Maybe?

 I vaguely remember reading a review of Seating Arrangements by Maggie Shipstead when it came out (in the Times?) and thinking "maybe" - it's about a wedding on a Maine island, both things I find interesting - and then I think never doing anything about it, probably because I was thinking unless I am really excited about something, I need to stop growing my list of books to read. However, I just read a New York Times op-ed ["The Wedding Effect" - What is it about friends getting hitched that leaves us so unhinged?] of hers that I don't think is incredibly original or insightful (or, honestly, fairly original or insightful - or at all) but was well-written, more like an essay than an op-ed, so now I kind of want to read the book. Both copies at Harvard have wait-lists, though, and I don't want to request to be added to the list.  I might already on it, for one thing, and I am too lazy to log into my account and look. Also because I really need to chill on ordering books for a bit: I've got a stack to be read at home (not to mention several stacks to "review") and I'm moving in a month, so probably the fewer books I have to drag around the better...  Still, at some point I think I'd like to give Ms. Shipstead's work a shot.

MY BEST FRIEND IS STILL ENGAGED!!!!!

And today I bought The Knot Bridesmaid Handbook: Helping the Bride Shine Without Losing Your Mind; I also spent most of the last 5-6 hours at CMark telling people (repeatedly) "my best friend is engaged!!!"  Haha, whoops.  People might hate me now.  But I totally cornered a guy about high-quality South Asian wedding photographers.  So, all in all, point JENN.

MY BEST FRIEND IS ENGAGED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So I didn't get that much reading done.  Because I was busy celebrating.  BECAUSE MY BEST FRIEND IS ENGAGED!!!!!!! 
In between celebrating R & M's engagement and doing research on being a MAID OF HONOR (BECAUSE MY BEST FRIEND IS GETTING MARRIED!) I did do a little reading.
Finished Phil Rickman's The Prayer of the Night Shepherd; usual Rickman stuff.



Also read The Cry of the Dove by Fadia Faqir, which T gave me a while ago when she was moving and deaccessioning.  I liked it, although it took me a little while to get into it.  It was definitely sad - the main character, Salma, is a Bedouin refugee in England, driven from home after getting pregnant while unmarried.  But it was well-written.  Faqir weaves strands from a variety of different times in Salma's life together, so one page might see memories spanning decades and continents.  It was a little uneven at first, but the author hit her stride fairly early on, and once she did, I really liked the effect.




Less impressive was The Owl Killers by Karen Maitland.  Set in a small village and beguinage in 1320s England, it was an interesting topic, but not particularly engaging.  Maitland tells the story from several different points of view, sort of like Faqir's overlapping time lines; also sort of like with Faqir, I wasn't sure it would work at first.  And, honestly, not sure my mind changed.  I was worried initially there would be too much going on, too many viewpoints, and it would be distracting or get in the way of the narrative.  It did and didn't.  It wasn't an insurmountable problem, but it wasn't the best reading experience ever, either.  I'm willing to give her another shot, though - just put her first novel on my to-read list, so we'll see.





MUCH more of a priority though: The Bridesmaid Guide: Etiquette, Parties, and Being Fabulous; The Bridesmaid's Guerrilla Handbook; the Fall 2010 issue of South Asian Bride (whoo!!!  so excited I found it!); and the Fall 2010 / Fashion Issue of Martha Stewart Weddings