Reading (or Listening to) Lately

I am a huge fan of the Multnomah County Library system; however, some new and in demand books take forever to get, even after placing a hold on them.  Understandably so, seeing as there are a lot of people who use the library's hold system, but still.  So when I knew I wanted to read "Gone Girl," I placed a hold on both the normal hard copy as well as the audio book on CDs to listen to in the car.  The audio book was available about a month before the hard copy, so I've been listening to it on my daily commute.

Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn


While this book is well written, and was entertaining to listen to, it reminded me that I don't really like the mystery genre.  I'm hesitant to say too much to prevent spoiling it for people who haven't read it yet, but the people are messed up.  There are a lot of plot twists, so much so that I think it would have been better for me to have read it, instead of listening to it in the car, because I would often hit some plot twist just as I pulled up in front of my house, and would have to sit there to get to a decent stopping point.  I felt like it was worth the read if only to be able to join the conversation, but I found it kind of disturbing and discouraging.

Where'd You Go Bernadette - Maria Semple


I really enjoyed this book.  It is written in a very interesting style, as a compilation of "primary" sources, with explanation/narration between, so I had a lot of fun thinking through the events and piecing together the story.    It's an easy read and really funny.

Reading Lately, in the sick house

At any one time I am usually in the midst of a couple of books, which either works out brilliantly or makes it terribly hard to keep the stories straight, but these two were particularly interesting to read at the same time.  Also, a bout of illness over the holidays allowed me to finally finish them both, in addition to a few others I had lying around.  It's always nice to start out the new year tidying up loose ends.  Finally, I've really been enjoying Rachel's posts over on Heart of Light on her current reading, and so thought I would try out a couple of reading posts here.

"Quiet" was recommended to me by my mother, and as a self-described introvert planning on attending business school in the fall, it was particularly interesting and helpful.  The author does a good job of keeping the book engaging, which I often find not the case with nonfiction.  Also, while decidedly written from the viewpoint of another introvert, I think the book would be interesting for people of either personality type, if only to help unpack how people can react so very differently to similar situations.  My friend Arden introduced me to the idea of personality types and how better understanding your own and others' can really improve your professional and personal relationships, more about one such test here.  I found this book to be a good introduction to one particular aspect of personality types, and a well-researched and thoughtful fleshing out of something that is usually presented as a dichotomy, as in, you're either an introvert or an extrovert but there's nothing in between.

I can't remember now how I found "The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth," but I think I mostly enjoyed reading it in conjunction with "Quiet."  It is also nonfiction, which is probably something of a record for me as I tend to read a lot more fiction, but quite a bit drier than "Quiet."  The author follows multiple high school student outcasts or geeks for about a year, and details how the attributes that make them unpopular in high school are exactly the same attributes that will make them successful as adults or even in college.  There is so much cruelty that goes on in high school and even middle school, which makes certain sections painful to read, especially for someone who struggled through high school.  Overall, I thought it was an interesting read, but she gets quite prescriptive in the end, giving advice to teenagers, parents of high school students, and teachers, none of which was relevant for me.  Also, she pretty well hits you over the head with her thesis and wraps up each student's story line a little too neatly in my opinion.

Photo from my instagram.