March 2016 Wrap Up Part 2

I must stop saying that I will do anything "soon". Apparently it is a jinx. Last week school started again, which meant that I had a lot of work to get through in a sort period of time. On top of that, my car died and needed an emergency trip to the mechanic. And then, just in case that was not enough, I was driving my mom's car (not having transport of my own) when I had two cars behind me use my boot as their brake. Yes. I was in an accident. I was minding my own business, sitting at a red light, just as the law recommends, when BANG! Grrr. So now I have all of that to deal with too. But, this post is not about my excuse for bringing out the 2nd part of my March wrap up so late. It is about my March wrap up, so let me get to it!

The next book I read in March was The Bees by Laline Paull. I had heard this was a dystopian novel of brilliant proportions. *** I should stop listening to people and having expectations. Ok, so it wasn't a bad book. In fact it was quite interesting for the most part. But dystopian? Not really. Fantastic? Not so much. But what this book does do is make us sit and judge our own world. The story follows a bee in a hive, Flora 717 from birth to .... well, that would be telling. Seeing the life of the hive was interesting. There were parts I felt were un(bee)lievable (sorry, couldn't resist the pun), and some parts that felt repetitive. But overall, I liked how it got me thinking about our world, and the pros and cons of living selflessly for one's society.

After that, I picked up The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt. I described this western as an existential crisis set in the Wild West. I enjoyed reading about the brothers (whose surname is Sisters) and their journey to San Fransisco during the gold rush and their mission. I liked the narrator, and I particularly enjoyed the contradictions and contrasts between what he, Eli, said, and what he did - most of the time. I can't honestly say that much else from this story has stuck with me though. It was enjoyable while I was reading it, and I enjoyed the different perspective on a hardened killer. Not the best book I have ever read (wow, that would be a hard book to name), but a worthy read if literary fiction is your thing. If not, skip it.

The next book I read was out of curiosity, Who Killed Jimmy Valentine? by a South African writer, Michael Williams. As I said in my 'review', this is a book that many school study in Grade 9. I wanted to see if my kids were missing out by not reading it. They aren't. There was nothing special about this story at all. It was a very formulaic crime novel: a detective who has to prove himself after a screw up, an interesting crime, an experienced detective that does things 'his way', and a twist. The twist was nothing special, the cop was nothing special. In fact, the book was nothing special. The only thing, in my opinion, that a South African kid could get out of it, is being able to relate to the violence and familiar crime mentioned in the book. I would give this one a miss if I were you - unless you are particularly interested in hearing about taxi violence in South Africa, in which case, be my guest.

Then I read Finders Keepers by Stephen King. Now this book I did enjoy! It was different to what I was expecting, because, although it is a part of Bill Hodges trilogy, Bill only shows up for the first time one third of the way in. But I love the characters King created. This man is a master at making fictional people live and breathe! This story follows the lives of a different family affected by Mr Mercedes, and also examines an unhealthy connection between a reader and the writer of a series of books. Of course, murder and what not follows. I also cannot help myself from mentioning that I really appreciated how the similarities could be seen between the antagonist and protagonist. I am so curious now to read the final installment. I want to know if anyone from Finders Keepers is going to feature in the book, or whether it is going to just be about Mr Mercedes.

To clear another book off my ever-growing TBR pile (why can we not read as fast as it takes to buy?), I read Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. I had been curious about this one, especially since reading 11-22-63 by King last year. This book broke my heart. Steinbeck really got me to climb into the head of Lennie, and not only could I understand his innocence, but I could also understand the frustration that his friend and 'guardian', George, must have felt. This story follows two migrant workers, one who is mentally deficient, and his friend who helps look after him, as they try and achieve their dream - having a farm of their own with rabbits. I did not rate this book as highly as I should have, because, thinking about it now, I am feeling all upset all over again.

The last book for the month was one I should have stopped reading. I was too obsessed with dropping my TBR pile and pushed through, even though I was not in the mood for this one at all - which is why I did not write a review for it. On the Road by Jack Kerouac is a book I think I should have enjoyed. I did not - not at all. I found myself zoning out while reading even - something that hasn't happened since Immanuel Kant's Critique of Pure Reason twenty years ago (the joys of prescribed reading). I thought the main character was spineless, the plot aimless (yes, that was the point. I don't care, it drove me nuts) and I had no time for the supporting characters either. I need to reread this book when I am in a different mind set. Maybe I will pick up something different. But I will be giving it 50 pages. If the second read doesn't do it, I am not going to sit through it again.

And that draws march 2016 to a close! Overall it was a good reading month. My TBR pile from the end of last year has dropped a fair bit, and I have also managed to put a decent dent into my recent acquisitions pile too. I hope April will be as productive - even though this is the term from hell where I have to do the work of five people with only the allotted time of one. Should be fun - NOT,