I recently finished reading The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley. The cover of the book has a seal touting it as a “Good Morning America Book Club Pick.” Big whoop-de-do. I read it simply because it sounded like my kind of book.
I still hate writing plot synopses and haven’t learned how to do them properly. Today I’m going to take life easy and refer you to the Wikipedia synopsis for this book instead of me writing one. I figure I might as well, since I had to look the book up anyway (I couldn’t remember the name of the main character who narrates the story, and that’s because, as Wikipedia confirmed, she was never named. You’d think I would have realized that at some point while reading, but I was oblivious to the fact until I tried to recall her name. SMH.).
The Ministry of Time is a great book in many respects. I liked the subject, the main characters, the overall structure, and the writing. But somehow, though I enjoyed it, I did not love it. Strangely, I think the best parts were the chapters devoted to the doomed arctic expedition, not the sci-fi stuff.
Currently reading:
- The Caliph’s House: A Year in Casablanca by Tahir Shah. The jacket flap proclaims this book to have been written “in the tradition of A Year in Provence and Under the Tuscan Sun.” Though that description is not what brought the story to me, I enjoyed both of those books and hope this one will be as good. My copy is a library book that’s now overdue. Oops. I started reading it last night to see if it’s worth keeping, and I think it is. Shall I continue to defy the library by quietly not returning their book, or shall I go to the library and see if they’ll let me renew it? Hmm.
- Moominvalley in November by Tove Jansson: I took a break from this thoughtful and somewhat glum book to read The Ministry of Time, which suited my mood better. It is also due back at the library (ack!). It won’t take long to read. If I were to apply myself, I could finish it this weekend. That’s obviously what I should do. If I don’t read it now, I’ll only have to later, because it’s on the BBC’s list of Top 100 Children’s Books.
- The Maze Runner by James Dashner. This book came under my radar because a movie was made out of it, though I didn’t happen to see the movie. My unvarnished opinion of the book, based on the first 180 pages of it, is that it’s stupid and annoying. But it’s a quick read that has piqued my curiosity just enough for me to feel compelled to continue.
- The Girl with All the Gifts by M.R. Carey. This book was also made into a movie, one that looked so interesting that I almost watched it, even though I don’t always handle zombie stories well. It’s one of my husband’s books. I didn’t even know we had it. I just happened to be in the living room one day, absentmindedly looking at the books on our newly-built shelves, when I spotted the title and thought, “I wonder if it’s any good?” So I sat down in a chair and started reading, which is, incidentally, exactly the kind of thing I’d hoped would happen once we had our books displayed in a room with comfortable chairs. I’ve been really enjoying the book so far, but I just reached the point in the story at which the violence begins in earnest. Will the story continue to beguile me now that it’s gotten gory? We’ll see.
Sadly I have not been reading Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dimitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad by M.T. Anderson. It’s another overdue library book. I can’t seem to muster the desire to read it right now, but I’m making note of the book here, because I am interested in Shotakovich’s “Leningrad” Symphony and the history that goes along with it. I hope that I will at the very least write a blog post about them and perhaps revisit the book someday.