30 Days of Thanksgiving #2

I'm still not used to blogging again! I almost forgot - and I'm totally brain-dead because I stayed up way too late reading last night. So, it seems appropriate that I express my gratitude for good books today. I've always been a reader - I basically slept through fifth grade because I'd stay up all night reading Nancy Drew - well, that and my teacher was an idiot so I felt no need to stay awake or pay attention (yes, I'm aware I was/am a total snob and very obnoxious!). But back to topic...I've read quite a few books this year. Some were good, some were very helpful, one in particular was down right awful. And two were wonderful - new favorites. I highly recommend "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows and "My Life in France" by Julia Child with Alex Prud'Homme. I have read "Guernsey" twice this year - after reading it I lent it to my mom to read and when she was done, I picked it up and read it again. And was totally depressed when I finished it because I had looked forward to reading it so much every day! How many times is too many times to read a book in a year? Both books I found absolutely delightful. (The awful one is "Julie and Julia" by Julie Powell. I do not recommend it. I do, however, highly recommend the movie. That recommendation is based on three things: 1) they were able to make the Julie Powell character much more sympathetic in the movie, 2) a lot of it is based on Julia Child's "My Life in France" which I loved, and 3) Meryl Streep. Really, though, #3 is reason enough - the other two are just frosting.)

I'm currently reading "Les Miserables" by Victor Hugo. It's good. I was nervous - I still feel like I'm getting my brain back from illness. But I had a wonderful friend give me the unabridged edition and express complete faith and confidence in me a while ago and I finally decided it was time to give it a try. I've been very pleasantly surprised. I've found it much easier to get into than I thought. I am loving it. I finished book one last night - 300 pages down - 1100+ to go!