Living without a TV* = more reading happening in my house these days, despite an incredibly hectic holiday season.
- The Elegance of the Hedgehog
by Muriel Barbery. I had a really hard time getting into this, only to love the second half, and hate the ending. The translation is excellent – the book feels very French. I’m on the fence.
- Lord of the Flies
by William Golding. If you, like me, haven’t read this book since it was assigned in middle school you need to pick it up again. It holds up and more – there’s a reason it’s a modern classic. Beautiful, and terrifying.
- The Language of Flowers
by Vanessa Diffenbaugh. Overall really lovely. She gets a few very key, very basic things wrong about both the San Francisco wedding industry and the SF Flower Mart (these drove me slightly crazy, obviously) but the characters are great, and the history and meaning of flowers woven throughout is fascinating. Fun, quick read.
- Five Men Who Broke My Heart
by Susan Shapiro. Lovely & funny, and occasionally, well, heartbreaking, Shapiro has a great, if slightly neurotic, voice.
*I am not one of those self-righteous non-TV owners. In fact, when I moved in November I decided against getting a TV this round because I love watching TV so much. And the truth is that I was watching it way more than I liked, and since I am someone historically not awesome at moderation, I decided the best solution was simply to not own one. We’ll see how long it lasts.
