What I’m Reading

Every since Cyn Jon got me hooked on Bookmooch, things have been looking up in my continuing quest to find Excellent Reading Material. As you know, I’m a picky reader. I can’t read stuff that’s poorly written or that’s silly or faddish or boring or confusing or whatever. I’m a Reading Wuss. I wish I could:  I miss the days when I could read anything. Absolutely anything. Except, OK, romances. And science fiction. And historical fiction. And religious novels. And—never mind.

So, because I know how much I love it when someone tells me about books, I thought I’d tell you about some I’ve been reading.

The Book of Lies, by Brad Meltzer

This was interesting enough to keep me reading. I was kind of worried, as it had rather a lot about religion, plus there was no sex or cussing—the no-sex part didn’t seem odd, as there was no reason for it. But the no-cussing part WAS odd, as the characters would start to say something and then stop, mid-cuss. I was afraid he was going to start preaching. But no. It was OK—worth a read.

Then I read:

It Sucked and Then I Cried- How I Had a Baby, a Breakdown, and a Much Needed Margarita by Heather Armstrong

You know this woman as dooce.com, The Most Famous Personal Blog in the World. Long ago, someone recommended that I read her, telling me how funny and smart she was. I dutifully went there and read her, and yes, indeed:  she is smart and funny. But:  she is also obsessed with vomiting. I don’t know if I jumped in at the height of her posting about morning sickness or what, but yeow:  it was All Barf, All the Time.

I wondered if her book would be the same, and sure enough:  it’s not just her puking that fascinates her so, but also the puking of her dog (which she describes in way, way too much detail) and the puking of her baby. She doesn’t just tell you she puked, but she tells you how it felt and how it smelled and how—well. Never mind. Let’s just say I get the idea already.

I read the book all the way through. Much of it was funny, although not, for me, of the laugh-out-loud kind. It could well be that I’m just not exactly the target audience for Mommy Blogs. You think?

Now I’m reading this:

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

I found this on a display at the Border’s in Austin, with a bunch of other recommended books. I wrote down all the titles and picked up this one to see what it was like and loved it. And only $9! For a brand-new book! So I bought it. I’m about halfway through and am loving it.

So I feel like I’ve got my Reading Chops back. I walked to the library yesterday and found most of the books whose titles I copied down at Border’s. (Great fun but a long, slow walk home with that haul.) I’ve also got a stack from the lovely members of Bookmooch.

I’ve got this, by Jackie Meyers-Chang, who made me that apron I showed you way back last year.

Strands- Creating Unexpected Fabrics And Fashionable Projects by Jacqueline Myers-Cho

And the new Studios edition of Cloth Paper Scissors:

I’ll try to remember to let you know about others as I get to them.

So what good things are you reading?