Wild

Wild by Cheryl Strayed is the first book of my 2013 Book Club. Before I get into the book, I want to say this is my first time being part of a book club and I cannot believe I haven't been in one till now. We had our first meeting last night, and it was so fun! And not just because of all the wine and food - though major plus! It's really about learning how different people perceive a book and how we all get different things from it. Major thanks to Alison for setting that up!

So now to Wild - This a memoir of Cheryl Strayed's mental and physical journey to try to come to terms with the death of her mother - which she dealt with by spiralling into a self-destructive cycle of sex & drugs. The focal of this book is her decision to hike the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) as a sort of therapy and her experience on the trail.

What I found most interesting was the escapades on the trail. This was a twenty-something year old, somewhat unprepared (didn't know how to use a compass or didn't think to check the weather forecast!), heroine addict, with boots too small, solo hiker who thought: hey why not? who needs to prepare? I have gone on walks before, I can totally just walk for 3 months while carrying a backpack that is more than half my weight! So naturally she was bound to face major challenges on this adventure.

I gathered it was very therapeutic for her to finish the PCT, she struck me as someone who's strengths did not lie in seeing things through - not completing her degree, not fighting for her marriage, etc. So after her mom (who was the rock in her life died), she needed this to ground her and essentially save her.

All in all, this was not the best writing style, I've experienced, but I enjoyed reading the book and following her through the adventures on the PCT and also enjoyed the different characters she met along the way. What was lacking for me, was there was no tie-in to the present day. Did this work? Is she more balanced? Her reflection on that part of her life, given that she wrote this book some 15 or so odd years later, was missing.

A quick interesting read - might recommend to my avid hiker friends, but maybe not everyone else.

Papillon

This is easily my favourite book of all time! I have read it a bunch of times and each time is just so wonderful! 
This is the 'memoir' (there has been some debate on whether things really happened as Henri tells it) of Henri Charriere and according to him, the false conviction for the murder of a French Pimp in 1931. 
The story takes you through his experience of being incarcerated in a penal colony in the French Guiana, his multiple escapes attempts, to his final escape to Venezuela. To his final days Henri denied the murder conviction, though he freely admits to committing other petty crimes.
 What I really loved about this book is the sheer adventure of it all, and his steadfast determination to never give up. Even though with every failed escape, his punishments and prison conditions got unfathomably worse and worse.
The vivid descriptions in the book and the drama within the various prisions he was held in was out of this world. I think this is one of those book to read when you seek the ulitimate escapism experience. It really envelopes you in the story and so very interesting.

I highly recommend this book to anyone & everyone! A must-read!

The Sisters Brothers

Okay, this is a good read! I enjoyed the style in which this book was written. It had a grity feel to it. Plus the story was captivating. 
The brothers have an imbalanced relationship and you could really tell the difference in their motives for their actions. I was pleased by the way everything was tied together and especially the way the book ended. I love being surprised at the end of books!
But I must say, before I began reading this book, I had heard and read some really great things about it and some even touted it as the book of the year! So maybe it was the very high expectations I went in, but I did not find it mind-blowing as some had said. I'll be hard-pressed to say that it is on my list of the holy grail of books. That being said, this is a book for anyone who is into thriller books or murder / crime books - and this book delivers!

Time Traveler's Wife

This is a very romantic book. Some parts of it were so magical and I just devoured those chapters!

 It was refreshing to read a love story that was fractured, this allowed me to enjoy snapshots of the different times in the love story. I remember watching the movie, and you know how watching a movie of a book is - it never quites lives up to the book. But in this case, I think I enjoyed the movie better. I was travelling through Central America at the time of reading this book, this was in 2008, and I remember having a discussion with a girlfriend who was also reading the book. We both felt that at some points of the book, it sort of dragged on and felt a little dry - though I wouldn't call it boring. I never once felt like abandoning the book but I felt it still had that feeling of 'it just drags on'. 

All in all, a beautiful read and would recommend! This is a snuggle up and read by the fire kind of book.

This is Not a Game

                                                                 

This was the first gamer book I read also my first from the author. And it was okay. It wasn't a complicated book at all and though the story wasn't totally unpredictable I still enjoyed it. I liked the concept of all powerful control by program / company that was explored. It had a lot of the basic elements of a murder mystery entwined with the social network/online gamer aspects. 

This is a fun book that can be read in a day or two. I consider it one of those 'switching gears' books to read between your more serious books or epic fantasies. I think I read it in between the Game of Thrones saga.

Though it is not a book that I'll ever read twice nor one that comes to mind when I think of books to recommend to friends, I found it fun to read and thought it had some interesting plot twists. If I had to give it a grade, I'll give it a C+.

MWF seeking BFF

This is exactly how the title reads. Married White Female seeking Best Friend Forever. 

When I first came across this book, I was intrigued, as someone who has lived in 3 continents and travelled around the world I could relate. At the time I read this book, I had just moved to Calgary two years prior and I totally understood the feeling of having a lot of BFFs outside of the city/country you live in. 

What I liked about Rachel Bertsche's social experiment, was not just the dedication she put into her 52 girl dates and the hilarious stories that those produced, but also the 'factual' side of it. The interviews with various professionals talking about the benefits of friends and the effects on your overall health, and why a thriving social network is important were particularly interesting and I learned a bunch.

This was a fun easy read and a good book to pick up for those lazy summer days.

Cutting for Stone

This is one of those books that truly takes you on a journey and transplants you in the lives of the characters. I found myself constantly thinking about them and even after I was done, I wanted to continue on their journey.

This book explores the depths of family, scandal, heartbreak, relationships and the different faces (both the distressing, ugly and beautiful) of love. I also enjoyed how the environment has it's own story to tell. Be it in Ethiopia where the majority of the stories take place or in America; there is a rich lanscape of the times discussed in this book and I really enjoyed that.

Because of this book, I hunted down injera; a common dish in Ethiopia, just so I could try it for myself. And yes I must say, though it had a strange texture, somewhere between a crepe and a pancake, I liked it!

Cutting for Stone is a must-read for anyone and would not disappoint!