State of Wonder by Ann Patchett

This book chronicles the journey of a research scientist to a small village in the Amazon to investigate the death of a college and the slow progress of the development of a fertility drug. But when the scientist, Marina Singh, arrives in the Amazon she realizes that there are all sorts of secrets and she must confront her own past. I found the plot compelling and I did want to hear more about Marina and the mysterious doctor in charge of the research project, Dr. Swenson, but I found the ending in which everything happened really quickly unsatisfying--mostly because a lot happened really quickly.

Snow White by Donald Barthelme

I was intrigued by the playfulness of the language in
this book. Certain words are regularly twisted (bath to baff, housewife to horsewife). Of course, the fairy tale itself is a strange amalgamation of Snow White (in the Grimm and Disney versions) and Rapunzel. There are hints (at least to my mind) of the story of Cyrano de Bergerac as well. In this muddle of cultural references there's a lot going on with both gender politics and waste. Definitely one of those books you can't attempt to fully understand in whole: the pieces don't fit together nicely into a neat puzzle.

A Crown of Swords by Robert Jordan

I hate to say it, but this book dragged a little in places. I found the Aes Sedai power manipulations to be most interesting--especially Nynaeve and Elayne coming into their own. It's a little hard for me to follow what Rand's actually trying to accomplish here--perhaps because there's a fair amount to be done by other characters, but Rand needs to be around because he's the Dragon Reborn? I'm also somewhat frustrated by the three women meant for him part. It seems a little indulgent to me....

Modernism by Michael Levenson

This book reexamines modernism, defining it not by its formal practices or content, but by its oppositional culture. Levenson contends that to understand modernism we have to pay more attention to its roots before World War I (and this time period is where the majority of the book's attention lies). The book does a nice job moving back and forth across the Channel, although I felt its attention to the United States was a bit lacking in places. It covers a broad range of artists and does a nice job giving both the overall sweep of the movement and close readings of important modernists. It covers a variety of genres (focusing on narrative fiction, lyric poetry, and drama) and represents a worthy addition to and reconsideration of our understanding of modernism.

The Complete Poems, 1927-1979 by Elizabeth Bishop

This collection of poetry gives you everything Bishop ever published and more. My main complaint about the edition itself (not the poetry) is that it doesn't provide line numbers. That quibble aside, this collection is fantastic. I particularly enjoyed "Insomnia," "One Art," "Sestina," and "In the Waiting Room" this time around. The beauty of this poetry rests as much in what it doesn't say, and in the task of digging out the pieces. I'm also interested in the way this poetry blurs the line between the surreal and the real and the way in which it portrays nature. Several of these poems definitely make my essential list.

Chainfire by Terry Goodkind

This book is yet another frustrating entry in the Sword of Truth series. Richard wakes up to an attack and discovers that he's the only one who remembers his wife, Kahlan. Also, there are serious holes in prophecy (that is to say, books of prophecy are going blank, and no one can remember the parts that are missing). Unfortunately the plot sounds more intriguing than it ends up being. There's a lot of exposition that mostly comes off as sounding preachy. I don't find the prophecy system particularly convincing either (too much math and mysticism involved). I'm sticking with the series because I want to know how things end, but I don't have too much hope for these books.

Ascension by Christie Golden

This book took what we knew about the Sith, Abeloth, the Jedi, and the GA and turned everything upside down. It did a better job than I was expecting keeping things exciting and setting up a final confrontation between Sith and Jedi. I particularly enjoyed watching Ben and Vestara interact in this book. I also enjoyed the machinations on the Empire side of things (Jag, the Moffs, Daala). It reminded me of the days when Thrawn was running around and causing trouble!