Page turners.

A fascinating book. I had few expectations going into it, which may have made it a bit more strange {I bought it solely off of a recommendation from my friend Bret- we share tastes in literature}. It gave me odd dreams, & was certainly thought provoking. When I finished the final page, I just sat there for a while, thinking... The story was grey, somber, sad, simple... & incredibly profound. Not exactly a picker-upper, but a very good read.

I really liked this book. It was incredibly how Jeannette Walls creates such a positive spin on the difficult & sad childhood she experienced. Her perspective & perseverance was really amazing. I expected the book to be far more depressing, but it turned out to be quite the opposite. Her perspective as a small child was just so different that the tone of the book was not at all sad- it was just matter-of-fact. As if your father trying to kill your mother was just a little bump in the road, or eating beans every meal for a week was just fine. A very interesting book.

Thanks to a three-hour delay at JFK {of course}, I finished this book before I even got to Spokane. It is in the same genre of The Devil Wears Prada-esque books, but still a fun read {if only a bit cliche & predictable}. It's always fun to read books based in NYC, & this one took place in my very own neighborhood on the Upper East Side. Also- I've had a lot of discussions with friends/colleagues about the balance of career & family, & reading this book definitely makes a nanny situation far less appealing. It was actually incredibly sad to read about these poor kids who have substitute-moms. Some people do a great job balancing it all, but such people were definitely not exemplified in the book.

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I love, love, love getting recommendations from friends {The Road from Bret, & the latter two from Kellie}. My to-read list keeps getting longer, and longer. I'm so glad I have the train every day. Up next: Whatever I find at the airport tonight to read on the flight home {I can never sleep on red-eye flights}, and The Undommestic Goddess {Kellie is my personal library this month!}.