Becky Boer

Monthly Archives:

December 2015

Books

3 Things: The Glass Castle

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls What a freakin’ mess. The fact that Walls has lived through this disaster and come out of it as a functional human being is amazing. Jesus Christ. I feel like a real jerk for saying this, but I wonder if anything in the memoir was embellished. Some of it just struck me as a little too over the top, even for this family. I spent so much time Googling the towns and houses where Walls grew up, it was ridiculous. One of those rabbit holes it feels like  ...

Continue Reading

Books

3 Things: We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler The back and forth narration – past to present to past again – drove me crazy, yet helped weave the story together so seamlessly that it really couldn’t have been done any other way. Clever, smart writing. Harlow was a disaster, and I loved her. Every disastrous second. Fern!! Oh, Fern. This book was difficult to read for the same reasons as The One and Only Ivan. Of course, this book is purely fiction, but Ivan  ...

Continue Reading

Books

3 Things

I read a lot of books. I usually finish a lot of books, too. Some readers don’t have a problem abandoning books that they’re not enjoying, but something in me just doesn’t feel right if I don’t finish books that I’ve started. Sometimes it takes a long time (years, in certain cases… looking at you, Anna Karenina), but I almost always come back to those books and finish them. No, finishing books isn’t usually my problem, and neither is tracking them.  ...

Continue Reading