Ruby Ramblings

A pretty lackluster reading month.  Two titles really stood out, but most of what I read was stuff I wouldn’t have normally picked up, but the last teachers in my apartment were kind enough to leave an entire stack of books behind. Maybe luck isn’t as bad as it seems.  😉

The Sunday Philosophy Club So-So as my students say.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Book 6) Speaks for itself.

The Magician’s Assistant
I don’t know how to explain it, but there was something about this book that was both engaging, yet devoid of life. As I was reading, I enjoyed the story, I was compelled to keep reading, but in my head the story viewed flat, like a movie on a banged up old screen. It is one of Patchett’s earlier works, and although not of the quality of Bel Canto, the premise was interesting. A magician’s assistant marries her magician, who she has been madly in love with for twenty years even though he is clearly gay, and he and his lover die of an unnamed, but identifiable disease soon after. She discovers that everything he told her about his younger life in their twenty years of friendship is a lie, and pursues his real family for answers to who her husband really was.

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America Fantastic. Chicago is one of my favorite cities in the entire world. This is a great piece of history.

The Death of Vishnu – Manil Suri Also fantastic, especially if you are interested in Indian fiction. It was a fast simple read, but not fluffy like a lot of the Indian romance fiction. Really interesting points made about class, religion, and the complexity of Indian society.

Fight Club
I think the only reason I enjoyed this book is because I’m the only American under 35 who has never seen the movie. Interesting, disturbing, great twists, and can be read in it’s entirety on the subway ride from Anguk to Bupyeong Market.

Many Waters Okay. Although the wrinkle in time series was one of my favorites as a kid, I did not realize and had not read the last two. This is number 4 in the series, published in 1991 I believe. It’s okay, but it jumps really quick from the home base to the twins being sent back in time – to the biblical period no less.