I crave books

The title of this book cracks me up. And it’s a book club pick. So don’t read too much into the fact that I’m reading this book. We thought it would spark some good conversations at book group. The subtitle: inside the hearts and minds of people in two relationships led me to believe that we might understand more about people’s motivations in having affairs. And it seems that in most of the books I’ve read lately (Tenth Circle, Beach House) so I was interested in learning more about the thought process.

However, while I thought this was an interesting read it was not what I expected. What this book is really about is how 1/3 what the psychology of an affair is and then 2/3 how people in a love triangle can select the appropriate solution (stay with spouse, pursue lover, choose neither) so they’re not in two relationships. The decision making process was interesting and I think it contained relationship advice that people could use in evaluating their own long term relationships. Also, there’s a short chapter on “Building the Future” which contains good general relationship advice.

An interesting topic and should make for good discussion this month.

Subtitled: The Story of the Hate Crime That Changed America.

This memoir tells about the life of Emmett Till, who at 14 was murdered during a vacation to Mississippi. His crime: allegedly whistling at a white woman. The time: August 1955. His case became a cause celebre for the early Civil Rights Movement-especially when the white killers were acquitted.

The most gripping part of this book was the description leading up to Emmett’s attack and the aftermath from trying to get the body back to Chicago from Mississippi and the trial.

I skimmed the first and last thirds of the book but found the part related to the crime and trail to be a fascinating and horrifying glimpse at the beginning of the Civil Rights movement.

This was a read for book group. I can’t decide what this was supposed to be about; it’s either a memoir of a drag queen or a love story gone wrong. Not sure. It was a quick read. I didn’t dislike it, but I wasn’t sure what the point was, and (unlike the other memoirs we’ve read this year) I felt the author didn’t share enough emotionally.

Plus the book I had included some “extras” in the back, one of which was an interview with the author. In the interview when the author mentioned knowing James Frey and his wife, I immediately began doubting everything I’d just read. Especially because the author candidly shares his battle with alcohol and how he frequently blacked out.

subtitled: One Man’s Humble Quest to become the smartest person in the world.

One word: funny.

Read this one for book group. It was my pick. I really enjoyed his humor and the amount of useless information he obtained. And I learned a few things along the way.

Basically the book chronicles A.J.’s attempt to read the Encyclopedia Britannica from A (or a-ak) to Z (Zywiec). Not to ruin it for anyone, but he succeeds, and along the way inserts various vignettes about his family and other tidbits from his life.

This weekend was all about hearts. First Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult, then this pick for book club, Heart in the Right Place (which has several patients with heart problems).

This memoir tells how Carolyn Jourdan, US State Senate Counsel, and former Tennessee redneck, returns home following her mother’s heart attack to help her physician father with his rural family practice clinic.

It’s a sweet tale, with vivid descriptions of the odd cast of characters who come to be treated by Doc Jourdan. It’s also the tale of Carolyn’s struggle to decide if she should remain in east Tennessee as her father’s receptionist or go back to her high-powered Washington life.

This was a fun, quick read, with lots of pithy observations on the human condition. It’ll be fun to talk about at Book Group.

This is not a book I would’ve chosen myself. I do enjoy reading nonfiction and this year my book group is focusing on nonfiction titles. This was the February pick.

The subtitle of this book is: inside the bizarre world of nature’s most dangerous creatures.

It took me about 2 weeks to get through this, as I wasn’t interested in reading it and the first part put me off. But then it got to sex (doesn’t a little sex make everything more interesting?!). And how parasites might be responsible for sex. Basically after it got through the boring scientific stuff and on to the more interesting aspects of parasites the book picked up. For example, scientists believe Crohn’s Disease began because of the absence of intestinal worms.

So I found the last two chapters to be most interesting. Not sure if I would recommend the title to others though.