October Booklist

Down in numbers this month -- the 4th Harry Potter book was a bit longer than I was planning (a downside to eBooks is they don't take up more shelf space so its feasible to overlook how big a book is before you start it).  Still, I got 8 books read this month bringing the total to 93.  Just 7 more to go!  Here's October's list:

1. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
2. A Good and Useful Hurt by Aric Davis
3. Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline
4. Edward Adrift by Craig Lancaster
5. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
6. Therese Raquin by Emile Zola
7. Burial Rites by Hannah Kent
8. The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson

Everyone (except me) has read the HP books so I don't need to go on about those.  Suffice to say that I'm picking up on LOTS of details that I didn't know about before so I am enjoying that immensely.  HP5 is definitely on the list for November though I realize this time that it is about the same length as #4.

Useful Hurt was just ok.  A tattooist learns that tattooing the ashes of deceased persons into a design brings about a strange connection between the living and the dead.  A mystery ensues that must get solved.  An interesting idea played out well enough.

Orphan Train is one of those books that you think will make it to Hollywood because people will lap it up as a movie.  A common device of linking the present with the past is used to tell the story of what becomes of the protagonist when they are newly orphaned in late 1920s New York.

Edward Adrift is the sequel to a book I read last month (600 Hours of Edward) that I think was funnier and more enjoyable than the original.  Some real LOL moments as Edward, an adult male with Asperger's, grapples with some of the harder lessons that life throws in his way.

Flowers for Algernon is a classic.  The theme of following the experiences of someone who goes from nothing to something and back again has been explored in numerous ways since this book was written so its nice to get at the topic in a more original form.  I enjoyed it.

Likewise with Therese Raquin the exploration of the psychological effects of committing murder has been explored before too (thinking Dostoevsky here).  However what makes this classic different is the tension is maintained across two characters instead of Crime and Punishment's single protagonist. I found the ending a little anticlimatic but the exploration and escalation of circumstances up to that point kept me interested.

Burial Rites is also connected to murder and its psychological effects.  This time however the setting is 19th century Iceland and following the last days of one of the convicted murderers while they await the confirmation of their sentences of death.  Based on a true story the author does a great job of putting us in the middle of what must have been a harrowing experience of waiting for the outcome.  At times the prose is poignant when contrasted with the harsh environment that life in Iceland must've been like at that time.

Lastly, the 100 year old man.  What a treat.  The story unfolds as some weird mashup of Forrest Gump, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.  But if you enjoyed at least two out of three of those then you should read this book.  You'll never look at 20th century history in quite the same way.