What I've been Reading While I'm Not Writing

I know I have not been putting up many posts, but I didn't realize just how few!  Two per month for May and June! I'm sorry about that, and will try to be better, but once you read this post you will realize why I haven't had the time for posting. I have been listening to digital books from the library!!! and I have been able to finish all three baby blankets and hats while doing so.

1. Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman     This was about a girl in Indiana(?) who was being raised by her bi-polar mother while her father was away most of the time as a traveling salesman.  After her mother dies in an accident when CeeCee was 11, her great-aunt from Georgia takes her in. Life down South  was her salvation. Highly readable, and I enjoyed it very much.

2. Classic Driveway Moments I and II-    These were excerpts from This American Life on NPR, so was not technically a digital book, but interesting just the same.

3.  Say You're One of Them by Uwem Akpen      This was an Oprah selection, and was three short stories set in different countries in Africa.  It was interesting, but not a light read.

4.  After  by Amy Efaw   This was set in Tacoma, where I live. It was about a 15 yr. old girl who put her newborn baby ("it") in a dumpster.  She was found, arrested, spent time in juvenile detention, was prosecuted, and I won't say how things turned out for her.  It wasn't as horrible as it sounds, and shed some light on her living situation, and perhaps, on those news stories we hear about every now and again.

5.  The Ask  by Sam Lipsyte      About a telemarketer and his relationship with his wife and co-workers.  Meh. Not recommended by me, but was from the list I got it!

6.  World Without End  by Ken Follett      It could be subtitled Book Without End coming in at 45 hours of listening  (about 1300 pages), but he kept the plot complicated enough to keep me crocheting away through middle age trials and tumult.

7.  American Wife: A Novel  by  Curtis Sittenfeld      About an ordinary woman who is thrust into extraordinary circumstances when the man she married becomes President.  [and I swear it could have been a fictionalized Laura Bush - i feel certain that's why he made sure 'A Novel' was part of the title.]  I thoroughly enjoyed this book, warts and all. Laughs, too.

8.  The Help  by Kathryn Stockett    A wonderful book, set in the early 1960's, about several Black maids in Southern households.  This was recommended to me by two sorority sisters who were passing the book around, but I am glad I listened to it as there were several different readers for all the different characters.

9.  The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society  by Mary Ann Shaffer     I finally got around to reading this popular book which is apparently part of a series (who knew?) which I will have to find.  Set on the Channel Island of Guernsey in England during WWII, it was simply fantastic. I'm not telling you more; you'll, like me, just have to read it yourself!

10.  Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise by Ruth Reichl   The life of a restaurant critic for the New York Times, complete with a few recipes.

11.  The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot    I was transfixed by this book of non-fiction about the cells of a woman who died from cervical cancer in 1951, and how they have been and are being used to this day in research, and how their use has affected the members of her family. It took ten years for the writer to finish this book. It is an unbelievable and well written story. I highly recommend it.

12.  Still Life with Elephant  by Judy Reene Skinner    A novel about a divorced woman who is a horse trainer, who follows her ex, a veterinarian, to Africa to rescue elephants.  This was humorous chick lit, with a main character who should either get a hearing aid, or listen a little closer. The book also had its serious side.

13.  I am Nujood, Age 10, and Divorced  by Nujood Ali     This is an autobiography by a Yemeni girl who was sold by her father into marriage. She fought it in court and prevailed. Set in 2008! Amazing.


Thirteen books in two months, (in addition to all of your blogs)!  My eyes couldn't handle reading that much, so it was lovely to listen to them on my computer.  I recently bought a Sandisk Sansa Clip MP3 player with 4Gs of memory so when I sit on the patio this Summer, if Summer ever gets here, I will have plenty to listen to, and still crochet hats and scarfs for my sorority to sell at a Holiday Bazaar this November to raise money.

So there you have it - the reason I've abandoned you. I will write more, but if the weather gets better which is promised for next week, well, you know how it goes.

Good Night, TTYL and Be Well,