#32 The Reader

Book: The Reader (Movie Tie-in Edition) (Vintage International) by Bernhard Schlink
Pages: 218
Entertainment Rating: 4/5
Snooty Rating: 4/5
Total Rating: 8/10
Books Read Total: 32/50
Pages Read Total: 7066/15,000

A solid story of love, loss, secrets, discovery, horror, and some sort of forgiveness. I found this book very readable and I read it straight through (it even prompted me to spend an extra 20 minutes on the treadmill this morning) but I never quite felt like I got what I was looking for. The plot is great, but I got lost in the execution. I didn't feel particularly sympathetic or angry or really any sort of emotion, despite the emotionally driven plot, and it seems to me that that's a fairly significant shortcoming. I wouldn't say don't read it, because it is an interesting book, but I can't quite agree with the LA times when they say that it "ensnares both heart and mind". Unless maybe my heart is made of stone (which we know is not the case from the emotional gushing that sometimes appears on this blog).

Late but certainly not least!

Congratulations Connecticut!

Hopefully the rest of the states will follow!


p.s. I don't intend to make this little linky-post thing a habit, but I spent a ton of time in the car this weekend and I have no tape deck so I listened to the news. Cool happenings! I think I'll listen more often.

Book Sale Booty!

The Warren Fall Fest was a blast as expected, and the best (read: most dangerous) part was that my booth was directly facing the library book sale tent!

I got:
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Soul Mountain by Gao Xingjian
Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
Thirteen Moons by Charles Frazier
Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt
Wicked by Gregory Maguire
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
the curious incident of the dog in the night-time by Mark Haddon
Malinche and
Swift as Desire both by Laura Esquivel
The Virgin Blue by Tracy Chevalier
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie
Day of the Bees by Thomas Sanchez

And the one I've just started reading, The Reader by Bernhard Schlink. I'm really enjoying it, and will let you know what it's about when I get a bit further into it!

Pretty soon Google will have a feature that takes away your car keys

And maybe one that holds your hair back while you puke too!

Mail Goggles: Because Google Cares.

The Burn Out

I feel a little bit like this. (This being my very first car, which spontaneously burst into flames one day on my way home from work.)

I HATE this time of year. I hate it because it is the most beautiful time to live in New England, and yet I spend so much time in a melted puddle of anxiety and fatigue that I can't appreciate it like everyone else can. I hate that I feel so disconnected, even though I know there are people who love my and think of me. I'm sleeping 8-10 hours a night, and I fell asleep for an hour in the library today. All I want to do is go home and sleep, even though I know that on top of my regular course reading and jewelry shows I have three tests and three papers and Salt and Pepper shakers to complete in the next two weeks. I think that all my determination to ignore this problem is going to have to bend, because I'm sick of being so unproductive and listless. I think it's time to go sit on a sofa and have a chat with someone.

Do other people struggle with seasonal depression (because I suspect that's what you'd call this)? Is anyone willing to share their experience, or what has worked for them?