Never Have Your Dog Stuffed: And Other Things I've Learned by Alan Alda My rating: 4 of 5 stars #28 A nice break from memoirs that are downers, Alan Alda writes clearly and with his trademark humor about his childhood, his mother's mental illness, his struggles to break through as an actor, those glorious days... Continue Reading →

The Liars' Club by Mary Karr #26 (half way to my goal!) My rating: 3 of 5 stars Back to the child hood memoir genre. The story is told through the eyes of the author Mary Karr mostly while she is 7-9 years old. More than the story of her own life, it is really... Continue Reading →

While I Was Gone by Sue Miller #25 My rating: 4 of 5 stars A compelling story about a very conflicted woman on the precipice of a classic mid-life crisis. Told in the first person the narrative is very easy to follow and also done well enough that you find yourself in her world very... Continue Reading →

Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt My rating: 3 of 5 stars There were times when I thought I wouldn't be able to finish this book. But I knew I was invested in Frankie because I wanted to smack everyone who made his life miserable - particularly his no good drunken father. I was oddly thrilled... Continue Reading →

Waltzing the Cat by Pam Houston My rating: 4 of 5 stars #22 Charming collection of short stories that stand on their own, but pretty much chart the journey of one main character, photographer/adventurer Lucy O'Rourke as she figures out just what is going on in her head/heart. Her adventures take her all over the... Continue Reading →

The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway My rating: 2 of 5 stars Sigh...I was bored through almost all of this book. I had absolutely NO interest in the characters - mostly because they were of no interest themselves. Their conversations were incredibly shallow & simplistic. All they did was drink, argue after getting too... Continue Reading →

The Palace Thief by Ethan Canin My rating: 4 of 5 stars What a wonderful collection of 4 short stories! I read them all in one day. There is a similar thread through all the stories as they are all told through the eyes of someone living a highly routine/disciplined/doing what's expected of you life... Continue Reading →

The Book of Ruth by Jane Hamilton My rating: 3 of 5 stars Oprah's Book Club! Hemingway award winner! Should be fantastic, right? Well, it is very well written. Certainly it is a very in depth story of the life of a woman growing up poor in the rural midwest in the 60s and 70s.... Continue Reading →

Fourth Procedure by Stanley Pottinger My rating: 3 of 5 stars A thriller with a political message. Very interesting. As someone else wrote "you will never view abortion the same way again" True. Embedded within an otherwise run of the mill psycho thriller with a rather outlandish plot line were some pretty fascinating discussions about... Continue Reading →