Girl Boy Girl: How I Became JT Leroy Susanna Knoop

I had to read this one for class. It was so bad that I don't even want to talk about how bad it was. Thank god I returned it and got my $20 back. I didn't want to hear about a scandal I'd never heard about and didn't care about not to mention celebrity culture of the early 2000s. I didn't personally notice this but a classmate mentioned Knoop's tense changing. Maybe I'm burnt out on memoir's. Maybe I'm just mean. 1.5/5



A Handmaid's Tale Margaret Atwood

This is the second book of Atwood's that I have read. She impresses me quite a bit though she isn't the best ever. With this story I struggled to get involved. Only much farther than halfway does she give the details of the story that are essential to the reader's interest. The story is hard to get into otherwise because the prose is so internal and intimate. Without those details we're detached from Atwood's distopia. Overall, it served its purpose and I'm glad that I read it. I'm sure it will be one of those books that stays with me. Serena Joy's character is too good to forget. 4/5

A Wild Sheep Chase Haruki Murakami

Apparently a prequel to Dance Dance Dance which is one of my favorites of his. Also, now I'll need to read Pinball, 1973 since apparently that is the first in the Trilogy of the Rat. Overall, the book had some great points. It dwelt on seclusion and the fragility of the mind but like all of Murakami's characters, no one loses it internally. They accept the magical, mystical bullshit going on and just choose "not to talk about it." Maybe it's a cultural thing. 3.5/5

Cat's Eye Margaret Atwood

Nickel and Dimed Barbara Ehrenreich

Pawn of Prophesy David Eddings

The Woman in White Wilkie Collins
Tess of the D'Urbervilles Thomas Hardy (second time)
The Sign of Four Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Doll House Henrik Ibsen
The Old Man and the Sea Ernest Hemmingway

Spring Break:
Lost by Gregory Maguire 1/5
Fast Food Nation* by Eric Schlosser 3.5/5
Mister Pip Lloyd Jones 2/5

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens