Indecision (Benjamin Kunkel)

This book made my head hurt. This is no exageration (sp?). The main character was extremely irritating. There was almost nothing that I liked about him. He struck me as 100% self-absorbed and generally worthless. This reminded me of the character in Dave Eggers book. Yuck! He tried to pass himself of as a thoughtful philosopher, but I felt like he just needed to stop thinking so much and just live his life.

This was one of my least favorite books of the last few months. I got nothing for my time.

Stupid White Men (Michael Moore)

I still haven't decided how I feel about Michael Moore. I've watched all of his movies and read all of his books. I just don't know. Sometimes I really like him and sometimes I really don't. This was my least favorite of all of his work. I listened to the book on tape and the readers' voice was pretty whiny, so that could have influenced me. On the whole, while I feel like he did make some good points, much of what he had to say seemed overstated and overblown. I do understand that his goal is to get attention, but sometimes he does go a little far. Maybe I'm getting old.

Chasing the Devil (David Reichert)

This book was written by the sheriff who lead the Green River Task Force. Dead women began turning up on the banks of the Green River in the late 70's. After murdering somewhere in the neighborhood of fifty women, Gary Ridgewater (the Green River Killer) was finally stopped by David Reichert and other members of the police department in the 90's. This is the story of the search for this serial killer. The sheriff guides the reader down the long and taxing roads that eventually lead to an arrest and conviction. Because of his unique perspective, you see the toll that this kind of case can have on the people who work it. An interesting read.....

In Cold Blood (Truman Capote)

I decided to read this book after seeing the movie Capote. I'm also a fairly avid true crime reader, so this book has always been on my list. This is my first Capote book and I'm glad I read it.

This is the story of the violent murder of four members of the Clutter family, in a farm in Kansas. That's the quick and dirty way to describe it. It is a much bigger story than that. It is the story of a small mid-western town dealing with tragic violence. It is the story of two very different men (Perry and Hickcock) who evolved from petty thieves to murderers. It is the story of the men who made it their mission to find the murderers and bring them to justice. It is the story of how all of these lives intersected. A truly gripping story.

as hot as it was you ought to thank me (Nanci Kincaid)

This was Marilee's pick for our book club. I had never heard of this author, but I fell in love. It's always great to find a new Southern author with such talent! This is the story of a thirteen yr old girl named Berry who lives in a tiny town (Pinetta) in Florida. Her father is the principal of the town school, her mother takes care of their home, and she has two brothers with whom she shares a bedroom.

Nanci Kincaid can WRITE! You feel like you are truly a part of Berry's world. You can feel the emotion dripping from the page. Once I started this book, I could not put it down. I was fascinated by the people of Pinetta, FL. The Methodist preacher, the brave "rich" woman in town, the little boy who wears his big sisters hand-me-down dresses, and the poorest/roughest family in town. I still find myself wondering what these people are up to. It was hard to allow myself to finish the book.

The Glass Castle (Jeanette Walls)

This is one hell of a story.... and it's true. I saw the author on Oprah and later in that same week a friend recommended the book to me. The Walls family is one of the most unusual familes I have ever met. The narrorator is one of four children parented by two very unusual people. The Mother is a frustrated and somewhat lazy artist who is not willing to work in order to support her family. The Father is a big dreamer who loves his family, but is troubled by his own problems with alcohol and follow-through. The flaws of the parents mean a difficult life for their children. Most of the time the family is without food, electricity, and basic necessities.

Eventually the children grow up and head to New York where they work hard and forge their own lives. The parents follow and after living on the streets for many years, they become part of a community of squatters on the Lower West Side of NY. This is the story of an amazing family. They are about as nontraditional as you can get, but they do love each other. Their children struggle to find a place in the world as adults. The book raises alot of questions about the nature of family and identity. A great read.

Any Place I Hang my Hat (Susan Issacs)

This is the story of a girl searching for her own identity. Her teenage mother leaves her before her 3rd birthday and she is raised by her paternal grandmother. Her father is frequently in jail. Life is rough, but she works hard and manages to secure a scholarship to a prestigous boarding school. She goes to Harvard and becomes a journalist. Her life is spent moving between two very different worlds. The world of her hard-scrabble family and the world of her elite friends. Her question is where her place is.

I really liked her. Believed her. Wished her well. I cringed when she began the search for her mother. I wanted to shake her when she pushed her boyfriend away. This book was a bit predictable, but I enjoyed the story.

Garlic and Sapphires (Ruth Reichel)

The title comes from a line in T.S. Eliot's Four Cantos. That came as a surprise to me in the middle of the book. I have yet to read that poem. This a nonfiction work written by the woman who was the food critic of the New York Times during the late 80's and 90's. It is the story of her work on the Times. The reader comes along with Ruth as she eats in some of the finest resturants in New York, often in disguise.

I loved this book for many reasons. I enjoyed her discussion of the culture of the Times and the spirit of New York during this time. I loved her descriptions of food and the world within a resturant. I learned about lots of kinds of food I had never heard of. I also like her discussion of what it means to be a writer, a wife, and a Mother. I found her to be a very real person on the page. I person I would like to sit down and share a meal with.

Adored (Tilly Bagshawe)

I picked this book at the library based entirely on the fact that Barbara Rosenblat (who I love) was the reader. I believe this is the closest I have come to a Danielle Steele novel. I can't say I'm proud, but part of me enjoyed this book. It was a nice break. No thought required and almost wholly predictable. If I had been actually reading, as opposed to listening to, this book I doubt I have made it through. Ms. Rosenblat most certainly made the story fun. Love her!

This is the story of Sienna McMahon, a glamorous super star with MAJOR issues. Abandonment being chief among them. As readers, we follow Sienna through the highs and lows of both her personal and professional life. There are some lofty highs and some abyssmal lows. Lots of passion, lots of betrayl. The kind of thing that makes you feel happy to have a "normal" life.

I don't imagine I will check out any more from this author, but it was a fun while it lasted.

Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science (Atwul Gwande)

We read this during our car travels over Christmas. What a book! It's really fun for me to read this kind of nonfiction stuff with B. It makes for interesting conversation. I'm so happy that I picked this one up for us.

This book is filled with lots of stories. Many of them were pretty hard to read, being the hospital/sickness phobe that I am. My favorite was the story of a girl with a red leg who had necrotizing fascitis. That is the flesh eating bacteria. Super scary for me. She survived. He also talks about a man coping with his life after gastric bypass surgery. Pretty interesting stuff.

Lots of discussion about the intersection btw the mind and the body. What a great read!