February- 6

Well since March is almost over (which is good news for me), figured it was time to update on February's books.

First up was Happy Ever After, the last book in the Nora Roberts series I was reading. This book was as predictable as the first three and I have to say if I wasn't so damn anal and needing to finish what I've started, I probably wouldn't have read it. That said though it was an easy enough read and probably great for the hopeless romantics out there. I am glad that I can also cross "Read Nora Roberts" off my list officially now ;)

Book two was Unbearable Lightness by Portia de Rossi. Overall a good read but not quite what I was expecting it to be. I also couldn't relate to a lot of it because so much of her eating disorder had to do with her identity of being a lesbian. I appreciated her process but also found it difficult at times to align with what she was discussing. However, I love love loved a piece of the ending where she discussing eating disorders versus ordered eating. She describes ordered eating as that of which we do not think about our eating in terms of calories fats etc but eat to feel full and good and healthy. A teacher once said that eating disordered individuals have a negative relationship with food but she doesn't believe that is fair to say since healthy individuals do not have relationship with food at all. The way de Rossi describes it makes perfect sense and it is such a goal to strive for, perhaps unachievable and perhaps realistic long term wise.

So for a long time I've wanted to read Sex and the City by Candace Bushnell. I've struggled each time I've picked it up. After reading One Fifth Avenue last month by the same author I was again inspired to try again. This time I listened to it on CD and actually made it through the book (yay!). I think the issues I was having, and still had, is that it's really nothing like the show/movies/new books (Carrie Diaries). There are some similar names used and Big and Carrie are in a relationship, oh and there is also a Samantha Jones who might be as close to similar for the tv show, but aside from that it's nothing like the newer versions. I'm happy I finally made it through, but I also am going to choose to believe in the Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte, and Samantha from the show that I fell in love with.

Steve Martin has been a favorite of mine, I guess since Father of the Bride at least. When I realized that yes in fact Shopgirl and The Pleasure of my own Company were written by him, and not some author with the same name as him. I immediately pulled them off the library cart and took them home. They were good, more sexual than I expected them to be, but I guess that's cause I still saw the actor/author through my kid eyes and not through my grown up eyes able to see him as an adult male. An Object of Beauty, his newest novel, was as great as I expected it to be. It took a moment to get into it, possibly because of the art history of it, but it was really enjoyable and sad to see it end. Don't get me wrong, I like the art world (thanks parents) but the book was a little difficult for me to understand at first since I don't much about the buying/selling part of the art world. In any case though I'm glad I stuck with it and I'll continue reading Martin's books if he keeps writing them.

I'm a fan of Paris, especially the Eiffel tower, which I feel fortunate to have seen up close and personal some years ago. So when I saw the cover of Paris Hangover by Kristen Lobe I added it to the to read list. I forgot about what it was about until I ordered it as a read for my vacation last month. The concept seems pretty inspiring, high powered NYC woman gives it all up to move to Paris to live out her dream. The book is set up cutely with each chapter divided into a few repeating parts. "The search for Monsieur Right" "A few slightly annoying details I didn't anticipate" and "Sublime pleasure du jour." I like this division and it definitely works for the book. Other than that I can't say it was a good book. The supposed heroine prides herself on being a skinny, not so smart blonde, drunken slutty woman. Seriously. It was very Sex and the City meets Paris with just one character but without the great friendships and feminism in it. And of course there is a fairy tale ending, which I don't feel like is giving anything away since you know this 5 minutes into the book. That being said I don't regret reading it, especially since I read it on the airplane to vacation and maybe what I needed was a crappy romance novel disguised as a Parisian novel.

Oddly enough I ended up with two similar romancy type books on my vacation. The last book I read in February was You Have to Kiss a Lot of Frogs by Laurie Graff. This story is of a NYC Jewish actress looking for love. The chapters are various points in her life with various men all leading to the ending. This book though another "search for Mr Right" type book was not quite as sappy or annoying as the book above. The heroine dates, and yes sleeps with, quite a few men but it isn't as drunken slutty as the other novel. You feel for this woman and the funny dates she winds up with. They aren't just bad men they are odd and some of them are good but she chooses herself or her career over. One of them is a "famous" actor who takes her back to his house to make her dinner and after dinner starts acting like a dog, barking and the works. There is a "perfect" man (read: Jewish doctor) but whom she doesn't tell she is Jewish immediately and then loses not because she was dishonest but because he doesn't want to marry a Jewish woman even though that's what he has said he wants. (This chapter is titled "Shiksa syndrome" or something like that. It's a cute book. The only regret I had reading it was that the second to last chapter would have worked much better as the last chapter in my opinion. She gives up on the men and adopts a wonderful dog. That to me is a good ending and still allows me as a reader to believe she could end up happy. Instead the author takes it another chapter and gives us a different sort of happy ending. I was happy for the character but it was also a little disappointing.

All in all it looks like my February reads were on theme for the Valentine's month. March is new Jodi Picoult month!!!!!!!!!

January 2011- 4

Perfectly Secret edited by Susan Musgrave was a bit disappointing. The overall idea, secrets of teens, was a good concept to start with but I just didn't feel like the book delivered. Easy teen read so no regrets on finally reading this quick read, it just feel short for me though.

Oregon is recently holding a special place for me so when I heard about this book about teen runaways from Oregon I was especially interested. Live Through This by Debra Gwartney tells the story of Gwartney's teen daughters when they were runaways years ago. Her story shares her years long horrific battle to try to save the lives of her two girls. The book was well written and I liked that it came from the mother's perspective and didn't focus on the the girl's experience as much, as that is their story not hers. I was disheartened by some of the Oregon state laws that allowed Gwartney to have to fight harder. I also liked that the true story had a happy ending, though some parts were a bit graphic (you'll see what I mean if you read it). Sometimes with non fiction you don't get to see what happened after and since Gwartney wrote this much after the fact the reader gets the conclusion they need.

Anyone who knows me for a minute knows I love elephants, or as I call them dramblys (Lithuanian for elephant). I don't remember where I saw Elephant Reflections by Karl Ammann and Dale Peterson, but as soon as I did I knew I wanted to read it. What beautiful amazing pictures and history on elephants. My favorite sections were perspectives, passages, and portraits.

I am a huge Sex and the City fan, which has allowed for all of author Candace Bushnell's books to make my to read list. I've tried several times to read Sex and the City the book but haven't been able to get through the first few pages. It's odd cause I like the rest of her books but I guess maybe because I'm searching for Carrie, Charlotte, Samantha, Miranda, and Mr Big I just can't get through those first few pages. I listened to One Fifth Avenue recently and enjoyed it enough that I may make another attempt at SATC book. One Fifth is set in NYC, of course. It tells the story of a historical apartment building and it's upper middle class to unbelievably rich owners. It's not a serious read but it had some interesting twists and turns and some good old fashioned NY romance of course.

Well thats the end of January's reads. I wish I had a few more to report, 4 doesn't seem all that big a number but I did start back up with school and have a busy month. February's a shorter month but I have a week's vacation and a box full of books to keep me busy :)

66

So the year is over, final count was 66 books in 2010. I wish I had gotten even a little closer to the goal but in some ways its even better that I didn't accomplish it. In 2010 I learned to fail, I learned to not be perfect, I learned to try as hard as you can and accept whatever that brings. I learned that's the best I can do and it is enough.

I am glad I had the chance to renew my love for reading. Realistically I think I knew from the beginning I wouldn't get to 100. With my schedule that was an impossible goal to set. It may have seemed possible at the beginning but a few short months in something more important to work on came up. I can't say I regret putting the books to the side for awhile, getting myself back is more important. In any case though I will continue to read whenever I can. I will continue to add books to my never ending "to read" list. When I move far far away this summer, I will be sure I know where the nearest library is to my new home.

Not sure if I'll keep blogging about the 2011 reads, but I just may. More realistically this year the new goal will be to read more than 66 books.

Thanks for listening.

-L

Classical Humanities

I honestly can't remember what landed The Drowning Tree by Carol Goodman on my to read list. It is a story about classical mythology and art. It is also a murder mystery/suspense. None of these are typical to what I like to read. I have to imagine the additional link to mental health is what must have gotten my interest. In any case though the story grabbed my attention almost immediately and was a very interesting last read of the year. The somewhat surprising ending and it's focus to mental health did not disappoint me in the least.

63-65

Books 63-65 will not be blogged about. Subject matter is a little too personal and I'm not up for sharing. One of them was on my list for a long long long time and I'm glad I finally had the courage to read it. That being said all three were tough to read but every day this past year I worked on doing the impossible.

Invisible

The Visibles by Sara Shepard is one of those books that I picked up because of the cover. The concept seemed interesting to me as well after reading the jacket so it got added to the list. Mental illness, DNA, abandonment, and family relationships are the common themes. Other than that the book is far from common. It was hard to get it started because there was no flow but then it grabbed my interest and I really wanted to know what happened next. A lot of the questions never got answered and I usually don't like that but for some reason it worked for this book. It also takes place part in New York and the time frames jump around from decade to decade. I knew at some point it would end up at 9/11 and I really like how the author could have spent so much time on that one segment of time but chose (I think) not to. It plays a significant role for the characters but isn't focused on or made a major part of the book. Overall I'm glad I stuck with the book but I can't imagine it being many peoples cup of tea with all the twists and turns and unanswered segments.

DID

All I can say is wow after finishing Ellen Hopkins book Identical. When I worked at the library I would always see Hopkins' books in the teen section and wonder what the deal was with them. They are big books for teen reads. I think if I was a teen I would have read them all. Instead I chose to add this one to my list and I really enjoyed it. It was hard to get used to the style, it is written entirely like poetry. But I stuck with it and one insomniac night finished the book. I don't want to give too much away but if you are as interested in the mental health field as I am this book has lots of psychological twists and turns. Overall if you can stick with the style it's a pretty easy read and a very interesting concept. No idea how Hopkins even thought of this but again, wow.