I haven't been reading lately because I've been knitting up a storm: I'm starting my third baby blanket since August (knitting for a cause, not babies of my own) and I enjoyed several essays by knitting writers in this collection. Wide variety of themes and points of view.

"...the trouble with this whole country is that so many are so selfish....thinking only of self, instead of turning to and helping the responsible business men to bring back prosperity....thinking only of how much wages they can extort out of their unfortunate employer, with all the responsibilities he has to bear!" Remind you of anyone?

Sadly, I bailed. I just wasn't in the right mood for this quiet, subtle book about small town people facing a tragedy that dredges up the past mistakes, risks, and lost opportunities we all face. Maybe I'll pick it up again some other time.

An odd, quick read. This is a book that forces you to plow ahead, then requires you to circle back to the beginning. The prose careens between simple, stark statements and metaphysical musings. Slenderman meets Fight Club is the best description I can offer.

This arrived via legal express mail from a friend who just finished it...I'm excited!

I feel guilty panning this book because I love Singer's The Untethered Soul. However, as broadly applicable as Soul is, Surrender is not relatable unless you have zero responsibilities and no connections to other human beings. Singer lived off the land, meditating hours a day. If you can't live like that, there's not much to take from this book.

I actually liked this better than The Bone Clocks, which often left me lost. This shorter story about nearly immortal characters required to replenish their bodies with others' souls was striking, in particular, in the way characters narrated their own deaths.

Buried in this ordinary story of ordinary people with disappointingly ordinary flaws, there are sharp observations and finely crafted sentences. However, the opening premise (the package from an ex-lover) opens with a bang but then seems disconnected from the rest of the story. So-so.

"I won't leave until you don't need me anymore." Reading in the mountains.

"Several years ago, when I was engaged to be married but afraid to go through with it....I told Misha my fears....he finally said, "The only thing I ever understood is that everyone should make big mistakes." So I took what he said to heart and got married. Three years later I was divorced."

Picking up a stack of books. Support independent booksellers!

Reading at the beach today...these people bought a house and realize it's bigger on the inside than it is on the outside. I would leave right then.

Will it grab me, as I've been promised? I find comfort in the supernatural, as I accompany a loved one to an infusion center. Give me horror on the page instead.

The characters are complex, and themes that tie in art, child rearing, upper middle class financial woes, and even 9/11, blend seamlessly. The final 1/4 of the book wraps too neatly, but reading this in a binge was still pleasurable.

I heard about this book because the author was a 2015 NaNoWriMo coach, and she wrote the first draft of this book as a National Novel Writing Month participant. I'll describe the book as a combination of "Room" and "10 Cloverfield Lane."

Halfway through Cline's The Girls...I love to read with breakfast.

This book makes me want to book a trip to Savannah immediately!

Masterful re-telling a of familiar takes, each with serious surprises. The Curse, alone, blew me away.

T prose is so sharp. It's amazing to me that this is a translation. So few books are translated from Croatian to English anyway, but as a fluent speaker of Croatian, I'm enchanted by the way it captures the nuances of the language & the culture. Uniquely Eastern European, subversive and profound.

This is one of my favorite books. It doesn't feel like you are reading a book; it feels like you are in a dream. I'm planning to re-read it on my upcoming vacation. It's thick (500+ pages) and could be the only book you take on a trip. You will love it or hate it. It's unlike anything else.

I'm only half-way through. This is a blend of Paper Towns, Gone Girl, and Looking for Alaska. I'm reading this on a shuttle taking me to (not kidding) Mall of America 😂