Moonlight Hotel

Moonlight Hotel, Scott Anderson, 2006, Doubleday. Genre: Fiction. 371 pages. Finished 7/26/12.

LesOpinion: It's a love story, a war story, and a simple book about the choices we make and the people we become when we make them. Moonlight Hotel is a novel about a fictitious war in a fictitious place written by a real war correspondent. It's riveting, oddly romantic, and refreshingly cynical.

Circumstances under which I recommend this book: All.

MEG: Hell's Aquarium

MEG: Hell's Aquarium, Steve Alten, 2009, Variance. Genre: SciFi. 342 pages. Finished 7/22/2012.

LesOpinion: When the reviewer from the Washington Daily News refers to MEG: Hell's Aquarium as "an instant classic," I suspect he does not mean "an instant classic of contemporary fiction," but rather "an instant classic of contemporary science fiction about giant prehistoric sharks." Because, while this is science fiction about giant prehistoric sharks, it's not classic, instant or otherwise.

It doesn't help that this is the fourth book in a series about giant prehistoric sharks, and by now the author has apparently tired of getting the reader to care about the main characters. Or maybe I identified more with the animal rights activists than the pseudoscientist heroes dedicated to hunting down and wrangling prehistoric creatures from the depths of the ocean (where the creatures have been biding their time without human interaction for millions of years) only to torment them in captivity and then get all surprised and appalled when they kill someone.

Circumstances under which I recommend this book: You idiotically decide to read all the books on the fiction shelves of your local library, and this one is next.

Girls of Riyadh

Girls of Riyadh, Rajaa Alsanea, 2007, Penguin. Genre: Fiction. Finished 7/15/12.

LesOpinion: In 2005, this book was released in its original Arabic to both great scandal and great acclaim. The tale of four female friends navigating contemporary Saudi high society, Girls of Riyadh is interesting, if not artful (or at least not artful in this translation). Love won and love lost under a patriarchy more restrictive than the one under which I live. Meh.

Circumstances under which I recommend this book: You think your society is repressive, and you are looking for a reality check.

Inés of My Soul

Inés of My Soul, Isabel Allende, 2006, Harper Collins. Genre: Historical Fiction. 313 pages. Finished 7/9/12.


And now, a word from the LesBlog Editorial Board: With this novel, we celebrate our 50th book of the Quest.  Happy 50th, Gentle Reader!


LesOpinion: This tale of the Spanish invasion of Chile in 1540 is told from the point of view of the historical figure, Inés Suárez. If you ever sat through a tedious history class memorizing dates and names of dead European men, Allende's romantic, tragic, horrifying, and heartbreaking novel will make up for those lost years of your life.

I regret two things: that this novel came to an end, and that it's the last unread Allende on the shelves of the S. White Dickinson. Onward, Gentle Reader. 

The Girl Who Chased the Moon

The Girl Who Chased the Moon, Sarah Addison Allen, 2010, Bantam Books. Genre: Chick Lit. 269 pages. Finished 7/5/12.

LesOpinion: Sarah Addison Allen mistakes elements of magical realism for weighty insight. While this novel pretends to have Big Things to say, it doesn't quite measure up. Still, it was a fast read and, while aimed at a female audience, is not insulting in the way of the lady novels of Elizabeth Adler or Evelyn Anthony.

Circumstances under which I would recommend this book: It's going to be a long flight, and you want to keep the halitosis-plagued guy next to you from yapping the whole time.

What were the KNOWN thrillers, again?

Behind a Mask: The Unknown Thrillers of Louisa May Alcott, Louisa May Alcott with an introduction by Madeleine Stern, 1984, Quill. Genre: Blood and Thunder Tales. 277 pages. Finished 7/4/2012.

LesOpinion: If you thought Louisa May Alcott only ever wrote Little Women, join the club. As it turns out, Alcott was a prolific writer who frequently turned to writing (usually pseudonymously) what she called "blood and thunder tales" for sleazy magazines in order to make a quick buck.

This collection of four novellas is the first time any of these stories appeared in print under Alcott's real name. She'd probably die with embarrassment to have her respectable self associated with such silly tales of romance, intrigue, and what passed for violence in 1865.

Circumstances under which I would recommend these stories: You are assigned them by your Alcott-obsessed English professor, and you aren't the kind of student who turns to Wikipedia or Cliff's Notes. Or are you?

Zorro

Zorro, Isabel Allende, 2005, HarperCollins. Genre: Fiction. 390 pages. Finished 6/26/12.

LesOpinion: If you're a regular here at the LesBlog, Gentle Reader, you know I think Isabel Allende could write a phone book and make it into a work of art. While it's not her finest work, Zorro does not disappoint. Heartbreaking history and heart-stopping action make for a rousing adventure tale you'll not want to put down.

Circumstances under which I would recommend this book: All.