Because I Read More than Hippos Go Beserk

okay so, remember a few months back when i put together MY SUMMER READING LIST?  i think it’s safe to say, summer is over.  and so, it’s time to do a recap.  full disclosure: i didn’t stick to the list – at all.  i still want to read all the books on the list, but it just got interrupted along the way.  here’s what summer reading looked like in the BN house:

my summer started off the way any summer should – full trash.  i read the fifty shades series.  that’s about 3 weeks of my life that i’ll never get back.  but it had to be done.  it wasn’t all bad.  it was like 98.5% all bad with some really hot sex thrown in for good measure.  but even hot sex can’t save something that is so so so broken.  is there hot sex out there that is written well?  let me know, i promise to read every word (again and again).

moving on.

want to laugh out-loud? read LET’S PRETEND THIS NEVER HAPPENED by THE BLOGESS. not only did i stay up extra late reading just one more beyond hysterical story from the life of jenny lawson, but i had to keep poking ABN – and reading stories to him as well. i dare you to read about the 15th anniversary gift she gave her husband and not pee in your pants – just a little.

so then things go downhill a bit. i was SO excited to read UNORTHODOX. it’s not that i expected beautiful prose but i was sorta thinking i’d find thought-provoking commentary. or at least – a couple of shocking tidbits. not so much. it’s possible that as the reader, i knew too much about the community profiled. there is no doubt, DEBORAH FELDMAN’s life, when living in a hasidic community, was not the life i would choose. and it wasn’t the life that she wanted. but i came away from the book still full of respect for a people who believe so deeply and follow so strictly.

finally, i saved the best for last. i know, everyone is reading GONE GIRL. and for good reason – it is so good. it had me hooked from page one but as the book went on it became harder and harder to put down. two things that i don’t think will spoil everything (but stop if you really don’t want to know).  1. there’s nothing quite as consuming as a narrator you can’t trust.  and 2. there is not a single likeable character in this book – and it’s just so great.  did you read it?  can we puhlease talk about it?

okay, so what’s next? first, i’m going to catch up on THE NEW YORKER and VANITY FAIR – i’m so far behind.  eventually i’m going to read the other books on my list (i promise, i’ll get to them all) but first, i’m going to read THE AGE OF MIRACLES. i think i’m on a fiction kick.

so tell me, what did you read? what did you love? are you in a book club? can i join?