Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann

This is how I find books to read: I go to bookstores and browse the titles. In my purse, I keep a little notebook, and when I find a book that I'd like to read, I write down the title in my little notebook and then look for it at the library. Usually I have to put myself on a wait list, but within a few days/weeks, I can check out the book. I came across this book while at Costco and was able to check it out at the library after being on the wait list for several weeks.

The story starts off in August 1974 when a tightrope walker runs, jumps, and hops across a wire between the Twin Towers. Who is this guy?? Commuters stare up and are mesmerized.

We're then introduced to a variety of characters that don't seem to be related, but end up being a part of each others' stories in some way.

If you like books in which there are different story lines, but some kind of connection between them all, you'll like this one.

For me, this one was just okay. I read it all, but got stuck at times.

**Warning: contains adult themes and characters.

Some Assembly Required: A Journal of My Son's First Son by Anne Lamott with Sam Lamott

The first Anne Lamott book I read was called Operating Instructions which was a journal about her son's first year of life. She was a single mother and this was an unexpected pregnancy. It was the first time that I read about what it's like to have a baby and how challenging it can be. I gave Operating Instructions to a friend at a baby shower, and later she told me that the book freaked her out. So I stopped giving the book out to pregnant ladies.

The son that Lamott writes about in Operating Instructions is all grown up now, and got his girlfriend pregnant when he was 19. So this is a book that chronicles the first year of Anne Lamott's grandson.

I'm a fan of Lamott's non-fiction (Traveling Mercies is one of my favorites), but some of her jokes and descriptions have been used so many times (like references to Nixon) and are found in this book as well, so that felt old. She also describes a trip to India that she took during that first year, and that seemed like a totally different book within a book.

Overall, I read this one in two days and liked it. Way better than her fiction - I advise you to stay away from her fiction and stick to her non-fiction.

Haiku for the Single Girl by Beth Griffenhagen

Eyelash extensions?

Really? This is standard now?

Shit, man...I give up.

--Beth Griffenhagen

This is a funny, funny collection of haiku poems written about the single girl life. There are cute, whimsical illustrations that accompany each haiku. 

Warning: contains some mature content though.

Pick this up at your library if you happen to see it. It's funny. My husband was even reading over my shoulder.

This Burns My Heart by Samuel Park

Soo-Ja Choi desperately wants to move to Seoul so that she can study to become a diplomat. Her father won't allow this, and the only way Soo-Ja can see of getting there requires marrying a man she does not love, but who might want to move to Seoul.

However, on the eve of her wedding, another man proposes to Soo-Ja, and this time it's a man that she does love. Soo-Ja follows through with her wedding, but the other man that proposed will drift in and out of her life, reminding Soo-Ja of her choice and what could have been, had she chosen him.

Sounds like an interesting plot, eh? However, the character of Soo-Ja and the defining choice she made about which man to marry never seemed solid to me. This, along with some other events in the book that didn't quite make sense, made it seem like the story was built on a faulty and fragile foundation.

Instead of just an okay book, I think this could have been a great book. I want to sit down with the author and say, "Hey, let's think through some of these things a little bit more." And then send him back to the writing board because this really could have been a great book.

Catalyst by Laurie Halse Anderson

High school senior Kate Malone is a straight-A student. She might look like the perfect student from the outside, but inside she is a ball of nerves. She's waiting to hear from MIT, the only school that she applied to. Her father is a pastor and her mom died years ago (she tries to not remember).  Disaster strikes close in the neighborhood and Kate is delegated responsibility that she does not want.

This is a story about mess and perfection, and what things look like on the outside vs. the inside, and how we never know the full story (or even close) about anyone.

This is the fourth Laurie Halse Anderson book I've reviewed in the last month or so, and it does not rank at the top of my list although it was a good read. If you were to read one of her books, I'd recommend Wintergirls.

An Available Man by Hilma Wolitzer

Edward Schuyler is a 60-something science teacher in his 60s when his wife dies. He is bombarded with casseroles and by single/widowed/divorced women calling him and checking up on him. In addition, his step-children decide to place a personal ad for him, and dozens of women reply.

Funny, poignant, and overall, just very delightful, this is a very fun, easy read.

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Instead of speaking about a horrific event that happened at a party, Melinda decides to go silent. She carries a dark secret with her as she's snubbed by her ex-friends and peers during the school year. As the book goes on, more details are revealed until the reader figures out exactly what that horrific event was and what happened.

Maybe you've noticed that I've been reading books by Laurie Halse Anderson. I like her writing, but it takes me back to the horrors/social aspects of high school which is not so fun, but real.

A fabulous, well-written, deep read that I think would appeal to just about anyone.