Hot Water

Our hot water heater went on the fritz on Sunday and we've been trying to get it fixed all week. Showering at 24 Hour Fitness every morning has not been my favorite, but it does make me grateful for all of the appliances that are working! Never have I felt such fondness for a furnace or a dishwasher...

Nothing like a little home repair drama to increase your stress level. To counter that, I've been reading quite a bit. Finished Sue Grafton's T is for Trespass on Tuesday with a sigh of contentment. Grafton's books never fail to entertain me. For a while in college I took up jogging because the main character runs three miles a day! Unfortunately, that phase did not last long.

Now I'm working on The Year of Living Biblically, which has been on my "To Read" list since it came out. I loved The Know-It-All so much I paid to have it shipped to my cousin in Malawi so she could read it! The new book is excellent and more thoughtful than I was expecting.

This week at the library I hit pay dirt. Sometimes I go in and feel noncommittal about what I end up checking out. This week it seemed like every book I saw was going to be interesting and exciting. My book bag was groaning with the strain of getting all of my finds back to the house.

Not Nice

I wanted edgy...I got edgy! The recommendations I got from Susan were helpful but I forgot to take the list with me to the library (doh!), so I just grabbed. Bad Luck and Trouble was everything I wanted: edgy, suspenseful, and NOT NICE. I loved it, even when I was cringing.

2007 Round Up

I didn't start the 52 book challenge until February, so there are a few books that were finished but I don't have a record of them. To do the links to Amazon of all of these books would take way too much time, but I have provided the authors and the links for my favorites.

• Breath, Eyes, Memory, Edwidge Danticat
• The Devil Wears Prada, Lauren Weisberger
• The Life of Pi, Yann Martel
• Sex God, Rob Bell
• My Fake Wedding, Mina Ford
• Strange Piece of Paradise, Terri Jentz
• Traveling Mercies, Anne Lamott
• Sunday List of Dreams, Kris Radish
• Marley and Me, Josh Grogan
• Infidel, Ayaan Hirsi Ali
• The Nasty Bits, Anthony Bourdain
• Astrid and Veronika, Linda Olsson
• Searching for God Knows What, Donald Miller
• The Memory Keeper's Daughter, Kim Edwards
• The Book Thief, Markus Zusak
• Drowning Ruth, Christina Schwarz
• The Pact, Jodi Picoult
• The Broker, John Grisham
• Eats, Shoots and Leaves, Lynne Truss
• Harry Potter (book 7), J.K. Rowling
• With Malice Towards None, Stephen B. Oates
• Leaving Cold Sassy, Olive Ann Burns
• A Thousand Acres, Jane Smiley
• Black Maps, Peter Spiegelman
• Death's Little Helpers, Peter Spiegelman
• Freakonomics, Levitt and Dubner
• Break In, Dick Francis
• Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston
• S Is For Silence, Sue Grafton
• 12 Sharp, Janet Evanovich
• The Secret Life of Bees, Sue Monk Kidd
• The Shack, William P. Young

GRAND TOTAL: 31 books

Didn't make my goal, but I didn't shame myself, either.

Sidetracked

The Mister and I finally checked out the library in our new neighborhood and it is AWESOME! Came home with a large-ish stack of reading material and immediately dug into a book by one of my favorite authors, Dick Francis. My WWI stage has been temporarily diverted over to the former-English-jockeys-who-write-mysteries stage.

What I've Read

Finished Death's Little Helpers, the sequel to Black Maps. Also entertaining, but I don't think I'll read any more books from that series. They're already starting to become formulaic. John March is a stock hero character for a mystery novel--"dark and twisty inside" (thanks, Grey's) with a tormented past, a painful personal life, and a super-human ability to give (and take) a beating.

What I've Read

Black Maps was good. Entertaining, fast-paced, and perfect for a quiet Friday night at home (what I did) or on the beach with a frosty adult beverage (what I wanted to do). I'm mostly done with the next book in the series.

I've been wondering lately if I'm reading to complete my goal but missing out on the enjoyment. I know I'm certainly more focused with my time and watching less TV as a result of this challenge. Is there a way to balance enjoyment and drive?

What I'm Reading

Just finished A Thousand Acres, by Jane Smiley. This book could have been an Oprah Book Club selection, it was so depressing.

Moving on to Black Maps, by Peter Spiegelman, and so far I’m really enjoying this book. Haven’t read a mystery in a while, so it feels good to switch gears.