Thursday, May 15, 2008

It's deceiving, I know. That little box on the the right side of your computer screen. You are thinking, "Is she reading or is she not?" "She says shes reading this or that book," but then you never hear about it. Well, I am here to confirm your suspicions, its true I have been doing some extra-circular reading as of late. Since we moved north I have gained nearly four hours of train time a day. This means, I now have almost TOO MUCH time to read and yet somehow still not enough time to post about my readings. So here is a review of some of the books I've read over the past few months.

A Walk In The Woods by Bill Bryson
How I have been able to make it to 26 and not have read a Bill Bryon book I have no idea. I kinda wonder if I maybe have bad friends. I mean how could no one have insisted that I read one of his adventure stories. The point is, A Walk In The Woods, is wonderful. It's the perfect book to pick up when you are aching for summer to come but can't actually go outside without at least a warm sweater on. It gets you through that last stretch of barren winter trees without going losing your mind. Oh, and did I mention that it's f*@king HILARIOUS! Goodness me, I had to put it down at times because I was crying from laughter. Highly recommended!

Harry Potter and The Sorcerers Stone by J.K. Rowling
One part curiosity, one part peer pressure...this was what got me to pick up the first book in the Harry Potter series again. That's right, I read the first two books back where there were only two books in the series and did not love them enough to keep going. So I figured, since I enjoy the movies and my husband (and nearly everyone else) is obsessed with the books I might as well give it a try again. So I read the first book again. And it was okay. Sorry. I know, scandal. But it just isn't amazing. It's cute and enjoyable but not that enjoyable. That's all I really have to say. Oh, and yes, I do plan to continue on reading them...eventually.

The Amateur Marriage by Anne Tyler
Okay, so I am actually smack dead in the middle of this one now, but really it is hard to go wrong with Anne Tyler. She just is a great novelist. End of story. That said, while reading this novel I have had a very real sense of being a woman of a different generation from her. I can't quite put my tongue on it yet but maybe some of you know what I am talking about. It is as if her female characters have this ridiculousness to them. As if to be a woman means you must have an element of absurdity--which is probably true in reality--but the problem is, it's not a universal characteristic, in Tyler's book it is distinctly female.

Last thing, I started reading Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell and wow is it slow!! Can someone please give me the encouragement I need to keep on? I'm only 60 pages in, the writing is beautiful, but honestly it puts me right into a beautiful nap everytime I pick it up.

Well that's it for now. I will be back with a few more soon (I hope).

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