My reviews of the books I've read will get better when I have more time
(which will likely be NEVER).
Right now I'm reading THE HISTORY OF LOVE by Nicole Krauss and THE SAVAGE
DETECTIVES by Roberto Bolano. I'm enjoying both, when I can find time to
read fiction. I'm also reading SIX DEGREES: OUR FUTURE ON A HOTTER PLANET
with my Biology reading group by Mark Lynas. If our planet might warm as
much as 6 degrees, then I want to know what the consequences will be.
Books waiting in the wings include CROSSING
TO SAFETY, THE PLACES IN BETWEEN, MAYFLOWER, THE BELL JAR, and THE YIDDISH
POLICEMEN'S UNION.
Fiction I read recently and over the summer:
 | Atonement by Ian McEwan (riveting, but sad too) |
| A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini |
| Bee Season by Myla Goldberg (not what I expected, but somewhat
interesting) |
| Belize: a Novel by Carlos Ledson Miller |
| Butter Chicken in Ludhiana by Pankaj Mishra (great book to read if
you're visiting India) |
| Can't Wait to Get to Heaven by Fannie Flagg |
| East of Eden by John Steinbeck (easily one of the best books I have
ever read) |
| Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer |
| Good In Bed by Jennifer Weiner (suprisingly good chick lit,
especially if you've recently broken up with someone) |
| Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling |
| Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami (very surreal, but
enlightening nonetheless and beautifully written) |
| Kiffe Kiffe Tomorrow by Faiza Guene |
| Lucia, Lucia by Adriana Trigiani |
| Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides |
| On Beauty by Zadie Smith (wow. an amazing read, especially for
someone in academia.) |
| On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan |
| Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld (a great book if you went to a boarding
school or wish that you had) |
| Rise and Shine by Anna Quindlan |
| Saturday by Ian McEwan (it took a while to get going, but once it
did it was great) |
| Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and the Second Summer of the
Sisterhood by Ann Brashares |
| Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See |
| Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Misha Pessl |
| Tender at the Bone by Ruth Reichl (I love food, but she actually
made me love it more.) |
| The Boleyn Inheritance by Phillippa Gregory |
| The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger (funny and the movie was
just as good!) |
| The Emperor's Children by Claire Messud |
| The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai |
| The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (really loved it and it wasn't
as sad as I expected) |
| The Known World by Edward Jones (it won the Pulitzer last year for
good reason) |
| The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards |
| The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus |
| The Pleasure of My Company by Steve Martin |
| The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot (I got on a string of fluff
books, but it was the summer, right?) |
| The Secret History by Donna Tartt |
| The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (sci fi and romance
mixed - what could be better?) |
| Twilight by Stephenie Meyer (I had to see what all the hype was
about with my students) |
| Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri |
| Waiting for the Barbarians by J. M. Coetzee (every once in a
while I feel the need to read a nobel prize-winning author) |
| An Introduction to Behavioural Ecology by Krebs & Davies |
| A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah |
| A Man Without a Country by Kurt Vonnegut (he makes me laugh out
loud) |
| A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson |
| Baboon Metaphysics by Cheney & Seyfarth |
| Brunelleschi's Dome by Ross King |
| Collapse by Jared Diamond (GREAT book, though I am still working on
finishing it) |
| Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris (good, but
not nearly as good as "Me Talk Pretty One Day" in my opinion) |
| Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert |
| Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner |
| Gertrude Bell: Queen of the Desert, Shaper of Nations by Georgina
Howell |
| In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan (the man is a genius, I
sometimes bring this with me to grocery store!) |
| The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson |
| The Lost Painting by Jonathan Harr (wow. you won't believe it's
non-fiction, very quick read) |
| The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan |
| Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortensen |
