Wolves of the Calla by Stephen King

Heads up! I'm probably going to give some stuff away here but I have a lot to say.

Let's talk about Stephen King for a moment. I have a definite love/hate relationship with the man. I sometimes think that he is the most brilliant author alive today, especially when it comes to the Dark Tower series which may very well be the glue that holds the world together. However, he has a tendency to pull some cheap tricks that drive me mad. Example: An elderly gentleman tells a story to Eddie in this book about when he faced the Wolves. When he delivers the vital information to Eddie, he whispers it so the reader can't read it. When Eddie shares this information with Roland, again the reader doesn't see it. And that's cheap. Also, towards the end Roland pulls about three tie ins from other stories (two of which are not his) that almost made me throw the book. Also, there are characters in this book with accents you will not be able to understand. Even worse, you are going to start talking in the Calla accent. Be warned.

Despite all that, I couldn't put it down and you KNOW I'll be reading the rest of the series.

Anyway, we left off with the ka-tet wandering along the path of the beam. This book picks up in Calla Bryn Sturgis where most of the children are born as twins but every 20-25 years the mysterious wolves come out of the east and snatch one of every pair that is of appropriate age. The stolen children are sent back to Calla but they are sent back "roont." They are oversized and developmentally disabled. The town has allowed such behavior for a few generations but one farmer, Jeffords, has had enough. Luckily, they have received word of gunslingers.

Finally, we get to see the gunslingers at work. It's not all death and killing, you know, but a code of conduct and a proper way to ask for help. Roland, Susannah, Jake, Eddie, and Oi spend most of the book in preparation. They must gain the trust and respect of the townfolk. They must figure out as much as they can about the Wolves and how to kill them and then prepare the town for action. To complicate matters, Susannah is now aware that she is pregnant and that she is splitting into two personalities again. To complicate things even further, an ancient relic pops up that allows the ka-tet to go to New York where they discover that the rose is in danger and they must save that and Tower of Manhattan Restaurant of the Mind fame.

There really is a lot going on in this book. Sometimes King can get wordy in his longer novels but I don't think Wolves could have been a shorter book. It was exciting and it was good and I really can't wait to see what happens. As it is, I feel like I have run a marathon and I am glad for a little break!

Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

In the past couple of weeks, Sookie Stackhouse has become pretty common around my house.  We started watching the TrueBlood show and quickly became obsessed enough to decide that the books may be worth a shot.  I ordered in the first one and started reading it right away because I figured it would be a quick easy read.  It would have been quick too, except that I've spent most of my time watching the show instead of reading the book.  It's made for an interesting experience.  Sometimes it gets a little confusing.

That, actually, would be my one complaint about Harris's writing.  Sometimes I just don't understand what is going on.  The example that sticks out the most is Bubba.  I had to Google to figure out who Bubba was.  Why couldn't this have been spelled out a little better for the reader?  It appeared to be a pretty common question about the series.

In general, I must confess that I like to show better.  There is more going on.  It makes me laugh more often.  I like the characters that don't appear in the book or are just barely mentioned.  However, I love READING what Sookie hears in other people's heads and I actually like Sookie better altogether.

If you don't know the story, Sookie lives in a little town called Bon Temps.  This is our world but vampires have "come out of the coffin," as the book puts it.  Science has led to the invention of synthetic blood which the vampires can drink for nourishment instead of using humans as a food source.  That doesn't mean they do.  Sookie meets her first vampire, Bill, and falls head over heels for him.  In the meantime, women who have slept with vampires, or fang bangers, have been showing up strangled.  A killer is on the lose and Sookie is sure to be on his list because of her relationship with Bill.  This is one time where hearing other peoples thoughts doesn't seem to be helping.  Sookie is sucked into a game of trying to figure out who the killer is, attempting to find her way through vampire society, and protecting the people who mean the most to her.

This was a fun read and I have already ordered the next book in the series.  I can't promise that I'll make it through the whole set, though.

Demons in the Spring by Joe Meno

I don't usually read short stories but I am always willing to make an exception for one of my favorite authors.  With Demons in the Spring, I never regretted making that exception.

Meno has a way with words.  His novels are always heartbreaking and difficult and this set of short stories follows suite.  The stories are odd.  There is one about a woman who becomes a cloud whenever her husband kisses her.  There is one about a girl who has a tumor that progresses the same way a city would until there is a sky scraper growing from her heart.  Even though the stories tend to contain strange subject matter, they always seem to be such quiet stories.  It is just a day in the life for these characters.  In this way the reader isn't surprised by something strange happening.  Of course it is possible.  Why wouldn't a woman turn into a cloud?

What I love about Meno's writing is that he always leaves me feeling raw.  Sometimes he fills me with loneliness and longing.  These characters are people with a great capacity to love.  If anything, I would say that is what holds this collection together.

Besides the writing, this is a beautiful volume.  I gasped when I opened the envelope it came in.  It has a beautiful light maroon fabric cover and each story has a different illustrator.  While I borrowed this from the library, it would be worth spending the money on.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

I wanted to like it. I really, really wanted to. It is, after all, one of those books that has become almost legendary. I know a few people who love it, including one who has mentioned in conversation plenty of times that she feels bad for the monster.

I don't.

What happened here is that a teenage girl had a wonderfully frightening idea for a story to thrill her male companions. Then she wrote it and made the kind of mistakes that young authors tend to make. She took her horrifying tale and smothered it with morals. This is the type of writing that wouldn't make it past a 300 level creative writing class. There is too much that feels faked and forced and coincidental to a level that is positively exhausting.

It was exhausting to read. I could barely get five pages in before passing out where ever I was sitting. It was suggested that perhaps the language of the period was the issue but it was really the period of inaction that felt as if they dragged on forever. I ended up downloading a free copy to my Kindle and having a larger font helped but still it dragged on. I had less than 25% of the book left for well over a week but, as I said, the moment I started reading I fell asleep.

As for sympathy, I suppose that Shelley managed to create enough moral friction to arouse discussion. Who is the real monster? Is it Frankenstein or his monster? It is true that Frankenstein created the monster, which was probably not right. However, the monster obviously has free will and chooses to do evil. Nobody had my sympathy except possibly Frankenstein's father. Even Elizabeth annoyed me, mostly because she was such a very flat character.

My final opinion on this one, as given to a seventeen year old boy was, "If you have to read it for a class, do so. Otherwise, don't waste your time."

The Beginner's Guide to Natural Living by Larry Cook

So... Am I the only person who kind of thinks the natural living advocates are full of shit? I really don't mean to be ignorant and rude about this but it's been bothering me for a long time.

I ordered this book because I have been thinking a lot about my body and my health lately. I am a firm believer that the body can heal itself and that what you put in is what you get out. I had been thinking that maybe I wanted to invest in organic foods and make my own household cleaners and the like. (The smell of cleaners makes me nauseous. It has for a few years now but I usually just deal with it or don't clean the house.)

There are a lot of things about natural living that I just don't understand. Why do people who live naturally have to ruin everything for those of us who don't? Why do they insist that it will be easy when the first chapter is about how your water will KILL YOU unless you purchase an in home filtration system and then go on to tell you that you need to get rid of all your food and shop only at health food stores? If natural living is so good for you, why do you have to take supplements and give yourself enemas? And why, WHY is it always the government and big business conspiring against us?

Perhaps I am just an old woman, stuck in my ways, but that is not the way I want to live. I suppose this was a good book, a great starting place with tons of suggested resources. I cannot fault Cook's writing or coverage of the subject. This was my own fault for choosing to research the subject.

How the Hula Girl Sings by Joe Meno

If you've never read a Joe Meno book, I suggest you go out and buy one right now. I would suggest starting with Hairstyles of the Damned, which is what got me started and is also one of my favorite books. It's different from the rest of his work, for sure, but wonderful. I've found each and every one of his books that I've read since to be great, quirky, weird, and somehow heartbreaking.

This is the story of Luce Lemay who is an ex-con returning to his hometown after a three year stay in prison. He robbed the liquor store he had been working at and, while on the run, hit a baby carriage, killing its occupant. He never meant to kill any babies, or any adults for that matter, but he knows that he is returning home marked as a baby killer. He has a job lined up and a place to stay and his ex-con friend Junior is waiting for him. On the bus he meets Charlene. She is beautiful and she's also the little sister of a girl he used to fool around with on Sunday afternoons. And that's just the first chapter.

Attempting to build a new life on the crumbling foundations of an old one is difficult. A lot of people in town don't want Luce around. The one who wants it least is Charlene's ex-fiance. Luce is always trying to move forward, prove that he is a good man and do what is right even though he is guilt-ridden. However, things get violent in town and Luce needs to decide what kind of man he is, regardless of what others say about him.

A Field Guide to the North American Family by Garth Hallberg

This was a really neat little book. I never would have thought of telling a story like this but it was wonderful to read.

A Field Guide is the story of two families through the years. Each family has a father, mother, daughter, and son. They a neighbors and the boys are the same age. Instead of chapters, this story is told in entries which are alphabetical, just like in a field guide. Each entry is accompanied by a picture and cross references. For instance, "Adolescence" is cross referenced with "Boredom" and "Angst." There is a story here. The families face hard times. There is death and divorce. There are accidents and rumors. Everything comes slowly, in disjointed spurts because of the arrangement.

I would have gladly given this book five stars except that I kept getting characters mixed up, specifically the boys and the moms. It was handy to have a cast of characters in the front of the book to refer to but I wish there had been a little more character development instead. Still, I loved it.

Carrie by Stephen King

Carrie is the book that first got me really reading. I read it in junior high and I recall actually sitting in a pretty uncomfortable position for hours, devouring it page by page.

There is a danger in revisiting old literary loves. You never know if they are going to be quite like you remember. I wanted to reread this for a few reasons, though. I work with a few junior high girls that keep asking me for horror books. I've been getting into Stephen King a lot more recently. Also, I kind of wanted to know if it still stacked up.

I still love this book. It is decidedly juvenile and the first scene is kind of rough. It's embarrassing and harsh but it really sets the mood for the rest of the book. Even better, it is perfect to hook a twelve year old girl. I imagine that I related with Carrie when I was twelve. I felt like a loner and was hurt by the other kids. Then it was amazing (but still horrifying) to read about Carrie destroying the town, punishing the people who hurt her. Now that I am an "adult," I took something completely different from it. I felt bad for Carrie. I felt bad for the people who died, who never got to learn their lessons really. In today's world of school shootings this is a paranormal twist that might make kids think about violence differently.

For a first novel this is phenomenal and it's really not surprising that King developed into the author who brought us such masterpieces as The Stand, The Dark Tower, and The Green Mile.

Nymph by Francesca Lia Block

I walked out of the break room at work and held up this small, slim volume. "It's book 77 and I'm done with it!"

"What is it?" the children's librarian asked.

I blushed furiously. "Um, it's a dirty book."

And it is! Nymph is Block's collection of erotic short stories, most tying in together. I'm glad this was my second time reading this one because I plowed right through with no attention to where I was. I'm also glad that the sticker from the sending library covered most of the cover. I read it in the car and at work. I read it at home and left it out on the table during a party. I could not have handled explaining my choice.

The first time I read this, honestly, it made me hot. lol. That's awkward to admit on my oh-so-literary blog. The second read it wasn't so much of a problem. Part of that is probably that I am trying to plow through this last 25 books. The stories are still very Francesca Lia Block-ish. There are mermaids. There is magic. There is love. These are really dirty stories about love. Sorry, erotic stories about love.

If you feel like testing the waters, go for it.

Stephen King's The Stand: American Nightmares

Finally, I got it. I wish that I would have gotten it sooner because I would have blown through this book when it came for me three weeks ago. If you recall, I was slightly disappointed with the first in this series of graphic novels. It didn't feel right. I'm not sure what changed. Part of it, I think, is that I started watching the movie which is very different than the book and that made the graphic novel seem much more like the book.

This is how reading a graphic novel should be. While I was waiting for the computer at work to get on with something, I opened the book and read. In just a few moments I would be sucked into the story. In all fairness, the author does spend more time with each character instead of bouncing around every other page as in the first one. Also, I think that Flagg starts to look like I've always seen him: A sinister Chuck Noris.

I'm glad I gave the second book a chance. I've already ordered the third.

Death of a Charming Man by M.C. Beaton

I really am enjoying listening to the audios of this series. The reader, Davina Porter, I believe, has a fantastic accent and does the voices. This was great to listen to during the fall, too. Something about a little murder mystery while the leaves are falling and Halloween is creeping up just evokes a real seasonal spirit.

In the Highlands, Hamish's beat includes a little town called Drim. It is a dreary and quiet place usually but the arrival of a charming, handsome young man, Peter, stirs up the ladies of the village. Soon, they are getting perms, dying their hair, wearing heels and make up, and even taking aerobics classes. However, when Peter leaves suddenly and mysteriously, Hamish cannot fight off the feeling that the man was murdered. What follows is a lot of Hamish poking about where he shouldn't in his typical manner.

I don't want to ruin anything for you if you are reading this series but Hamish and Priscilla's engagement was one of my main interests in this book. Priscilla seems suddenly not as friendly and then she pulls some amazing stunts to save Hamish's butt and you end up thinking she is awesome. At the end though *spoiler* I couldn't help but think that Priscilla is not a great lasy simply because she always tries to change Hamish. I feel for Hamish, you know. I never plan on leaving my small town. I am not very ambitious. It is more important for me to have a home life and be happy than to work my arse off for some good paying position and have a heart attack before I get to enjoy it. I'm just not sure about that woman...

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

For many years I worked with a boy who was a little pompous about some things some of the time. It wasn't intolerable. In fact, I counted him as a good friend unless he was being pompous about something. There were three books he was always trying to talk me into reading and because he was a bit pompous about them, I resisted. They were American Gods by Neil Gaiman, Dune by Frank Herbert, and Hitchhiker's Guide. A couple of years ago I tried listening to American Gods on audio but decided it need to be read. Maybe the boy had something to be pompous about after all. I loved this book.

Of course, he's not the reason I read it. I read it because the other day my boyfriend walked into the room I was in and asked, "Look, what are you reading after that?"

I looked down at the book in my hand, closed my eyes, and visualized the stack. "Next I have So Many Books, So Little Time followed by Ecstasia followed by Will Write for Shoes."

He shook his head. "You're going to have to read Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy next." He was holding a thick book that was the omnibus of the five books in the trilogy. (I know. But it's a trilogy with five books. I didn't make it up.)

I took my book with me to work the next day, intending to read it only when he wasn't around and then surprise him. The fact that I haven't been reading very much lately would make it perfectly plausible that I made it no farther in my book when he wasn't around. I was quite pleased with myself until I got home that night and realized that I had left the other book I was reading at work. The jig was up. He was still pretty pleased.

Hitchhiker's Guide was unlike anything that I had ever read. A big part of this is that I don't read science fiction pretty much at all. The jargon slowed me down a bit but I laughed ridiculously and it was loaded with lots of little jokes that you can use with other people who have read the book. Don't panic. Always have a towel. 42.

I don't know who to suggest this too. I really enjoyed it but I feel like a lot of my friends would think it was stupid. My bestie told me she had looked at it once and thought it might be a little "off." Well it is, but aren't we all?

Stephen King's The Stand: Captain Trips by Roberto Aquirre-Sacasa

Due to my latest Stephen King craze, I decided one day to click around on his website and find a list of books by publication date. What I discovered was that there is a whole world of Stephen King that I didn't know about. That's how I found these graphic versions of the classic, which I read earlier this summer, The Stand.

Honestly, I'm not impressed.

Alright, so, The Stand. Well, I read the actual novel first. I read the original, not the uncut, version. I loved it. It took a while to get through because of its size but I loved it. Then I picked up the first graphic novel and it felt, well, wrong. I don't know if it was the story (which had to have been different from the original book and understandably) or the artwork. It just didn't feel right. Then I started the movie. I'm over halfway through and it seems better.

I ordered the second book just to see. As always, I'll let you know what I think.

Death of a Travelling Man- M.C. Beaton

As I've said before, I really like this series and I would love to make it through them all. However, lately I've been feeling a bit bogged down by the amount of books in my To Be Read stack. In trying to find a way to solve this problem, I thought that I might try listening to some audios. Now, I have a hard time with audios. I don't count them as reading so for the most part I assign them to my fluff books and read the more serious stuff the good old fashioned way. I just retain more information from reading than from listening. I thought I might try this series as an audio.

It was awesome.

Listening to this book made me really appreciate what audio can do. It was funnier and funner! I couldn't wait to get in my car and pop in the next disc. Once I got past the reader's accent, I felt like it added to the story. I started picking it up a little bit too.

Another thing that really helped this book was that it broke from form. There isn't a group stuck together with one of its members dead. Instead, a man who seems to really bother Hamish shows up in a travel trailer and a foul mouthed woman. At first, everyone but Hamish seems to adore the man. The first sign that something is wrong is when the man makes a pass at Priscilla. When he is found beaten to death with a sledge hammer, nobody has anything good to say anymore. What follows is a case of blackmail that Hamish sorts out in his usual sly manner. The book ends with an odd twist, one not quite expected.

I liked this book and I can't wait to listen to the next. I'm glad that I gave the audio a chance.

Blaze by Stephen King, writting as Richard Bachman

Have we discussed my love of Stephen King before? I'm sure we have. I don't really know what it is about that man. His stories never cease to surprise me. I haven't met one that I didn't like. Also, I LOVE his introductions. He makes me want to write.

This is not your typical King book. From what I gather, it's not very Bachman either. It was meant to be a throwback to the noir crime but instead it ended up a "three hanky". The main character, Blaze, is a criminal but he wasn't always going to be one. He was a smart boy who loved to read but then his father threw him down the steps three times. Now that he is grown, he is a huge man with a dent in his forehead who seems to have not so many smarts. He is planning a kidnapping with his friend George, who is dead. Blaze still hears George though and spends most of the book trying to figure out if George is a part of him.

The chapters alternate between past and present. We see Blaze grow up and fall into one unfortunate trap after another. In the present, he begins planning the kidnapping and carries it out. By the end of the book, we cannot help but feel for Blaze. We see him as a consequnce of other's actions and his hard knock life. Inside he is a teddy bear who is more concerned in the end about the baby than about the money.

I loved this book. I even sat down and read for over two hours last night, a rarity for me. When I mentioned that I was reading it to my mother, she told me it was her favorite King and that I would love it. We read two different kinds of books, Mom and me, so this must be good all around.

Death of a Glutton by M.C. Beaton

I have never been a very big fan of mysteries and definitely not those form mysteries that everyone seemed so keen on. If that's what I wanted, I would play Clue. M.C. Beaton's Hamish MacBeth series hooked me, though. The main character is charming and just up my alley. For instance, he keeps whiskey on his mantle and is unambitious, happy to work in a small town and send his money to his parents to care for his younger siblings.

My only beef with these books is that they are, well, very formulaic. At this point, I can guess what each chapter will bring. Chapter 1 we will be introduced to a number of characters, old friends and people we have never heard of before. Most are walk on characters to drive the plot and I have a hard time keeping them straight. I tend to read with one finger in chapter one so I can reference who the author is talking about. Chapter 2 will show how the characters interact and the reader will see that everyone hates the person who dies in chapter 3.

In this mystery, a dating service for the upper-class brings a group of possible couples to the castle inn. When the owner and organizer's business partner shows up, a gluttonous woman in search of a rich man for herself, all hell breaks loose.

But, really, they are amusing little reads. I spend the first half wondering why I read these short cozy mysteries and the second half devouring every word. By the time I'm done I can't wait for the next one and you won't be able to either.

The Green Mile by Stephen King

I kind of think that all of King's books should be released as serials. I love King's writing. In fact, at this point I don't think I've come across a book of his that I don't like. However, I have to admit that I haven't read a lot of them. They are so long that they look daunting. I would have read The Stand years ago if it had been a serial novel!

So, I read this in the six separate books (uping my book count for the year) but chose to review them as one large book.

Paul Edgecomb is old. He's really, really old. He's living in a home that his grandchildren have put him in and he is nagged by the memory of 1932, the year he was a supervisor on a death row block and a miracle occurred. A man accused of murdering two girls is sent to walk the green mile but John Coffey turns out to be nothing like he seems.

I really liked this book. I don't want to say too much because this set up lends itself to giving a lot away. It feels like every book has a climax and every climax is pertinent to the plot. I think that this is another pretty smart novel from King though, bringing to light racial issues and revolving around the theme of good and evil. I hope to watch the movie soon, which I've only seen parts of. Rest assured, the book was completely worth the time.

May 2011: The Stand

Books Read:
Coffey's Hands by Stephen King
Tender as Hellfire by Joe Meno
The Bad Death of Eduard deLacroix by Stephen King
The Stand by Stephen King

I only want to talk about The Stand this month as it took up the last two and a half weeks at least and I have a lot to say about it.

My copy is a used paperback with a great little reaction jotted on the inside cover. I love it. However, I did not realize that there was an extended edition until I had already started and it wasn't available at my library so I would have had to wait for a copy to come in and I was mostly ready to get going and take on the beast, if you will. At the start, 817 pages seemed like a daunting task and I didn't want to tackle the 1153 page uncut edition. I wonder if I will beat myself up over this choice forever and eventually give in and read the uncut edition.

I loved this book. King writes in such a way that 10 pages can feel like 40 but sometimes 40 can feel like 10. The first week was kind of rough. The book looked so big that I handled it much how I handle other tasks that seem daunting... Every time I caught sight of the book and thought that I should read a couple of pages I loaded up Facebook. It made the first week pretty slow but after that it seemed to stick.

The best part of this book is definitely the characters. King produces such a wide array of characters and they are all very well developed for their purpose. A lot of the bad guys seem more two dimensional than 3-D but it works for them. My boyfriend kept trying to convince me to watch the movie and at one point let it slip that Molly Ringwald plays Frannie. I never would have guessed that and it messed with my idea of Frannie for the rest of the book. However, I looked up the pictures of Harold Lauder and they were pretty right on.

Harold is a character that I want to talk a bit about. He reminded me of my ex who spent a lot of time feeling angry about things that had happened to him in high school. If he got off on a rant, he would grit his teeth and growl, "They'll pay! They'll all pay!" This was something that contributed to our eventual split. I was teased in school and instead of being angry and a little demented about the whole thing, I'm actually pretty thankful. I am who I am because of where I have been. I would totally end up on Mother Abigail's side.

I really think that King can be an actual literary author. This didn't feel like a novel of terror to me. Sure, there were some grisly parts (read: awesome but no decapitation) but this was about good vs. evil. Randall Flagg makes his appearance. Did you know he is in like 8 King books, and that doesn't include movies like Perfect Storm. Randall Flagg is ultimate evil. He is Legion, which is worth looking into when reading these deep Stephen King books.

My ruling on this one is that it was a great, if long, read. I loved the characters. (How is it that I wrote a whole blog without mentioning Nick or Stu or Ralph or Larry? I LOVED Larry!) There's even a cheat sheet to help you keep the characters straight online. I loved how the characters drove the plot. I loved imagining whether or not I could live in this world.

What a great way to spend 817 pages!

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!

March 2011

Books Read:
A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley
House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne
Hector and the Search for Happiness by Fancois Lelord
When We Were Very Young by A.A. Milne
Shakespeare Wrote for Money by Nick Hornby
Now We Are Six by A.A. Milne
The Alchemist: Graphic Novel by Paulo Coelho

You caught me...

I have been mixing in some childrens books just to boost my numbers. Well, not just to boost my numbers. I've enjoyed reading them and all. I've been meaning to read them. Actually, the big debate this month came when Matt told me that I couldn't count a book of poetry as a book read. I totally count it if I've read it cover to cover. I read the final three Winne the Pooh books cover to cover. Most of the poetry was even read aloud, as it should be and much to the cats' delight. I also slipped in a graphic novel but it was The Alchemist and it was very deep and well worth it.

I spent a lot of time on Jane Smiley's A Thousand Acres and part of the problem was that it was too close to home. The actual content of the story wasn't but he vast farms and the pretty much the entire setting reminded me of my hometown, which I have never left. It was easy to get caught up in the descriptions of farm life because they were the same things that I heard every day in class. Basically, it was the kind of book that I get caught up in and take, thus, take my time with. However, it was a bit predictable. It's literature, after all. It was easy for me to guess what was going on, or what had gone on as it were.

The shining star of this month, for sure, was Hector and the Search for Happiness. I read reviews of this book and then I came across it in Target and it was the perfect little paperback. I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. I ordered it through the library and there is was! The same little paperback, perfectly shaped! It was worth the effort. I could not put this book down. Hector is a psychiatrist and he notices that more and more people who should be happy aren't. He decides to travel the world and learn about happiness. He goes to China, a violent African country, and The Country of More. (That's us! We have more psychiatrists AND we are more unhappy!) Hector learns a lot about happiness and I really enjoyed the ride.

I was impressed with all of the reading I got done this month until I started writing this. Now I feel a bit deflated. Next month doesn't look like it's going to be much better. I've joined a book club and the first selection isn't something that I am really looking forward to. I'll try it but I will invoke my reader's rights if I have to: The right not to read.