My Summer Reads

We are Water, by Wally Lamb - I love him.  The characters are so strong and interesting...a ménage a tois if you will.  It has everything...art, love, divorce, kids, angst, fulfillment, history, lesbians, crime, race relations.  But it doesn't feel burdensome like a GREAT AMERICAN NOVEL...it just feels readable and intense and interesting.  And I cared about the characters...

China Dolls by Lisa See...Meh.  I just felt like I was getting a history lesson on Japanese/Chinese relations in San Francisco in the 1930's.  These characters did not have depth or heart.  So sorry Ms. See...

My Life in Middlemarch - speaking of history lessons, I started this book.  Hey, I haven't read Middlemarch since I was in my 20's (which was just a few short hours ago...right?) but this did not make it come alive.  It was like a bad literary history class.  I stopped reading it!  Shocking, cuz I usually muddle through everything.  This? I felt like life was too short.

The Snow Queen by Michael Cunningham...I had a bit of a time staying disciplined while reading this book.  I did a lot of shopping online at the Nordstrom Anniversary sale.  (This 12 dollar book only cost me $1,243 dollars to read.  But hey – I have some Stinky Cute shoes!!!  LOL!)

It's okay, his other stuff is better.  A nice story about two brothers and the young wife dying of cancer, and everyone trying to find themselves.  I've read better. (See above and below.)

Super Fun READ!!!  Download The Attachments by Rainbow Rowell immediately if not sooner!  Such a fun expostulatory novel, if the "letters" were all emails. It is such a fun, blast of a read...conversation between two young women at work about life and relationships...while all their emails are being monitored by the company IT security department.   Read combined with Dave Eggers and The Circle!  One is hilarious, the other is terrifying!