Thought I'd Share

I'm finally reading I Capture the Castle... just so you know.

The Glass Castle

I just finished The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls tonight. It was fabulous. It's a memoir, and I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but it exceeded whatever expectations I did or didn't have.

The book starts with the writer looking out the window of a taxi on her way to a party on Park Ave. She sees a homeless woman digging through a dumpster and realizes that it's her mom, and she hides so that her mom doesn't see her and start talking to her. 

This sets up this incredible story about a family with an imaginative and brilliant dad who is also an alcoholic, an artistic, optimistic mother who doesn't really want the responsibility of motherhood. It was hard to keep tabs on how old the kids were because they were doing such insane things at such young ages (cooking hot dogs at 3 - not a good idea, as it turns out). 

Anyway, it's a story that could have been depressing, but was written in such a beautiful, non-self-pitying way that I just felt fascinated, even when it was horrifying or tragic. 

Read this book. It took me about 3 days (mostly at my breaks at work) and it was lovely. 

(I also just read The Accidental Tourist and Slaughterhouse-Five. Both were excellent. I just didn't want to write about them.)

The rest of the list

Here's a link to the rest of Ken Jennings book list categorized by state.

And here and here you will find his music list. Enjoy.

I read Ken Jennings blog

It's true, I do. Sometimes he says witty things about Alex Trebek. Mostly he fills my head with knowledge I probably will never use, but he also painted his daughter's room with AWESOME book characters and I LOVE IT.

But today he wrote a list that is worthy of this blog and I will post the second half after he provides it.

Also, I'll be posting some thoughts on I Capture the Castle...which I loved.

Little Brother, by Cory Doctorow

http://mirishorten.blogspot.com/2009_02_01_archive.html#2680637547000766930

Hark! What owl through yonder window breaks?

Has anyone heard anything about a new Georgia book? Will there be one (and if so, when?), or is Stop in the Name of Pants! the last one? I'm reading it right now and I assume there are probably clues at the end of the book, but that would mean I'd have to wait until the end of the book, and I want to know now. :)

P.S. I ask because the website does not appear to have been updated in a while, otherwise I would have just looked there.