Category Archives: Books

I know, I know.

This week is just like the Island of Misfit Toys.

Or under-represented topics.

Or polar opposites.

Your choice.

But the absence of any proper discussion about books since May comes with good reason.

No, I haven’t forsaken reading.

About a week before the honeymoon, I realized I had zero clue as to what I was going to read (besides magazines) while we were en Europe.  That’s kind of frightening for a person who can put The Deathly Hallows away in less than a day if need be.

Having been totally enraptured by the millions of dollars that HBO threw at The Game of Thrones, I decided that it was time to commit to actually reading the books.

And the prospect of cramming 3,880 pages into my suitcase was The Insurance Policy against boredom.

When you add in the 959 pages that A Dance With Dragons brought to the table?

Well.

I think it’s safe to say that I’ve been occupied.

I am no stranger to fantasy.  I like to think that my childhood affinity for My Little Ponies and The Castle in the Attic lead me straight into the welcoming arms of Redwall, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Dragonriders of Pern, Harry Potter and His Dark Materials.

To worlds of woodland creatures who talk, the universe beyond the wardrobe, dragons that can travel between places and times, The Boy Who Lived and little girls who are wise beyond their years.

They’re detailed.  To the point where I feel like I should have some sort of textbook sitting next to me while I read to help me make sense of the thousands of years of history that have led up to these books.

Instead of focusing on one singular plot or purpose, he instead chose to create a world.  There is no quest, there is no singular aim.  And the further I read, the more I was able to see how it resembled ours.  The complexities of faiths that are at-odds with one another.  The issues that accompany social change.  The challenge of self-governance, or lack thereof.

Or more simply, loyalty.  Morality.  The Brotherhood of Man.

What speaks even more to the series is the fact that George R.R. Martin is an absolutely unapologetic author.  You’ve fallen in-love with a character?  They’re probably dead by now.  Things are starting to make sense?  Your world is about to be turned inside-out and upside-down.

I like to think that these are The Thinking Man’s fantasy series.  Because you don’t have to be into velvet and swords.  You do need to be into politics and history.

Or to distill that thought even further, Marcus is reading these books and he’s not even a books-reader.

Yes, I’ve just tried to sell you on an entire series without telling you what happens.  But that’s because if you actually wanted to know the plot, you could just Wikipedia it.  I’m the one who is telling you that they’re readable and enjoyably so.

Don’t fret – book club as we know it will resume soon!  I have managed to squeeze in a few other books here and there.

Have you read any of the books in the A Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones) series?

What was your favorite book or series when you were a pup?

I will say that prior to kindergarten, I was rather fond of I am a Bunny.

It has been over a month since our last round of Book Club and it’s not as if I haven’t been turning pages like a pro since then.

I can’t say that this latest round of reads would qualify me for the title of “Intellectual,” but none of them elicited an eye-roll, so I think we’re in a good place.

What’s been keeping me sharp?

Comfort Food, by Kate Jacobs

Most of the time, beach books have pink covers.  But this beach book’s cover?  Was black.

I don’t really think that any book titled “Comfort Food” could really be that weighty, but how far we’ve come, if we’re now writing fictional works about people on the set of a cooking show.

…Seriously?

It was entirely implausible but completely adorable in the most tried and true tradition of a chick-flick.  There was just enough plot to keep you turning the pages until you made it to the entirely necessary and predictable happy ending.

Not mentally taxing.  Not terribly long.

gods in alabama, by Joshilyn Jackson

Y’all know I’m not really one who goes for books with any sort of mystery or family trauma.  They just don’t do it for me.

And for one reason or another, I don’t seem to read a lot of books that are set in the American South or West.  The coasts?  Yes.  The Midwest?  Yes.

But Alabama?

Never.

So in the spirit of knocking it out of the park, I ended up bringing gods in alabama home from the library.

For what it’s worth, this doesn’t happen to people who actually walk into the library with a plan.

What I did appreciate the most about the book was the fact that even though there was a bit of a mystery to the main character and the story, the book let you enjoy watching it unravel, rather than forcing you to solve it on the spot.

Actually solving the mystery?  Is SO not how I roll.

Living History, by Hillary Rodham Clinton

Once again, I had to go and get lost in the biographical section of the library and came out with this jewel.

I wish I could say that there was some sort of method to my memoir-madness, but beyond the fact that they all seem to be women (I did read Ben Bradlee’s autobiography two years ago), I’ve got nothing.

But there’s something inherently interesting about learning what makes someone tick when that person happens to be a former First Lady and Senator as well as the current Secretary of State.

Given that a good chunk of Hillary’s life has played out in front of all of us, we all have some familiarity with her as a woman and as a human being.

So, rather than tell you all about a woman whose life has played out on a very public stage for the past (almost) twenty years), I’ll give you one interesting/fun fact that I learned: Hillary Clinton worked on the research team for the prosecution in the Watergate case.

Go.

firefly lane, by Kristin Hannah

Oh, shit.  Prepare yourselves, people.  I sobbed like someone in my own family had died for probably…the last 60 or so pages.

At first I thought I could handle it with the sleeve of my sweatshirt.  But then, the Kleenex box was in my lap and I barely knew what to do with myself.

It was a mess of EPIC proportions.

If I had to list books that it reminded me of, I would have to say the first one that came to mind was let’s take the long way home, by Gail Caldwell.

So if you’re looking for a story of friendship that runs so deep it can absolutely shred your heart into a million pieces, then yes you should go read this immediately.  It’s probably one of the best books I’ve read in awhile.

As per the usual, our collective reading list…

The Millenium Trilogy, by Stieg Larsson
The Glass Castle
Anything by Jodi Picoult
Anything by Chelsea Handler (I’ve read My Horizontal Life – it’s good, but if you loved I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell, you’ll find it tame)
The Joy Luck Club (Tawny, I somehow managed to escape reading this one in H.S.!)
Anything by David Sedaris
Water for Elephants (Back in my book-club days I read this one – highly recommend)
Life of Pi
All Creatures Great and Small
The Gun Seller
Room
Unbearable Lightness
Immortal Life
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
Sherlock Holmes (collection)
No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency (series)
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (I love this book SO hard.)
Other People’s Love Letters
Bitter is the New Black
Slave
Not Ready for Mom Jeans
Madras on Rainy Days
Good Girls Don’t Get Fat
Here on Earth
A Thread of Grace
Outlander (series)
Under the Banner of Heaven
Lolita in Tehran
The Pact
A People’s History of the United States
Stori Telling
Cleaving
Julie and Julia
The Three Musketeers
The Lady and The Unicorn (along with anything else by Tracy Chevalier)
Beachglass
The Persian Pickle Club

Summer is just around the corner – what beach books do you just LOVE?

After this latest reading jag, I think it’s safe to say that I’ll be slowing my roll for a while.  Despite the prolific number of cookbooks I’ve managed to cart away from the library in the last week or so (HIGHLY recommend this technique), there’s a ton of stuff on my reserves list that will probably continue to be there for the next month or so.

Without further adieu…

Women, Food and God by Geneen Roth

I don’t know if I’m burned out on healthy living books or what the deal is, but for all of the hype that Women, Food and God has gotten, this one just didn’t do it for me.  For the entirety of the book, the author and her followers were CONSTANTLY having epiphanies and I was like seriously?

I am having NO EPIPHANIES.

Maybe, it’s because when I was at my heaviest, I still felt like a skinny girl inside.  Maybe it’s because when I was overeating, it wasn’t because I felt lonely, or sad, or hurt.  I overate because I loved eating.  Hell, I STILL love eating.  I just learned that I can love eating and eat less at the same time.  That eating less didn’t mean sacrificing quality, flavor, experience.

That’s pretty no-nonsense as far as I’m concerned.

And the Pursuit of Happiness, Maira Kalman

I remember when Kalman was working on her book and shared bits and pieces of it on The New York Times.  I died.  Every single time.

And then I completely proceeded to forget the part about it becoming a book.

Split into twelve months with a topic for each month, it’s like an extremely bizarre hybrid between a history book and a picture book for adults.  It’s safe to say that I love it 11/10.

I’ll definitely be buying it to have around the house.

William & Kate: A Royal Love Story, Christopher Anderson

I was excited to read this in the sense that I’m excited to read about all things pertaining to The House of Windsor and all things William & Kate.

It was interesting, but basically, if you’ve been following William & Kate at all, then most of this is old news.  But it was nice to enjoy some good old-fashioned royal speculation.

Despite my fascination with The Firm, I know remarkably little about Princess Di.  Though I do remember watching her funeral, live.  To that end, it’s probably time for me to check out After Diana or, Diana: The People’s Princess.

Elements of Style, Wendy Wasserstein

Two words: Beach Book.  But even as far as beach books go, this one was pretty freaking bad.

I grabbed it because it was pink and the cover art was reminiscent of a package.  If you’re looking for a fun read about fictional New York City socialites, I’ll recommend Bergdorf Blondes.  If you see this one on the shelves, do yourselves a favor and run (don’t walk!) away.

And as always, our collective reading-list

The Millenium Trilogy, by Stieg Larsson
The Glass Castle
Anything by Jodi Picoult
Anything by Chelsea Handler (I’ve read My Horizontal Life – it’s good, but if you loved I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell, you’ll find it tame)
The Joy Luck Club (Tawny, I somehow managed to escape reading this one in H.S.!)
Anything by David Sedaris
Water for Elephants (Back in my book-club days I read this one – highly recommend)
Life of Pi
All Creatures Great and Small
The Gun Seller
Room
Unbearable Lightness
Immortal Life
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
Sherlock Holmes (collection)
No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency (series)
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (I love this book SO hard.)
Other People’s Love Letters
Bitter is the New Black
Slave
Not Ready for Mom Jeans
Madras on Rainy Days
Good Girls Don’t Get Fat
Here on Earth
A Thread of Grace
Outlander (series)
Under the Banner of Heaven
Lolita in Tehran
The Pact
A People’s History of the United States
Stori Telling
Cleaving
LA Candy
Julie and Julia
The Three Musketeers
The Lady and The Unicorn (along with anything else by Tracy Chevalier)

What’s the most disappointing book you’ve read lately?

Kittens, I have yet to finish packing and my wake-up call is at 4:00 AM.  But as we all know, The Blog must go on.  Take comfort in the fact that I went on a Lara Bar-buying jag at Whole Foods this evening in-between synagogue functions.

I don’t want to say that it was cathartic.  But it was cathartic.

And just to be doubly sure, I’m sipping champagne like it’s going out of style.

All that aside, here’s what I’ve polished off recently…

The Help, by Kathryn Stockett

I think I joined up on the waiting list for this one when I nabbed a library card last August.  It was worth the wait.  I don’t know that I regret not paying $4 to check it out for a week, but I do know that if you do go the pay-to-check-out route, it would be worth every penny.

The secret ingredient?  This was one of the rare books I’ve read where I could actually hear the characters speaking.  It was incredible.

And then I went and cried at the end.  Because lately, I’m emotional like that.

Own it.

Catching Fire, by Suzanne Collins

The plot wasn’t the most inventive I’ve ever read and it was even a little bit forced and transparent.  But despite the fact that it wasn’t as fast or as fascinating of a read as The Hunger Games (such is the plight of second books in trilogies), it was still a pleasantly fast read.  It’s not that I can’t SAY more about it.  There just isn’t much to say.

Mockingjay, by Suzanne Collins

For all that The Hunger Games was promising, Mockingjay was a complete disappointment.  Somehow from the end of Catching Fire to the beginning of Mockingjay, we managed to make a bizarre turn from post-apocalyptic to sci-fi/fantasy.  I rather enjoy both genres, but somehow Collins managed to totally mangle both of them.  Add in an ending that was completely rushed (Hello, plot development?  Are you there?) and therefore confusing, and you have Mockingjay.  Katniss was cheated and so were all of Collins’ readers.

I’m glad I read it, but it just kills me when authors mangle a series like that.  Would it kill anyone to write more than three books these days?

Four Fish, by Paul Greenberg

Honestly, I didn’t know what I was getting into when I put this book on my holds list.  It met the criteria of: About ethical and sustainable eating AND On Amazon’s Top 100 list.

With that in mind, I have to say, if you’re looking for good reading on why to eat sustainably I think that Michael Pollan does the best job of anyone through In Defense of Food and The Omnivore’s Dilemma.  That being said, if you’re actually interested in what aquaculture and fisheries mean for the oceans and our society, this is a good read.

Spoken from the Heart, by Laura Bush

After reading An American Wife, I knew that I absolutely had to read Laura Bush’s autobiography.  My biggest disappointment in reading this is that we did not get to enjoy this side of her sooner.  Like The Help, I could hear Laura telling her own story, and it was absolutely priceless.  I only wish that we could have known her this way when she was the first lady.

And last but not least because I owe you, our collective reading list.

The Millenium Trilogy, by Stieg Larsson
The Glass Castle
Anything by Jodi Picoult
Anything by Chelsea Handler (I’ve read My Horizontal Life – it’s good, but if you loved I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell, you’ll find it tame)
The Joy Luck Club (Tawny, I somehow managed to escape reading this one in H.S.!)
Anything by David Sedaris
Water for Elephants (Back in my book-club days I read this one – highly recommend)
Life of Pi
All Creatures Great and Small
The Gun Seller
Room
Unbearable Lightness
Immortal Life
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
Sherlock Holmes (collection)
No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency (series)
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (I love this book SO hard.)
Other People’s Love Letters
Bitter is the New Black
Slave
Not Ready for Mom Jeans
Madras on Rainy Days
Good Girls Don’t Get Fat
Here on Earth
A Thread of Grace
Outlander (series)
Under the Banner of Heaven
Lolita in Tehran
The Pact
A People’s History of the United States
Stori Telling
Cleaving
LA Candy

Spit it out: Trashy, Classic, NYT Bestseller or an old favorite…what have you been reading lately?

Before we left for our cruise, the perfect storm hit.  All sorts of books that have been on my “holds” list at the library FOR-EVER (we’re talking like ~3-4 months here, kittens) came in, so I could go on a reading binge at-sea.

The cruise lines try not to advertise that sort of thing.  But curled up on the airplane, stretched out on a lounge chair, I was in HEAVEN.

What was in my beach bag?

Committed, by Elizabeth Gilbert

Unbeknownst to me, the world is split on how they felt about Eat, Pray, Love.  I’m in the camp that liked it, despite the fact that I don’t know anyone who can just de-camp on a journey of self-discovery for a year.  And regardless of whether or not this makes me sound totally ignorant, I didn’t even know what an Ashram was.

Honesty is the best policy, no?

But Eat, Pray, Love this book was not.  It was less self-discovery and more facts-y.  I thought that EG would be dragging us through her slightly boring love life, exploring what it meant for her to be married.  But what ended up happening is that she explored what it means for anyone to be married.

When I was done with the last page, I made a mental note to tell anyone who has been married, is married or plans to be married to READ IT.  So, Take Action.

Sarah’s Key by Tatiana De Rosnay

This book was a little bit challenging to “get into.”  The author used a non-traditional narrative format (not that it was exceptionally unique), which made it a bit harder for me to find my stride.

That being said, the Holocaust is a popular topic for historical fiction authors and their stories can be hit or miss (a la The Boy in the Striped Pajamas).  This one was worth hanging on through the first few chapters.  For better or worse, I learned more than a few new things and by the time the story started to wind down, I was attached.

Little Bee by Chris Cleave

The back of the book says something extremely cagey along the lines of, We can’t really tell you anything about this book without ruining it for you.  Fact.  I’m not going to be the person who spoils it for you.

What I can tell you – it was so surprising and so wonderful.  The last quarter of the book dragged a bit but in terms of the actual ending, I cried.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Yes, it’s the new Twilight.  So just accept that and move on.

Ima be straight with you here.  I was completely confused as to how a book about teenagers killing each other in a death match could possibly be interesting.

But it was.

It’s not post-apocalyptic.  And it’s definitely not The Giver.  But there’s definitely a splash of 1984 going on.  While it’s not on-par with say, Harry Potter (let’s be serious, that ranks with Narnia so it’s likely that nothing ever will be), I can’t wait to get Catching Fire.  Fingers crossed that Collins doesn’t suffer from middle-book syndrome like some authors do.

Kittens, I’m tres close to needing to do another book club beat-down, so we’ll hold off on our revised reading list until then.  To that end…

What have y’all been reading lately?

What’s one book you would NEVER want to (1) admit you read AND (2) just loved?

Fact: I have read basically all of Pern.  Multiple times.