More recent reads

Bailey and Bella (sitting up)

After adopting two Lhasa Apsos in November, I'm finding it difficult to keep up with my writing! These are Bella and Bailey, two 7-year olds whose original owner passed away. Their second family didn't keep them long because Bailey nipped at their grandson. So now they live with us and we're all trying to get acquainted. Incorporating two dogs with four cats has been interesting to say the least!

I've tried to keep up with my reading; it's just the writing that has suffered. Here's a list of my recent reads:

Robert Galbraith. The Silkworm. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2014. 455 pages. ISBN 9780316206891. For my book club: we all loved it.

William Styron. Lie Down in Darkness. New York: The Viking Press, 1951. 400 pages. I picked this up for 50 cents at the State College chapter of the AAUW annual used book sale. It's been on the end of the shelf nearest my bed for a while, so after looking at it every day for nearly a year I broke down and read it.













Suzan-Lori Parks. Getting Mother's Body. New York: Random House, 2003. 257 pages. ISBN 1400060222. Loved it!

Terry McMillan. Mama. New York: Washington Square Press, 1987. 260 pages. ISBN 0671745239. Given how popular Terry McMillan is, I expected to like this a little bit more. This was her first book, so maybe her later efforts are better.

Sherman Alexie. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2007. 232 pages. ISBN 031600202X. I wasn't bowled over by Alexie's novel Indian Killer, so I resisted this book for 8 years, but I loved it. I plan to read more now.














Colm Toibin. Brooklyn. New York: Scribner, 2009. 262 pages. ISBN 9781501106477. While the setting and historical realities described in Brooklyn are fascinating, I felt that this story was a little flat.















Louise Erdrich. Tracks. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1988. 226 pages. I didn't care much for Love Medicine, Erdrich's first novel, so I've put off reading others by her, but I loved this book. I will have to give Love Medicine another shot.













Michel Faber. Under the Skin. San Diego: Harcourt, Inc. 2001. 319 pages. ISBN 0156011603. I loved this creepy sci fi!