Weddingbee boards

I'm always looking for book recommendations, and more often than not, I choose my next books based on what I've seen other people reading lately. So I thought we could start a thread of books we're currently reading, along with giving a sentence or two description about what the book is about! I'll go first!

I'm reading "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls. Its a memoir written about her upbringing in an eccentric (to say the least) family. They travel like nomads here, there, and everywhere, with barely any money to their name, thanks to dad's alcoholism and mom's "excitement addiction". 

I'm reading Secrets of Eden by Chris Bohjalian. I'm terrible at summarizing books, so I'll steal this synopsis from Amazon: "The morning after her baptism into the Rev. Stephen Drew's Vermont Baptist church, Alice Hayward and her abusive husband are found dead in their home, an apparent murder-suicide. Stephen, the novel's first narrator, is so racked with guilt over his failure to save Alice that he leaves town. Soon, he meets Heather Laurent, the author of a book about angels whose own parents' marriage also ended in tragedy. Stephen's deeply sympathetic narration is challenged by the next two narrators: deputy state attorney Catherine Benincasa, whose suspicions are aroused initially by Stephen's abrupt departure (and then by questions about his relationship with Alice), and Heather, who distances herself from Stephen for similar reasons and risks the trip into her dark past by seeking out Katie, the Haywards' now-orphaned 15-year-old daughter who puts into play the final pieces of the puzzle, setting things up for a touching twist."

@kimmylyn: I really lliked The Glass Castle. A lot. Its a fascinating book, about some pretty remarkable experiences.

I most recently finished Jeanette Winterson's book Written on the Body. Its beautifully written- the descriptions are just incredible. It was funny though, when I was reading it I kept thinking "man, I wish I'd read this when I was twenty" because its about a consuming, passionate affair between the narrator and a married women. Her marriage sucks, and its way more complicated than that (I imagine it always is though). A younger me would have been in tears over this incredible love story. An older me was like "buck up and make some responsible choices!"

I just started reading The Self Sufficient Life and How to Live It, by John Seymour. Its non fiction, about farming/gardening/self sufficiency, but really well done and it lets me daydream about my dream life while I'm a broke grad student stuck in my second story apartment.

@ Jackie-O: I LOVE Jennifer Lancaster's book. I finished her new one, My Fair Lazy, a few months ago. She's one of my favorite authors. In between her book releases, I get my dose of her off of her blog: jennsylvania.com

@ Umagirl: I've heard Women, Food, & God is good, as well... thanks to Oprah! Let me know what you think when you finish it.

@ Moose1209: Whole-heartedly agree. I've read Are You There, Vodka and My Horizontal Life by Chelsea Handler. What a riot.

@ Lucy1: I've read Something Borrowed and Baby Proof by Emily Giffin. Talk about books that you can't put down!!

@MsTerrapin: LOVED Stieg Larsson's books. It's a shame he passed away.

@jduck84: Totally agree with you regarding liking the "eating" and "loving" parts of Eat, Pray, Love. I snored my way through her trip to India..... I wonder how the movie will be- Julia Roberts HAS to make it more interesting, right?

I finished Glass Castle today while waiting for my car's oil change... and decided on a whim to start Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. I've been forewarned the first few chapters are slow... so I'll do my best not to give up on it.