Good in Bed, Jennifer Weiner
"The truth is this-I'm all right the way I am. I was all right, all along. I will never be thin, but I will be happy. I will love myself, and my body, for what it can do-because it is strong enough to lift, to walk, to ride a bicycle up a hill, to embrace the people i love and hold them fully, and to nurture new life. I will love myself because I am sturdy. Because I did not-will not-break."
The first time I read this book was my first year in Korea. I had discovered Abby's Book Nook in Itaewon for the first time and Abby herself recommended it. It is pure chick lit - implausible happy ending and all. That said, I loved the storyline about having a premie and I found the narrator easy to relate to. The point of rereading it was to read the sequel, though I'm going to need a chick lit break first.
From the author interview: "... but, of course, there's no new or original way to have your heart broken."
A Mercy, Toni Morrison
My first experiece with Morrison wasn't good - I disliked Beloved and then ended up feeling quite guilty that I didn't like it, so I went into A Mercy very tentatively. Perhaps it was my lower expectations, perhaps it's this time in my life, or perhaps it's just, for me, a better book, but I really enjoyed A Mercy. It explored the numerous ways it really sucked to be a woman in the 1690s, mostly in America, but England is touched on as well, and the numerous kinds of slavery found in the new colonies.
100 Bullshit Jobs, Stanley Bing
Unsurprisingly, it's a fairly bullshit book. In its favour, it's also a very quick read. And some good quotes:
"Coffee leads men to trifle away their time, scald their chops, and spend their money, all for a little, base, thick, nasty, bitter, stinking, nauseous puddle water." The Women's Petition Against Coffee, 1694.
"Times are bad. Children no longer listen to their parents, and everyone is writing a book." Cicero, circa 66 B.C.
"Waiting is painful. Forgetting is painful. But not knowing which to do is the worse kind of suffering." Paulo Coelho
"Before forty eting is beneficial. After forty, drinking." The Talmud
1 comment:
Hm. I didn't like Beloved either. I really wanted to love it because all my friends did (and so did A. S. Byatt, my favourite author), but I found it rather strange and not moving at all. But since I generally like your opinions of books, I'll try A Mercy.
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