books in one 3-day trip. Actually, more like four books in two
cross-US flights. PHL (Philly) to PHX (Phoenix) to Spokane (GEG) and
back (in reverse order). I basically devoured the books I'd been
reading. In fact, I brought the first two with me from home, and was
fretting about finding more books to read on the flight home. Luckily
there was a happy, clean bookstore (Auntie's) at the Spokane airport.
*Phew* So…what was I reading you ask? Well, I read the following in
this order:
1. 'The Zookeeper's Wife' by Diane Ackerman
2. 'Same Kind of Different as Me' by Ron Hall / Denver Moore
3. 'I'm Looking Through You' by Jennifer Finney Boylan
4. 'The Art of Racing in the Rain' by Garth Stein
Out of those four, I'd rank them in this order: #4, #2, #3, #1. 'The
Art of Racing' was fantastic and told in a dog's POV. 'Same Kind of
Different' was a pretty fast read and was a pretty compelling tale of
two opposites befriending one another. The storyline surrounding
Denver's life was fascinating, as a modern day slave and homeless
person. The story took on a lot surrounding Evangelical Christianity
as it went on, but was well-woven into the writing. It wasn't overt
or preachy in any way; it basically told of compassion through
volunteering at a homeless shelter. 'I'm Looking Through You' was
interesting in that it was based in Philly neighborhood, the author is
originally from the Greater Philly area, and the author is
transgendered. Actually I feel somewhat thick for never having heard
of the author until reading this book, a memoir and account of the
author's childhood "haunted" home and "haunted" past. The author has
been on Oprah several times (go figure, I don't watch Oprah) as well
as Larry King Live and was parodied on SNL at one point. Last, 'The
Zookeeper's Wife.' It involved a fascinating subject (to me) – the
German occupation of Warsaw in WW2. The downside of the book was in
the details. I think the author got a bit involved in describing the
zoo and surroundings and didn't dig deeply enough its characters
(well, technically real-life characters, as the novel is an account of
real events). The novel did, however, show signs of hope in a very
bleak Poland during WW2. It also told of many secret networks of
normal people who made it their mission to rescue and/or hide
inhabitants of the Warsaw ghetto.
I really enjoy reading. Sometimes I don't get much of it in during
the week due to other commitments. I suppose I may just take time
away from electronic distractions and try to squeeze in more reading.
There's a lot of good books waiting to be read on my shelf right now
and a number on the way in the mail from Paperback Swap. I'm trying
to read through much of the NY Times trade fiction best seller list.
Trade fiction…i.e. snooty fiction, lol.
Just since I finished typing the above blog, I finished 'The Guernsey
Literary and Potato Peel Society' and started 'The Time Traveler's
Wife.' I'm on a reading roll, pretty much. I've forgotten how much I
enjoy reading. When I was a kid, I'd polish off a couple books in an
afternoon. I'd stash them in my school stuff and read them during
breaks. I'd read during recess (sometimes) if I didn't feel like
playing kickball. Luckily "young adult fiction" works were usually
fast reads. Especially the "Goosebumps" series ('member those
chillinz of the 90s?). Indeed they were cheesy and had predictable
endings, but I've a LOT of them - whatever was published between
1994-1997. In 1997 I thought they were "too easy and cheesy" and
switched to the works of horror master, Stephen King. I was then an
aide at the town library and spent an entire summer ('97) engrossed in
books, mostly by Stephen King, but I read a lot of others to keep
well-rounded (and um, sane). I continued on into the school year, 8th
grade, and used a number of the novels as book reports for English
class. I wonder if the teach thought I was a psycho. Your average
8th grader doesn't typically spend their time polishing off a 1090
page work in a week ('It'). I remember having to be careful about
divulging the subject information in some of my reports. I may have
just chosen different books entirely because a report would be graphic
regardless of how it was written. I read 'Gerald's Game' during the
school year and remember having to read something else for the report.
If you've read it, you know it deals with S&M and necrophilia quite
early in the book, so yeah, a book report? Totally out of the
question.
Maybe some would be surprised to learn I've read a lot of cheesy stuff
like "Goosebumps" in my time and still enjoy cheesy series-style
books. I loved the Harry Potter series, but I'm sure even a lot of
high-brow fiction readers will admit to enjoying it. It was a
well-written fantasy series, IMO. Because there's so many comparisons
between HP and the Twilight series (which I was vowing NOT to read
simply on account of its silly teenage popularity), I've requested the
first two books of the Twilight saga on Paperback Swap. Basically
I've caved into peer pressure on the web. Shameful, I know, but I am
interested to see what all the damn hype is about.
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