100 Books

Dear Readers,
I started reading a lot shortly after getting married last summer. I like to think it's because I was finally done with grad school, secured a mere 40 hour a week job, faced no daunting job hunt, and thus had a bounty of previously unknown leisure time on my hands. It didn't hurt that the television writers went on strike during the fall, that Jacob and I spent a long November weekend in a Kansas condo with no television, and no overhead lighting (just little reading lamps), and that it gets dark in Seattle at about 2 pm in the winter. Jacob worries the list I keep by my bed titled "Books I've read since getting married" is an indication that I'm an unhappy and bored wife. Not so, I'm happy and boring. And it just so happens that my wedding day is a nicer, more memorable, yet arbitrary (for reading list purposes) date in my life than just about anything.

And so it happened that yesterday, 1 year, 2 months, 28 days after getting married, I read my 100th book. That's 1 book every 4.56 days. It all started with the not-so-great Wedding in December by Anita Shreve. (Oddly enough, both my friend Johanna and I chose to take this book along on our honeymoons.) And The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett marked my 100th just yesterday afternoon. (This book is small and British, not unlike Johanna.)

Thanks to the handy export feature on Goodreads, I was able to draw up some bookish stats. 100 is an easy number to do stats with, by the way.

For your statistical pleasure:
Average number of books per month: 6.66 (devilish, no?)
Most bookish month: January 2008, with 13 titles
Least bookish month: July and September 2007, with only 2 books each
Modal number of books a month: 8 (March, July, August, and September 2008)
Average number of pages per book: 314.65
My average rating (on a scale of 1-5 stars): 3.51
Number of authors read: 78
Most read author: Ann Patchett (7 books)
Second most read author: Ian McEwan (4 books)

My darling husband promises to throw me a 100 book pizza bash, a la the 4th grade reading celebrations we used to enjoy at Pizza Hut. You in?

Celebrity Politics

Earlier this summer, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee criticized democratic hopeful Barack Obama as being too much of a celebrity candidate. So isn't it just a wee bit hypocritical for the Republicans to be running a celebrity-celebrity ticket? Seriously, I admire their work. They're funny, talented individuals. But Charlie Chaplin and Tina Fey are simply unqualified to lead this great nation of ours. Stick to show business, folks!

That's why I'm voting Obama-Biden in November. And you should, too.

Books of the Month: August 2008

Dear Readers,
Inspired by Stoppard's 15 Minute Hamlet and Book-A-Minute, I offer you August's book reviews in 10 words or less. Notice any themes? (*= checked out from the library.)

Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld
Prep school really sucks. Rich kids are snobs.

The Septembers of Shiraz by Dalia Sofer
Iran in the early 1980s really sucks. Escaping is good.

Breath, Eyes, Memory* by Edwidge Danticat
Being a Haitian immigrant really sucks. Mothers and daughters disagree.

The Double Bind* by Chris Bohjalian
Being crazy and homeless sucks. The Great Gatsby is good!

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
Evangelical Christians suck. Africa is exploited and misunderstood.

What Is the What by Dave Eggers
Civil War in Sudan sucks. Being a refugee really sucks.

Last Night at the Lobster* by Stewart O’Nan
The Red Lobster kinda sucks, but not really. Life? Hard.

How Evan Broke His Head and Other Secrets by Garth Stein
Having epilepsy sucks. Meeting your teen son doesn't always suck.

News Flash: Evelyn Waugh Was a Dude

We recently saw Brideshead Revisited, which should have been called Brideshead Revisited Revisited. Why? Apparently the 1981 Jeremy Irons version was much better. This film was your pretty standard gorgeous English period piece, in which a large ole castle, Brideshead, features prominently as a main character. And it was a tad wee bit too long. We didn't choose this movie, but tagged along with a friend. So I admittedly didn't know much going in. My post-movie research was most fascinating. Apparently, the original 1945 novel was written by a dude! British Catholics are so funny.