A moral imperative

I've decided that it is imperative that I make some kind of blog post. Do you know that blog "Everyday I Write the Book Blog" (um, I should link, but I'm lazy!)? Well, I think I should rename mine "Everyday I Think about Writing the Book Blog".

In order to get the ball rolling, I thought maybe I'd take it easy and just list the pathetically few books that I have read thus far this year.

1. You on a Diet by Dr. Michael F. Roizen and Dr. Mehmet C. Oz. I borrowed this from my dad's wife over Christmas. This book might have been good if it didn't sound so much like what a diet book would sound like if it were written by Dr. Phil. And yes, I know he wrote one, and no, I haven't read it. I can imagine and cringe. 3 stars.

2. The Fireman's Wife by Jack Riggs. I got this through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program. It didn't appeal to me. Although it captured the scenery wonderfully (Carolina low country and the mountains), I could not stand the characters or well anything else about it. I think the writing might have been okay. At least I don't remember it being awful. 2.5 stars.

3. Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert. Wow, I never noticed the word everything in the title before. I think that makes me like the book a little less. Anyway, I finally got around to reading this memoir. Elizabeth Gilbert has a spiritual crisis after going through a divorce and a tough breakup, so she decides to spend a year abroad. Sometimes I like her, and other times I think she is whiny. 3 stars.

4. The Reader by Bernhard Schlink. This was for my book group. I was sorry that I missed this book group because I think that this book could have made for a good discussion. I wasn't sure what the author wanted us to think about Hanna. Obviously her illiteracy can't really be her excuse, and pride seemed too simplistic. 3 stars.

5. The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness by Dave Ramsey. No, I am not going to cut up my credit cards, but I do think Ramsey gives a lot of sensible advice. Don't expect the book to teach you how to budget. It focuses more on learning not to overspend and pay off debt so that you can build wealth later. Fully funded emergency fund here we come! 4 stars because a lot of it didn't apply to us.

6. The Kindness of Strangers by Katrina Kittle. Better than I expected given the subject matter--boy who is sexually abused by his parents and used in child porn is taken in by his classmate's family. For the most part it felt honest and not overly sentimental. I know some had it on their best lists from last year. It won't make mine, but I don't feel the need to toss the book in the trash either. 3.5 stars.

7. Honeymoon in Tehran by Azadeh Moaveni. Another LT Early Review book. A fascinating memoir about an Iranian-American journalist living in Iran during Ahmadinejad's presidency. She meets a nice Iranian man, falls in love, gets pregnant, then has to scramble to get married in a hurry to avoid an encounter with the morality police. In addition to her own story, Moaveni discusses the pieces she is writing for the American media, which give the book a broader view than the standard memoir. I had not read her previous book, Lipstick Jungle, and do not think it negatively impacted my reading. 4 stars.

8. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Schaffer and Annie Barrows. Another book group book. I really liked this. It is quaintly charming. I imagine reading it was a bit like reading Izzy Bickerstaff's columns: a light touch on a serious subject. The letter format was a different way to tackle multiple viewpoints in a book while preserving the central character. 4.5 stars.

9. 84, Charring Cross Road by Helene Hanff. I saw this book frequently mentioned as a close cousin of Guernsey. It is a collection of correspondence between the author, a struggling New York writer, and the employees of a small London bookstore from 1949 to 1969. Rather than trudge through New York only to find inadequate copies of the books she desires, Hanff orders them from a British used book dealer, who doesn't always deliver to her satisfaction. This book is so short that everyone should just read it. You will have a hard time finding someone who uses all caps so effectively. 5 stars.

And that brings me to the present. Now I just have to sweep away the cobwebs and fix my sidebars.