2010 book project: update #2

Following on from my post 2010 book project: update #1, here are the books I've read in the last fortnight.

Dead as a Doornail and Definitely Dead by Charlaine Harris
Ahem, two more Sookie Stackhouse/vampire novels... Yes, yes, I know - I’m obsessed.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Death makes a remarkably sympathetic narrator to this book about loss and injustice, beauty and brutality, and finding peace in books.

All Together Dead by Charlaine Harris
The seventh book in the Sookie Stackhouse series, I read this book in one sitting while in bed with the lergie (or should that be “one lying”?). Come to think of it, I thoroughly recommended reading about the undead for the unwell – this series is fun, distracting, surprisingly well-written but let’s face it, not too challenging. Perfect.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy
I loved this post-apocalyptic tale – it’s beautiful, haunting, challenging. The relationship of the father and son is almost like a love affair, all consuming because there is no one else and their survival, perhaps even their humanity, depends upon it. There’s a lot of buzz about the movie, to be released later this month, with Viggo Mortensen tipped for an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of the father, but I’m torn about whether to see it. Movie adaptations are so often disappointing.

From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris
This was my Saturday night’s entertainment and was easily knocked off in one sitting. You’ll be happy to hear this is the last Sookie Stackhouse book I have in the house. Yet.

The Boat by Nam Le
After telling friends in passing over lunch that I wasn’t a fan of short stories, I was bombarded with suggestions for collections that would “change my mind forever”, including this one, winner of the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards’ 2009 Book of the Year. Well, OK then, I thought, I’ll give it a shot. Although this collection is undeniably well written I have to confess that I still put it down after reading the first two stories. I recognise that there is great skill in telling a story with succinctness but I find the brevity of the form unsatisfying and hard to get lost in. This book is still on my bedside table and I plan to return to it but one good thing about a book of short stories is that you can pick it up and put it down without losing track of the narrative.

Dexter in the Dark
The idea of a serial killer cop who hunts other serial killers tickled my fancy so I thought I’d like the Dexter TV series. One Ebay purchase and eight episodes later I confess I have mixed feelings about Dexter. Still, I thought, maybe the books are better and so I picked this one up second-hand from Rozelle markets. I won’t say I regret the $3 but I’m underwhelmed. My main problem with both the book and the series is the first person narrative, which I find much harder to believe in than the idea of a serial killer cop, funnily enough... I finished this over the course of a couple of days but it wasn’t really a page turner for me.

Pinkerton’s Sister by Peter Rushforth
At the turn of the 20th century, an unmarried woman of 35 who, good heavens, reads is considered an embarrassment. Good lord! I only started this book about loneliness, prejudice and the power of imagination last night but so far, so good.