It's been a long time...

So writing these review things is just not gonna happen. I've been keeping a list of the books I've read but just haven't written about them. So now I'm just publishing a list so I can remember what I've read...

Bought:
The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman
Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby
Be More Chill by Ned Vizzini
Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green & David Levithan
Reservation Blues by Sherman Alexie

Yeah, I'm pretty much not even going to attempt to record what I've bought. I spent a lot of time hunting down extra copies of A Lesson Before Dying for the kiddos and quite a few extra books lept into my basket. Let's just say that my purchasing power greatly outstripped my reading abilities. Also, that the yearly Seattle Public Libraries book sale is awesome--especially on the 50 cent Sunday.

Sidenote: Is "lept/leapt" not really a word? Because spellcheck doesn't think so. Whatever. I'll MAKE it a word.

Sidenote 2: According to my sources (the internet) "leap" is a word in transition. It's on it's way to acquiring a past participle version, but right now still goes by its older past tense version. Think dive (dove/dived) or dream (dreamed/dreamt). Now, I really don't care about grammar--okay, I kind of do--but linguistics and the idea of language being in transition RIGHT now? That is SO. COOL.



Read:
This Book Could Save Your Life (audiobook)
Mansfield Park
Country Driving
Monsters of Templeton (audiobook)
Northanger Abbey
Seven Dials
The Help
Wigfield
Motherless Brooklyn
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
The Perfect Spy
Loving Frank
The Imperfectionists
Behind the Scenes at the Museum
The Maltese Falcon
39 Steps
The Jet Age
Jet Age
The Doorbell Rang
Juliet, Naked
Be More Chill
Will Grayson, Will Grayson
Be More Chill
The Devil's Arithmetic
Tim Gunn's Guide to Style
Femininity in Flight
Year of Magical Thinking

****

This Book Could Save Your Life (audiobook) This was a good audiobook, but I don't think I'd want to spend actual reading time on it. I think there's supposed to be some sort of existential message in this story, but I didn't get it. Not sure if that's the book's fault or mine.

Monsters of Templeton (audiobook)- Yet another audiobook that I liked surprisingly more than I thought I would. I learned that Cooperstown (as in the Baseball Hall of Fame Cooperstown), was actually named after the father of author James Fenimore Cooper. The story follows several generations of Templetons (aka Coopers) as the main character attempts to discover who her father is. There's a lake monster. It's kind of awesome.


Seven Dials- More Agatha Christie. Um, I don't really know what else to say.

Wigfield - This is a pretty ridiculous book. It was kind of hilarious and kind of annoying at the same time. Both of these elements were magnified by the audiobook factor. The book was read by Stephen Colbert, with the character's voices done by Amy Sedaris, among others. The voices & characters were simultaneously funny and annoying.

Loving Frank- Loving Frank is a work of historical fiction based on architect Frank Lloyd Wright's affair with one of his married clients. I've seen this book around a lot but I tend to not really go in for historical fiction, especially when it features a historical figure. Too much supposition, I guess. But I needed an audiobook for my drive down to Lakeview so it seemed like a good time to check it out. Loving Frank surprised me because it was not only a romance but a somewhat philosophical discussion of women's emotional rights of the time.

The back of the book mentions the "shocking conclusion," and I figured that it would be something lame like "she goes back to her husband" or something. It's not. I nearly had to pull over when I got to the "shocking conclusion." I won't ruin it for you.

The Imperfectionists- This book was not my favorite. The book is a series of short stories about people who work at a foreign language newspaper in Rome. I liked the interconnectedness, but since all of the stories ended with uncertainty (my least favorite type of ending), I felt unsatisfied by the end of the book.

Behind the Scenes at the Museum I really like Kate Atkinson's books, but this one might be my favorite. I love that she can combine good writing with a really gripping plot & mystery.