What Not to Read

Why not post a few bad books as I battle insomnia?

Enslaved by Ducks by Bob Tarte-- Book club hated it unanimously. We found his stories about one pet bird after another boring and his characterizations of humans non-existent.

Forever by Pete Hamill-- the title isn't kidding. This is a LONG book about an Irish immigrant who is cursed/blessed with immortality as long as he doesn't leave Manhattan. This book needs a serious edit and some less archaic ideas about women.

In the Shadow of No Towers- Art Speigelman -- This kills me as I loved Maus. There is some very compelling stuff here as he recounts his own 9/11 tale and makes some comparisons to the Holocaust experience of his parents (i.e. the smell of burning bodies) but the pages of vintage comic left me cold.

Water for Elephants

This book, written by Sara Gruen was a selection of one of my book clubs a few months ago. It's the story of a young man named Jacob, who leaves veterinary school a few weeks before graduation following the death of his parents. It's the 1930's and after finding out that his parents have spent every penny on his education he takes to the rails and meets up with small and slightly seedy circus. His skills with animals, and particularly Rosie, the elephant the circus acquires, make him a valuable member of the team but his position and even safety are jeopardized when he begins a flirtation with the boss's wife, a bareback rider named Marlena. The book culminates in a circus fire, the true cause of which is not revealed until the end. There are several plot twists throughout the book and, while it is not the deepest read out there, it was entertaining and full of interesting circus trivia.