The Bell Jar

by Sylvia Plath

This is one of those books I felt like I had to read. It comes up in other readings and as a chick, I guess you're expected to have read it at some point. I went into it believing I wouldn't like it.

I was surprised to find out I actually enjoyed it. Yes, I found myself very irritated with Esther, especially when she acted childish and knew she was doing so. But for the most part, I was struck by how horrible a depression that deep is.

The book reminded me a lot of Salinger, a la Catcher in the Rye. I was surprised to find out that a friend of mine, who is a big fan of Catcher, hates The Bell Jar.

Where do you sit on the Bell Jar fence?

Stardust

by Neil Gaiman

This whole book just seemed incomplete. I keep thinking maybe I ended up with an abridged version, since this was printed after the movie came out. But I can't find any indication that anything was left out.

It just seems like a lot is brushed over. Like when they get on the boat . . . there's a paragraph that sums up their whole experience there. I thought that was odd.

The whole book just seemed really predictable and I just couldn't shake the feeling that I was missing something.

Wicked

by Gregory Maguire

Falconer

by John Cheever

I got this book because I read somewhere that people who like Salinger read Cheever.

And after reading this, I'm not entirely sure why. I enjoy Salinger much more.

Falling Man

By Don DeLillo

I waited a really long time for this book. I didn't like it.

Bummer.

No Country for Old Men

Cormac McCarthy

I still think I missed something.

I didn't like the movie as much as I thought I would, but this book was pretty good. It even made sense. I almost feel like I must not have watched the whole film.

I think maybe part of the problem is that, in the book, the sheriff is the central character. He narrates and your go-to guy.

I didn't get that same feeling throughout the movie. It was like they tried to make every character the focus without really giving us a history of each. In the book, the only main character without a history is Chigurh. Which makes him scarier.

I think I'll watch the film again. Maybe this time I'll like it.

The Time Traveler's Wife

by Audrey Niffenegger

I wanted to like this more. The general idea was interesting. I just couldn't get into it.

I think it went on too long. At some point, I thought "Well, it's going to end soon," but it just kept going.

This is also the book where it hit me that reading sometimes makes me feel stupid.

I don't know the things the characters know. I haven't read the books. I couldn't tell you the name of an opera song upon hearing it. I haven't been there or done that.

I think I'll go back to reading Mrs. Piggle Wiggle.

American Gods

Neil Gaiman

This is my first foray into the worlds of Gaiman. It was really quite intriguing.

And incredibly true at times:

An episode of Cheers began. Shadow had never watched Cheers. He had only ever seen one episode of it--the one where Coach's daughter comes to the bar--although he had seen that several times. Shadow had noticed that you only ever catch one episode of shows you don't watch, over and over, years apart; he thought it must be some kind of cosmic law.

It really must be a cosmic law! This happens to me all the time!

I've seen Saved By the Bell four times. Three of those times it was the same episode.

The Phantom Tollbooth

Norton Juster and Jules Feiffer

Still awesome. I want to live like the Lethargians!

""There's lots to do; we have a very busy schedule--At 8 o'clock we get up, and then we spend from 8 to 9 daydreaming. From 9 to 9:30 we take our early midmorning nap. From 9:30 to 10:30 we dawdle and delay. From 10:30 to 11:30 we take our late early morning nap. From 11:30 to 12:00 we bide our time and then eat lunch. From 1:00 to 2:00 we linger and loiter. From 2:00 to 2:30 we take our early afternoon nap. From 2:30 to 3:30 we put off for tomorrow what we could have done today. From 3:30 to 4:00 we take our early late afternoon nap. From 4:00 to 5:00 we loaf and lounge until dinner. From 6:00 to 7:00 we dillydally. From 7:00 to 8:00 we take our early evening nap and then for an hour before we go to bed at 9:00 we waste time."

American Nomad

Steve Erickson

This kinda broke my heart. I love Steve, but I just didn't like this.

Water for Elephants

by Sara Gruen

The Ruins

Scott Smith

Blindness

Jose Saramago

I got this book for Christmas like three years ago and I just finally got around to reading it. It's a really difficult read.

I found it difficult for a couple of different reasons. One, the punctuation is out of control. The paragraphs were like five pages long and there were no quotation marks. The ratio of commas to periods was like one billion to one.

If you read the excerpt, you'll understand a bit.

Also, the situations Saramago puts the characters in are horrible. I found myself feeling really agitated at certain parts.

They're making a movie based on the book. I'm assuming they're not going to be totally true to it. I don't think people would watch it.

The Great Gatsby

F. Scott Fitzgerald