, I know there are not many other people out there besides my dad who agree with me on that subject... 

The book opens on a murder that occurred in London and the search for the fugitive killer. Then it follows two stories, one of Guglielmo Marconi who was attempting to invent wireless communication, and the other of Peter Crippen, a doctor who has been dealt an unfortunate lot in life and is seeking happiness.  As the book unfolds you begin to understand how the murder, Crippen, and Marconi's invention are all interconnected.

The second half of the book, once the murder has occurred and the chase has begun is thrilling.  I'll admit, I skimmed through a lot of the beginning bits that went into great detail about the invention of the wireless, as some of it seemed like a little too much information.  But, Larson has a masterful way of writing an entirely true story in a way that reads like fiction.  I saw this also in his book In the Garden of Beasts, the story of the US Ambassador to Berlin during the beginnings of the Nazi regime. That book is also worth a read.

Though it may be personal taste, I highly recommend any of Larson's books.  Many of them are New York Times' Bestsellers and all are intriguing.  Though this book was not on Amazon's list, it's certainly one of my recommendations!

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius

by Dave Eggers

I apologize again for taking so long in between posts.  I've actually read three books since my last post but have lacked the motivation to write about them.  To be honest, I have been avoiding writing this post because I was feeling guilty that this book did not quite live up to the hype in my opinion, and I've already said that about a few on Amazon's List.

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius is a memoir by Dave Eggers about the years succeeding his parents' death when he is charged with taking care of his middle-school-aged little brother.  The book follows the tragic and at times comedic story of the two brothers as they battle the norms of everyday life in their not-so-normal situation.

I had been extremely excited about this book because I saw Dave Eggers' TedTalk a few years ago about 826 Valencia, a free tutoring organization for inner city kids he created.  If you have not watched it, I highly recommend watching it here.  Eggers has a dry and brutally honest sense of humor that is extremely funny and I had been optimistic his book would go quite the same way as his TedTalk.

Boasting a front as a "Pirate Supply Store" 826 Valencia inspired many other similar free tutoring organizations around the world.

And if I'm being honest it was very funny at times, particularly in the beginning before anyone had died.  However, true to the title, it was also at times utterly sad.  To be fair, Eggers warns you of this in his forward in which he states that beyond the first hundred or so pages the book "Actually isn't any good," and the author himself recommends stopping reading right there.

The author

To the book's credit, I got pretty busy and distracted during reading and I don't think devoted the attention to it that it deserved.  In addition, my only real complaint is that it drags on a lot about subplots that seem superfluous to the actual storyline but do in fact have a connection to the greater existential meaning behind the book.  So, all in all, I would recommend reading this book to develop your own opinion; but go in fully knowing that it is at times wordy and at other times truly truly sad.


**Side Note:  I just watched the film version of one of my previously reviewed books, The Fault in Our Stars, and cried my eyes out at the ending.  It's well worth a watch.