february book update

Time for my February book update! I had a nice mix of classics, young adult and comedic books to round out the month.

Bossypants by Tina Fey

I started Bossypants towards the end of January and finished it pretty quickly. It was pretty funny. I mean it is Tina Fey. Of course it was going to be funny. But as someone who doesn’t really watch 30 Rock or followed her SNL career too closely, I wasn’t too familiar with her as much as others. I of course have seen a few SNL skits, including her impersonations of Sarah Palin. You would have to live in a bubble if you've never seen them.

Tina puts a comedic spin on various points of her life and how she got to this point in her life. I did think she was funny before reading the book, but now I definitely need to catch up on 30 Rock. I guess it’s time to get my hands on the last few seasons.

Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut

I borrowed Slaughterhouse Five from a co-worker. This has been a book that I kept seeing at the bookstore and on various lists of books to read. I saw my co-worker Dan reading it, so I figured it was time to do it.

It was a pretty good book. Like with any book that has time travel or flips back and forth between different decades, it takes a while to adjust to that style. Billy Pilgrim is a POW of WWII and experiences time travel, or so he thinks, all the way from his childhood to the point when he is murdered. The murder isn’t really that exciting. Just some dude who vows revenge for his war buddy that falsely states that Billy had something to do with his death.

Not only does Billy time travel through his life, but he is also captured by aliens. Yup. Aliens. The story mainly centers on the bombing of Dresden during the war. Apparently this was supposed to be funny. I didn’t find it too humorous. I seriously considered Billy was experiencing post-traumatic syndrome. Or at least somehow it was a dream.

Fall Girl by Marybeth Smith

My theme has been reading a classic, and then reading some random easy book that I downloaded for free on my kindle. And this was one of them. This definitely wasn't a classic, and didn’t require much thinking. A bunch of teenage drama that was slightly entertaining. An interesting element was one of the characters had bipolar disorder. At the end of the book, I found that that author actually has bipolar. It was free and super quick to read so I didn’t mind it too well.

The Queen of Kentucky by Alecia Whitaker

This was suggested for my book club since one of the members knows the author. Again, this was another Young Adult book with some teenage drama. However, less drama that the previous book. It takes place in small town Kentucky, where a teenage girl is trying to fit in her high school. The small-town girl in me could relate to some of the aspects of the story.

We actually had a Q&A over Skpe with the author a couple of weeks ago. Which was pretty cool. It was nice to hear a bit more how the book was related to her own life. And I’m now headed to Kentucky in April. Bring on Derby Days!

Anthem by Ayn Rand

Ok. Enough with the teen drama. Time for another classic. Another dystopian book. I didn’t realize there were so many of them. All futures are apparently very bleak.

I enjoyed reading this book and it was also very quick read.  Literally, it was one page=1%. The shortest book so far on my kindle.

Like other Ayn Rand books, I liked it. I do feel it is time to re-read The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. I will plan to do that soon, since it’s been more than 6 years.

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? By Mindy Kaling

Another funny book! So I don’t watch The Office. I know lots of people who do. And apparently it’s funny. I believe them. However, I had never heard of Mindy Kalning before my friend recommended it for book club.

It was funny. Definitely some very humorous parts. My friend thought it was way funnier. She was laughing out loud when I was reading Slaughterhouse Five. Very rude I thought. I was reading something depressing and she was laughing out loud. Anyway I do recommend this book for a good laugh.

I’m currently in the middle of Faithful Place by Tana French. Another Dublin crime drama. The 3rd in the author's series and it’s a page turner. I’ll let you know how it goes next month!

9/30 books in 2012.