The Road by Cormac McCarthy

I don’t like books that don’t use quotation marks. It makes me feel a little crazy, like there are no boundaries marking what is what.

I mentioned this in a previous post. A friend from college responded and asked, “Does this mean that you don’t read Cormac McCarthy?”

I try to be open-minded and so I agreed to read at least 50 pages of whichever Cormac McCarthy book my friend recommended. He directed me to The Road, and so I checked it out from the library.

I noticed resistance in reading it, but whenever I did pick it up, I would get hooked and read much more than I was intending to.

This is a bleak book with glimmers of hope. I can’t say that I loved it, but I can appreciate the work.

I might even be open to reading more by the same author.

The Hole We're In by Gabrielle Zevin

Last Friday, I was desperate for fiction. After work I knew that I only had enough energy to either go to the library or to the grocery store for food.

I chose the library.

Nothing really caught my eye so I randomly picked up some books from the New Fiction section and this book was one of them.

I read it in about two days. It's about the average (?) American family in all of its dysfunctional, debt-filled glory.

I liked this book so much - I am sitting at the library as I write this, having just found the other three books that the author has written.

Oh, and for dinner last Friday, since I chose books over fresh food, I ate frozen pizza. Loads of fiction and pizza is really not a bad combination for a Friday night.

Hotel Iris by Yoko Ogawa

This is quite possibly the most disturbing book I have ever read. And you know me, loyal readers, I do not exaggerate.

Please do not read this book.

Cooking for Mr. Latte by Amanda Hesser

This is written by a New York Times food reviewer. It’s the story of how she met her now-husband and their courtship. The chapters are short and witty and very well written. She includes recipes at the end of every chapter, but they were too advanced for this tuna-casserole reader. I did like the story, though, and enjoyed the writing.

Little Stranger by Sarah Waters

This is a weird, slow book about a haunted house. I enjoyed it enough but mostly because it was the only book I brought on a trip that consisted of many hours of layovers in the Salt Lake City airport.

The writing was impeccable but the book was about 150 pages too long.

The Mighty Queens of Freeville by Amy Dickinson

This is the second book in the last couple weeks I’ve read about divorce. The author’s husband leaves when her daughter is still a baby and they’re living in London. She moves back to Freeville, New York where she grew up. The book is about how she picks up the pieces of her life and moves forward as a single mom. It’s about the importance of home, knowing where you belong and having a safe place to fall.

Tender, wise, funny, and hopeful. A nice read.

Father Fiction: Chapters for a Fatherless Generation by Donald Miller

This is by the same author of the popular Christian book Blue Like Jazz. This book is for anyone who grew up with a physically or emotionally absent father. Which, depending on how you look at it, means this book might be for all of us.

Read it.