Sara's reading log

I am a book hoarder and reader. My main genre is SF, but I also love magic realism, fantasy and general fiction. Favorite authors are Iain M. Banks, Ursula K. LeGuin, Haruki Murakami, José Saramago, Isaac Asimov, Ben Aaronovitch and more. My rating system is based on five stars. I rate books based on my expectations and what a books aims to be. This means that the brilliant 'Fahrenheit 451' gets five stars because I thought it would be good, people said it was good, and it was good, but 'A Closed and Common Orbit' also gets five stars because in its series, in its style, I really enjoyed it and was not disappointed.

Gilead by Marilynne Robinson

  • Started on: 2011-06-21
  • Finished on: 2011-06-22
  • Read in: Dutch
  • Rating: ****-
  • Genre(s): General Fiction

This is a book, maybe more of a diary or long letter, written by Reverend John Ames to his seven year old son. Ames is 77, its 1957, and he knows he is going to die soon of a heart condition. Throughout the book, which is a long continuous story, without chapters, he both tries to convey wisdom to his son, and describe what is happening in his life, in his town, at that moment and in the past.
A large part of the book is about faith, which didn’t really appeal to me. However, the other part, which was more about Ames’ life, I really liked. He talks about his grandfather and the American Civil War, his father, his atheist brother, his first and second wife, and the joy of his son. His father and grandfather were both also reverends in Gilead. I really enjoyed the book, the writing was great, John Ames is a great character, a great man, and the other people in the town were also good characters. Four out of five stars.

  • Started on: 2011-06-21
  • Finished on: 2011-06-22
  • Read in: Dutch
  • Rating: ****-
  • Genre(s): General Fiction

This is a book, maybe more of a diary or long letter, written by Reverend John Ames to his seven year old son. Ames is 77, its 1957, and he knows he is going to die soon of a heart condition. Throughout the book, which is a long continuous story, without chapters, he both tries to convey wisdom to his son, and describe what is happening in his life, in his town, at that moment and in the past.
A large part of the book is about faith, which didn’t really appeal to me. However, the other part, which was more about Ames’ life, I really liked. He talks about his grandfather and the American Civil War, his father, his atheist brother, his first and second wife, and the joy of his son. His father and grandfather were both also reverends in Gilead. I really enjoyed the book, the writing was great, John Ames is a great character, a great man, and the other people in the town were also good characters. Four out of five stars.