I found myself in a position to have enough time to zip through three books over the past four weeks. While I usually get through only about one book a month, it was fun to jam on the reading in July.
Company by Max Barry
Barry is a great one for introducing morally ambivalent characters, then weaving them through a series of unlikely events until you end up rooting for them. As with Syrup and Jennifer Government, Barry shines a light on modern consumerism and corporate culture. Unlike the earlier novels, though, his latest one didn’t seem as original and witty as I’d hoped. If you like his writing style, it’s worth the read, but I’d recommend his other books over this one if you haven’t read them, yet.
The Spiritualist by Megan Chance
I’d never read anything by Chance, or even heard of her before stumbling across The Spiratualist at the local bookstore. It looked like a fun, historical (set in mid-19th century New York) mystery centered around the spiritualism craze of the time. It delivered on the promise on the book jacket saying Chance paints a rich picture of the time and place. As it was written in first person, however, I was mildly disappointed she didn’t go as far as Susanna Clarke in Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by grappling with the descriptive language of the day, too. It was a serviceable story, and I’m glad I read it, but there’s definitely better historical mysteries out there.
The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
This is the first book in the “His Dark Materials” trilogy, originally titled “Northern Lights” and renamed when the film rights were purchased. I haven’t seen the film adaptation, yet, but see how it could make an amazingly fast-paced, CGI-laden action flick. I was initially turned onto this trilogy by my niece, and was impressed by it’s allegorical depth centered on the world-changing quest of a 12 year old girl. It’s set in an alternate 19th century and Pullman does a great job setting up the universe of discourse. The narrative floats effortlessly between fact and fiction, playing each off the other, allowing the reader to distinguish between them. I’d also classify this as the “thinking reader’s Harry Potter” as the characters are much more fleshed out with heavily nuanced motivations. I’m looking forward to reading the second book soon.
Other Books I Recommend:
July 28th, 2008 | 
