Books #32 - 37

Hello, friends!

I've been doing some reading since I last posted, though nowhere near as much as last year. I got a Kindle for my birthday, which I really like. It's nice to have multiple books in one little contraption. I still love paper books, with their pages and the smell of paper and the cover art and the ability to mark a page and turn back to look at it easily (you can bookmark with the Kindle, but I don't know how yet). Anyway, here are some books I've read recently:

#32: The Fifth Child by Doris Lessing. A couple push their luck by having a fifth baby when they already had a perfect family. And there's something different about him -- like he might be a throwback to one of our pre-Homo Sapiens ancestors! When I started feeling our baby kick, and seeing my stomach bulge and ripple, I couldn't help but think of this book, in which the little monster tortures his mom in utero. Since reading this, I saw an episode of the show "I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant" in which a woman's first baby had broken 3 of her ribs while kicking inside her body! The second, surprise baby barely moved at all. No wonder she didn't realize it was in there!

#33: Ben, In the World by Dorris Lessing. This is the sequel to The Fifth Child, in which the little monster heads out on a search for more of his own kind. Poor Ben. He's a little late.

#34: What Makes You Not A Buddhist by Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse. I like reading about buddhism because it makes me feel calm and less enchanted by consumerism. But this is my least favorite buddhism book so far. It took me forever to read. I think the others I've read had some fun and humor in them, and this one had none.

#35: Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk by David Sedaris. I love David Sedaris and his sister, Amy. This is a book of very short stories which star animals. It's illustrated by Ian Falconer. I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as I enjoy David's stories about his own life, but it's okay. I guess I was expecting the same level of hilarity, but I did not find it here.

#36: The News Where You Are by Catherine O'Flynn. This is a winner! A local newscaster investigates the death of his friend and colleague. But the important thing is that the writing is fantastic. Try this:

"Frank didn't expect much from food, but he thought it shouldn't injure you."

and:

"Sometimes he imagined that he was the last person living after the bomb had dropped, and such thoughts inevitably failed to lift his mood."

#37: The Broken Window by Jeffery Deaver. As long as I can avoid seeing the author's photo (the hair -- oh man, the hair!), I really enjoy these mystery-thrillers starring Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs. In this one, someone is going to elaborate lengths to frame men for rapes and murders. There is physical evidence planted in their homes -- but how does anyone know what kind of beer, condoms, and shoes they recently bought? It's a pretty decent story about the evil potential of information-gathering companies.

I have a few more to report, and I'll be back soon to do so. Hey, there are lots of ways to define "soon."