Books: Paper and Electronic

Up first: paper books I've recent read. (This is to combat the idea that I ONLY read books on my Kindle these days.)

Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire - My principal gave me this book to read. It was heart wrenching and made me realize that I do not need to see that movie. I read a review that said this book is not for the fainthearted and I guess I didn't believe it until I was in the middle of a graphic scene of incest and realized I was crying.

Recently the struggle of those facing poverty and illiteracy has become a real part of my daily life. There is no way out of the cycle of poverty if a child doesn't learn to read. Literacy is an important part of the story Sapphire is telling here. Much has been made of the focus on the incest, obesity, and systematic problems of the welfare and education systems in this novel, but I think, at its heart, it's about how important reading is to the self-esteem and survival of a young person today.

I was not satisfied with the ending of the book. It left me feeling like the main character, even though her life has been improved, is still never going to have the life she wants because it's just not attainable for her. A true, honest ending. But definitely not satisfying because no one's life should be a dead end before it has begun.

American Nerd: The Story of My People by Benjamin Nugent - I wanted to like this book. It's sort of an academic take on the evolution of the concept of nerd. But, alas, the true academic that I am was confused by his nebulous definitions and constantly changing terminology. There are admittedly funny anecdotes in this book, but I feel like it tried to be more clever than Nugent actually is.

the curious incident of the dog in the night-time by Mark Haddon - My Bestest Friend gave this to me at Christmastime. I read it recently and couldn't put it down. It's a novel told from the point of view of a young man with some disability that lies on the autism spectrum (a lot of people say Asperger's, but I don't think that's quit accurate; however, I am so far from an expert on the DSMV that I refuse to say more) who sees an incident with a dog and decides to investigate said incident. It really was a fascinating glimpse into a brain that is wired incredibly differently from mine.

To the Kindle:

I read a bunch of Sherlock Holmes stories. I'd tell you all about them, but you're all sick of my obsession. I just got this awesome annotated Sherlock Holmes collection from the library, so I won't detail all the individual stories I read. But don't worry. More Doyle love will soon come along.

One Night in Boston by Allie Boniface - This was a free romance. Pretty good. I would read this author again.

The Boyfriend League by Rachel Hawthorne - This was a sweet book about a girl with a crush on a baseball player. I have to say that this book was completely inoffensive, if a bit forgettable.

Have I told you how I accidentally download Christian fiction/Christian romance novels on occasion? Amazon groups them under romance and I just click on them without reading into the description. I had a couple of those including Miss Match (just no - the main character is a sanctimonious churchy chick and I just couldn't do it), Against All Odds by Irene Hannon (not too preachy and I actually finished it - I'm not going to convert, but I wasn't offended), and The Real Enemy by Kathy Herman (it was fine, although a little too moralizing for my atheistic tastes). I think what I've learned is that I need to start reading between the lines of my downloads better.

The Apothecary's Daughter - I don't usually read historical fiction, but I liked this novel a lot. I also felt like I learned a lot so chalk one up for the historical fiction camp. I still think I will try to stick to contemporary fiction.

Weetzie Bat by Francesca Lia Block - Man, this book was awesome. It's a teen book, but the characters were quirky and cool. And then the last ten pages happened and I had to turn to my hsuband and ask, "Why? Why did that just happen?" And I won't give it away, but you'll ask yourself that question too.

I'm currently reading The Luxe by Anna Godbersen, but it's not going well (historical fiction rarely does). Once I finish it, I'll put up more complete review. I also have three books that I checked out from the library, in addition to the Sherlock Holmes annotated collection, so I should have plenty more book reviews up soon!