This summer I worked hard at catching up on some reading.  After Martin was born, I found that I could read a lot of books while he was eating.  But since Sophie was born, I've hardly been able to read a short magazine, let alone many books.  I figured out that I could get a little reading in while rocking Sophie and while holding Martin's hand as he falls asleep.  So this summer, I was able to knock out a few books.  Here's the rating system:

***** = This was one of the best books I've ever read.
**** = It was a great book, I'd definitely recommend it.
*** = It was pretty good.
** = There were some parts that were OK, but overall not great.
* = Not great.  At all.


Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
****
I really enjoyed this book.  The story is a bit confusing at first, but I kept thinking "I'm sure at some point this will make sense" and it did.  The story was creative and the characters took shape and turned them into people I felt like I could know.

Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
*****
This was the best book I read all summer.  This story takes place in Afghanistan and the United States, painting vivid pictures of pre and post-Taliban Afghanistan, as well as Afghani communities in the U.S.  The author writes a story with ironic twists and fated events like some of my favorite authors - John Irving, Isabelle Allende and Gabriel Garcia Marquez.  As my friend Sevda said, "It's haunting".

Deception Point by Dan Brown
***
Although not as enjoyable as Angels & Demons, I thought this book was okay.  It was a pretty fast read and is the kind of book that is good to read when you don't want to think a whole lot.  Which can be a good thing for summer reading.

Trash by Dorothy Allison
**
The first Box of Wine Book Club selection was pretty much a bomb (as in not good, not as in "the bomb").

Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk
***
I enjoyed the first half of the book much more than the last.  If the second half had been more like the first, I would have given this one ****.  The book starts with the last chapter and works its way forward, which is nice if you're the kind of person who doesn't care for a whole lot of suspense, or if you want to know exactly how many pages are left to read without doing any math.  Both of which appealed to me.  And, there are lots of really good cleaning tips in here.

The Godfather by Mario Puzo
****
I've seen all the Godfather movies, and liked them all.  It's been a few years since I saw them, which was good because it helped to put a little distance between the movie and reading the book.  The movie very closely follows the book, so if you liked the movie, the book would probably appeal to you.

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
***
I decided to read this book after watching the movie Capote, which I really enjoyed.  For the first few chapters of the book, I could only hear Phillip Seymour Hoffman's voice as the narrator and found it pretty distracting.  The beginning seemed a little slow, but after I got into the book, I found that all the background really made me feel like I could visualize the setting and the characters.  I'm no crime-novel historian, but I bet that this book must have changed the way that crime novels are now written.  It was a good book - if you like true crime novels, you'd probably really like this one.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon
****
I liked this book, thought it was a good story and had some unexpected turns. I felt like reading a story written through the voice of an autistic boy gave me some insight into what it might be like to be autistic. My only complaint would be that all the math in the book only made me more aware of my own math weakness... and really, I don't need that many reminders.

Autobiography of a Fat Bride by Laurie Notaro
***
I've read several of Laurie Notaro's books, and they're always amusing.  Many of her short stories are published in other sources, and I can see how they'd be good in that way as well.  There were a few stories in this book that I really enjoyed, and others that weren't as great.  If you are a woman preparing to get married, or recently married, this might be a good one for you to pick up.

Still on the nightstand:
Sleep Toward Heaven by Amanda Eyre Ward (recommended by Sevda and my mom)
The Bastard on the Couch by Daniel Jones (I gave this to Marty to celebrate the birth of our second child)
Sippy Cups are Not For Chardonnay by Stephanie Wilder-Taylor (recommended by my mom)
Saint Bernadette Soubirous by Francis Trochu (taken from the stack of old books that came with our house)
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
Night by Elie Wiesel (recommended by Oprah)
Dakota: A Spiritual Geography by Kathleen Norris (sent by Kathy)
The Dog Who Wouldn't Be by Farley Mowat (recommended by my dad)