it would be my honor to be your new stepfather.

[causeways]

I went to Borders today and bought two books. One of them was A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, because it is one of walkawayslowly's favorite books, and I have never read it. I was all set to call it a day right there, but then decided I wanted another book. Two seemed like a good number.

Out of Merrin's set of favorite books, the other two I could remember were The

Comments

[winterweathered]

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is HANDS DOWN my favorite book ever. I did a book report on it in the sixth grade (because I was OBNOXIOUS and thought that really thick books made me look ~smart~) and I've read it a million times since then. TTTW is another one of my favorites. If you like those, you should check out A Home at the End of the World - it... has nothing to do with the other two, but it is my other favorite book, so there's got to be something good about it.

[out_0f_habit]

Sorry to hijack but OMG! A Home at the End of the World! No one else has ever even heard of this! I love Michael Cunningham! Sorry for the extreme overuse of exclamation points. I was exclaiming all over the place.

And TTW and ATGiB. We have the complete same taste in books. Just thought I'd share. ;)

[alasse]

HAHAHA, I rec A Home at the End of the World to ANYONE who ever asks me what book to read. I have read it so many times, and it still blows me away, ALWAYS. Guh, I want Michael Cunningham to write a new book now! Specimen Days was too long ago already :(

[causeways]

Oh, awesome! I will definitely have to check that out.

[causeways]

You know, I kinda figured. ;)

Haha! It is true. Sam would not have a clue. And then Dean would try to figure out what the heck it was all about, and would spend way too long dissecting it, and then, presumably, he would find himself totally forced to jump Sam's bones.

[out_0f_habit]

I love books, so this post made me really happy :)

I've been meaning to read Havemercy because I liked Shoebox. Not worth it? But A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and TTW are both amazing.

I'm halfway through Eat, Pray, Love (which I know isn't great ~literature~ but I'm going to be traveling soon and wanted to read that first-- and it's really good so far!) and then I'm reading Middlesex which I've heard awesome things about. Also I just finished House of Leaves which is the strangest book I've ever read EVER, but it was really good... but really odd.

[causeways]

Me toooo. And I have the awesome ability to completely tune out EVERYTHING THAT IS GOING ON AROUND ME while I'm caught up in a book, which drives my mother up the wall, and which my father is kind of delighted by, since he is the same way. :D

I really enjoyed Shoebox (although I am still slightly bitter that it is permanently unfinished!), but Havemercy . . . eh. It's got four different first person narrators, FOUR, which is about three too many for me, and it's got one huge stinking cliche that I should have seen about a mile off. I mean, it's good -- I just think my expectations were extremely high, on the basis of my Shoebox love, and it didn't come close to meeting said expectations (in spite of the gay!).

Ohhh, Middlesex, though. SO FREAKING GREAT.

[out_0f_habit]

I will forever be bitter about the unfinished-status of shoebox. I don't know why, but it just bothers me way more than all the other abandoned WIPs. Maybe because they insist they still plan on finishing it? It's like... it's been YEARS. At this point I don't even remember the plot.

I HAVE THAT SAME ABILITY. I'm also really groggy after reading for a while-- it's like I wasn't fully conscious or something.

And I'm so excited you liked Middlesex, as I'm really excited to read it!

[alasse]

Ooh, I kinda had Havemercy in my booklist for the summer (to buy when I go to the US) - was it not worth it? I read good things about it somewhere, but not sure where... and I'd trust your opinion more than random Amazon people.

[causeways]

As I was just telling out_0f_habit, it's not that it isn't good -- I do think it's good! -- but that it didn't come anywhere neeeear to living up to my expectations, based on how excellent shoebox_project was. I thought the four first person narrators were overkill, and in spite of the gayness, the payoff was not as great as I'd wanted it to be. For a book with that much subtext (and also TEXT, hi), I was pretty surprisingly bored a lot of the time.

Haha, which is about the most mediocre praise I could give a book ever. I just wanted it to be SO good, you know? And it didn't quite get there.

[alasse]

Aaah, okay. Thank you SO much for telling me! I do want to read it, but since both money AND the amount of books I can bring back is super limited 'cause of the airline restrictions, I want to make sure I bring back books I'm madly in love with

[causeways]

Yeah, it's one that I'm glad I checked out of the library instead of buying -- not sure your chances of finding that one in Mexico City would be good, though. :\

When are you coming and where are you headed, btw? If you're going to be in NYC at any point let me know!

[vinylroad]

And when I'm in your mother, I'll never wear a rubber. OH!

I really have nothing of substance to add other than that. My brain WEEPS at the length of time that has gone by since I've read an actual fiction novel. First school ate my brain, then fanfic, then work. SIGH SIGH SIGH.

[causeways]

My dad can't satisfy her in the bedroom ever since he passed away!

I used to read RAVENOUSLY, and now I keep picking up books and not finishing them. I think this is possibly because I was a liiiittle too pretentious about what I thought I wanted to read for a while. So I have all this half-finished non-fiction and shit in my room, and am meanwhile eating the YA urban fantasy up with a spoon.