the one with buzz.

The tag line for this novel is "imagine Ingmar Bergman crossed with Silence of the Lambs."  How did I miss reading that little quip?  Completely dead on description that might have kept me away.

I finished Girl with the Dragon Tattoo in less than four days on a transatlantic flight to Dublin.  There is financial intrigue and family saga and stuff that I really don't want to write about.  My good friend the school librarian disliked this book for its treatment of women.  And yet, everyone and their brother is reading Stief Larsson's book this summer and loving it. 

This was the perfect book to read when experiencing jet lag.  It kept me engaged and I raced through the pages.  I'm half tempted to read the next two in the series.  But, I have to say, that I was icked out and sometimes bored.  Without being too critical, this is just not my type of book.  But who am I to say?

that one.

oh 2666.  I have so many feelings about your pages.

Guilt - I am madly jealous of Kate for finishing this nasty book.  She is a more dedicated reader than I.

Confusion - I honestly feel like author Roberto Bolano was self-medicating as he wrote this novel.  Or else, we are talking some serious dementia.  Not sure.

Very slight admiration - for the most beautiful cover ever.  Not the pages inside.

A bit of disgust - the random hook-ups, cemetery stalking and beat downs were just weird.

I considered leaving this book on a random bench somewhere but, you know, I did finish a good 300 of the 900 pages.  Better than most in our book club.  After much reflection, I'm counting this as a book read.  I will refrain from throwing it against the wall and maybe use it for a good doorstop someday.

Moving on . . .

Pardon my absence as I read another 900 page saga on Ireland in preparation for Ireland (Trinity by Leon Uris).  Cross your fingers.

the one that made me feel dumb.

It's that time of year again folks.  Time to read the Pulitzer Prize winner and add another literary masterpiece to the collection.  There have been lovelies (March and Olive Kitteridge) and real downers (The Road).  Tinkers by Paul Harding was a darling surprise and critics love, love, love.

I just felt dumb reading it.  The novel is told from the perspective of George, as he lays dying, during the last 8 days of his life, hallucinating, and reflecting on his life.  This book is more painting than plot.  If you are one for scenery of the north woods and wordiness about clocks then this is the book for you.  The beginning was poetic and even humorous.  Matt and I read it aloud and fell for the sweet nature of George.  Then, when George started to fall away from life and into memory, I felt a little lost. 

I'd love to know what others think of this book.  A potential gem.  I think I just fell prey to the same loss of consciousness that poor George experiences in this book.  Definitely not a beach read.

the one we read in the car.

I'm slowly coming out from under my library stack.  Thus, the rather obscene number of postings on non-fiction children's topics will soon end.  I was pleasantly surprised by the pages of my latest book.  Matt and I read it together aloud on the drive up to the cabin and learned a thing or two.

Notably . . .
Praise can undermine the motivation of young ones, unless it is specific and intermittent.
Sleep is not for wusses when it comes to kids.  Every hour that they lose costs 10 pts on an IQ test.
Fighting is OK but taking it to the bedroom is not.  Kids need to hear that it has been resolved.
Lying is a developmental milestone.  96% of kids do lie AND on average once every hour.  OMG.

Nurtureshock was a great book.  The last 40 odd pages source the research that backs up the findings.

Loved.  It.

the one that demonizes obgyns.

Who knew that I could be so affected by Ricki Lake?  Having just watched The Business of Being Born, a documentary that exposes birthing practices in the United States, I was drawn to her book.  I'm left utterly confused now when, in fact, I thought I had it all planned out.  The book talks about the ridiculously high c-section rate of 31% in America compared to other countries and shares stories of powerless mothers whose instincts have been replaced by drugs and other unnecessary interventions. 

And then, the book discusses another way . . . the way to be a birth goddess.  The way not to be cut open and shot up with needles.

Unfortunately, I think this book had an unintended effect on me.   I was so affected by the statistics and comparisons of other health care systems that I'm not sure what's best anymore.  I was feeling more powerful and confident before Ricki Lake's influence. 

I think I better go back to summer chick lit and Pulitzer Prize books before I lose my perspective.

the one about Alice Walker's daughter.

So this book is written by Rebecca Walker who happens to dislike her famous author mother a great deal.  The book is almost sad because of the level of dysfunction in the author's family.  I mean, no wonder she had so much ambivalence about being a mother when the hatred runs thick for her own.

This book was funny in parts and terribly easy to digest.  I loved the story about the waiting room and the "It won't come out" woman.  My favorite part of the book was this quote: "I am not saying a girl can't have it all, because I am all for making life expand to meet your limitless vision, but I am saying that, first, said girl has to know what "all" really is. 

The quote made me think of the movie Up in the Air and how Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick have completely different world views despite their age difference only spanning 15 years.  I distinctly remember a conversation with a good friend of mine about "having it all: work and family."  That friend ended up quitting her job a few years after our conversation.  I can only imagine her definition changed as most all definitions do.  And maybe, all = more than work + family.  Maybe the work/family balance oversimplifies the whole conversation about what really makes up a full life.

I need to stop reading baby books.  I'm sure this is normal but I feel a little off track.

the one that was supposed to inspire cooking.

I haven't been this enmeshed with the library since I was a teenager.  Currently, I have 10 books checked out from Washington County.  I am there almost daily.  I couple my visits with a mini ice cream cone from Cups and Scoops (located in the same building).  I needed to restrain from ice cream on Saturday b/c I was afraid the cashier might think I actually have a problem.

I do have a problem.  I keep reading blogger books.  This one, The Art of Eating In: How I Learned to Stop Spending and Love the Stove, sounded inspiring.  And the beginning really was.  I think I could save a bundle of money by cooking at home.  I do have a desire to bake bread and raise chickens.  But, she really lost me about a hundred pages in.  There wasn't any meat in the book (figuratively, that is.)

A much better book is Molly Wizenburg's A Homemade Life.

And yet, I'll probably still keep listening to Cathy Erway's podcast b/c I'm awed by anyone that can write a book at the age of 24.  And I really need to learn how to cook.  Nightly.  More power to her.

the one about caritas.

Reading this novel marks a significant departure for me in three ways:

1) I am embracing the Washington County Library and a new book budget of $15/month.  Really.

2) It makes me want to explore more deeply the beliefs of the Unitarian church.

Did you know, for example, that it was the Unitarian Julia Ward Howe whom established Mother's Day?  It was originally a call for peace and disarmament so that mothers could have a day without worry for their sons in battle. 

2) I am departing from the book 2666.  I shall return, perhaps.

The book Marriage and Other Acts of Charity is written by Kate Braestrup.  I think I offended Matt by the title of this book.  But, really this is a book about caritas (the Latin word for charity).  A word that describes a kind of love that is unconditional, selfless and self-giving.  The author lost this kind of love in her first marriage but found it again through reflection and acts of charity.

And then tragically, Kate lost her husband in a traffic accident.  She is now a Unitarian Universalist minister and game warden for the Maine warden service.   The novel reads like the funniest, most intelligent sermon on love and God that you've ever heard.  It's a book that I could pick up again and again for its insight, charm and perspective. 

But, unfortunately, I'll have to buy it first - within my $15 budget for the month of May.

My favorite quote:
If your heart breaks, let it break open.  Love more.

the one with the yellow cover.

Well, I finally read an Emily Giffin novel.  It was a bit exhausting.

I felt by the end of Baby Proof that I really didn't know the character.  Didn't know what she looked like, what she ate for dinner, how she styled her hair.  Honestly, I just really hated this book.  Nuff said.

Guess I'll have to stick with Curtis Sittenfeld & Jennifer Weiner if I really want to delve into the chick lit world.

And stay away from the pastel books.

They really don't look good on my book shelf.

the one by Anna.

What a blissful week it has been reading a book I love.  A vacation from nasty, grueling books that are tedious chores to get through.  A book with characters I can relate to, free from shock tactics of sex and gratuitous violence.  A book with heart.

What I love about Anna is that she gets grief.  She lost her mom in her twenties to ovarian cancer.  My favorite passage in this novel takes place when Mary Beth questions another's grief.  She says "whatever she did was fine.  That's what I've learned.  It's fine.  Whatever you manage to do."  Life should be about more than just managing but some days we can only do our very best.

I was charmed by the ending of this novel.  I have a dream about moving to Vermont someday and living in a barn and having antiques and cooking chicken tetrazzini for my family and learning to be a master gardener.  But the life I envision now will ultimately be disappointingly different and much, much grander than I could ever imagine.

I know I shouldn't reveal the last sentence of the book but darn it, I love it.
"This is my life.  I am trying."

Can't wait to meet Anna tonight.