For my part, I read a LOT of books in December. Of course, I have no idea which one will inspire an outfit for me by Tuesday, but in the meantime, here they are.
Not That Kind of Girl, by Lena Dunham
Unfortunately, this was not my kind of book (see what I did there?). I really enjoy Girls and think Dunham is extraordinarily talented. Unfortunately, after reading this book, I also think that she's extraordinarily spoiled and self-absorbed. I find it hard to believe that Dunham believes readers would be interested in her diet, in her spoiled childhood or her overwhelming self-obsession. Sadly, I like Lena Dunham quite a bit less now that I've read her book. Not that she cares.
Tell the Wolves I'm Home, by Carol Rifka Brunt
I loved this book. It was sad and lovely and beautifully written. It was strange and different and wonderful. The story centers around a young girl who's beloved uncle passes away and that's really all of the plot I want to give away because I highly recommend that you read this book for yourselves.
Sharp Objects, by Gillian Flynn
I'm not Flynn's biggest fan. Gone Girl was only okay to me (I read it twice just to be sure) but I thought I'd give her other books a try. I read Dark Places in November and Sharp Objects in December. I think I preferred Dark Places because the twist was pretty good. Sharp Objects was less successful to me because a lot of times I felt like Flynn was just going for shock value over good story telling.
Ashes of the Earth: A Mystery of Post-Apocalyptic America, by Eliot Pattison
Given my love of novels about the post-apocalyptic world, it's no mystery (man, I'm on fire today) I'd choose to read this book. Unfortunately, it was only okay to me. It was very well written, but the story felt a little disjointed to me. There were a lot of characters to keep track of and they weren't all developed very well so I got a bit confused at times. The mystery itself was sort of odd to me. It wasn't what I expected, but instead of feeling like it was a good twist, I sort of felt like it was a cop-out.
Russian Winter, by Daphne Kalotay
This book took me some time to get into, but it ended up being a pretty good mystery and a pretty good book. It's not, perhaps the most well-written book, but it's interesting. And I enjoyed the peeks into Soviet Russia and the ballet culture there. If you're interested in jewels belonging to a defected Soviet prima ballerina, I recommend this book.
The Talented Mr. Ripley, by Patricia Highsmith
This was a great book. But, fair warning, it was nothing like the movie. I really liked the movie, but they based it extremely loosely on this book. Basically, the movie got only Tom Ripley's and Dickie's characters mostly right. The Gwyneth Paltrow character was almost completely wrong and there was no Cate Blanchette character at all. Except maybe sort of at the end if you're taking a whole heck of a lot of artistic license. But, again, this was a great read. Highsmith is an extremely talent writer and I am looking forward to reading the rest of her Ripley books (there are several).
Again, I'm not sure what book I'll be basing an outfit on next Tuesday, but I certainly have a lot to choose from.
I do hope you'll join me on Tuesday.
Happy Saturday, All!
Gracey
