So guess what? I'm going on vacation! Which means I'm going to pretend like I don't know what “vacationing” with two children is really like and ask you for book recommendations again. Last year I made it through ONE MEASLY BOOK because of Lucy's poor LIVING habits (kid didn't sleep at night or nap worth a crap AND she was at the developmental stage where she didn't want to crawl but she couldn't walk and basically she spent four hours on the beach every morning clinging to the rolling cooler and shouting angrily at us about it) but this year I think things will be much improved. This year, for example, we got a house with a rocking chair! A ROCKING CHAIR. Do you know how awesome it will be to have a rocking chair in case my child wakes up in the middle of the night and needs to be soothed back to sleep? Have you ever tried rocking a child back to sleep SEVERAL TIMES A NIGHT for SEVEN NIGHTS IN A ROW without a rocking chair? I thought after the first two days that maybe there was a chance I'd at least come out of it with really hot abs, but all I ended up with was a killer backache that plagued me until Christmas. I am going to invent a portable rocking chair someday. I am CERTAIN there is a market for such a thing. (Also certain there's a market out there for mittens with a soft, cotton strip built in for nose wiping when you're outside in the cold, but I haven't really done anything about it yet.)
Anyway! The cool thing about asking for book recommendations this year is that I don't have to ask for them in six weeks in advance so I can order cheap books from Amazon and have them delivered with the free shipping option. This year, I own a Kindle. Oh, the BEAUTY of this thing, you guys. I don't have to go ANYWHERE to buy a book. I can finish a book on the beach and get myself another one WITHOUT GETTING OUT OF MY CHAIR. I won't even have to walk back into the house and wash the sand off my feet! It is a lazy person's answer to prayer. Don't give me that crap about how a book smells and how lost you'd feel not being able to turn pages blah blah blah. The Kindle is a LIFE CHANGER. Yes, yes, also a bank account changer. That's definitely a negative.
So the deal is that I'll tell you what I've read and loved or hated, and then you can do the same for me in the comments. It's awesome for everyone who is involved because EVERYBODY likes hearing about things they should be reading, am I right? I'll go first.
One Day, David Nicholls: LOOOOOOVED THIS. Read it in two sittings, could not put it down. Funny and heartwarming and engaging and downright fantastic. I could say more but I seriously, I might make old Mr. David Nicholls blush.
The Forgotten Garden, Kate Morton: Good story. Not as predictable as I originally thought it would be, but no groundbreaker, either. By the time I hit the middle, I kind of found myself reading just so I could find out what happened, not because I was in love with the characters or the storyline. Also I recommended it to my mom, because there weren't any swear words.
The Book Thief, Markus Zusak: This book was recommended to me several times last year, and I only got around to reading it a few months ago. I thought it was well written and haunting, but I didn't get so sucked into the story that I cried. Also, I did find the relationship between the girl and the dude a leeeetle creepy. A little, okay? I just didn't quite understand why a grown man would be so taken with a thirteen-year-old girl but maybe I missed something? I mean, yes, she's caring and talented but... I don't know, did anyone else think the same thing? Would definitely recommend, though.
The Lonely Polygamist: A Novel, Brady Udall: Um, hmmmm. I thought this would be a little bit more exciting, but it turns out polygamists are just like you and me, they just have three times as many wives and kids and as a result, are three times as boring. I kept waiting for something BIG to happen, and then when it did, I didn't feel like it was what I WANTED to happen. So I was disappointed in the storyline and the pace of the storyline. Scale of one to ten, this gets a five. Tops.
Little Bee, Chris Cleave: SAAAAAD. Really really good, really well-written, really really REAL and also tragic and upsetting. Just so you know. Would recommend, as long as you have a strong stomach.
A Reliable Wife, Robert Goolrick: MEH. Another one where I kept reading just to find out the ultimate result, even though I didn't really care how it ended up. Frankly, it kind of bored me, and it isn't a very memorable read, because I can't remember much about it just a couple of months later.
Cutting for Stone, Abraham Verghese: I want to marry this book. This is the best book I have read in AGES. It took a while to get into it (a few chapters, I think) but once I did, I didn't want it to end. I didn't want it to end! It was so moving, and the story was so beautifully woven together (think Owen Meany, you've read that, haven't you? Even if you didn't love it, remember how it all came together with a big, resounding BOOM at the end? REMEMBER?) and I loved, really loved, the characters. It is set in Ethiopia, a country I knew nothing about, but I remember when I finished this book I wanted to visit. I wanted to see it. This book is the kind of book you want to read over and over. I simply adored it. Also, it's kind of technical and involves lots of medical jargon (the setting is a hospital). But I am a sucker for medical stuff, so I loved it. It wasn't gory, just clinical at times. I highly highly HIGHLY recommend this. I couldn't give it enough stars if I tried. I INTERRUPTED A LADY READING IT AT THE POOL JUST TO GUSH OVER IT, you guys. I am INSANE for this book.
Also, three books I can definitely recommend, but that everyone seems to have the same high opinion of all over the internet: Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout; The Help by Kathryn Stockett; and Half Broke Horses: A True-Life Novel by Jeannette Walls (read her first novel, The Glass Castle first, if you haven't already). (WHY HAVEN'T YOU READ IT, THOUGH, SERIOUSLY? Amazing book, The Glass Castle.)
Okay, your turn!


