Reading Roundup: March
I've been wanting to start this book review thing since the beginning of the year, but I keep forgetting about it. This is mainly so that I remember what I've been reading, since it all tends to blend together into mush in my brain. But I also love to share books with others so I thought it would be fun to let everyone know what's been on my mind lately.
Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
This was the perfect book for a road trip: light, humorous, and broken down into small-ish sections. It was also laugh-out-loud hilarious in several spots. Even though he is crude at times and sometimes the hyperbole bothers me, when I'm in the right mood David Sedaris will literally cause me to hyperventilate with glee.
Death in Yellowstone by Lee Whittlesey
I plucked this off the Thteed family bookshelf after vaguely remembering it from a National Parks gift shop. It was fascinating; the details about bear attacks were particularly gruesome. It had the unfortunate effect of making me want to stay far, far away from nature in any form. Well, not really, but it reminded me why they call it the wilderness.
Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier
I figured that a book on clearance for a dollar couldn't be all that bad, especially since I love historical fiction and I love Vermeer (I did stand in line for four hours outside the National Gallery to see his paintings in person). It turned out to be quite good and made a nice companion piece to several other novels with similar premises that I've read in recent years. I feel myself writing a syllabus for a future comp lit course on books about paintings...
Word Freak by Stefan Fastis
The subjects in this book are some of the weirdest people I've ever run across. Think about the cast of Waiting for Guffman, only they really exist. But it's a lot of fun to read and very enlightening. It also made me really want to go play some Scrabble.
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
I finally got around to reading this in the car somewhere between Utah and Wyoming. Even though I thought that many of the twists of the plot were rather conventional, the writing was still strong and the story was compelling. I didn't expect to like it as much as I did, and now I wish I could read more about Afghanistan.
Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
This was the perfect book for a road trip: light, humorous, and broken down into small-ish sections. It was also laugh-out-loud hilarious in several spots. Even though he is crude at times and sometimes the hyperbole bothers me, when I'm in the right mood David Sedaris will literally cause me to hyperventilate with glee.
Death in Yellowstone by Lee Whittlesey
I plucked this off the Thteed family bookshelf after vaguely remembering it from a National Parks gift shop. It was fascinating; the details about bear attacks were particularly gruesome. It had the unfortunate effect of making me want to stay far, far away from nature in any form. Well, not really, but it reminded me why they call it the wilderness.
Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier
I figured that a book on clearance for a dollar couldn't be all that bad, especially since I love historical fiction and I love Vermeer (I did stand in line for four hours outside the National Gallery to see his paintings in person). It turned out to be quite good and made a nice companion piece to several other novels with similar premises that I've read in recent years. I feel myself writing a syllabus for a future comp lit course on books about paintings...
Word Freak by Stefan Fastis
The subjects in this book are some of the weirdest people I've ever run across. Think about the cast of Waiting for Guffman, only they really exist. But it's a lot of fun to read and very enlightening. It also made me really want to go play some Scrabble.
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
I finally got around to reading this in the car somewhere between Utah and Wyoming. Even though I thought that many of the twists of the plot were rather conventional, the writing was still strong and the story was compelling. I didn't expect to like it as much as I did, and now I wish I could read more about Afghanistan.
Comments
I just wanted to say that when I was in DC last month, there was no line at all to see the Vermeers. But you had to brave noisy, obnoxious groups of school field trippers... I think that all museums should have a couple hours reserved to only people over 21.