2013: Year in reading

Every year I like to share what I read. In 2013 I read 60 books, below my recent highs of around 80 per year, but much more than I expected to read with an infant. It turns out that you can easily read (especially on a phone -- it's the perfect size) while breastfeeding and rocking a baby to sleep. :) Here's my Goodreads profile and the final list for 2013, with favorites in bold.

January 2013
A Good American by Alex George
Bringing Up Bebe by Pamela Druckerman (book group)
Arcadia by Lauren Groff (book group)
Cinderella Ate My Daughter by Peggy Orenstein
Lucky Break by Esther Freud

February 2013
Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan
Origins: How the Nine Months Before Birth Shape the Rest of Our Lives by Annie Murphy Paul
Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver (book group)
How to Be a Woman by Caitlin Moran
Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed (book group)
Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son’s First Year by Anne Lamott
Life of Pi by Yann Martel

March 2013
Lost Memory of Skin by Russell Banks
The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta (book group)
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
Speaking from Among the Bones (Flavia de Luce #5) by Alan Bradley (book group)
Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel
The Middlesteins by Jami Attenberg

April 2013
Take Me Home by Brian Leung (book group)
The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer

May 2013
The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Strout
Dead Ever After by Charlaine Harris
Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson
The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin (book group)

June 2013 
The Mysteries of Pittsburgh by Michael Chabon
Life After Life by Kate Atkinson (book group)

July 2013 
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (book group)
And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini (book group)
The Days are Gods by Liz Stephens
Austenland by Shannon Hale
Why Have Kids? by Jessica Valenti
North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
Crashed by Timothy Hallinan
The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling) (book group)

August 2013 
Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
Seating Arrangements by Maggie Shipstead
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter
Big Brother by Lionel Shriver
Girl Walks into a Bar by Rachel Dratch
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Elsewhere by Richard Russo

September 2013
May We Be Forgiven by A.M. Homes (book group)
Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer
Keeping the Castle by Patrice Kindl
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
Solar by Ian McEwan

October 2013 

MaddAddam by Margaret Atwood
Divergent by Veronica Roth
The Woman Upstairs by Claire Messud

November 2013 
NW by Zadie Smith
Insurgent by Veronica Roth
The Future of Us by Jay Asher
The Circle by Dave Eggers
The Twelve Tribes of Hattie by Ayana Mathis

December 2013 
Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg
Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell (book group)
Midnight in Austenland by Shannon Hale
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

2012: Year in Reading

My reading goal for 2012 was 80 books and I barely made it (you may even consider me a cheater, because in December I counted several children's books that Mike and I read together). I keep track of my reading on Goodreads, and for the coming year (2013) I've cut my goal in half. Let's see if, given my new role as a mom, I can manage approximately 3 books per month.

Here's the final list for 2012, with favorites in bold.


January 2012
Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
Blood, Bones & Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton (book group)
I Think I Love You by Allison Pearson
I Am Half Sick of Shadows by Alan Bradley
Caleb’s Crossing by Geraldine Brooks
The Book of Mormon Girl: Stories from an American Faith by Joanna Brooks
Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
Amy and Isabelle by Elizabeth Strout

February 2012
Girls in White Dresses by Jennifer Close
The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt by Caroline Preston
Born to Run by Christopher McDougall (book group)
Swamplandia! by Karen Russell (book group)
Last Night at the Lobster by Stewart O’Nan
The Good Body by Eve Ensler

March 2012
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
Daniel Deronda by George Eliot
The New Republic by Lionel Shriver
Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness by Alexandra Fuller (book group)

April 2012
Hello, Stranger by Virginia Swift
The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (book group)
The Likeness by Tana French
Emily, Alone by Stewart O’Nan
The Truth about Forever by Sarah Dessen

May 2012
Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey: The Lost Legacy of Highclere Castle by the Countess of Carnarvon
The Distant Hours by Kate Morton
If I Stay by Gayle Forman
Attachments by Rainbow Rowell
The Sisters: The Saga of the Mitford Family by Mary S. Lovell
Corduroy Mansions by Alexander McCall Smith
Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen

June 2012
Where She Went by Gayle Forman
Let’s Pretend this Never Happened by Jenny Lawson (book group)
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain (book group)
Faithful Place by Tana French
Get Me Out: A History of Childbirth from the Garden of Eden to the Sperm Bank by Randi Hutter Epstein
Deadlocked by Charlaine Harris
Flat-Out Love by Jessica Park
Taft 2012 by Jason Heller
The Time Traveling Fashionista by Bianca Turetsky

July 2012
Untold Story by Monica Ali
Look at Me by Jennifer Egan
Limbo: Blue-Collar Roots, White Collar-Dreams by Alfred Lubrano
Breasts: A Natural and Unnatural History by Florence Williams (book group)
Moo by Jane Smiley
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn (book group)
Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness
Tell the Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifka Brunt

August 2012
Broken Harbor by Tana French (book group)
The Sleepy Hollow Family Almanac by Kris D’Agostino
Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks (book group)
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
The Next Best Thing by Jennifer Weiner
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

September 2012
At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson
The Honest Truth about Dishonesty: How we lie to everyone -- especially ourselves by Dan Ariely (book group)

October 2012
The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling (book group)
Messy by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan
The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
Wicked Girls by Stephanie Hemphill (book group)
Mormon Diaries by Sophia L. Stone
Deja Dead by Kathy Reichs
Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward

November 2012
Telegraph Avenue by Michael Chabon (book group)
Why Girls are Weird by Pamela Ribon
The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton 

December 2012
Red Ranger Came Calling by Berkeley Breathed
Christmas Day in the Morning by Pearl S. Buck
We the Animals by Justin Torres
The Mitten by Jan Brett
The Wild Christmas Reindeer by Jan Brett
Trouble with Trolls by Jan Brett
The Hat by Jan Brett
Christmas Trolls by Jan Brett
The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry
Wildwood by Colin Meloy
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson
Why Moms are Weird by Pamela Ribon
The Privileges by Jonathan Dee

80 Books in 2011

Here's the complete list of the books I read in 2011 (there are two days left, but I don't think I'm going to finish Daniel Deronda or The Remains of the Day in that time). I set two reading goals this year: 1) to read a total of 80 books and 2) to read at least one nonfiction book per month. Mission accomplished! This is a mix of classics, stuff read for work, young adult lit, literary fiction, nonfiction, and a couple of plays. Leave a comment if you want a review or a recommendation.

Note: These are listed in the order in which I read them. Favorites are in bold.

1. Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby
2. Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
3. A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
4. "Antony and Cleopatra" by William Shakespeare
5. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
6. The House at Riverton by Kate Morton
7. Brooklyn by Colm Toibin
8. House of Mirth by Edith Wharton
9. Such a Pretty Face: Being Fat in America by Marcia Millman
10. Great House by Nicole Krauss
11. Intuition by Allegra Goodman
12. Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses by Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa
13. An Object of Beauty by Steve Martin
14. Cheerful Money by Tad Friend
15. I Don't Know How She Does It by Allison Pearson
16. Thanks for the Memories by Cecilia Ahern
17. Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman by Jon Krakauer
18. The Book of Tomorrow by Cecilia Ahern
19. The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown
20. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
21. Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner
22. Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner
23. Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger
24. My Life in France by Julia Child
25. Jane by April Lindner
26. The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht
27. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
28. Juliet by Anne Fortier
29. Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri
30. The Paris Wife by Paula McLain
31. O, Pioneers by Willa Cather
32. Bossypants by Tina Fey
33. Furious Love: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, and the Marriage of the Century by Sam Kashner and Nancy Schoenberger
34. The Fates Will Find Their Way by Hannah Pittard
35. Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff
36. Songs for the Missing by Stewart O’Nan
37. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan C. Bradley
38. Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris
39. A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
40. Clara and Mr. Tiffany by Susan Vreeland
41. A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
42. Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
43. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
44. Spoiled by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan
45. Reality is Broken by Jane McGonigal
46. Riding the White Horse Home by Teresa Jordan
47. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
48. What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen
49. The Weed That Strings the Hangman’s Bag by Alan Bradley
50. Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen
51. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
52. Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon
53. The Cookbook Collector by Allegra Goodman
54. “Clouds” by Aristophanes
55. The Lais of Marie de France translated by Burgess & Busby
56. “Germania” by Tacitus
57. The Exile by Diana Gabaldon
58. Voyager by Diana Gabaldon
59. Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell
60. State of Wonder by Ann Patchett
61. Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon
62. The Wilder Life by Wendy McClure
63. Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart
64. Bonk by Mary Roach
65. The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon
66. Confessions of a Prairie Bitch by Alison Arngrim
67. Three Cups of Deceit: How Greg Mortenson, Humanitarian Hero, Lost His Way by Jon Krakauer
68. The Devil’s Highway by Luis Alberto Urrea
69. What Would Buffy Do: The Vampire Slayer as Spiritual Guide by Jana Riess
70. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte
71. The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides
72. A Red Herring Without Mustard by Alan C. Bradley
73. The Uncoupling by Meg Wolitzer
74. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling
75. The Magician King by Lev Grossman
76. The Descendants by Kaui Hart Hemmings

77. This Beautiful Life by Helen Schulman

78. Flunking Sainthood by Jana Riess

79. Mennonite in a Little Black Dress by Rhoda Janzen
80. Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Miscellaneous summer stuff

Part 3 of Summer 2011 Coverage

Early in the summer, Mike and I went to Boulder, Colorado for the day. It's a beautiful place, with the University of Colorado campus, downtown shopping, an amazing independent bookstore, and a great farmer's market. Here are a few pictures:

Tulips downtown

Flowers at the farmer's market

Mike at the Dushanbe Teahouse, where we ate lunch

On a different note altogether, one of my library classrooms got new laptops (yay!) and white boards. I'm very pleased and excited to teach there this fall:

For the first time since moving to Laramie, Mike and I were in town for Independence Day. Laramie has a huge celebration called "Freedom has a Birthday." Here's a picture of the main musical stage:

Freedom has a Birthday was really fun -- there were four stages in Washington Park. Also, free ice cream from the Freemasons and lemonade from the Democrats. (I heard the Republicans were giving away watermelon, but didn't run into their booth.)

Mike's mom visited us this summer, and we had a great time introducing her to Laramie. We went up to Vedauwoo for a walk around and to the Snowy Mountains. It was mid-July, but the Snowies still had tons of snow that shut down our attempts to go on a hike! On our way down from the Snowies we stopped for pizza at the Bear Tree Tavern and noticed this sign for the restrooms. It made us giggle.

Diana Gabaldon, author of the Outlander series of books, visited Laramie for a lecture and a reading. I went with my friend Kennedy and met the author. I'm reading the series now, and it's pretty entertaining. Her books include time travel, romance, and historical fiction, set (at first) in the Scottish Highlands.

Me, Kennedy, and Diana Gabaldon

Finally, a few food highlights from the summer. Mike and I have a share in Community Supported Agriculture, and every week we receive a box of vegetables and fruits from a farm in northern Colorado.

Here's a zucchini quiche, right before I popped it into the oven. It was delicious!

Pad thai, made with lots of the vegetables from our CSA share

This raspberry freezer jam does not represent produce from our CSA, but is actually made from Mink Creek raspberries given to us by my mom. It was my first-ever time making jam, and it's totally delicious.

Christmas 2010

Christmas tree at the Bowles home

We had a wonderful trip to Idaho to visit the Bowles family over Christmas. We had some great quality time with the brothers and sisters-in-law (we love you guys!), and of course with Mom and Dad, too. Mom and Mike and I went snowshoeing on Christmas day, up in Strawberry Canyon, and it was just gorgeous. Of course we also played lots of board games and card games during the week of vacation. The new ones were Bananagrams and Scrabble Slam -- both very fun in my opinion, because I'm good at word games -- and the old ones were Rummikub, Salad, and Outburst. Good times! (Except for when I lost at Salad by about 400 points and had a tizzy fit. New Year's resolution: be a better sport)

We have a tradition in the Bowles family of having our grandparents over on Christmas Eve for dinner and a program of Christmas music. Rob and Sarah sang a beautiful arrangement of "Away in a Manger," Justin and Annie played some piano duets (congratulations to Annie, who taught Justin to play), and Mike and I prepared a Music & the Spoken Word arrangement of "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day." There were other musical performances as well, including the traditional performance of "Sleigh Ride" as a piano duet by Mom and me. Here are a few select photos from the evening:

Grandma Hansen, Grandma & Grandpa Bowles, Dad playing his traditional role of running the video camera

Justin & Anna Lee, "Silent Night"Mike doing the spoken word portion of "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" (Mike really can sing, but it's not really something he's comfortable doing for an audience. Thus the spoken word.)
Dad and Mom serving the cheesecake on Christmas Eve

We also opened a few presents on Christmas eve, which included these awesome aprons made by Mom. In case you can't see, they're all university-themed. Justin and Annie have "Vandals" aprons, Rob and Sarah have "Aggies," and Mike and I have "Cowboys." So cute!

Mom and Dad hosted the big Hansen family party this year on December 27th. The extended family keeps on growing exponentially. There were about 50 people at the party this year, all fed and entertained in the Bowles home. It was quite a feat, and I had a great time seeing all my cousins.

In addition to spending time with family, we went to a gathering of some of my high school friends. I was on the Academic Decathlon team in 1999-2000 and our little team defeated all the other schools in Idaho (some much larger than ours) and we went to the National Academic Decathlon competition in San Antonio, Texas. It was a great experience and an awesome team, and a few of us from the team were able to gather at our coach's home before Christmas to catch up. It was great to see everyone, reminisce about our "glory days," and catch up on what's happened in the last 10 years.

Other fun activities over Christmas break: catching up with old friends at Mom and Dad's church, talking to my brother Nick (a Mormon missionary in Seattle) on Christmas day, seeing True Grit with the whole family (I liked it a lot -- even more than I expected to), going to the Logan temple with some members of the family, lunch at Cafe Sabor (yums!), more snowshoeing near Maple Creek after a big snowstorm.

The snowstorm hit on Wednesday, when we had planned to leave for Laramie. We stayed at
Mom and Dad's that night, and Mike ended up on a tractor moving snow around on the dairy.
We thought we had a window to get back to Laramie on Thursday, but we ended up getting stuck at Little America when I-80 was closed for about 100 miles between Rock Springs and Rawlins. We were glad to get back to Laramie the next day and ring in the New Year with friends.

P.S. I also read all three Hunger Games books during Christmas break (over the course of 4 days). The series was a fascinating look at the nature of televised war, a voyeuristic society, governmental control, and it's a great coming-of-age story to boot. Highly recommended, especially for anyone interested in dystopian YA lit.

58 Books in 2010

I'm a list-maker, and since 2007 I've kept a list of the books I've read. This helps me remember what I've read, what I want to read, and allows me to pull up a title when people ask for book recommendations. Some of my reads were for my book groups, some were free galleys I picked up at library conferences, some are not necessarily great literature (I read the entire Sookie Stackhouse series, for example.) I read 58 books in 2010, and thought I'd share my favorites here. If you have read and want to discuss any of the books below, if you want information on any of them, or if you'd like a personalized recommendation, leave a comment. (These are listed in the order in which I read them.)

1. Steinbeck, John The Grapes of Wrath
2. Shaffer, Mary Ann and Annie Barrows The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
3. Atwood, Margaret Oryx and Crake
4. Strout, Elizabeth Olive Kitteridge
5. Grossman, Lev The Magicians
6. Smith, Dodie I Capture the Castle
7. Walters, Barbara Audition
8. Jackson, Shirley We Have Always Lived in the Castle
9. Barry, Sebastian The Secret Scripture
10. Mantel, Hilary Wolf Hall
11. Stead, Rebecca When You Reach Me
12. French, Tana In the Woods
13. Palfrey, John and Urs Gasser Born Digital: Understanding the First Generation of Digital Natives
14. Benjamin, Melanie Alice I Have Been
15. Stockett, Kathryn The Help
16. Udall, Brady The Lonely Polygamist
17. Bender, Amy The Particular Sadness Of Lemon Cake
18. Thackeray, William Makepeace Vanity Fair
19. McCann, Colum Let the Great World Spin
20. Nicholls, David One Day
21. Byatt, A.S. The Children's Book
22. Eliot, George Middlemarch
23. Collins, Suzanne Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay
    
24. Kingsolver, Barbara Lacuna

So there you have it: a mix of old and new, YA lit and regular lit, mostly novels with a few nonfiction books mixed in. I finally read some stuff that I'd been meaning to read for years (Middlemarch, Vanity Fair, and The Grapes of Wrath -- not one of those disappointed), a series that was recommended by everyone from my mom to a friend in Seattle to YA librarians everywhere (The Hunger Games -- WOW!), some highly acclaimed novels (Let the Great World Spin, The Lonely Polygamist) and some critically panned (Lacuna). All in all, it was a very good year for reading.

Happy New Year, and I wish us all good reading in 2011!

Multi-media Entertainment

It's been an action-packed week in Laramie. I'll go in reverse chronological order and tell you what Mike and I have been up to.
Last night we saw Ani DiFranco live at University of Wyoming. Ani is a feminist folk singer who became quite prominent in the 1990s. She is remarkably prolific and has released one album per year since 1990. She owns all of her own music and has never been under the thumb of any studio, since she started her own record company: Righteous Babe Records. Ani came to my attention in my Women & Gender Studies classes at USU and I've been a fan since then, but have never had the chance to see her live. Then she came to Laramie! She is absolutely amazing on guitar. Her songs tend to be political, but one of my favorites that she played last night is about being a new mother. It's called "Present/Infant":

lately i've been glaring into mirrors
picking myself apart
you'd think at my age i'd of thought
of something better to do
than making insecurity into a full-time job
making insecurity into an art

i fear my life will be over
and i will have never lived it unfettered
always glaring into mirrors
mad i don't look better

but now here's this tiny baby
and they say she looks just like me
and she is smiling at me
with that present/infant glee
and i would defend
to the ends of the earth
her perfect right to be

so i'm beginning to see some problems
with the ongoing work of my mind
and i've got myself a new mantra
it says: "don't forget to have a good time"
don't let the sellers of stuff
power enough
to rob you of your grace
love is all over the place
there's nothing wrong with your face
love is all over the place

So that was cool. It seems like a long time since we went to a rock concert.

Tuesday night we saw a UW production of Hamlet. It was quite excellent. There were two guest stars: Pete Simpson, Jr. played Hamlet and Pete Simpson, Sr. played the ghost of Hamlet's father. The Simpsons are part of one of Wyoming's most important political families, and some of them are theatrical to boot! (Al Simpson, former senator from Wyoming, is now co-chairing President Obama's commission on reducing the federal debt. He's probably the most well-known in the family, and Pete Sr.'s brother. This is completely tangential, but I highly recommend Al Simpson's interview in Newsweek. The best part is how he describes Rush Limbaugh: "I never considered Rush-babe to be anything more than an entertainer. He gets people all riled up all day long, get them filled up with gas, ulcers, heartburn, B.O., and fear. Hell, that's pretty good. You really are an entertainer if you can get that done!" Oh, and how he describes the filibuster: "It's like a big old hobnail-boot ass-kicking machine.")

I meant to review Hamlet and got sidetracked with Al's colorful way of speaking. We enjoyed the play very much and were impressed with the students and guest actors.
Finally, on Monday night my book group discussed this really amazing novel, The Secret Scripture. It's really beautifully written, with descriptions like poetry. The main character and narrator is a 100-year-old woman named Roseanne Clear who has been in mental hospitals for about 60 years. She writes her history -- and the history of Ireland -- on sheets of paper that she found and hides in the floorboards of her room. Some of the members of my book group thought the book was depressing, and Roseanne's story is a sad one, but as a narrator she is never mournful or despairing. I highly recommend the book.

I love Laramie. There are so many great things to do, even though it's quite a small town. And the people here are just the best. Even though it's mid-April and winter lingers (the forecast says we'll have 3-7 inches of snow between now and Saturday morning), I think we made the right choice when we decided to move here.

Happy Trails: Elna Baker

I meant to review lots of books on this blog, and I haven't done that. But I simply had to review a recent book titled The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance by Elna Baker (I had to check that title three times to make sure I got all the words in the right order). I felt compelled to review it not just because I really liked it, but also because it spoke to me as a Mormon woman who was single until the advanced age of 25. (That may sound young to some of you, but census data from 2000 says that Utah women marry for the first time at 21.9.)

Elna Baker is a 27-year-old Mormon comedian living in New York. She's single. She's lived in New York since she was 18 and a freshman in college. Her book is the most honest account of Mormon singlehood that I've ever read. She's honest about the problems of celibacy, of dating outside the faith, and of gendered expectations for women within the Mormon church. She's very funny, a bit self-absorbed (it's a memoir, so of course she is), and a good writer.

One of my favorite stories from the book is related to the title and involves a fantastic fortune-cookie costume. You can see Elna herself tell the story here:


I highly recommend the book. But if you have preconceived notions about what Mormon women are like (or if you're offended by cursing and talk about sex), prepare to be shocked.

Happy Trails: Crappy chick lit

Best Friends Forever by Jennifer Weiner

Maureen Corrigan, NPR's book critic, said the only lame thing about this book was the title. And on her recommendation, I read it. Now I want my 5 hours back, because this book was L-A-M-E. Very predictable, very sappy, very happy-ending-for-everybody. So why did I read through the end? I don't know. OCD, I guess.

It's about Addie, who used to be fat. She is thinner now, but still lonely and unhappy. (What? Being thin doesn't solve a person's problems? What a cruel, cruel world.) Then her ex-best friend, Valerie, shows up after committing a crime and they go on the lam together. Then Addie gets a boyfriend, Valerie realizes she never should have thrown Addie under the bus, and everybody lives happily ever after. (Sorry about spoilers -- but it will save you the trouble of reading to the end.)

Happy Trails: Another book review

I finished another book last night and have decided that I'll call this blog series "Happy Trails." (It goes with the adventure/Western theme of the blog and it references the happy little trips I take via literature.)

The Women by T.C. Boyle

I read this on the iPhone Kindle app and found that the reading experience was totally satisfying -- until I got to the end. I didn't even know I was approaching the end, because I wasn't turning pages in a traditional way. It was strange and anticlimactic to be unable to shut the two covers and be done. So, that's my review of the reading experience (my first e-book).

The book itself (i.e., the content) was really interesting. I read Loving Frank by Nancy Horan about a year ago and I liked The Women better. Both are about Frank Lloyd Wright and his disastrous love affair(s). The Women covers all four of the major loves of his life, while Loving Frank is just about Mamah Borthwick. The story is full of very flawed characters (especially Wright himself). Some bits are melodramatic, but it's all based in history. I really enjoy historical fiction, and this is a well-written and engaging novel.

Introducing a new series

Mike had an idea for our blog that we're going to try out. Those of you who know us well know that we are HUGE fans and supporters of NPR (National Public Radio). On NPR they occasionally run a series of related stories (like Climate Connections or Planet Money) that focus on one particular issue. Mike's idea is that we can run our own occasional series on our blog, on topics that we care about.

Soooo, my series will consist of very brief reviews of books that I read. I'm a big reader -- you can see my list of everything I've read since July 2007. I need a good name for this series, so if you have suggestions please comment. I consider it an extension of my professional work as a librarian to offer reader's advisory in this forum. ;) The first review follows.

You or Someone Like You by Chandler Burr.

The protagonist of this novel, Anne Rosenbaum, accidentally becomes the leader of a prestigious and exclusive book club in Los Angeles for people "in the industry" (she ends up with multiple book groups: one for producers, one for writers, one for directors, etc.). I thought the book would be fluffy fun: literary snark featuring Hollywood stars. I was surprised when the book took a more serious turn, but enjoyed it all the more for that unexpected element. Recommended for anyone who will simultaneously enjoy hundreds of literary references and discussions (this is about a very serious book group, after all), allusions to famous Hollywood folks, and also some tender family and identity issues (including religious and sexual identity).