reading update

I haven't done an update in a long time! Here is the last one. This one is kinda long. It is possible I forgot a book here and there since I do read a lot and it has been months!

Monster Planet by David Wellington.

The third in the series. Very good, but I couldn't remember who everyone was from the 1st two. Once I started figuring it out, there were some interesting twists in the story.

The Dubliners by James Joyce
A collection of Short Stories that I read on the flight home from Dublin. How appropriate. It was a quick and nice read. Kinda cool to read it right after seeing the place. I'm interested in reading some of his other stuff now!



What is the What by Dave Eggers.

About one of the Lost Boys from Sudan. His story of walking and walking across countries, living in refugee camps, and growing up without family and then in an adopted family. This is all intermixed with bits of his life since he came to America.


Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollen.

I learned more about corn than I ever thought I would need to know. Parts of it were slow, parts I already knew, but there were lots of things that I learned about modern food and how it comes to be. Overall an interesting book.


The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.

A very quick and fun read. It is narrated by Death, which I liked. A fairly typical nazi germany story...young girl, hidden Jew, secrets, but with the added bonus of stolen books.


Short Stories by Roald Dahl

I don't remember the exact title, but it was a collection of short stories. It was very interesting. I read a lot of Dahl as a child, but it was in the form of The BFG, Matilda, and The Phantom Tollbooth and maybe some others. The short stories are definitely done for adults and were quite fun to read!


The Keep by Jennifer Egan
A story set in a castle! It starts out kinda slow, picks up in the middle and has a great ending. A guy that isn't really doing anything with his life goes to some castle in Europe to help his cousin turn it into a resort.


Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin

Set way back in the 1100s. A man (detective) and a woman (doctor) are sent to a town to find a killer. One of my favorite books I've read in a while. It combines many things that I like in a book and I could hardly put this one down until I finished it.


The Knitting Circle by Ann Hood

I didn't like this book. I found it boring and sappy. It wasn't bad enough for me to not finish it (very few books are), but I would not recommend anyone else read it. It fits in some category with Little Children, I'm sure there are people who enjoy those books, I'm not one of them.

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon

This was a great book! A bit slow to start, but once I got into it I was reading anytime I got a chance. I actually finished it during lunch at work and I rarely read at work. It is about 2 boys (cousins) who become comic book authors/illustrators and their lives. One is from Europe and he gets sent to live with the one in NYC about the time WWII starts. It was very well written and a great read!