The Home Stretch

My mom gave me Whoopi Goldberg's Is It Just Me?: Or is it nuts out there? book about how manners in our culture is almost extinct.  A quick and funny book, I got a kick out of it.  92/100

On a flight I read Samantha Baker's The Other Mothers' Club: A Novel because of the "I really, really loved it!" blurb on the cover from one of my favorite authors, Marian Keyes.  What I know now is that as good as a writer as she is, her blurbs are untrustworthy.  Her books are some of my favorites.  I particularly loved Rachel's Holiday. Not only was The Other Mothers' Club bad, it was almost unreadable. 93/100

I bought Your Best Birth: Know All Your Options, Discover the Natural Choices, and Take Back the Birth Experience by Abby Epstein and Ricki Lake for my BFF, who is expecting a bundle of joy later this winter.  Yes, the same BFF who just got married this March. I read this book after I had to spend 6 hours in the airport and finished the book I brought and had checked my other books.  Interesting, scary, informative, and also graphic, this book pulls no punches. 94/100

My brother gave me The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven Pressfield for the holidays and I jumped right into it.  This book directs more than encourages, and it was a good resource.  Also a good motivator, though a lot of the book contained information I'd read in other books.  95/100

While at my sister's house, she asked how my book project was going and I told her I needed to finish out the year, so she (a new mom) gave me the fastest read ever, Jenny McCarthy's Belly Laughs: The Naked Truth about Pregnancy and Childbirth.  Each chapter was barely a page and it took me less than an hour to finish it.  96/100

I picked up Living Life as a Thank You: The Transformative Power of Daily Gratitude because I like to read spiritual books sometimes.  This was more like a spiritual book as written by Chicken Soup.  Not my favorite, but I do appreciate the power of gratitude. 97/100

From the library used book sale, I picked up Write to the Heart: Wit & Wisdom of Women Writers, a collection of quotes about women writers about process, writer's life, books, family, transformation, and more.  98/100

Jennifer Egan's A Visit from the Goon Squad is less a novel and more a series of related stories. Interesting and well written, this book isn't like any other I've read for some time. Lots of characters, jumps around in time a bit, and even contains a chapter written in PowerPoint. 99/100

I finished the year with Thich Nhat Hanh's True Love: A Practice for Awakening the Heart.  I knew it was good because as soon as I finished it, I wanted to read it again. 100/100

Today I watched some stand-up comedy on Netflix, snacked on pineapple (my fruit of the month), met my honorary grandmother for brunch, chatted up the proverbial storm, ran a couple of errands, came home, went for a late afternoon walk, had dinner with My Heart's Desire, watched a movie, and am going to read.

Fall/Winter Books II

I consumed Margot Berwin's Hothouse Flower: and the Nine Plants of Desire (Vintage Contemporaries).  This novel was another $2 find from the library used bookstore and it would have been a bargain at twice the price, as my Aunt would say.  The book is about a thirty-two year old Manhattan woman still healing from her divorce when she decides to bring a plant into her all white studio apartment. What follows is adventure, love, magic, travel, desire, and more!  88/100

A good friend happily handed over The Birth House: A Novel (P.S.) by Ami Mckay and I was intrigued by this historical novel, set in Canada in the early 20th century, and the teenaged protagonist who is sent to live with the local midwife one winter when she's too old to stay in the one-room house with her brothers.  Interesting story and good writing.  89/100

It's not often I can feel my IQ dropping, but reading Nicole Richie's Priceless: A Novel certainly did the job.  If you're going to hire a ghostwriter, why not hire one that can actually write?  You may be wondering why I would read a book like this (embarrassing to be seen with in public) and the answer may surprise you: Ellen Degeneres.  My mom was in the audience of Ellen and left with this book.  My mom was too embarrassed to have it in her house so she sent me home with it with instructions to leave in whichever airport I finished it in.  90/100

I picked up the audiobook of Jeff Lindsay's Dexter by Design: A Novel (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard) so that My Heart's Desire and I could listen to it on a car trip.  We got through about a third of it, then I was hooked.  I'm not usually fond of crime novels (particularly when the murderer is the good-ish guy), but I found this to be clever and the story held my attention.  91/100

Today I am grateful for flannel sheets, being able to make healthy choices, reading glasses (yes, I am now officially old), the LA Dodgers blanket from my friend Carlos that keeps me cozy on chilly days at work, clementines, being prepared, hot tea on cold days, and enjoying the holiday spirit.

Little Stalker

Yes, Jennifer Belle's Little Stalker was another find from the garden of inexpensive used books.  This book started off well, and I had medium hopes, as I have enjoyed the author's previous works. However, the more I read, the less I liked. If it wasn't December, I would have abandoned it before the first third. Her previous books were more enjoyable. Either that or I crossed over on the wrong side of the age bracket that likes this type of book since I read her last one.  I do wear reading glasses now so that very well may be the case.  87/100

When You Eat at the Refrigerator, Pull Up a Chair

I came across Geneen Roth's When You Eat at the Refrigerator, Pull Up a Chair: 50 Ways to Feel Thin, Gorgeous, and Happy (When You Feel Anything But) at the library used bookstore and the price was right ($2) so I bought it. I hadn't read this book in a few years and liked it as much as I remembered.

The title refers to the suggestion of always sitting down while eating (though Roth does not encourage eating at the fridge), and eating alone the way that you would eat with someone else. And that reminded me of my personal rule not to eat anything (hot pockets, mac and cheese, ramen) at home that I wouldn't order in a restaurant. This book also contains good information about meditation and treating the self kindly, which I can always use. 86/10

Fall/Winter Books

Elizabeth Crane's When the Messenger is Hot is a collection of amusing stories.  I picked this book up for a song from the library used book store and read it on a flight.  While the stories were kind of uneven, most of the writing was good.  80/100

I don't know if I didn't like Merrill Markoe's Walking in Circles Before Lying Down: A Novel because I read it when I was home sick, or if I just didn't like it.  Then I remembered that last year I read her book It's My F---ing Birthday: A Novel and didn't care for it either.  81/100

Though science fiction's not usually my favorite, I loved every syllable of Margaret Atwood's The Year of the Flood: A Novel.  I listened to this book in my car and found myself taking the long way everywhere.  No talking on the phone while driving?  No problem.  This smart and interesting book had me thinking about how I see the world.  82/100

I picked up Water for Elephants: A Novel by Sara Gruen for fifty cents and could hardly put it down once I started reading it.  A fast and very enjoyable read, this story about a veterinary school student who winds up joining the circus after being orphaned during the Depression.  This book would have been worth full price. 83/100

My honorary grandmother lent me My Hollywood by Mona Simpson (which tickled My Heart's Desire since that is the name of Homer Simpson's mother). She really liked it and encouraged me to read it, which I did, but I couldn't really connect with it.  The point of view alternates between the mother (a well-educated composer) and her nanny (a middle-aged mother who works to educate her five in the Philippines). 84/100 

Lit: A Memoir (P.S.) by Mary Karr is a memoir about living and drinking, and living and not drinking.  She pulls no punches are the results are honest, dark, and humorous.  I had heard this book was good but until I started reading it, I had no idea just how good.  85/100

I Give Thanks For Sneakers

Turkey, stuffing, and pumpkin pie get a lot of press around the holidays.  But the real unsung hero of Thanksgiving is butter.  Lots and lots of butter.  Butter makes the turkey, stuffing, pumpkin pie, and almost everything else on the table delicious.  And My Heart's Desire's family does not skimp on the buttery goodness.

On Thanksgiving Eve, I checked the weather report and did some searching to see if I could fine a race within a reasonable distance.  If I say: I'm going to workout, I might.  If I plan on going and pay good money, I will definitely workout.  I found a 5K a few towns over, set my alarm, and trusted the GPS to get me there.  I was slow but steady and finished the race. 

For the past month or so, I've been sporadic with exercising, but I don't fool around when it comes to the holidays.  I feel so much better when I workout, especially when it's treat season.  I laced up and walked the following three days as well.  I kept up the momentum and have worked out the past four days this week.  Feels good to be in an active groove. 

I'm setting a workout goal for December: 26 workouts!  I'm confident this is doable. Yoga, walking, swimming, workout DVDs - I'm planning on having an active month.

Labor Day

One of my colleagues recommended Joyce Maynard's Labor Day to me, with the assurance I could read it in one sitting.  It took me two sittings, but only because I picked it up late in the evening.  This clever book could be a crossover novel for teens and parents. The fast-paced story is interesting, if a bit predictable, but what kept me turning the pages was good writing.  You could pick up this book, consume the whole thing during a flight, then pass it on to another reader with a smile.  79/100

Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk

Oh, how the mighty have fallen. I bought David Sedaris' Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk when I first laid eyes on it at Barnes & Noble, reviews unread. I rarely buy hardbacks and this was the first one in years I'd purchased without a coupon. I'm such a big fan of his writing, I just gave Me Talk Pretty One Day to a friend with the promise that she would love it.

This tiny book contains animal fairy tale parables, of which a few were amusing. It's basically an illustrated pamphlet. Maybe if I had read them in The New Yorker I wouldn't have minded.

A few Christmases ago my sister got me a copy of Holidays On Ice, a classic, and he inscribed it to me: Amina, I am so mad at you. Well, David, now I'm mad at you. 78/100

Up From the Blue

While perusing the aisles of Target with a gift card burning a hole in my pocket, I purchased Up from the Blue by Susan Henderson to read on a trip.  It's the story of Tillie's coming of age in a family with a mentally ill mom and military dad.  The book starts and ends with Tillie going into an early labor, with her husband overseas and reaching out to her father, who she hasn't spoken to in years. It was an okay book but not great. 77/100

Today I sent out my Sunday School class curriculum, admired the fall leaves, went to meet a friend for brunch, got stuck in horrible traffic (repaving the parkway meant my 15 minute drive took an hour and a half!), showed up late, she was very understanding, caught up over a yummy vegan sandwich at Le Pain Quotidien, met a mentee for coffee, had tea instead, walked and chatted and enjoyed a perfect fall day, ran into some friends still tanned from their honeymoon, gave advice about which type of pots and pans to buy (the kind where the handles don't get hot!  learn from my mistake, I really wish I had spent the extra money), went to My Heart's Desire's cousin house for family fun time, met an adorable infant, had dinner, and came home to get ready for tomorrow.

Room

Wow. Emma Donoghue's Room is an amazing novel that I read in one sitting.

The ripped from the headlines premise is the story of Jack, a five-year-old boy and his Ma.  They live in an eleven foot square shed and are captives of a man known as Old Nick.  The hook? It's told from the Jack's point of view. Everything he knows - and loves - is in the room. His routine (breakfast before bath), and activities are all normal to him.

Shocking, tender, and unique, this book knocked my socks off.  76/100