Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter

I think Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter was the last book group we read collectively as a group before taking a hiatus... About a half-year hiatus.  During that time, we "read whatever we wanted" and still came together as a group to discuss what we'd been reading, make recommendations, and just discuss books in general.  As much as we all love books, it was a welcome variation!  We have decided, going forward, to go every other month, reading as a group, and use the intervening month to read individually.  This next book will be the Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Philipp Sendker.

But, Beautiful Ruins.  Collectively, this was another book at the group loved.  Of course there were varying opinions.  For example, one of our members loved the book so much that she subsequently read every other Jess Walter book she could find (and was very pleased with almost, if not all of them!)  She was very impressed with his ability to write from so many different perspectives with so convincingly - and that was a common compliment that the group had for Beautiful Ruins as well.

The book follows several story lines - starting in the 60s in Italy with a visionistic young man who meets a hollywood starlet and falls in love, to the jaded 30-something in modern times hollywood looking for that perfect screen play to make her fall back in love with the industry, to the near-retired old director with an interesting past and an interesting perspective on success... and he does it all convincingly, interestingly, and well.  It is one of those stories that bounces back and forth until you realize that it was actually a delicate weaving together of stories, with a satisfying end.

As a group, we highly recommend this book and hope we read more that make us feel as satisfied as this one did, in the future!

An Evil Eye by Jason Goodwin

Overall, the Desert Girls were not big fans of An Evil Eye by Jason Goodwin.  Most found it difficult to get into and were turned off by the familiar use of foreign phrases and terms without a glossary or quick historical explanation.  The mystery itself was somewhat interesting, but not particularly compelling or satisfying in the end.  It was good to know, but it did not feel like a big sigh of relief once resolution was reached.

We speculated that perhaps reading the first 3 books would have given us a better appreciation for Yashim, for the foreign phrases such as efendi and pasha, and for the mystery and Yashim's backstory.  But as it was, reading the book independently and out of sequence, it felt like wading through mud to trudge through.

Additionally, everyone agreed that the insertions of cooking instructions and ingredients was a distraction and annoying.  It did not flow smoothly from the text and instead felt like too much effort was being made to be cute.

No one seemed to think it was a particularly *bad* book, but it felt rather "meh" overall.  We were all excited to move on and think about our next book, Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter.

(For my personal review, see All Book Reviewer review of An Evil Eye.)

NW by Zadie Smith

The most telling response to this book is that almost no one in the group finished it.  No one had anything particularly bad to say about it.  But most of the responses were along the lines of "yeah, um... ??"

One reader compared to Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart, which, no, of course that's not fair.  But the comparison was in reference to "one of those books that doesn't have a plot, per se, or a climax, per se, but is more a period of time in the life of someone or someones."  The comparison was not to Smith's benefit -- while Achebe managed to capture the attention of a typically plot-driven reader with his beautiful writing, characterization, and details, Smith's story(ies) more often fell on uncaring ears.

It's not that the writing was bad.  It was interesting.  It was different. But Smith didn't do enough to engage the reader.  You just never really cared what she had to say next.  And a few parts got really interesting... and then she just moved on.

It was a little like going to a four course meal, but getting the check after the 2nd course.  (or more inappropriate analogies which I'll not state here, but which you can probably imagine)

Also telling was the fact that while a few of the girls said they will probably finish the book, most seemed less than interested in doing so and those who had not yet begun were wholly uninspired to do so.

The one reader who did finish the book did not seem to hate it, but did not seem to really have anything particularly good to say about it.  She said she wished she knew more about the area because she felt like she missed a lot of cultural references that might have made the book more interesting/engaging to someone who caught the references.  She also said that the dialogue was confusing and the path that the stories took was not always clear.  This was a point on which the other members agreed.

As for me, I had never read anything by Zadie Smith before, but I had heard great things about On Beauty and White Teeth.  Based on what I've read in other reviews, it would be unfair to judge Smith on NW:  her other books are apparently much better.  Regardless, that may be what has happened with me.  I'm not particularly inclined to pick up another Zadie Smith amid my busy schedule... perhaps in a few decades.  If I were to rate an un-finished book (it is highly unusual for me to not finish a book in the first place), I would probably give this a 2 1/2 of 5.  There was potential for an interesting story, but I felt like Smith just kept taking away the prize.  Perhaps there's supposed to be a lesson in all that, but I read to be mentally-stimulated (if not always intellectually ;)).  At about 1/2-way through, I gave up and moved on.

Comments are, as always, welcome!

Rules of Civility by Amor Towles

Sadly, I will not have as much to say about this book as I would like (but check out my personal blog here!!)  That is not because the Girls of the Desert did not collectively enjoy the book -- it's more because the Girls of the Desert collectively were too busy to give it its due!

Those who had finished the book and were able to make book group (four of the girls were stuck at work!) expressed sentiments of great appreciation for the book.  Those who were not quite complete with the book and were able to make our meeting also seemed to fully enjoy what they had read!

The most repeated comments were that we all became reminiscent and nostalgic for a time and place we had never been--New York in the late 1930s.  We loved the main character and her spirit, and we all felt as if while reading, we were transported to New York, almost wishful that we could experience the story first-hand.

Those who had finished are look forward to Mr. Towles' next book and those who had not are just as eager to finish Rules!
Definitely recommend.

Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple

The Group, as a whole, loved this book.
It was entertaining, light, and fast.  The perfect book for mid-winter.

Bernadette is a "wonderfully told story about a rather dysfunctional family (aren't they all), with a mother (Bernadette) who is a genius hermit former architect, the daughter (Bee) who is a brilliant young girl with a medical history and a love of life, and the father (Elgie) who is a workaholic genius microsoft project head who loves his family, if from a distance.  Blech, sounds boring the way I just did that.  Trust me, it's not." (that is from my personal blog: see the full review here!)

Maria Semple, like many authors these days, took on the challenge of a mixed-media (ish) book.  The story is told through e-mails, letters, instant messages, and other written forms (a report from a doctor, for example).  Semple, however, succeeded where many others failed.  The story is successfully told through the mixed media.  Unlike with other books where it is frustrating receiving partial information and/or awkward presentation in unnatural formats, Semple has a gift of somehow presenting a complete story in such a fashion.  The various tones were expertly maneuvered -- ranging from the innocent pre-teen to the evangelical Christian to the professional tone of a doctor.  All are convincing, and all are endearing.

In reading the book, there is laughter, surprise, sympathy, and empathy.  Most of the characters are not only relatable, but salvageable.  They are impressive and crazy, rising just enough above the "normal" to make them interesting.

The group appears to highly recommend this book -- so much so, in fact, that we are yearning for another similarly satisfactory read.  Comments welcome!

**MY personal thoughts:
of course a lof of the thoughts above are conveyed through my lens, but, yes, I loved the book.  I give it FIVE of 5 stars and highly recommend.  It was fun and intriguing.  It really did make me laugh and I'm sure there was a tear shed around there somewhere.  I loved all of the characters, and I am very MUCH looking forward to reading another Semple!

IOU

I owe you a post about Where'd You Go, Bernadette, our last book, which we collectively really enjoyed!  Next up is Rules of Civility by Amor Towles.

it's coming folks....