summer reading

i've gotten more into reading lately. i blame my english major friends. and the library is just down the street. literally, like half a mile on the street i live on. it is unavoidable. so, my opinions on several books:

* The Virgin Suicides - i started thinking about reading this book after it was brought up by one of the english friends (whom i think i will now refer to as the Surprisingly Southern Girl or SSG for short). both of us enjoy things that are heartbreaking, which this book is. it is also short & has lovely imagery.

* The Memory Keeper's Daughter - i listened to this on cd when i drove to FL & back. i found myself skipping multiple tracks after a while. it was boring. and once characters have affairs b/c they are bored/depressed/unsatisfied with their perfectly adequate suburban lives, i pretty much hate any book. sorry, that was a spoiler. but you shouldn't be wasting your time on this book anyway.

* The House on Mango Street - the title itself is so appealing to me. i first heard about this one when i was blog-stalking The Manorexic's "friend in Korea" & wanted to read it. but i am lazy. so i didn't. but then SSG read it & lent me her copy. it has an interesting style - it is a bunch of short vignettes that together tell the story. i highly recommend it.

*Stiff - finally, a non-fiction option. RationalThought gave this one to me. it is all about what happens to bodies when they die - medical research, forensic research, various burial/cremation options, etc. sounds weird, but it actually quite entertaining. seriously.

Next on my list: Night, Memoirs of a Geisha, & The Heart is a Lonely Hunter

Any suggestions?

things i've learned 6

taken from email correspondence between RationalThought (who is in Chile) and myself:

i have a story to tell you when you get home. it has to be in person. here is the preview: brooke tells her friends a bunch of lies to avoid talking about something that she did this weekend. someone sees her & tells sara, brooke starts swearing loudly at linger longer. the end.

Can't wait to hear the story. Has this taught you a lesson about compulsive lying?

well, these lies weren't so much compulsive as carefully planned out & executed...

lessons learned: compulsive lying = fine.
premeditated lying + witnesses = getting caught + profanity = embarrassment

You Can't Skip Steps

don't worry, i don't want to go to mcdonald's either

making progress

one of my goals for the summer is to be less snobby at church and actually get to know some people who live more than 10 minutes away from me. i think i've been doing pretty well. last night at a party i became friends with a guy i'd never talked to before. it was an art student's birthday party & the host was having everyone paint her pictures with watercolors. i wasn't really in a painting mood so i decided to interpret/critique the paintings. my new friend joined me in the critiquing and we moved from mocking paintings to mocking people. so maybe that was a little snobby, but i still made a new friend so i think it was worth it.

it comes in waves

this is the first weekend in 6 weeks that i haven't been out of town or had someone staying at my house. i have never been so excited to sit around by myself for two days.