reading list

So here's a funny thing about having a baby: nursing requires a lot of entertainment.  Sure, in the first few weeks it's a two handed (sometimes three handed, with my husband giving me drinks of water from a straw) job to get baby and milk to meet, but by now Claire pretty much does the work herself, and I just have to stay still.  Books & Netflix have become my best friends.  More often books, because watching Netflix means noise which means waking up Darrell, and my rested husband is 10x more likely to be helpful to me than when he's exhausted.  Here are a few favorites that have made getting up in the middle of the night more tolerable, because at least I have a good story (okay, and a super cute and hungry baby) to hang out with.  

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore, 5/10 - 

This book was a quick read, and I think the best way to describe it would be "entertaining."  Narrated by it's newest employee, an ex-computer programmer, it's about a bookshop that doesn't seem to make any money, yet stays open 24 hours a day to be available for its secretive patrons.  He soon discovers that the bookstore operates as an outpost for a society that believes they are decoding volumes (stored in the back for "members") that hold the secret to eternal life.  However, the society's beliefs are called into question when our narrator uses his tech-savvy to quickly break apart the code others have tried to solve for decades.  I enjoyed it, but I was glad it was short - the plot didn't merit more pages.  

The Goldfinch, 10/10 - 

I know, EVERYONE is reading this book.  There's a good reason for that, it's stellar.  This is easily one of the best books I've read in years.  I was hesitant to get started on it, it's nearly 1000 pages and my schedule lately is more suited to something that is captivating and not terribly drawn out.  This was both, despite it's length.  The book follows the life of our narrator, a young boy who is in a museum with his mother when it's attacked by terrorists.  He miraculously survives with minimal injury, his mother does not.  At the encouragement of a man with severe head injuries near him during the blast, he steals a priceless painting from the museum - "The Goldfinch."  The book goes on to track the confused & orphaned boy after the attack, and also follows how his possession of the painting affects his path.  Unsurprisingly, it certainly doesn't make his life any easier.