I. Can't. Do. It. The Time books are really tough... It took me over 2 months to get through the first 150 pages of An American Tragedy. I ended up abandoning that book for a while.
Since that point, K and I got married and we had our honeymoon. In the last 6 weeks, I have read 6 books! What a difference it makes to no longer be planning a wedding and to be reading more recently written novels!
Committed - Elizabeth Gilbert - I didn't read Eat, Pray, Love, but I thought this was a good read and especially appropriate since we were getting married when I read it.
The Invisible Wall - Harry Bernstein - This was a really good read, the author did an excellent job describing the sights and sounds of his neighborhood. I loved that it was a true story, the afterward was really good. He has written 2 other books. His first memoir was published in his nineties!
Rapture of Canaan - Sheri Reynolds - I was interested in this book after watching Big Love. It felt similar in terms of the Big Love Juniper Creek compound. I sympathized with the narrator, but felt like the everyone in the book was completely crazy. I couldn't relate to the characters since they were so different. This book was an Oprah Book Club pick in 1997.
Me Talk Pretty One Day - David Sedaris - I really liked the first half of this memoir, but the story captivated me less once he got to Paris. I laughed out loud a lot in the first half, his family descriptions were so amusing! It was weird that I didn't also enjoy the second half, since we were in Europe when I was reading it. I didn't like the other Sedaris book I read, so maybe he just isn't my style.
Push - Sapphire - This was one of the most graphic books I've ever read. It was written in speech pattern for less educated youth, so it took focus to follow some of the sections. I felt really uncomfortable reading this next to a stranger on the plane. I'm curious about the movie though - I can't imagine how they pulled off some of the scenes since they were so explicit.
The Help - Katheryn Stockett - I loved this book! This has been my favorite read this year. I enjoyed learning about being in Junior League in the South, in the 60's. It was fun to learn more about Jackson too, I recognized city names (Madison county) from my trips to see "the land" (aka Lake Malphurs). Kevin and I have had several conversations about race, as we both read this book. I've recommended it to a lot of people, and have found that most people have already read it!
