Hi again. I basically took a
summer vacation from blogging, but I’m back now and hope to be posting
regularly again.
The reason for the hiatus was pretty exciting- we bought a house!!
Construction hasn’t actually begun on the house yet, so it’ll be quite awhile
till we move, and I’ve got no pictures to show, but my heart was in planning
and getting all that together. Plus we took a no-computer-access vacation in
August, which didn't work any wonders for my blog.
But it leads me to my first post in over a month, a new edition of recent
reads. I spent a large part of the summer gloriously lounging by the pool or on
the beach, and I got some wonderful reading in.
Wild, by Cheryl Strayed
I loved this. It’s ultimately a redemption story- the memoir of a woman
wrecked by drugs and death and a broken home, who decides to hike the Pacific
Crest Trail when she has nowhere left to turn. The story was gripping. Her ability to access and describe her
emotions is amazing, as is her resolve, strength, and toughness. The hike is
not an easy one, and Strayed is not even close to properly prepared, but
nothing deters her. Strayed, and her
life, are my polar opposites, and reading this, I was amazed on so many levels-
the abuse a human body could take, how much you can overcome with sheer
willpower, and even the way the universe appears to look out for each and every
one of us. Truly a stellar read.
This Is Where I Leave You, by Jonathan Troppel
This movie comes out Friday night. My husband’s was obsessed with this
book, so I picked it up too and enjoyed it. It’s a hilarious story of an
extremely dysfunctional family who comes together for a shiva after their
father’s death. The characters are
entertaining and vivid, and they’re all facing some intense personal problems,
which makes some of their interactions quite bizarre. A fun read, if a bit vulgar at times.
Women in Clothes, by Sheila Heti, Leanne
Shapton, Heidi Julavits
I’d describe this book as a literary collage. The authors surveyed 639
women from all perspectives and backgrounds- young, old, rich, poor, famous, sweatshop
workers, transgenders, you name it- to get their views on style and
fashion. The book, which is crazy long,
puts these answers together in variety of fun ways, from straight-up survey
reprints, to interviews, to photo collages, to arty little literary pieces
(that, admittedly, I didn’t understand and skipped over). It got a
little long and boring for me by the end, but overall cool and something a
little different.
Sisterland, by Curtis
Sittenfeld
This is a kooky chick lit book about two twin sisters born with ESP.
One chooses to go all out and become a medium, and the other chooses to abandon
her skills in favor of a typical suburban life. When the psychic sister
predicts a huge earthquake will hit their town, she gains crazy notoriety and
the twins are forced to grapple with sibling and self-image issues that have
been brewing for years. This is a fun, easy, chick-lit kind of read.
