A Mixed Bag (of Books)

I’ll just go ahead and tell the truth: I don’t have much to write about.

You’d think that only writing in months with five Fridays would leave me plenty of time to come up with an interesting topic. And…apparently you’d be wrong.

I even read this article in the New York Times online Books section and thought of writing a response to it. Then I realized I’d already written about that topic. So that was out.

Book Binge

This month I’ve participated in a Book Binge in which we keep track of all the books we read in the month of May and post the list, and any thoughts, if we care to, at the end. I was a little concerned because I already keep track of the books I read on goodreads.com and I was pretty sure that I’ve been reading fewer books and more blogs. (Articles at the New York Times, while often informative, do not add up to actual books.)

But it turns out that I can still read when I am challenged. As of now, Friday, May 30, I’ve read eight books this month. I really doubt that I’ll finish another one tomorrow, so that will be that for the month. Some of them were really good, others not so much. (I bet you couldn’t have guessed that, huh? I am such an astute reviewer!)

Highlights and Lowlights

T is for Trespass is the most recent installment in Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone series. If you like mysteries, or if you just like to read novels narrated by tough, wisecracking women, you owe it to yourself to check this series out. A few summers ago, I read the first book in the series and got hooked. I read all the books that summer and have waited impatiently ever since for the next one to come out. T is for Trespass does not disappoint.

Don’t Stop Laughing Now is an anthology of humor pieces written for Christian women. The only problem: although I am a Christian woman, I didn’t find it very funny. I probably laughed out loud twice while reading it, both times at “kids say the darndest things” stories. Unless you pay 25 cents for this book at a garage sale like I did, it’s probably not worth your time.

Heroes by Paul Johnson was an interesting read. It’s a series of vignettes of famous lives which also provides some easy-to-digest history lessons. I can’t say I agreed with all of his choices (he didn’t convince me that Marilyn Monroe was heroic) but I enjoyed every chapter. The book also challenged me to think about the nature of heroism itself. One thing I learned: heroes have to have an iron will in the face of opposition, and only time will tell if their actions will be regarded as heroic to future generations.

Don't Leave Home Without Them

Now let’s talk briefly about vacation. I take a lot of books with me on vacation—as many as I can stuff in my book bag. I need a lot of books because I don’t know what I’m going to be in the mood to read, so I need a variety to choose from. Like Rain Man, I can’t allow myself to be “bookless.” Here’s what I’m taking when I go out of town next week:

Home: A Memoir of My Early Years by Julie Andrews

The English American by Alison Larkin

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

A Plague of Angels: A Sir Robert Carey Mystery by P.F. Chisholm

Hmm. It looks like the only thing missing is a humor book. Parts of the Robert Carey books are funny, and who knows about the others…I can always throw in a P.G. Wodehouse and I’ll be set for any reading mood in which I find myself. Feel free to post summer reading recommendations in the comments—I’ll be taking notes!