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firstimpressionsreviews's reviews
608 reviews
Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris
Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim is my favorite book by David Sedaris. My favorite story in this book and probably all of the other books he's written is The Perfect Apartment. David and his boyfriend Hugh, who live in Paris because they can smoke anywhere without being given the evil eye need to find a new apartment as their landlord plans on giving it to his daughter one day. They become very depressed after looking at "slums" in the area and realize that nothing is better than the apartment they already have. To lift their spirits the take a weekend trip to Amsterdam and David finds the perfect apartment, the Anne Frank Annex! He goes though the secret annex as a designer remodeling as he goes. My favorite line in the short story is "Remember that wall with the movie stars on it--gone!"
5.0
Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim is my favorite book by David Sedaris. My favorite story in this book and probably all of the other books he's written is The Perfect Apartment. David and his boyfriend Hugh, who live in Paris because they can smoke anywhere without being given the evil eye need to find a new apartment as their landlord plans on giving it to his daughter one day. They become very depressed after looking at "slums" in the area and realize that nothing is better than the apartment they already have. To lift their spirits the take a weekend trip to Amsterdam and David finds the perfect apartment, the Anne Frank Annex! He goes though the secret annex as a designer remodeling as he goes. My favorite line in the short story is "Remember that wall with the movie stars on it--gone!"
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
5.0
A Thousand Splendid Suns is a breathtaking story set against the volatile events of Afghanistan's last thirty years -- from the Soviet invasion to the reign of the Taliban to post-Taliban rebuilding -- that puts the violence, fear, hope and faith of this country in intimate, human terms. It is a tale of two generations of characters brought jarringly together by the tragic sweep of war, where personal lives -- the struggle to survive, raise a family, find happiness -- are inextricable from the history playing out around them.
I picked this up at my most resent visit to the library and was excited that it wasn't checked out for once. As this was considered a "new release" at the library I could only check it out for a week and at first was worried that I wouldn't be able to finish it in time. Those thoughts where soon pushed out of my mind as I began reading A Thousand Splendid Suns as it warped me into Afghanistan and into the lives of Mariam and Laila.
As soon as I became engrossed in Mariam's story, which got me hooked on page one; I was transferred to Laila's journey. In Mariam's part I was spellbound and couldn't believe all the hardships Mariam faced; how much can one person handle? I was foolish enough to think that Laila would have a happy life with Tariq and was heartbroken when I learned that he was killed while trying to escape from the war. And was shocked when he returned toward the end of the book; at first I thought he might be a phony, but after learning that Rasheed had paid someone to lie about her love's death in order to trap her; I was relieved and happy that they would be able to be together after so many years of separation.
After Rasheed's death I thought it was very honorable that Mariam choose to risk her life, and take the blame for his "murder" in order for Laila, Tariq and her children to have a life together. The ending, with Laila revisiting Mariam's childhood home and walking through her past was a wonderful closing to A Thousand Splendid Suns, bringing closure to the characters and the reader.
I picked this up at my most resent visit to the library and was excited that it wasn't checked out for once. As this was considered a "new release" at the library I could only check it out for a week and at first was worried that I wouldn't be able to finish it in time. Those thoughts where soon pushed out of my mind as I began reading A Thousand Splendid Suns as it warped me into Afghanistan and into the lives of Mariam and Laila.
As soon as I became engrossed in Mariam's story, which got me hooked on page one; I was transferred to Laila's journey. In Mariam's part I was spellbound and couldn't believe all the hardships Mariam faced; how much can one person handle? I was foolish enough to think that Laila would have a happy life with Tariq and was heartbroken when I learned that he was killed while trying to escape from the war. And was shocked when he returned toward the end of the book; at first I thought he might be a phony, but after learning that Rasheed had paid someone to lie about her love's death in order to trap her; I was relieved and happy that they would be able to be together after so many years of separation.
After Rasheed's death I thought it was very honorable that Mariam choose to risk her life, and take the blame for his "murder" in order for Laila, Tariq and her children to have a life together. The ending, with Laila revisiting Mariam's childhood home and walking through her past was a wonderful closing to A Thousand Splendid Suns, bringing closure to the characters and the reader.
Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
5.0
Amazing read and became engrossed in this in well, nineteen minutes. I felt it had a surprise ending about what truly happened during those life changing minutes. Can your own child become a mystery to you? What does it mean to be different in our society? Is it ever okay for a victim to strike back? And who — if anyone — has the right to judge someone else? Jodi Picoult answers all this questions brilliantly, and is a must read.
Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
5.0
David Sedaris's short stories have me laughing out loud with people turning the heads to look. I can just hear them saying/thinking "What's wrong with that girl?" Nothing is off limits for this author, his parent's dog replacing their children, being taught to play guitar by a midget so his father can put a jazz bad together, unclogging a toilet and his father's thrifty ways.
It's hard to pick a favorite story but I really enjoyed "I'll Eat What He's Wearing" in which he recounts his father's ability to save food/clothing etc long past the expiration date with the excuse of "it's fine". As stated in his book, you could say this accounted for the depression, but it's not and I quite agree as my grandfather is very similar. (I've actually seen mold grow on bacon). I think because I could so relate to this it made it ten times funnier.
David Sedaris can be incredibly politically incorrect, sometimes hilariously so and other times you're unsure whether it's proper to laugh or disapprove. I saw him speak a few years ago and he told a story about flying on an airplane over Christmas time. He went on to explain how rude and pushy people could be at airports and upon arrival of said destination the stewardess came on wishing "everyone sitting down a Merry Christmas, and to everyone standing up, Happy Hanukkah."
It's hard to pick a favorite story but I really enjoyed "I'll Eat What He's Wearing" in which he recounts his father's ability to save food/clothing etc long past the expiration date with the excuse of "it's fine". As stated in his book, you could say this accounted for the depression, but it's not and I quite agree as my grandfather is very similar. (I've actually seen mold grow on bacon). I think because I could so relate to this it made it ten times funnier.
David Sedaris can be incredibly politically incorrect, sometimes hilariously so and other times you're unsure whether it's proper to laugh or disapprove. I saw him speak a few years ago and he told a story about flying on an airplane over Christmas time. He went on to explain how rude and pushy people could be at airports and upon arrival of said destination the stewardess came on wishing "everyone sitting down a Merry Christmas, and to everyone standing up, Happy Hanukkah."