I'm going to try and review as many as possible before I get a headache. haha. considering there's like 20 books I've read since then.
It's Okay to Miss the Bed on the First Jump- John O'Hurley
A cute book about life lessons the author has learned from his dogs. Things like, if you're tired take a nap, and the title lesson. It was cute, and kinda short. It was a nice book but didn't have a whole lot of depth to it. I really liked the little stories about the author's dog, they were funny.
The Torrents of Spring - Ernest Hemingway
One of the few Hemingway's I hadn't read yet. A lesser known work it's a parody of the Chicago school of literature. I'm not sure if I got all of the parody or not, I guess I might need to read more 1920s literature, maybe. But I did enjoy it. At a whopping 90 pages it didn't take too long to read. I really enjoyed the parts when Hemingway would talk to the audience directly. They were very funny. All in all I enjoyed the book, but maybe not as much as some of his others.
Sold - Patricia McCormick
National Book Award finalist in 2006. 13 year old Lakshmi lives in Nepal with her mother, injured stepfather and baby brother. She leads a simple life in their hut, thinking of her wedding, and trying to find food everyday until her stepfather sells her into prostitution. In the brothel she is faced with a life completely foreign to her and one which she is not prepared for. But then Lakshmi must make a very hard decision that could change her life forever. An amazing book, written in free verse from Lakshmi's point of view. This book was horrifying and captivating at the same time. I couldn't imagine all the horrors Lakshmi has to go through and how innocent she remains through the whole book. I can see why this was up for an award, it seems that more and more award winners these days are focusing on tough subjects.
Barrel Fever - David Sedaris
Another book of stories and essays by Sedaris. I've read several of his essays and I've enjoyed them, they were always funny. This was the first collection of his I read with stories in them. Honestly I like his essays better than the stories, although there's nothing wrong with the stories. My favorite was definitely Santaland Diaries.
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle - Barbara Kingsolver (with some help from her husband and daughters)
Kingsolver and her family moved from New Mexico to their family farm in Virginia. In doing so they decide to live for a year on food they grow on their farm or can buy locally. Which means no bananas, or other foods that are shipped across the country. Kingsolver tells stories about the experiences and difficulties of not being able to eat whatever they want. All in all it's an entertaining book full of valuable information in living local. After many of the chapters there are recipes that the family makes a lot. I liked reading it, it made me sad that we don't live on a huge farm and can grow all our own food but I'll survive. Really, what everyone should take from this book is to be aware of where the food you eat comes from, buy locally if you can. If not, buy as close to local as possible. Right after I read this Luis and I went to our local farmer's market and tried out a recipe from the book. Very fun!
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
Oh what a disappointing book. After lying to herself for many years Gilbert finally divorces her husband and basically falls into a rut (which she pretty much created but that's beside the point). Anyway, she decides she needs a sabbatical and takes a YEAR to travel to discover herself. Of course, done with advance money for the book she would later write. She goes to Italy, India and Indonesia for three months each where she eats, prays and loves. I was so disappointed in this book. It's been promoed to death and I was on the waiting list for AGES to get it from the library, so of course it didn't live up to my expectations. I got tired of listening to Gilbert whine about her sorry life as she sits in a cafe in Rome stuffing her face or experiencing things people only dream about until she finally "finds herself" (in another man). I know its her book and she can write whatever she wants, but it felt fake and I don't see why she needed to go halfway around the world to find out who she is. It was just not eye-opening or inspirational at all. I'm not sure why so many people give rave reviews on it, it's not a good memoir and it's not a travel book. It's a whiny piece of poo.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
My mom was reading this to her kids, and then showed them the movie and we were discussing the similarities between the two movies and the book and I realized I really didn't remember the book much so I decided to reread it. Charlie is always a good book, and the movies don't do it justice. Classic.
I'm tired, more later.
Newberys read/ out of: 49/86
