I currently have three books in my yet-to-be reviewed pile, and I thought I’d do them all in this post.   One is a graphic novel, one is a novella, and the third is sort of an how-to.  Somewhat of a mix, but these books are all relatively short, and were quick reads for me.

I read “Chicken With Plums”  by Marjane Satrapi during the read-a-thon in October.  I had the idea of waiting to review this book after I re-read Satrapi’s three earlier graphic novels, and then discussing all of them at once.  I’d still like to do that, but for now I want to shelve this book with Satrapi’s other books.

During the read-a-thon, there was a food mini-challenge.   Go to my mini-challenge post  to see a photo of the page I photographed for the mini-challenge.

But is this a foodie book?   No, not really.  Chickens with plums is the favorite dish of the main character, Nasser Ali Khan — and at one point, he reminisces about this dish — hence the title.   Nasser Ali Khan was the author’s great-uncle, and she bases this graphic novel on him. 

This novel takes place over the course  of eight days.  On the first day, Nasser Ali decides to die, so he takes to his bed.  He is a musician who plays a stringed instrument, called a  tar.  Under unhappy circumstances, his tar breaks and is irrepairable (and to him, irreplacable also).   Is this why he wants to die?  During the week that Nasser Ali is in his bed refusing to eat and drink, the reader experiences conversations he has with his family and friends,  flash-backs to Nasser Ali’s past, and his thoughts on what the future without him might hold.

I really empathized with Nasser Ali and the ending of the book (somewhat a surprise) brought tears to my eyes.  If you are a Marjane Satrapi fan already, you will appreciate this graphic novel.  If you haven’t read her before, it’s not necessary to have read any of her previous graphic novels– it is a stand-alone novel.

Disclosure:  “Chicken With Plums” was purchased new. 

“The Uncommon Reader” by Alan Bennett is a novella that has a very British feel to it.  Not surprising, since it is about the current Queen Elizabeth, and written by a British author.  This novella imagines what the Queen’s life would be like after she suddenly becomes an avid and voracious reader.  There are touches of humor throughout;  but also tidbits to ponder, usually about the act of reading itself.  I got a good feel for the Queen’s character (as portrayed in the novella) and the characters around her, especially Prince Philip.  The characterization of a long-married, creaky couple was enjoyable.  I liked the twist at the end of the novella, although I had to read it twice to understand it! 

Here is a quote from this book, when the Queen discusses the difference between being briefed about a book and actually reading it:

“…..briefing is not reading.  In fact it is the antithesis of reading.  Briefing is terse, factual and to the point.  Reading is untidy, discursive and perpetually inviting.  Briefing closes down a subject, reading opens it up”.

I’d say “The Uncommon Reader” is a quirky novella that –while I enjoyed it very much– may not be for everyone.  Not everyone has the same taste in humor, for example.  Also, while it didn’t bother me, there are frequent references to homosexuality (such as which books the Queen is reading are by authors that are/were homosexual).  However, since it is a novella,  it doesn’t take too much of your time whether you like this novella or not.   

Disclosure:  “The Uncommon Reader” was bought at my local indie bookstore at 30% off.

“Bird by Bird” by Anne Lamott is another book I read during October’s read-a-thon.  Its’ subtitle “Some Instructions on Writing and Life” pretty much sums it up.  You don’t have to be a writer, or a writer wanna-be, to enjoy this book.   It’s like not having to actually play for the NBA to read a book by Michael Jordan on basketball (has he ever written a book?). 

Lamott writes about writing in a chatty way, rather than presenting her advice in a formal way.  I liked this format.  I felt the first half of the book was stronger than the second half, although the book is good overall.  In the first half, Lamott  covers what writing means to her, and the advice she gives to her writing students.  In the second half, she makes several suggestions such as using index cards, etc. 

Some observations Lamott makes:

About her writing students: 

 ”The problem that comes up over and over again is that these people want to be published.  They kind of want to write, but they really want to be published.  You’ll never get to where you want to be that way, I tell them.  There is a door we all want to walk through, and writing can help you find it and open it.  Writing can give you what having a baby can give you:  it can get you to start paying attention, can help you soften, can wake you up.   But publishing won’t do any of those things; you’ll never get in that way”. 

Ab0ut writer’s block:

“The word block suggests that you are constipated or stuck, when the truth is that you’re empty…..This emptiness can destroy some writers, as do the shame and frustration that go with it.  You feel that the writing gods gave you just so many good days, maybe even enough of them to write one good book and then part of another.”

This book has a different tone than Stephen King’s “On Writing” (My thoughts on that book here).  Each book reflect the author’s personality.  I’m sure that readers would absorb from either book whatever they feel most useful to them.

Disclosure:  “Bird by Bird” was purchased at an used bookstore.

Now I have a clean slate, regarding books that need to be reviewed!  I don’t expect to get much reading accomplished over the next couple weeks, so I should be able to finish up 2009 without a to-be-reviewed pile to carry over in 2010.

How is your reading going for these last two weeks of 2009??

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 19th, 2009 at 7:31 PM and is filed under books, graphic novels, novella. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.