books I’ve read lately – September, 2011

September was a super busy work month for me, so the list is a little shorter than normal.

  1. Wife of the Gods by Kwei Quartey. A book club pick (I’m in two- wouldn’t you be if you read as much as I did? I like to joke that besides my social life, reading is my only hobby.) While I’m generally not a mystery fan, this was totally engaging, and would be a great vacation read.
  2. Let’s Take the Long Way Home by Gail Caldwell. A client who works in publishing gave this to me, and warned me that it was a tearjerker so I might not want to read it in public. She was right. A beautiful look at friendship, and at the very specific thing that is the grief of losing a friend, which is a topic there doesn’t seem to have been much written on.
  3. Bossypants by Tina Fey. This was another bookclub pick (the other one) I have to say, I was not as enamored with this book as everyone else on the internet seemed to be. Yes, Fey is very funny. But I found the constant self-depreciating humor a little much to take through a whole book. I did, however, laugh out loud multiple times, so there’s that.
  4. The Secret of Life by Elizabeth Wurtzel. Smart. Punchy. Cute. My guess is that most people either love or hate Wurtzel – she’s not really someone you can feel neutral about. I’m firmly in the love camp, but she’s definitely fairly ridiculous at times.
  5. Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart. Weird. Captivating. Probably brilliant. I liked it a lot, but if you didn’t grow up reading sci-fi, you might have a hard time getting into it. (it should be noted that this book is likely not classified as sci-fi at all.)
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