Chapter One We Didn't Really Get Along

My first year of planting tulips.

So, yeah. I've been reading some books. I told you how I went through all of those "best of" lists to find some of the best written novels from the last 10-15 years. I had good luck with most of the books I found, but I did recently run into a couple of clinkers.

Our garden is keeping the cats up to their tiitts in fresh, organic catnip. Duuuuuuude.

I can't remember what book I talked to you about last, but here are the last few I've read:

Room is the story of a woman who was kidnapped and kept in a shed behind her captor's house. I know a lot of people who didn't like this book, but I did. Sure, the first part was a little long and it's told in the voice of her 5 year old son which took some getting used to, but I liked the book overall and I was very happy with the ending.

Ten Thousand Saints - I was excited to read this from the review, but I never really cared about any of the characters and there wasn't enough of a story to it, to make up for that. Disappointing.

House of leaves - This book was also well reviewed, but I didn't think it measured up. It was supposed to be a scary story, but none of it really frightened me. It was kind of about a haunted house, with rooms that grew and changed and growled and from what I can tell, were supposed to represent the female psyche. I have a feeling, this book would have been a lot scarier had I been a man. Most women I know are pretty used to our own growling and unpredictable spaces.

The Accidental - I'm almost done with this now. It is an English novel and I like it. I don't love it, I don't feel like I want to devour it, like some books I read, but it's interesting and well written. I do agree with the review that had problems with the stranger who imposes herself on the family - she isn't either likable enough or fascinating enough to explain how taken the family was with her. She was more of a catalyst, than a person and she felt a bit contrived.

Here are my lilacs - a month or so early.

Tomorrow I will start reading is called The Sisters Brothers. One reviewer described as the book Cormac McCarthy would write if he had a sense of humor. Man, I hope it lives up to that.