What did I read while I was away from the internet? It's time for more of mary ann's short book reviews. I worked from a few themes (including "the three for two table at the bookstore" and "books Steady has that I haven't read"). I also reread a couple Grisham novels because they're fluffy and good for when you're on drugs and can only think this much and The First Four Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder, because no one can read too much Young Adult Fiction.
Looking at this list, you can see how it happened that my mother used to take my books away and send me outside when I didn't have school. (Legend has it that my great-grandmother had to do the same thing with my grandmother... or else she would even read at the dinner table... a crime I am also guilty of attempting.)
Confessions of a Failed Southern Lady: This book wasn't especially great. It had its very funny moments, and I was definitely engaged the entire time. It just wasn't spectacular. I think I was expecting more from it, since in some regards I am a Failed Southern Lady. (Really, I'm a second generation failure, as was the author.)
Downsize This!: I enjoyed this one much more than Stupid White Men. I think reading it ten or however many years later made it more interesting and less infuriating. (I do understand that things have not gotten better since this was written.)
Cat's Cradle: Steady thought for sure I'd have nightmares from this one, since typically this sort of stuff does that to me. I didn't. I was not surprised to find this book very entertaining. (He grew up in Arizona and never had to practice any sort of tornado/bomb drill in which you go to the basement and crouch down and cover your head as an elementary schooler, and thus has no idea why apocalyptical crap unnerves me so much.)
Manifesta: I loved reading this book. You should read this book. Everyone should read this book. Partially, I think I liked it so much because it made me feel well read... almost everytime the authors mentioned a book or magazine or any source material, it was something I'd already read. But even without that, everyone should read this book. It's really excellent.
Me Talk Pretty One Day: I have a giant soft spot for David Sedaris. Yes, it's all the same, but it's funny and I like it. Crazy families are entertaining.
Dry: For a memoir about alcoholism and addiction, this was a really lighthearted read. I was sad when there wasn't anymore of this book to read.
I think that's all of them... without internet or TV or work (I didn't work 4 days last week, due the holiday, a planned vacation day, and two days of sore face), I've got more than a book a day habit going. I'm pretty impressed with myself in that none of the new books I read were meritless best-selling novels, since that's the genre I tend to gravitate towards.
