more updates

I was cleaning the apartment tonight (well, I was walking around putting away one or two things every 30 seconds or so, in between using my phone to identify songs - whoo, Verizon song id! - from R's old "booty mixes" FOR HER WEDDING AFTERPARTY THAT'S IN LESS THAN TWO WEEKS [had to do that]) and came across Tess Gerritsen's The Bone Garden, which I read at some point this summer / early fall, I don't really remember when. I vaguely remember it - one of those two parallel stories, different timelines kind of things. It was fun enough, but mostly because it was set in Boston and New England, and that's always fun. But a lot of silliness, too. And I guess the medical examiner who makes a brief appearance in the contemporary storyline is the protagonist of her own  series (and television show) - Dr. Isles?
I remember I added the book to my "might be amusing?" list a while ago, after I saw The Bone Gatherers (nonfiction, about early Christianity and women, if I remember correctly) at the Harvard Bookstore, and went to look it up at the library, and then saw this one, and was mildly intrigued by the brief description in the catalog...I think it worked out.
Anyhow, at least it's another book that I read semi-recently...hopefully after all the wedding stuff is over (YAY, MY BEST FRIEND IS GETTING MARRIED IN 12 DAYS!!!) life will calm down a bit and I will get back to plenty of reading.

Feeling a little better

Last week (actually, I think last Wednesday, maybe, so exactly a week ago), I felt awful because it appeared that I had barely read anything in the longest time. But then when I was packing for DC (YAY!!!) Thursday night/Friday morning, I came across three more books I had read recently:
A House for Mr Biswas V. S. Naipaul (quite good)
The Forgotten Island Sasha Troyan (okay-to-good)
The True History of Paradise Margaret Cezair-Thompson (really good; maybe not the highest art, but captivating [I passed on a nap to finish the book], thought-provoking, and GORGEOUS, evocative descriptions.

The over the past few days (including on the plane to and from DC to visit E - did I say "YAY!!!" yet??) I re-read Amitav Ghosh's fantastic, amazing, love-it-so-much Sea of Poppies in preparation for reading the newly released, second in the Ibis Trilogy, River of Smoke.

Started River of Smoke last night, and already in love. Even after a thirteen-hour Sunday-into-Monday-funday (seriously - DC with E - YAY) and then a delayed flight home, and then errands, and then drinks shading into Tuesday, and a severe insulin shortage to top it all off, I STILL didn't want to put the book down and go to sleep.  So great...

Nope, don't read much...

I can't believe I haven't even posted a list of books I've read recently, much less any kind of discussion...
So - the first weekend in August, in Newport, RI, I read The God of Animals by Aryn Kyle; I had some issues with it, but overall I thought it was fantastic, particularly the quality of the prose (and especially since it's a first novel, by a young author).

Then at some point I read The Commoner by John Burnham Schwartz (I think - I can't quite see the spine of the book from where I'm typing, and I'm too lazy to get up and look at the book). Another grab off of the Harvard Bookstore bargain table.

I think there was some other stuff, but I don't remember.

Finally, last night I finished (after starting in Puerto Rico, for R's bachelorette weekend, yay!) Make Him Look Good by Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez...I think it was also a bargain book, since I can't imagine paying full price for it, and there's a little gross sticker-residue on the front cover. Although, now that I think about it, I think maybe it was from the Barnes and Noble in the Pru, when they still had a bargain table? Anyhow, A V-R used to write for the Globe and I really enjoyed her, and then I think I read her first book, for that reason, and it was...okay? As was this one, I guess. The characters were somewhat appealing, and I thought she balanced the various voices well, but overall it was SO freaking fluffy, it was annoying. I think A V-R is totally capable of insightful social commentary, but there was virtually none of that here. Lots of name(brand)-dropping, although maybe that was a deliberate commentary on the fact that one of the major themes in the book was how superficial life in Miami can be. Or lazy, or she thought that was what people wanted. I believe I have the third book here somewhere, but I took this one because it was a paperback, and would be lighter in the carry-on. We'll see; not in any huge hurry to read it, but maybe, at some point.