April 2011

BOOKS READ:
-American Vampire, vol. 1 by Stephen King
-Petite Suzanne by Marguerite de Angeli
-Labyrinth of Desire by Rosemary Sullivan
-Other People's Love Letters by Bill Shapiro
-Smashed by Koren Zalickas
-Peace and Plenty by Sarah Ban Breathnach
-Two Dead Girls by Stephen King
-My Fair Lazy by Jen Lancaster
-The Mouse on the Mile by Stephen King
-Orchids on Your Budget by Marjorie Hillis

10 books! 10 books in one month! Anyone would consider that impressive.

Okay, you busted me. I've been reading Stephen King's The Green Mile in its original form, the series. I started this purely because I wanted to up my book count and that is probably cheating but I've decided that every Stephen King novel needs to be made into a mini-series. I love Stephen King but so many of his books are large enough to be downright daunting. Proof? The Stand has been in my stack of books to read for nearly a year. I just keep moving it instead of reading it. If it were in handy installments it would be done by now. American Vampire is an graphic novel co-written by King that takes place in the old west and in Hollywood. I liked it but it was pretty standard.

It was a really weird reading month. I can't quite figure out how to tackle this list!

I read two books about love this month, Other People's Love Letters and Labyrinth of Desire. Other People's Love Letters was a collection of love letters (Imagine!) similar to Post Secret. They were sometimes silly, sometimes dirty, sometimes heart wrenching. The whole experience made me wonder if I would someday regret not writing a love letter. Labyrinth of Desire was a study in obsessive love. Sullivan starts her study with a story and then breaks it down into pieces which she analyzes. It was a surprisingly good read and I am not doing it justice.

I read two memoirs this month as well. My Fair Lazy is by our good friend Jen Lancaster. I've read the rest of her memoirs and they were all great. Bright Lights, Big Ass may be my favorite. This could come in second. Jen embarrasses herself at a party and realizes that doing something like that could jeopordize her career as an author. She decides to set about culturing herself up. She takes cooking lessons and goes to the theater and opera and museums and it is ALWAYS a good time. My favorite part was when she went to China Town and was horrified of bringing home a gremlin. Smashed, the second memoir was a good read but ticked me off in a number of ways. Like, the author is constantly talking about how typical her experience with alcohol is but I, for one, have never had my stomach pumped and certainly not at age 16. Mostly, it gave me some great drinking game ideas.

There were two personal finance books this month too, but I'll spare you the details. To sum them up, Peace and Plenty brought me no peace at all while I found 1937's Orchids on Your Budget both entertaining and useful. How could you now with such chapters as "Well, Who isn't Poor?" and "Can You Afford a Husband?"

May is already nearly two weeks gone. (Better late than never!) I can promise that it won't be as productive as April. I am nearly three books into the month and the next book is a doozy! Wish me luck and HAPPY READING!