Book Report #9

Books 41-45! I did complete my 2015 challenge of 52 books in 52 weeks! I'll post the remaining books later this week!

Anansi Boys - Neil Gaiman: Another Gaiman book I have thoroughly enjoyed! This is a companion book to American Gods, and in similar fashion, Gaiman manages to weave fantasy and mythical story telling into literary fiction. Where American Gods was dark and epic in scale, Anansi Boys is a bit lighter and focused on one family and the son of Anansi, the spider god. It's hard to write a review of a Gaiman book, he manages to pack so much into a few hundred pages, he is a masterful storyteller. Highly recommended!

The Girl in the Spider's Web - David Lagercrantz: I read the late Steig Larsson's Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series a number of years ago, so I was very intrigued when the author Lagercrantz decided to write another book in this series. Would he have the same uncompromising style as Larsson? What were his plans with Lisbeth and Blomkvist? Well, I wasn't disappointed. He's a different author, but I believe he did a great job of staying true to Larsson's style and story, plus he provided a bit more insight into Lisbeth's past, which I enjoyed. If you like the original series, I recommend picking this one up.

Behind the Beautiful Forevers - Katherine Boo: An excellent depiction of life in an Indian slum. The book is based off of the authors many years observing and getting to know the inhabitants. The stories are true, but read as if it is a novel. I have spent many years working and living in impoverished communities around the world, but Boo's descriptions and stories of the individuals she presents in this book cut right to the heart. Highly recommended.

Thirty Girls - Susan Minot: This book is proclaimed to be about kidnapped school girls in Northern Uganda, but the majority of it is about an American journalist's travels through Eastern Africa partying and "finding herself". I wanted more of the Ugandan girls story and a lot less of the American's, the few chapters that were about the Ugandan's were great, the rest, ehh.

A Constellation of Vital Phenomenon - Anthony Marra: AMAZING Book. One of the best books I've read in a while. A story based in Chechnya during the Chechen wars. I know nothing about that region but this book provided me with great history, while telling a beautiful and haunting story. Marra's writing was some of the most elegant, lyrical, and meaningful writing I've read in a long time. I will definitely be reading this book again in the future, and I can't wait to read other works by him. If you only read one book from my list, make it this one.