Thursday, April 17, 2008

bookworm.

I just got an email from a curious reader asking if I did, in fact, read Eat, Pray, Love, since it never appeared on my "currently reading" list. (Didn't I just make the point that I don't update enough? Thanks for the extra poke!) I finished Water for Elephants in a day and a half, staying up way too late but it was so entertaining I couldn't stop. And then Eat, Pray Love, which turned out to not be one of my all-time favorites. I felt a little like she was trying too hard. Or maybe I was just uncomfortable (with my Presbyterian upbringing) reading the whole white light,"sitting in the hand of God", out-of-control experience. I'm not sure. But yes, both books were finished and plenty since - books are one of my bad habits. The problem is when the book is SO good that I can't get anything else done because I'm obsessed with the characters and knowing what happens (see: Water for Elephants).

There is a bookstore in Los Angeles where everything is ONE DOLLAR. It’s so totally random - I’ve hunted for hours there with my mom and found signed first editions, beautifully illustrated children’s books in pristine condition, and piles and piles of utter crap. One visit there I spent forty. seven. dollars. (And that was after putting around fifteen things back on the shelves...) It’s a great place to grab airplane books – the sort of girlie books or scary books or books that you wouldn’t be caught dead reading by your friends. For a buck? Who cares? This past month or so I’ve gone through a huge stack of them – some I won’t name, just to try to keep a little bit of self respect.

Sophie’s Choice (I’d never read it before, and I’m sorry I have now.)
The Dive From Clausen’s Pier (the central character was very unlikable, and not just because she left her fiance after he became paralyzed.)
Primary Colors (another one of those “everyone’s read it” sort of things. It was a good read, but it’s all so long after the fact at this point that it probably wasn’t worth reading.)
French Revolutions (this guy is to Bill Bryson what Benny Hill is to John Cleese, but it’s a pretty interesting look at the history of the Tour de France.)
Some Ann Rule book (I can’t help it – I find them riveting. Remember, this is the stuff I AM telling you about!)
The Girl from Botany Bay (meh - a glimpse at the British government's early attempts to populate Australia with convicts.)
Some Mary Higgins Clark book (a total airplane book – you always see them in airports and drugstores. Not horrible, but I don’t need to read another one.)
Spotted in France (a man and his dog, on a Vespa through the french countryside. Lots of adventure and very good restaurants. Great ending.)
Wedding Season (I had to get this one, right? This girl is in the weddings of 17 of her closest friends and family members. Not great, but a surprisingly good ending.)

And last week I started Just Desserts, the unauthorized biography of Martha Stewart. I love Martha Stewart. LOVE. I think she’s brilliant and really hard working and even though probably nothing in the magazine is her idea anymore, she's definitely creative and extremely talented. Do I think she’s probably difficult to work for? Um, yes. She's got high standards, and there’s nothing wrong with that. This book won’t change my opinion of her at all. (But I’m still looking forward to reading the dirt.)