Conquering Your Quarterlife Crisis by Alexandra Robbins (#19, Nonfiction)

Remember the beginning of the year when I said I was going to read self help books? Well, I have not totally ditched that idea. I bought this book back in January with a gift card and hadn't felt the need to read it until just now. It strikes me as funny that the book sat on my nightstand table for six months before I decided to read it. Why now? Why not three months ago when I was under couch arrest? Maybe some books are like people--they come into your life for a reason and it is all about timing. 

If I had picked this book up any sooner it wouldn't have helped me. The wisdom would have fallen on ears that were not ready to hear what the mentors in each chapter impart. One night before going to sleep I looked over at it sitting there under four other books and I grabbed it and started reading it. It pulled me in and it gave me hope for the future. 

Is the quarterlife crisis real? Is it something we all have to go through to make it to the other side of happiness? It is interesting that instead of having a midlife crisis, our generation has a quarterlife crisis. We search for who we are much sooner than our parents and grandparents and it isn't easy. It is a struggle but one that we have to embrace because when we find out who we are, we will be that much closer to finding happiness. Here are some of the gem pieces of advice I jotted down on my little post-it as I read: 

• Stop and listen to your life. Be still and wait. In the meantime, be the best person you can be. (6)
  
• You can rely on your instincts. (73)
• You should look for happiness in life itself, not just another person. (75)
• You need to do things on your own in order to grow. (135)
• You aren't powerless to change your situation. (136)
• If you're not moving you learn nothing. (139)
• Figure out what characterizes the adult you want to be. Then you shed the things you've outgrown but allow yourself to cling to the parts of your past you'd like to take with you. (178)
• I'm not in control of what happens, but I am in control of my reaction to them. (178)

Good stuff. I wish I had read this book a year ago. 

Septembers of Shiraz by Dalia Sofer (#23, book club)

Another pick from the book club. I had mediocre hopes for this one, and was neither let down nor inspired by Septembers of Shiraz.

On the one hand I would compare it to The Kite Runner, and according to some other book club ladies it is even more reminiscent of A Thousand Splendid Suns. The book is fiction, but is based off of real life events--and real things that happened to Dalia Sofer in Iran. Once again I had no idea about the complete injustice that took place in the early 80s in Iran--during my lifetime.

The historical portion of the book I found enjoyable, as I always do, but on the not so positive side I found her writing and story very elementary. We were all amazed at all the praise you find about this "amazing debut novel" by a "breakout author" etc. etc. For whatever reason it seemed like the book just barely skimmed the surface of what could have been an incredible story, and I never had enough time to really get attached or care about the characters.

On to more books . . . who knows what the next book club pick will be, but in the meantime I am tying myself down with Les Miserables--unabridged!!

What is the What by Dave Eggers (#18, Nonfiction/Fiction Blend)

I am notorious for checking out several books at once and then not having enough time to finish them all before they are due back. I don't know what possessed me to check this book out last September but I saw it in the new books section and I grabbed it. Sadly, I decided to read Tucker Max and Eragon over this delightfully moving story about an unlucky Sudanese refugee.

I don't think I had even started the book before I relinquished it back to the library the last time but one of the delivery drivers at work started reading it shortly thereafter and he kept telling me to read it. So I finally saw it again on the shelf, checked it out, and after bounding through The Amber Spyglass, I found myself tiptoeing through this novel that is both nonfiction and fiction, as it is the story of Valentino Achak Deng as told to Dave Eggers. 

This is quite an amazing read. I came into it knowing there would be horrible atrocities and perhaps this is why the small scales events haunted me more than the large scale events. I kept wanting Valentino's life to level out. I kept wanting the bad luck to end and to have him find a happiness here in the states. But perhaps that is an unrealistic view of the way the world works. The second half of this book is heartbreaking, even more so than the first half where most of the raw carnage takes place. Their life at Kakuma (a Kenyan refuge camp) is hard and horrible and sometimes without hope. It is hard to read about this, but I feel that everyone should probably read a book like this. I enjoyed learning about Sudan and I definitely have a new perspective on the things in my life after having read Valentino's story. 

The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman (#22, Fun)

Not much to say here. I am enjoying the series.

After I finished The Golden Compass I watched the movie, and I actually really like the girl they cast as Lyra so now I don't find her nearly as annoying in the books.

I like Will, I'm so sad about Lee Scoresby, and I can't believe poor Will and his father met and then, well, you know, that silly witch and her grudge.

I haven't started the third one yet, I will be on a bit of a hiatus (think quality book and book for book club on the que), but Karl claims he did NOT like the way it ended. Hm. Interesting.

The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman (#21, Fun)

I am shocked that "His Dark Materials" has been sitting around for over ten years, just waiting for me to read them. ESPECIALLY after finishing the last Harry Potter book and thinking I was going to have to either: a) wait until J.K. Rowling started another series, or b) delve back into the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. And there it was, just waiting, patiently.

I am a sucker for talking animals--hello, Babe is the best movie EVER and I pretty much go crazy over Puss in Boots, and add the mouse from Prince Caspian to that list. I KNOW, kind of weird, but I think it gives me character . . . And now daemons--what could be better than having a talking animal attached to you forever? I bet Georgia is my daemon.

All this said, of course I have some complaints. I dislike the way Lyra talks about 25% of the time--I much prefer her thoughts. Does she really need to throw in the awful language? Didn't she grow up at a college surrounded by scholars? Did they forget to teach her some basic grammar skills? I get that she is trying to be rebellious and fit in with the gyptians, but I just don't find it necessary--especially because it comes and goes. If I'm going to read a book with a whole different set of vernacular, fine, but it needs to be CONSISTENT. Often times I would be reading along and then cringe, out of nowhere, at some line thrown in that was so unexpected.

Pullman leaves you with quite the cliffhanger at the end; you can rest assured I have already started the second book.