Books

It is so hard to get any reading done these days. I find it very frustrating. I am accruing books at my usual rate, but they are not being processed. Ahh, well, it's just one of the many ways that being a mom is making me dumber.

Anyway, here are a couple that I have managed to finish lately.

Look Me In the Eye by John Elder Robison
This is a memoir by the brother of Augusten Burroughs, who wrote the hilarious Running With Scissors. It talks about growing up with Asperger's Syndrome but not being diagnosed until middle age. The book was a little boring and meandered without going anywhere very interesting. It could have done with a good editor. However, the symptoms he describes are just familiar enough to be a little bit disquieting.

Wickett's Remedy by Myra Goldberg
Most of this story takes place in Boston during the Spanish Influenza epidemic of 1918. The plot is, well, non-existent. It starts with a poor shop girl named Lydia and then splits into her story and the story of QD soda. Kind of. Nothing is ever resolved, threads are left hanging, and there is a sense of randomness about the whole thing. The only interesting thing is the comments that show up in the margins. They are the whisperings of the dead. They correct and add information to Lydia's story. I love the idea. I also became quite invested in Lydia's story, and was disappointed that it went nowhere.

Next up is Petropolis by Anya Ulinich. I'm reading this one for the Bryant Park Project book club. I haven't heard any reviews on it, so I have no idea what I'm in for.