Saturday, January 28, 2012

50 books.....in general

i failed my 50 book challenge so hard. SOhard. buttt i'm still reading and i'm just going to read 50 books and then keep reading. especially because right now i've been on a reading binge. i take my lunch to work so i don't have to leave (and also drive in the nasty snow with all other idiot drivers. you can really tell i love other drivers. they're my favorite.) and then i sit at my desk, all by my introverted lonesome, and read. and i read before bed and i read in my spare time and i read on friday nights when evan is at work and i pretty much do nothing but read.


24. Miles from Nowhere by Nami Mun.

this was a super easy read and also super depressing. two things i laaaoooveeee. kidding. it was good. and sad.

25. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns...) by Mindy Kaling.
 i'd expect everyone to know who mindy kaling is. and if you don't then look at the picture. and if you still don't then go in a corner and bang your head against the wall because your life is incomplete. without the office. and mindy. also, buy this book and don't speak to me until you've read it. i was laughing out loud. OUT LOUD, people. how many times do you laugh OUT LOUD while reading a book? uh, never. that's something that happens during TV, or reading my blog (which isn't a book.....YET. don't worry though. maybe someday. to which people will write blogs about, saying, "FREAKING READ THIS BOOK, YOU IDIOTS!") or IRL. not during book reading. but no. laughed my ass off. out loud. i am pretty sure that we are supposed to be best friends. i'm sure a lot of people say that after reading her book, but i'm serious, you guys. we are the same person. or at least we have the same likes. OK WE ARE BOTH GIRLS AND THAT IS ENOUGH IN COMMON TO BE BEST FRIENDS.

but seriously, read this book. and then watch the office. then come back here and say "thank you."

26. This is Where I Leave You by Johnathon Tropper.
 i decided to read this book because i saw one of my IG friends reading it and i liked the cover. i kind of can't read a book if i don't like the cover. but my beloved kindle has free sampling and i sampled and loved. i don't even think i read the whole sample before it was delivered to my kindle, in full. i loved it. this man is SUCH a good writer. and it was completely not what i was expecting, and like a man would there are some not so cleanish parts........and whatever. it's a book by a man. i don't know what more you want.

27. How to Talk to a Widower by Johnathon Tropper

oh, you're very smart. you see that i bought TWO books by this author because i liked him so much. well. in reading this second book by said author, i realized that he may recycle his story lines and characters and metaphors. he used the EXACT same metaphor in both books. EXACT same. something about a feeling percolating under the surface. and i was all, yeahyeah that's good! and then again, this book. exact same phrase. i mean, come on. this is like jodi picoult all over again. but a man. i did not buy that "this is where i leave you" book twice. that would be dumb of me. i was expecting a different story, with different characters and different words. kind of disappointing. it was still good, but i won't check out anymore of his stuff. i've already read it all.....



28. The Final Testament of the Holy Bible by James Frey
probably a lot of people will not like this book at all. but james frey basically gives a big ole middle finger to the world and writes what he wants. this wasn't my favorite book by him, and the ending was rushed, but i love his writing style. although, i will admit, i prefer reading his stories in book form. and not on my kindle. and only because the kindle doesn't format his books the same way he does. which is part of why i like his writing. and probably the one and only time you'll ever hear me say, "pass me that book." ew. just kidding. books are.....neat. BUTIHAVEAKINDLE.


and i'm currently reading:

Strength in What Remains by Tracy Kidder
this book is so sad and so beautiful. i can only handle so much at one time. it's about a refugee from africa in the 90's when all that tutsi and hutu genocide was happening in rwanda. now i need to go there and see this history. it's SO sad. and the other day, on CNN this was a huge story about how rwanda is trying to get people to come see their gorillas and put money in their economy and it's become peaceful and um, i'm pretty sure that was my sign that i need to go there.

Up from the Blue by Susan Henderson

ummmm this book? amazing. she wrote a million ideas on post-it notes (SUZY!) and then made a story. i will probably finish it within 24 hours because you have to forcibly pry it from my hands when you want me to stop.

How to Read the Air by Dinaw Mengestu.

did you know that i kind of have a thing for africa? this book is also amazing. what's equally amazing is that i found this discarded, on a shelf at borders, literally the day before they closed. sorry for everyone that passed it up. not only was it like .99 cents, but it's one of my favorite books ever. i've been reading it for a long, long time and i don't know why. this kind of writing and this kind of story usually take me a few days but i might be drawing it out. subconsciously.


and i tried to sign up on that "lendle" site where you can lend your kindle books for free and borrow other books but APPARENTLY you can only lend your books one time. then amazon says, NO MORE. what the what what? so i already lent my books to evan's kindle and so now i can't lend them to anyone else. and i need to take them off this site because the number of times someone has tried to borrow the hunger games from me? i can't even count that high. which is why i read and don't do math. and you would think there would be some good books on there for me to borrow, wouldn't you? are good books called, "how to flip a house and money some money from it in this economy" ? no. to answer that question (where the stupid question mark is outside the stupid quotes, i HATE that.) NO. no, that is not a book i want to read, why are you lending it? if you need to know how to flip a house, you should probably buy it so you can reference it and not screw it up. and if you need to read a book on that, you probably should leave house flipping to the pros, and stick with putting books that i want to actually read in your lendle account.

and also, amazon keeps recommending me these weird space creature books? something about martians and an earth probe is what i got from the title. which makes zero sense to me because look, just look at the books i've bought. none of them have anything to do with weird space lit. and so i'm going to need some serious book recommendations STAT.

13 loves:

  1. I am definitely going to have to check out some of these books. Thanks for posting this, Larissa.

    I sampled Mindy's book and I was in love with it. Once I am doing reading the book I am in the middle of now I am buying that thing. Seriously, so funny.

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  2. THANK YOU THANK YOU. Somehow I lost all my fiction-loving friends therefore I've had no one in my life to recommend any novels to me & trying to pick one out at the bookstore is completely overwhelming because there are millions. So now I have a pretty little list, thanks to you, & when I read them I will tell you what good taste in literature you have.

    Speaking of good taste, have you read?:
    A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers
    Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
    The History of Love by Nicole Krauss

    Those are my top three forever.

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  3. I am writing all of these books down on my 'To Read' list pronto!
    Each one seems incredibly amazing!

    I've been on a reading binge too, ever since I read 'Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children'. (If you haven't read that book, you need to! It was an odd and beautiful story.) And now I've moved onto 'The Martian Chronicles' by Ray Bradbury. It too is an odd and beautiful story, but in a completely different way.
    Thanks for sharing, lady!
    xo, Allie

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  4. Danielle-you will love it! It is so incredibly funny and such a fast read. I'm glad you loved the sample. Aren't kindles great?!

    Nel- I have that Nicole Krauss book on my list! And now with two rec's I'm definitely checking it out. Plus all those other rec's because I can hardly check a book out of someone hasn't recommended it to me. I'll be your fiction loving friend!

    Allie-I did real miss peregrine's and I have to admit I did not like it. I felt like he was trying to be funny and missed the boat. I loved the beginning but I wasn't a big fan. But I'll definitely check out the other story. Thank you!

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  5. hahaha i liked the post-it notes "SUZY!!" comment.

    funny.

    every time i go to chapters and see that first book on the sale rack. and it's so pretty. and i've wondered if it's any good. so this time i might just buy it. :)

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  6. @suzy- =] hahaha I thought of you immediately! It's good and it has a pretty cover so it's a winwin!

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  7. I'm going to check some of these out! I also ready Mindy's book and loved it.

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  8. I loved Mindy Kaling's book too!!! Such a quick and fun read.

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  9. @sarah & April- so glad you both read it! And loved it! She's hilarious. You can see no one has the gall to inform me they haven't read it yet. Hahaha ;]

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  10. Hey.. here is that recipe for the walnut-chicken. Soo good.
    http://www.marthastewart.com/263368/walnut-crusted-chicken-breasts

    Instead of frying it in a pan, I just baked it on 375 for 25 minutes and used really really thin sliced chicken.

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  11. I don't have instagram, nor an iphone. But at the end of the month I'll make a collage of all my photos and post them on my blog. Will you be posting yours on your blog?

    And yeah, #3 is pretty intriguing!

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  12. Ok, so now I will have to check out each and every one of these books. I've been incredibly curious about the Mindy Kaling book and you reccomendation is really pushing me over the edge into buying it! Bosseypants had me laughing awkwardly out loud, so I think I shall give this a try!

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  13. We have very similar taste in books! I have been dying to read Mindy Kaling's book for a while now, but didn't hear too many good reviews on it. One person said that it was basically a slightly longer version of Kaling's Twitter feed... Glad it got some good reviews, though, because I still want to read it! :)

    http://viennawaitsblog.blogspot.com/

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