Nothing to report, wee!

August has become one of my favorite times at work. The summer associates are recently departed, the partners are on vacation with their kids before school starts up again and the associates are out playing (or hiding) if they can. Which means things *seriously* slow down for me. And after the madness this summer both at work and home, it's quite a welcome change. And bonus, my boss is on vacation as well! So no 1:1 calls, no team calls, etc. Even though I know it won't last, I am savoring this temporary quietness in the office.

I've actually been tempted to take my laptop up to the clubhouse/pool and "work" from there :-) Haven't gotten that far yet though.

Other than that, not too much to report. We enjoyed a fabulously busy (but good) weekend celebrating E's 2nd birthday with friends and family, hosted our first overnight guests from the Bay with their new little one, N, and then enjoyed a quiet Monday at home with just a few emails in/out. Since Monday felt like Sunday, I'm hoping it will feel like a shorter work week, which is always a good thing. And with M's improved schedule, we'll be able to enjoy the weekend both at home and on the boat in the Bay.

So, here's to a good week to all and an even better weekend coming up!

ps--Almost done with Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest--the final book in Stieg Larsson's trilogy... woot!

Love the One You're With

Another great fast read by Emily Giffin. I've always found her writing style to be so easy and fluid, it takes no time at all to read them. This particular story is about a newlywed woman and her apparently perfect marriage. I like Emily because her background makes her content so much more relevant to me. She's an ex-litigator (practiced at Big Law in Manhattan) and then up and quit, moved to London and started writing. Now she lives in Atlanta with her husband and three boys. Very cool.

I think her background is also the reason why this story is so engaging. The husband is from a very visible family in Atlanta (much like BT's hubby) and is an attorney, the wife is a photographer. It's basically a journey that a lot of newlywed couples take and make and how she survives it on her own (and in her marriage).

I finished reading this one camping a couple weekends ago and it was a perfect read for a long weekend.

The Gathering: Don't bother

Wow. This book is a major dud. Like I've said before, I always give books 100 pages to get me in and did the same with this one, a book club selection that my fellow book clubbers told me suh-ucked. And boy were they right.

At first I thought it was the author's odd style of bouncing back and forth (without notice, rhyme or apparent reason) between her childhood memories and the present. Between her live brother and dead brother (same guy). But it went on like that in a rambling, nonsensical way for 100 pages--or rather the whole thing--and I couldn't take it anymore. I skimmed the last 10 pages of my 100 goal looking for any change in dialogue or prose and found none.

So, if you like rambling nothingness, then I'd recommend this book. If you prefer books with a discernible point, a plot, some characters you can grab onto, aka anything resembling a normal novel, then this isn't the book for you. (or me).

The Alienist

The other upside of a long flight in coach with a stupid movie Eastbound and a movie I've already seen Westbound is that I've finished my latest read, The Alienist. I must say, after a little rough patch in the beginning, it's actually quite interesing. It's set in the late 19th century (not typically my M.O. for books) and it's basically a murder mystery/historical thriller in which a team of unlikelies hunts down a serial killer. I appreciated how the author was able to truly integrate history of New York in the 1890s with a fiction that was actually engaging. And for the first time (sadly) I realized how incredibly difficult it must be to draft the first word, sentence, paragraph, page of a novel. As the author, you likely feel like your novel is thought-provoking, well-researched, engaging and thoroughly awesome... but how to start it to grab the average reader? I realized, when I finished this book, that I was actually engaged at about page 35 and that is quite awesome. I've said in the past, I give books 100 pages to get me interested. If they don't, I'm out. The fact that this book got it done in 35 pages is amazing and I totally appreciate it.

So, if you're in the mood for a well-researched, well-written and totally psychologically-driven murder mystery, this is a great find. It doesn't seem like it at first, but trust me, it is.

Happy reading!

Kabul Beauty School

I just noticed that I am reading lots of memoirs based on authors' experiences in the Middle East as of late. Hm. In choosing my next book I looked at books I have on hand: Reading Lolita in Tehran, Three Cups of Tea; books I have recently read: Thousand Splendid Suns, Kabul Beauty School. I don't really know what my fascination is with the Middle East and memoirs right now. But I'm planning to take a break and read an actual novel next. Anywho...

I enjoyed this book, although it wasn't exactly what I hoped for. I read about this book and heard it was wonderful--about a hairdresser from Michigan who, post-divorce/semi-mid-life crisis, decides she wants to move to Afghanistan and help Afghan women become more self-sufficient or at least garner skills valuable in their culture (to women at least). She starts small--gathering donations of product and supplies and finally has enough to start a beauty school but finds she has no way to ship them there. (we're talking a full shipping container of stuff). Long story short, she spearheads an operation already underway with an American NGO on the same cause and ends up loving Afghanistan.

This book was more a collection of her stories from her 5 years in Afghanistan and provide real insight into the experience of Afghan women there. For that, I thought it was lovely and valuable. I guess I just hoped that it would be more novel-like with flow and chapters and stuff. Not so much. But I realize that might have been too high of a bar for a memoir.

Overall, I did enjoy this book and it was a quick read. I'd recommend it just for the experiences of the author and the women whose lives she undoubtedly touched and changed. As well as the lives of her Afghan husband and her two sons.

Amagansett

I finished reading this one before leaving for the sales meeting. Some quick thoughts:

If you are familiar with the East Coast, particularly NY, Long Island and the Hampton area, as well as with some general maritime happenings (fishing towns, sailing terms like 'port' and 'starbird') this book is probably a lot more fun to read. I am not familiar with any of those things having grown up for the most part in the Valley of Northern California. My exposure to anything maritime comes directly from M and even then I can't remember what 'port-side' means. Left or right?

It's a quick read, the cover says it's a haunting love story and thriller. I wouldn't say it was haunting or thrilling. It's basically a murder mystery and love story in which the victim is the lover of one of the fisherman in town. She’s a Manhattanite from a wealthy family who has a house in the Hamptons, so her affair with the local fisherman takes some time to reveal itself. I suppose some of the things were dramatic, but I wouldn’t say it was particularly original. The pieces of the puzzle are hinted at throughout the book. In fact, the author kind of assumes that you paid close enough attention throughout the book that he doesn't even give you a straight ending. If you read the first 3 chapters and go to the last chapter to see whodunit, you wouldn't get it.

I dunno. A friend recommended this book, but not too highly, so I take it with a grain of salt. It was a good book for between heavy books I think. So if you're looking for something like that, then by all means, go for it.

Garlic & Sapphires

A book exchange find recommended by a fellow foodie who said I would enjoy this book. She was right! If you love food, love learning about food & cooking, and love reading insanely rich and vibrant descriptions about food, you'll enjoy it as well.

Essentially this book is written by a former New York Times food critic about how she remained anonymous while critiquing Manhattan's finest dining spots. I liked hearing how she morphed into each character less than I loved learning about the food and the dining experience in New York, but overall a quick enjoyable read.

Admittedly, the wind-down takes a bit longer than I liked and it does wrap up a bit nicely, but still a good fun read.

Next!

The Poisonwood Bible

When I told Wintermute I was trying, again, to read this book all the way through she looked puzzled. "Why?" I still do not have a good answer, even though I finished the book. My thoughts:

(early December) This is a carryover book from the 2007 book challenge. I started this book way back in maybe college maybe? I couldn’t finish it the first time and now I’m going back to it. I’ve heard that it’s awesome, but some of my friends say they couldn’t finish it either. We’ll see.

(January) I again, did not like this book. Wintermute was right, it seemed like the author didn’t want to end the damn thing! But since I was determined to finish it, I kept plugging along. The main part of the book, when they were living in the Congo, was fine. But it was annoying that the story and the characters never changed. They were literally the same from start to finish. Sure, it seemed that the characters learned some things, but essentially they didn’t change their behavior or perception of life or anything based on their experiences, which were pretty dramatic. I’m not sure what the whole point of the book was supposed to be. But fun, it wasn’t.

Anyone have suggestions as to the grand idea I was supposed to grasp? The life lesson I was supposed to learn? 'Cuz either I am too dense to figure it out or there just plain wasn't a point.

Water for Elephants

I just finished this book on our trip to B.C. and loved it. The wierd thing is, I can't totally figure out why. It’s about a young man’s life as a vet for a circus in the 1920s during Prohibition and at the start of the Great Depression. I loved how the author integrated the history of the circus and alot of the history of that time with the story line, but not in a way that was boring or obvious. More like little snippets. Like when she mentioned that the main character goes out into town and is walking among the part of town where the hobos (their term, not mine) live and notice that many of them, although asleep, have their shoes tied to their feet. And that they are mostly young, not older, middle aged as we would typically imagine. The cool part is, in the interview at the end of the book with the author, she confirms that this was indeed true. I like that. Interesting tidbits about history that aren't the least bit boring.

I talked to someone recently who didn't love this book, just liked it. But I really enjoyed it, devoured it really.

So, for 2008, 1 book down, 24 to go!

p.s... in case you're wondering, no, I didn't make the 25 book challenge last year. Missed it by 3 books. However if you count the 6 books I started (and by start I mean gave them each at least 100 pages to pique my interest)... then maybe I made it. Sorta.

Happy reading in 2008!

A Thousand Splendid Suns (Khaled Hosseini)

I just finished this book and absolutely loved it. If you read Kite Runner by the same author and felt slighted, fear not. This book is far better than its predecessor. I'll edit out my spoiler comments (I keep a running log of my thoughts of books I've read on the previously-mentioned Book Challenge list I have).

THIS BOOK IS AMAZING. I wasn't able to put this book down; a good sign when I can't turn out the light at 2am because I need to know what happens with the characters. This book is a tale of two women’s lives who seemingly have totally separate existences but eventually come to be key forces in each other's lives. Mariam, a woman born a bastard whose father abandons her and gives her away in marriage to a horrible man in Kabul a few weeks after a tragic event in her life. And Laila, a woman 20 years her junior, born into a well-educated family in Kabul, who finds love in her childhood friend, Tariq, but ends up being separated from him because of the wars and unconscionable violence in Afghanistan from the 80’s on. I loved how the author incorporated so much history in a way that didn't bore me to tears. I also loved how the author reminded me of young love, something I experienced myself, but in far different circumstances. It was so intelligently written, so heartfelt. I absolutely fell in love with these characters. While it does wrap up a tad nicely, it's a lovely story I will definitely pass on.