Thursday, February 24, 2011

Good Reads






To counter my last post, you should also know I read.
(pause for dramatic effect) Books.
Impressive, I know.


These are some of the best books I've read in the past few months. My public school education was actually pretty decent (not one of those "get what you pay for" deals)... but had some major holes as far as assigned reading. One of my 2011 resolutions was to read classics. An unforeseen benefit to my lacking English experience is that now I actually APPRECIATE classics. My very first Jane Austin was "Pride and Prejudice" and I'm hooked. I had a tough time putting down "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I've been interspersing my reading list with more current books, too. Others I recommend are:

"The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society" by Mary Ann Shaffer
Fascinating historical fiction about one of the Channel Islands and the role it played during the Nazi occupation of England. The entire story is told through correspondence and news articles.

"Ape House" by Sara Gruen
It's not quite "Water for Elephants", but Gruen's writing style is consistently riveting. Her characters are full of foibles and the plot twists and turns keep your attention.


"Admission" by Jean Korelitz
Korelitz was an outside reader for Yale's admission office and gained some great insight into the intense (and sometimes arbitrary) process of college admission. The back story of the fictional admission rep is a little dramatic and not at all related to her job, but I still think it's worth the read.

If you're a reader, check out goodreads.com (it's free!) for recommendations, to see what your friends are reading, and to keep track of your own reading history and reviews!

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