enJOY it

an archived personal and craft blog from Elise Blaha Cripe.

Library

Alright…last time I shared I was reading Pilgrims, short stories by Elizabeth Gilbert. I got about halfway through and stopped. Short stories are not my favorite, apparently. And I tried The Woman in White and couldn't get into it. I'll try again in another life season for sure.

Here are some of the more notable books that I did get through in the past few months…

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling. I found this to be such a smart and funny memoir. Yep, I laughed out loud. Yep, I read parts out loud to Paul. But deeper than that, I loved how often Mindy mentioned her parents. It was clear that their relationships were special and influenced her greatly. This was notable to me because I, too, consider my parents my best friends and I hope to cultivate the same feelings of mutual respect with Ellerie. I also thought her section about marriage and how married people need to stop complaining that "marriage is work" was profound. There is no doubt that my marriage is something I "work on" but I choose to do it daily and I absolutely don't want to complain about that.

Moonwalking with Einstein by Joshua Foer. this book was recommended to Paul by one of his co-workers. Paul is currently a radiology resident and his goal for the next four years is to get really good and really familiar with what "normal" looks like in the human body and then be able to spot accurately and quickly when something is slightly amiss. Basically, it's intense memorization. This book was about building and training our memories and the crazy capacity the human brain has for storing images. I found most of it totally facisnating (and a few bits boring – I skimmed some longer of the historical parts). Overall, worth the read for sure and I picked up some memory training party tricks. (Don't you totally want to be at a party where people bust out memory tricks? No? Just me then?)

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger. I picked this up at the library because it was by the same author as my beloved The Time Traveler's Wife. When I got home I looked it up on amazon and saw the reviews were not great. (I shouldn't have done that.) It was …interesting. But not in that magic way where you're totally into it and can't get enough of it. I was mildly intrigued, if that makes any sense. I had to know what happened, but was at the end more let down than anything else. It was haunting and depressing but also well-written. I don't know. I guess I'm torn. Bottom line is that I loved The Time Traveler's Wife and I didn't love this.

Currently on my nightstand is The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver and I'm 692nd in line for one of the 77 copies of The Goldfinch in the San Diego public library system.

What are you reading?

For past book reports from me check here, here, here, and here.

Other posts you might enjoy: 

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80 responses to “winter book report.”

  1. Leah Noble Avatar

    Inspired by you and your book reports, I’ve also started doing them on my blog: http://dreambigcapebreton.com/2014/02/01/book-report-2/
    Currently I’m reading Brene Brown’s “Daring Greatly.”

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  2. Kelly Avatar

    I loved The Lacuna so, so much — hope you enjoy it, too!

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  3. Kacie Avatar

    Thanks for sharing! The Goldfinch is a great (and long!) book – I couldn’t put it down. Hope that line moves fast! 🙂
    Have you read The Art Forger? I loved it – it’s a fictional story loosely based around the (still unsolved!) art heist at the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum in Boston.

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  4. orange gearle Avatar

    So, maybe you’ve written about this and I missed it, but how did you feel about the movie (Time Traveler’s Wife)? I loved the book.

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  5. Jenny Rose Avatar
    Jenny Rose

    A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry. Been out for years so maybe you’ve read it but it’s great.
    Also, two memoirs I loved (also not new books)…What Remains by Carole Radziwill. (connection to John F. Kennedy Jr.) and All Over But the Shoutin’ by Rick Bragg. You can’t go wrong with any of these and because they are not new you can probably get at your local library.
    p.s. love talking books!

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  6. Tashia D Avatar

    Right now I’m reading The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty and it just started to get really good! I’m planning to read Notes From A Blue Bike: The Art of Living Intentionally in a Chaotic World by Tsh Oxenreider(Simple Mom).
    I also read the reviews for Her Fearful Symmetry on Amazon and have to admit that they completely turned me off. I’m not sure if it kept me from wasting my time or if I missed out on something I should have read because I also loved The Time Travelers Wife.

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  7. Fanny Avatar

    We started reading the Chronicles of Narnia (The lion, the witch and the wardrobe) with my twin boys as an Advent reading. They loved it so much that we kept reading all of them. We just finished the Magician’s nephew and are not into The boy and his horse.
    I am personally reading A new kind of Christian (by Brian Mc Laren) and Let your life Speak (Parker Palmer).
    I also have a section in my blog about my readings, although they are in Spanish and I normally what I read WITH my children.
    Fannyathome.blogspot.com

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  8. Sammy Garcia Avatar

    i loved mindy kaling’s book. i would laugh out loud all of the time!
    i started reading bossy pants by tina fey. i loved the fault in our stars and have the art of fielding and elanor and park in the queue!

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  9. kelli Avatar
    kelli

    Recent books I’ve loved are: David and Goliath by Gladwell
    You Learn By Living by Eleanor Roosevelt
    Me Before You
    And my favorite book by far this winter was Rules of Civility by Amor Towles. Great atmosphere-kind of a sad book, but hey, we’re stuck in the freezing winter in Chicago, depressing books fit the bill! ha 😉

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  10. amanda dawn Avatar
    amanda dawn

    i don’t know why i never realized that Paul is a radiology resident. my brother-in-law is just finishing his fellowship in baltimore, and it is insane how much they have to memorize. (i’m sure that every specialty has a lot they need to know, but it feels insane the amount of stuff they have to remember)
    i really loved Mindy’s book too. i actually think she’s pretty awesome in general.
    currently, i’m reading My Sweet Life in Paris by David Lebovitz. mainly because i have it in my head that i’m going to live there one day, and also because there’s some pretty neat recipes in there too. 🙂

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  11. Crystal Avatar
    Crystal

    With this icky weather, I needed a typical summer/beach book. I am reading Silver Girl by Elin Hilderbrand. Up next The Book Thief.

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  12. Traci Avatar

    I felt the same way about Her Fearful Symmetry! Currently I’m reading a John Grisham novel that was lying around my house. After I finish that I need to head to the library!

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  13. Amanda Avatar

    So happy to see that you stopped halfway through a book. It’s so much better than wasting your time on something you’re not into, and unfortunately, it’s also something I have a hard time doing. I feel so guilty if I don’t finish a book, because I feel like I already invested time into it, blah blah blah.
    And I read The Time Traveler’s Wife and Her Fearful Symmetry last year and felt the same way as you!
    Loving these book reports, Elise; thanks for sharing!

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  14. Betsy Avatar
    Betsy

    Crystal, I’m listening to the Silver Girl audiobook during my commutes right now, and I’m love, love, loving it!! Hope you are too.

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  15. Betsy Avatar
    Betsy

    I had the same reaction to Her Fearful Symmetry. I didn’t dislike it, but I didn’t recommend it to anyone, either. It was….different.

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  16. Martina Avatar

    I just finished Her Fearful symmetry last night and I was a bit mheh about it too – I thought it was a little odd (but I kinda like odd) but it was too predictable, I wasn’t surprised by the twists at all and it was definitely no Time Travelers Wife that’s for sure. I was hoping for better.
    I think I’m 20th in line for “the fault in our stars” in my local library…any day now…..

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  17. karen Avatar

    I’ve been reading The Goldfinch for a long time now. I am about 70% there and I have really been enjoying it. Next in my queue is Lowland and then I am hoping to start on Elizabeth Gilbert’s new book.

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  18. Katie Avatar

    I just started The Book Thief and can’t put it down. 🙂

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  19. Vanessa Carey Avatar

    I just finished Mother Daughter Me (a memoir), and while I don’t have such a haunted past with my mother as the author does, it somehow resonated with me on the imperfections of family relationships. Beautifully written. Really recommend it!

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  20. Tina Avatar

    I’ve immersed myself in reading! I’ve read 7 books already in 2014 🙂 Mostly just simple New Adult books, nothing fancy or deep. I really want to get back into reading books from the Beat Generation, though, so I’ve just purchased some Jack Kerouac that I’ve never read amongst some other less mainstream Beat writers 🙂 And I want to read The Goldfinch too!

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  21. Tina Avatar

    Eleanor and Park is so good! As is The Fault In Our Stars of course 🙂

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  22. Elizabeth Avatar

    That is exactly how I felt about Her Fearful Symmetry… actually, I might have said “YOU HAVE TO BE KIDDING ME” near the end… I loved the cemetery-as-character, though. Joshua Foer was on This American Life a while back and I immediately wrote that book down to read this year. Glad to hear you liked it!

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  23. Lauren Avatar

    As I was reading I was going to tell you how much I am in love with The Goldfinch. 600+ people on the waiting list! Crazy. I live in a really small town so I requested it at the library at the beginning of the year, they didn’t have it, so they ordered it, and I get to be lucky number 1. It’s really long, but I love it so far. I’ve set a goal to read 50 pages a night in order to get through it before the due date. Sad that Audrey’s new book isn’t as good as The Time Travelers Wife. I liked that book so much I read it twice.

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  24. Michelle Avatar

    How in the world did you get a pic of you and the baby in the library stacks??? (I’m a librarian.) (I’m also impressed. Can’t imagine you found something at the right height and left your phone there for a moment unguarded.)
    Books… Well I have been trying to read Loving Mr. Darcy — https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6359133-loving-mr-darcy
    It’s excruciatingly bad, but I bought it, so I keep trying to finish it. It’s so bad. Like a train wreck. I can’t look away.
    To take a break, I just re-read The Help — https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4667024-the-help
    It was still great. Still loving it.
    I picked up a copy of Twilight at a thrift store and wondering if I can make it all the way through it this time.
    I remember The Time Travelers Wife… it wasn’t the best book ever, but I loved it bc it was Chicago in 1992. He went to all my fave clubs, he wore my Doc Martens, he caught the el where I caught it, and of course, it was The Newberry. It was like revisiting a time when I was young and the city was wide open to me and my friends. I knew, physically, every location in the city and I enjoyed mentally following along on his adventures.

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  25. Heidi Avatar
    Heidi

    I’m reading Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter right now. It’s one of those stories that you read about all these different characters across time and wonder how they are going to all intertwine… it’s really good so far!
    I also loved TTW, but was “meh” about Her Fearful Symmetry. I hear great things about The Goldfinch and The Husband’s Secret, so they are on my list next.

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  26. Brianna Avatar
    Brianna

    Ahh! I miss having my books. I mean, I have my Kindle so I’m not without books to read, but my stuff lives in two places right now for a number of reasons and I’m over it.

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  27. Jil Avatar
    Jil

    As it happens, I’m reading The Goldfinch. I had no idea it was so popular. Someone in my book group suggested it, and though I’m just at the beginning, I can tell I’m going to like it. Love your blog posts about reading, Elise. My granddaughter recently told me she is allowed half an hour in bed before lights out for reading. I said to myself, hey, I’m going to make reading a nightly ritual too!

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  28. Katie @ Katie Without Restrictions Avatar

    I love Barbara Kingsolver, although I haven’t read the Lacuna. Have you read her book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle? It’s non-fiction, about a year that her family ate only local food for the whole year. A great read! The Poisonwood Bible is my favorite of hers.
    Have you read any Jodi Picoult? She’s my very favorite fiction author!

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  29. Janet White Avatar

    I have 8-10 books going right now (normal for me), but the two that stay at the top of the list on my Kindle are Happy Wives Club and Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking.
    Love the suggestions here – I’m taking notes especially on the fiction books for when I don’t have a huge project going for fear of them sucking me in for days before I really surface again.

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  30. Sara Avatar

    I’m in the middle of reading Me Before You by Jojo Moyes – funny yet heartbreaking. Also just read The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult. Someday I’d like to tackle Goldfinch, the length is daunting. But I loved The Secret History. It will be interesting to see what you think when you get your hands on it!

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  31. crushed red velvet Avatar
    crushed red velvet

    everyones been going on about The Interestings so I want to check that out, but first I want to find Mean Genes, which is about how much our genes affect us and how we can work with them. I’ve also had Wild on my nightstand for about a month but haven’t gotten past the second page :/

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  32. Joanna Kirtley Avatar
    Joanna Kirtley

    Based on your last book report, I’ve read Wild, Orange is the New Black, and Still Life – all great! I’m reading Quiet right now and then will probably next pick up Closer to the Ground, which is about a father teaching his family his love of nature.
    Other recommendations: Hatching Twitter, if you want to read a fascinating tale about the startup world, and Creative Confidence, which, even as a already ‘creative’ person I found super inspiring.

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  33. emily hassman Avatar
    emily hassman

    Ah, The Time Traveler’s Wife stole my heart! I read it twice in a row, which I have never ever done with another book.
    I will be interested to hear about The Lacuna. I love Barbara Kingsolver but haven’t read that one. I did read her newest, Flight Behavior, and really liked it. It wasn’t quite Prodigal Summer but it was still great. I recently read a book that reminded me of a Kingsolver: State of Wonder by Ann Patchett. I definitely recommend that one.
    Lately, I’m reading a lot of Christopher Moore. His books are quick reads and very goofy, and to me they are laugh-out-loud funny (if you are willing to suspend reality and accept ridiculous plot twists). 2 of my favorites of his are Sacre Bleu and Fool. Highly recommend 🙂

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  34. amy t schubert Avatar

    I really enjoyed La Lacuna, but it felt REALLY different from other Kingsolver books. Can’t put my finger on why. Maybe just the setting.
    Really loved Flight Behavior, though. Check into that one 🙂

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  35. Heather Avatar
    Heather

    Try Bloodroot by Amy Greene…amazingly vivid. Also loved Time is a River by Mary Alice Monroe, The Middle Place and Lift by Kelly Corrigan, 29 Gifts by Cami Walker, A Thousand Splendid Suns and And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hossieni and also The Last American Man and Stern Men by Elizabeth Gilbert (didn’t care for her book about marriage). Love a great book! Enjoy! Heather

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  36. Mackenzie Avatar

    The Lacuna was wonderful – I love Barbara Kingsolver, though I recently finished her book Flight Behavior and didn’t love it like most of her other books. I think maybe I’m not in the right time of my life for that one! Anyway, I recently finished The Paris Architect by Charles Belfoure (fairly good), and now I’m on to The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer. One more that I loved recently: Tell the Wolves I’m Home. Totally check it out.

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  37. elise blaha cripe Avatar

    I enjoyed the movie as if it was book bonus footage. 🙂

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  38. elise blaha cripe Avatar

    I used timercam and set it on the shelf! no one was around and I turned it on silent so I didn’t feel too awkward. 🙂

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  39. elise blaha cripe Avatar

    love love love animal, vegetable, miracle. I read a lot of Picoult a few years back, but nothing recently…

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  40. elise blaha cripe Avatar

    I’m on hold at the library for me before you. 🙂

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  41. elise blaha cripe Avatar
  42. elise blaha cripe Avatar

    interesting! It’s her first book in years… maybe that’s why?

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  43. Katie Avatar
    Katie

    I want to read Goldfinch as well. I am in between books at the moment. I recently read an amazing novel called Night Film. I highly recommend it!
    I’m a book addict and I work in a middle school library so I have a very long list of books both read and to be read. 🙂

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  44. Erica A Avatar

    I just finished Children of My Heart by Gabrielle Roy. I decided to read as much Canadian Literature as I could this year, read too much American and Brittish all my life. Oh, I don’t live in Canada neither I’m a Canadian – it’s just that I’m a little bit crazy. hahaha Maybe next year I’ll read tons of Australian Literature, let’s see.
    My next book is Does Anybody Care About Lou Emma Miller?. I saw it in the library and liked the story. Another goal for this year is reading tons of Michael Crichton, I love him!

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  45. Emily Avatar
    Emily

    I love books! But much like short stories aren’t your thing, books that rotate narrators are not my thing. I always end up liking one more than the other(s), and want to skip forward in the book. Just a random book thought. 🙂
    I am currently reading “I Shouldn’t Be Telling You This” by Kate White. She writes chick lit mysteries and was the Cosmo editor for many years. “I shouldn’t be…” is about her many years in the magazine business and the career advice she learned along the way. I’m reading for both professional and personal reasons (love the magazine industry and in high school dreamed about living in NYC and writing for Glamour) 😉
    I think I am also going to start “Where’d You Go, Bernadette” – because I usually read two books at once. One for the night stand, and one to keep in my car to read for a few minutes in the parking lot of my son’s preschool.

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  46. Michelle Avatar
  47. Jessi Avatar

    I actually read 3 books in January and I’m so proud of myself! This month I’m reading Craft, Inc. and have Hands Free Mama waiting for me after that. I usually stick to practical books, but every now and then I find a fiction I want to read.
    I always enjoy reading your book reports. They encourage me to keep reading, even when I don’t have the time or would rather veg in front of the computer. It’s hard to fit the time in with multiple kiddos and all the other work to be done, ya know? But SO worth it!

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  48. Emily Avatar
    Emily

    I loved The Signature of All Things. It was so different and fascinating.

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  49. Karina Avatar
    Karina

    692nd in line!? Once, I was 32nd in line. I thought it was pure torture waiting that long! haha!

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  50. Vanessa Avatar

    I love when you do these posts, especially because I get recommendations from you and all your fellow readers! And I also love that you use the public library. I too, do the want-and-wait and actually find I’ll forget about books I put on hold so it’s always a happy surprise when it’s time to pick something up. 🙂
    I’m currently reading Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore, which I feel very similarly about as you did with Her Fearful Symmetry. I’ve heard good things about Mr. Penumbra’s and I want to see where it goes, but I haven’t loved it the way others have.

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