Books

I love to read, I just haven't had read anything this past 2 weeks. Yes, I was focusing on my knitting, I know, but now I'm done with that ball of yarn and I should get back to my books. I'm just so tired that when I get to the metro, I end up sleeping (completely attached to my purse, of course, I am a carioca after all).

I've had some pretty good experiences with books this year. After I joined a girls's social and book club, I started rushing to finish the books before the discussions, and still have time to squeeze one more in.

Some of the good things I read this year:

- The Friday Night Knitting Club: chick-lit, and a must read. It tells the story of a single mom, Georgia. She owns a yarn shop on NYC and raises her daughter Dakota (who is mixed white/african-american). She has an older lady as a best friend, and with some customers they decide to hold a knitting club. It's very much about friendship, forgiveness, bonding. It will remind you of the hair salon on Steel Magnolias. There are some pretty sad parts too, so get the kleenex...

- The Ivy Chronicles: I picked it up for $4 at the Borders bargain bin - great find! Sooooo funny. Well, it wouldn't be if it were in real life. Ivy is a top-executive at a huge company who gets laid off under a few circumstances, and finds her husband cheating on her when she gets home (again, the circumstances are a must-read). So, her life is turned upside down and she has to move to a regular-person neighborhood with her 2 daughters, and then decide to become a consultant for private school kindergarten admissions. The stuff she goes through is just unbelievable. Including a dream date with a famous Hollywood star.

- The Secret Life of Bees: very touching book about a girl names Lilly who runs away from home and her abusive father. She wants to find out about the circumstances about her mother's death and the only clue she has is a photo of her Mom, a picture of a Black Madonna and the name of a city. The movie is coming out in October but the book is a must-read.

- Nineteen Minutes: it was a very hard book to read. It tells you the story of several characters but mostly focused on a boy who was constantly teased and bullied in school. He ends up being the shooter in a columbine-type school massacre. The book goes back and forth in time, so you must pay attention to the chapter headings. This book was wonderful in many ways, but what scared me the most was the fact that I did identify myself with the shooter in many, many ways. I'd think it would be a very interesting read for teachers, especially middle/high-school levels. Oh, and the author mentions the Wiggles 3 times in the book.

- Memoirs of a Geisha: I have not seen the movie, but the book is just too beautiful for words. I do have to visit Japan after that!