A side note...

Nope, A Side Note is not the name of a book. This is, quite literally, a side note. Or a rabbit trail. A meandering, if you will.

Sorry it's been a while (a week and a half- what?!?) since my last post. I had to read a book for the book club I'm in (and if you live in or around Portland, the book club you SHOULD be in) and the next few books are doozies, so I'm going to post some books that I've read this year other than the Powell's list. Just a quick list.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: I was appalled by how much I liked this at the beginning, and I definitely laughed out loud, but it got old after a while. I think it was good, but I reallllllly wanted Lydia to die, and she didn't... so that clinched it for me. I vote no.

Little Bee: I vote yes. Short and sweet, this story of a Nigerian refugee was challenging, heart-warming, though provoking... a little confusing, but still good. Get a couple of friends to read it so you can talk about it together.

Her Fearful Symmetry: I vote a resounding NO. By the same lady that wrote The Time Traveler's Wife, what started out as a truly wonderful story about twins ended up being all weird and confusing and ghost-y. Literally, ghosts. I'm serious. It came out of nowhere. If you're into that, go for it. I don't hate the idea of ghosts, it just felt out of character with the beginning of the book, so it took me by surprise. I finished only so I could find out about one particular character that I loved... otherwise, I would have thrown it out.

Arctic Homestead: Definitely a yes. It's a true story about the last female homesteader, and it was interesting and easy to read. It was the January pick for our book club (thanks Tasha!) and it got us all really excited! It was, definitely, an adventure.

The French Gardener: Ommigosh, YES. I loved it. It's darling and lovely and complicated and wonderful. It's about (yep) a French gardener. Thanks to Tammy for this month's book club choice.

So, those are some random thoughts. I may think of more that I want to talk about, but I wanted to get that all down for now. Enjoy! Let me know if you read any of them!