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.

P&P weekend

This weekend accidentally turned into a Pride & Prejudice marathon weekend. Megan and Torie and I watched the Keira Knightley version Saturday night then we watched the BBC version Sunday (while I lay dying of fluff lung on Megan's couch - it's nice to have friends who are willing to take care of you). Just to cap it all off, I give you this:

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies



I also have a post planned for I Capture the Castle (which I loved) but I must get over the aforementioned fluff lung.

The Poisonwood Bible

Dear friends,
I am reading The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver and it is so good that I wanted to tell you about it. I'm almost finished with it after working on it for several days, and let me tell you that I was very frustrated every time I had to put it down. It is a fantastic book and if you haven't read it, you should.

Also, in reference to the previous post about Anne Tyler: she is fantastic, and if you haven't read her, you should. I still haven't read Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant because it was always checked out when I looked, but in addition to The Accidental Tourist I read Breathing Lessons and Celestial Navigation, and all three were excellent (the way I've listed them is actually the order in which I liked them). Check them out.

New Books (and New Post)

I just finished The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler (for the first time) and Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns (not for the first time) and I thought I would tell you all that they're both fantastic. Cold Sassy Tree has been on my favorites list since the first time I read it, but whenever anyone asked me why I liked it I couldn't remember, so this time I paid attention. :) It turns out I like it for a lot of reasons, including the relationship between the progtagonist, Will Tweedy, and his grandfather, which is pretty central to the story. Also, it's disguised pretty well behind the way he speaks (since Olive Ann Burns writes their Southern accent out the way you'd hear it), but that grandfather has some really insightful ideas on the nature of God and Jesus and what they meant when they said some of the things in the scriptures.

The Accidental Tourist is about a very bizarre man named Macon Leary who is a travel writer and hates travel. He writes for businessmen, and his job is to help them go through their entire business trips without feeling like they've ever left home. Anyway this results in some very interesting things in his life and I highly recommend the book to everyone on this blog. I will be looking for something else by Anne Tyler quite soon.

umm...just in case

well, my plans have changed quite a bit. i don't know that i'll get around to reading the book this month. perhaps we shall try again next month? (sheepish grin)*









*i don't know how to emoticon a sheepish grin and it would annoy me to try and figure it out so you get the whole phrase.