Cambridge by Susanna Kaysen

I picked up Cambridge by Susanna Kaysen for two very good reasons. First, given the title, I assumed that it would be a university tale set either at Cambridge University in England or in Cambridge, Massachusetts. I was kind of wrong on both counts. And second, it is by Susanna Kaysen, who wrote the memoir Girl, Interrupted.

A Visit From The Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan

Why didn’t I listen when everyone was telling me to read A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan? It won scads of awards when it come out in 2010, it was on everyone’s radar, and yet I resisted. Why do i do that sometimes?

Well, I thought Good Squad was about music and the entertainment industry. I thought it was about a band called The Goon Squad. I thought it was set in L.A. All these assumptions were, at least partially, incorrect.

WriteReads Podcast, starring moi!

Oh boy, have I been slacking off on the blog or what? Busy, busy, busy with stuff like going off to Turkey for week.

A couple of weeks ago when I reviewed Skim and This One Summer by Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki, I mentioned that I was going to be on a podcast of WriteReads soon. Well, that podcast is now available for download on iTunes or you can listen to it here.

If you don’t know already, WriteReads is “the Canadian book club podcast that will change the world of literature forever”, or so they claim. It just might be true. Kurt and Tania are a blast and they have wonderful guests (like me). I had such an amazing time talking with them, hopefully that comes through and they will have me back. If you haven’t subscribed already, what are you waiting for?

Free Range Reading

I don’t know who came up with the term ‘free range reading’. I first saw it used by Heather at The Capricious Reader. Anyways, I’ve interpreted it to mean reading without a plan, without direction or deadlines. Reading just to see where it takes you. I think with blogging so many of us get caught up in reading and writing about the next big book. We are subject to publication dates for the ARCs we receive and we feel pressure to READ, READ, READ. Or at least that’s how I sometime feel.

The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion

Like just about everyone else I know, I was eagerly awaiting Graeme Simsion‘s follow up to The Rosie Project (review). I approached  The Rosie Effect cautiously, knowing that there was no way it could be as good as The Rosie Project. When The Rosie Project came out Don Tillman was such a breath of fresh air, but with The Rosie Effect he becomes a caricature of himself.

Skim and This One Summer by Mariko and Jillian Tamaki

It seems that graphic novels and comics are all the rage right now. I’ll be up front with you. I don’t think I get them as an art form. My mind is so responsive to words and I think I lack the necessary visual vocabulary to properly appreciate them.

Dear Committee Members by Julie Schumacher

If you haven’t noticed by now, you should know that I am a sucker for novels set in academia. I loved the campus novel when I was in grad school and I love it even more now, especially if it is a novel about disillusionment in the academy. Cue Dear Committee Members by Julie Schumacher. This book is laugh out loud funny. It took Herculean feats of strength for me not to read every second sentence out loud to my husband.

This Is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper

By now you have undoubtedly seen the movie trailers for Jason Bateman and Tina Fey’s latest movie, This Is Where I Leave You. Looks good, doesn’t it? But do not do the unforgivable and see the movie before reading the novel upon which it is based. Jonathan Tropper‘s novel is great. It’s funny in all the right places and reads pretty much like a movie, so it’s quick. It’s no surprise that we can now enjoy it in its celluloid form.