Revisiting The Tried and True

Back in my student days, I had a bit of a summer reading ritual: as soon as school was done for the summer months, I was off to the library to pick up something by John Irving or Graham Greene, two of my favourite authors. My goal was to eventually work my way through all of their books. Since then, life has gotten in the way and I am behind with a lot of my favourites so I decided it was time to do something about it. It's been a pretty mediocre year so far and I'm hoping that revisiting some of my old favourites will help turn things around.

Here's who/what I'm planning to catch up on in the coming months:

• John Irving, though I haven't decided which book yet. He may also be publishing a new one in the fall, which I'm very excited about.
• Graham Greene, either The Third Man or Travels With My Aunt.
• Alice Munro, Dear Life
• Khaled Hosseini, And The Mountains Echoed
• Judy Blume, In The Unlikely Event. I'm so excited for this one! Here's a great interview with Blume about this novel/
• Malcolm Gladwell, The Tipping Point. Oddly enough, I have yet to read to his very first book.
• Michael Ondaatje, not sure whether to go with something old or something new yet.
• Something fun by Sophie Kinsella
• Agatha Christie, the first book in the Miss Marple series.

That list may be a little too ambitious but we'll see how far I get. There's one favourite missing from the list because she's actually already been done this year (The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver). That's a good start, right? 

I've also been dipping into multiple series in the last little while so next time I feel like a good, long, meaty read, I might just tackle the next book in the Outlander or Song of Ice and Fire series. But first, something new: I'll be starting Divergent in the next few days. I've been looking forward to it so here's hoping it lives up to the hype!

Who are some of your favourites? What/who do you go for when you want to guarantee a good read? 

Review: Little Princes

Little Princes: One Man's Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal, Conor Grennan
Audiobook
Rating: 4.5/5.0

Little Princes was a case of love at first listen. I'd been putting it off for a while because the description made me think it would be very similar to Three Cups of Tea, which I liked but didn't want to rehash. I'm glad gave it a shot because it's one of my favourites of the year so far.


Conor Grennan decides to travel around the world for a year, beginning with a three month stint volunteering at an orphanage in Nepal. He readily admits that it wasn't the actual volunteering or the orphans that motivated him, rather the idea of it and of being able to impress people by saying that he did it (here's an article he wrote for the Huffington Post about whether or not one's initial motivation really matters). Once in Nepal, though, he establishes a connection to the kids and when he learns the truth of their circumstances, he is compelled to help.

Grennan reads the audiobook himself, which is great because his enthusiasm and passion really shine through in his reading. He clearly loves Nepal and all of the kids that he's worked with. I loved all of the sections where he talked about the kids because of that enthusiasm.

Grennan is a very engaging narrator. It's easy to like him and get completely drawn into his story. And the story has a little bit of everything: memoir, travelogue, history, adventure, love story. Grennan's efforts to start his own organization and to find the childrens' families are compelling, though the story did drag a bit when he was away from the kids (why I gave the book a 4.5 instead of a perfect 5.0). His long-distance courtship of Liz was sweet and fun to follow; I couldn't help but root for them to get together. Grennan is also a great descriptive writer; I'm a visual person and prefer the written word but I could easily picture everything he was talking about.

My favourite thing about Little Princes is how genuine Grennan appears to be. The book was written several years after the experiences that he details, and Grennan has obviously used that time to reflect on his motivations and his experiences. He is honest and self-aware, which is refreshing. He seemed to be a bit of a douchebag before his trip (the friend he meets in Bangkok reflects that) but he freely admits to it. Later in the book, when he starts interviewing the families of the children, he admits that his initial approach was not the best way to go and that he had, in fact, acted like a jerk.  He just seems very human and while I wouldn't have the cojones to do what he has done, I felt like I could still relate to him.

I highly recommend this book. It's entertaining, it's informative, and it's thought-provoking. If you liked Three Cups of Tea, this one is even better.

Who in the what, now?

The new year usually inspires me to start new things, or at least get a fresh start to things I may already be doing. I’m a little late to the party, but here we are. New year, new blog! The one thing that has remained constant in my life, through all of the new things and fresh starts, is my love of books and reading in general.  So what better subject for a new blog than books?

There are several new things that are happening in my life this year (see the header at the top of this page) and I’m sure those things will inform some of my reading choices. I hope to share some of those events here as we go. In the meantime, let's get to know each other a little bit.

I read mostly literary fiction but am not above chick lit if it’s good. I have a weakness for historical fiction and coming-of-age stories.  Last year, I also read a lot of books that were part of a series (Hunger Games, A Song of Ice and Fire, Outlander, The Lincoln Lawyer, The Southern Vampire Mysteries, and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants).  

Here are my favourite books of 2012, in no particular order.

Riding Rockets, Mike Mullane
Mike Mullane is a member of NASA's astronaut class of '78. In Riding Rockets, he chronicles his time with the space shuttle program including training, the three shuttle missions he flew, and NASA office politics. He also discusses Challenger and Columbia, giving insights that were new to me. Mullane's sense of humor made the book incredibly entertaining. His descriptions felt real and the Challenger portion was heartbreaking.

 

The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins
The characters and the story make this series unique. I had a hard time putting it down until it was finished, then I couldn't wait to get my hands on the next two books. I didn't love the other two books as much as this first one but it's still great series.

In One Person, John Irving
Irving is one of my favourite authors and this is his latest novel. It captures everything I love about John Irving's books: memorable characters, stories that are quirky but still somehow believable, humour, and just good writing in general. This one is about Billy Dean and his coming of age in the '50s, when he begins to realize that he is bisexual. The novel follows him throughout his life as he tries to figure out, and come to terms with, his sexual idenity.

 

When the Nines Roll Over: And Other Stories, David Benioff
When it comes to short stories, I'm sort of picky. It's hard to beat Alice Munro but I have discovered a few other writers over the years that I like. David Benioff is one of them. The characters and stories in this collection drew me in, and the stories were thought-provoking. Some were intense. This is a very well written group of stories.

Infidel, Ayaan Hirsi Ali 
Ali was born in Somalia and grew up in Kenya, in primarily Islamic communities. Infidel is her story about being a woman in an Islamic society and her struggle to reconcile her faith with the brutality that she witnesses as a direct result of that faith. Ultimately, Ali breaks with Islam and with her family, escaping to the Netherlands where she eventually becomes a member of parliament. Her story is interesting, thought-provoking, and inspiring. 

 
The Lincoln Lawyer, Michael Connolly
I read this book because the movie was coming out and the trailer looked really interesting. I'd never read anything by Connolly before and I was pleasantly surprised by how entertained I was. Mickey Haller is the title character. He's a criminal defense attorney with a quick wit and questionable ethics. I enjoyed the mystery and the courtroom theatrics. I plan on reading more from this series, and hope that they make another movie because Matthew McConaughey is perfectly cast.

Wild, Cheryl Strayed 
Yet another memoir! I should have mentioned that I have a fondness for those, too. This one I actually listened to as an audiobook during my commute to work. Back in the '90s, Strayed's mother died, her marriage fell apart, and she discovered heroin. With her life going down the tubes, she decides to leave it all behind and spend 100 days alone, hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. Her journey was really interesting to read about and she writes very well. There were some moments that were just gutwrenching.

What were some of your favourites from last year?