before you die

                                 Powell's City of Books-  

                                     25 Books To Read Before You Die..
                                              List


for more info and a list of the 25 books go to:
http://www.powells.com/25-books-to-read-before-you-die

or at Anthem Book Review
 http://anthembookreview.blogspot.com/2014/11/books-to-read-before-you-die.html

Geek Love:  by Katherine Dunn. I read this book and from the beginning to end was fully enamored with it. Dunn writes with such odd detail it will hook you, like the image of Lil answering the phone and screaming "what, what" into the receiver, blind as a bat, old and deaf. Lil uses a magnifying glass to watch television, which she holds up to her aging face and in a rapid motion moves front to back toward the t.v. set, in an effort to make out even the slightest image on the screen. Geek Love is filled with odd characters. A fairly normal couple starts a traveling circus and births the freaks themselves, with Lil being injected by her husband with several drugs and toxic substances to have baby freaks. In doing so, they create the weirdest collection of siblings. The book never bores, it will keep you wanting more. Dunn has managed to make something odd and strange and turn it into something beautiful and enchanting. A place where different is good, normal and desired, a family of freaks that will linger in your mind long after the books is over. 

Should you read this before you die? Absolutely! this book is wonderful. Great choice Powell Books!   


Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, I have read this delightful book to both my sons. I just love this story. This book holds a special place in my heart. I have read this book to my oldest his entire life, as well as now to my four year old. My four year old loves it. He finds a piece of his wild boyish soul in Max and Where the Wild Things Are is one of his favorite nighttime reads before bed.

Should you read this before you die?  Absolutely, I completely agree with Powell Books on Where the Wild Things Are  making the 25 books to read before you die list, because it should be read, now, before death, and anytime in between. Great Book. Great choice.

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. This book was a required text for a class I had at Fresno State. I really enjoyed the book. It has such a wonderful title. The title was taken from W.B. Yeats poem, Second Coming. ..things fall apart, the centre cannot hold..., I love that line and what a beautiful portion of a wonderful poem to grace the cover of a splendid work of literature. Things Fall Apart is a must read. Set in Nigeria, and told in three segments. Achebe tells of life before and after British Colonialism.

Should you read this before you die? Absolutely. A great choice, Powell Books.

A Good Man is Hard to Find & Other Stories by Flannary O'Conner. Again, I read this book in college. Well, I read just about everything under the sun written by O'Conner. She is such an amazing writer. Every story evokes thought surrounded by deep-seated morals or the lack thereof and characters that will question your faith.

Should you read this before you die? Omygod yes! If you are a woman and have not read O'Conner you should probably die now (jokes). If you are a writer and a lover of the written word and have not read O'Conner you should because death will come for us all and there is not a second more to waste, so find a bookstore and find Flannary O'Conner's  books and read them before you are dead and can read nothing, ever. Again, Great choice, Powell Books!

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I read this book as a teenager for fun. I hated it. Sadly, I did not catch the hype of praise many shed on this book. I didn't like Scout. I didn't like anything about the book. Sorry! Art is subjective.

Should you read this before you die? Well, I did, but I wouldn't do it again. I don't even own this book, nor would I. Not a fan. Sorry, Powell Books, not a great choice.

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. I just finished this book. I was so disappointed. I wanted to like it. I went into it wanting really bad to like this book but I did not. I could not get into it. I did not like the writing or the characters. I have read Ishiguro's Remains of the Day, and I felt the same way. I did not find the beauty many others had in his work.

Should you read this before you die? Again, I say no. I read it. I think that Never Let Me Go is a real hit and miss. I read amazing reviews for this book after I read the novel and was glad I read these reviews after because I would have felt compelled to find what was so good when for me the best thing was when it was over. Not a great choice, Powell Books.