Book-a-book of the Month Club discussion

Discuss John Steinbeck here. Other books you have read? Plan to read? Praises? Critiques?

I've read almost every book by Steinbeck and love them for their starkness. The Pearl is my favorite, followed closely by Cannery Row. I lived in Monterey as a teen and walked the real cannery row many, many times. Made it more real to me.

I remember really enjoying The Grapes of Wrath in High School - which was big because I tended not to enjoy assigned reading.

I also know I read Of Mice and Men, but other than the basic story points, I don't remember much about it. Might be worth a reread.

Kandice wrote: "The Pearl is my favorite, followed closely by Cannery Row."

I have heard both are good and I should get them on my TBR!

Yeah, I've only read of Mice of Men by him. That was way back in High School. I remember being really taken it by and still recall a lot the details. I'm not one of those people that remember lines from things, but it left a vivid quick flowing movie in my mind that gave each person enough depth, and only just that, to make every seem real and relatable.

This book did the same thing.
I love that the people from the book exist through their histories and through their encounters. You don't know what's going on in their minds, but you know what's going on with them and how they've acted. I don't read a lot of books where they take that avenue of introduction.

I also really liked how things were over explained. At first, I admit, it was kind of tedious. I found myself being like, why are you telling me about this whole family when only one of the eight of them is really important to the rest of the story. Later on, when I chilled out, I was like... "TELL ME MORE ABOUT THE FUCKING GOLF SHOES!"

Joe - thanks for the LOL! I know what you mean. Some authors know how to do description and some don't. I also ended up wanting Steinbeck to tell me everything!