Shopgirl by Steve Martin

Steve Martin, yes, the same Steve Martin from Roxanne, the Jerk, and many other hilarious and touching films. Steve Martin the comedian and actor extraordinaire. Steve Martin the now accomplished and recognized writer, with a brilliant sense of prose as well as a searing insight into the human mind and heart.

Shopgirl is a short story or novelette (I honestly am not sure which one, as it was much, much shorten than the modern novel but a little lengthy for a short story). It has been turned into a movie (with Steve Martin in it, ironically enough), although I have not seen it yet. I have a strict book-first-then-the-movie policy. Okay, it's kind of strict most of the time.

The book was beautiful, and despite the small size of the volume it really packed a punch in terms of emotional impact and memorability. I really felt the characters, for lack of a better expression (hell, I'm still a young writer, cut me some slack). I was surprised by the book in many places, by the twists and turns it took, but it was not a disappointment. In the end I was supremely content with the way the book ended, even though I could not have predicted it. That made it all the more enjoyable and delightful a story. A great read, and a book I'm sure I will reread over the years. Steve Martin has hit it out of the park.

Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx

This is not the kind of book people typically expect me to read, although that may be because the world is under some sort of delusion that since I am a cute and small 20-something that means I must be this innocent virginal character that is perfectly vanilla and suburban. But I digress.

The book is, in case you didn't know, actually a short story, though with enough charge and content to reasonably make a good movie out of (actually, it's easier to fit a whole short story into a movie than a novel nowadays). I did not see the movie, however, though I am an admirer of the director, Ang Lee. I have this weak stomach thing and rarely see R-rated movies, but I'm just a big pacifist, so back to the book.

The book is pretty bare-bones, but beautifully descriptive of the area. It is about two cowboys who end up beginning an affair on "Brokeback Mountain" when they are herding livestock there together. The book manages to explore themes of love and social expectations which have relevance beyond just LGBT fans. It was a very moving piece of fiction, and even if (or perhaps especially if) you don't want to watch the movie, I recommend the book; it will give you a greater understanding of a great piece of literature and culture. I cannot recommend highly enough immersing yourself in understanding the LGBT culture especially if, like me, you identify as straight.

Julie and Julia by Julie Powell

Okay, I will admit that I started this book mostly because my mother-in-law said that the level of language in it was "foul." A) I like books with language, and B) I like doing things my mother-in-law disapproves of. With that confession out of the way, let's move on.

This book was fantastic. Real, honest, funny, down-to-earth, and completely delicious. I devoured this book, almost literally. For the several days it took me to read it, it literally went everywhere with me; I read it on the bus, waiting in line, sitting at the doctor's office (hell, I'll even admit to reading it when my husband was talking to me and thought I was listening to him; yes, I am a little ashamed, but it was a really damn good book). I finally finished the book at about two in the morning. My husband had gone to bed and I was sitting up by candlelight, reading feverishly (I shit you not, I really did that; and no, I don't do that often, I am not a throwback to the dark ages, that's my mother-in-law, remember).

In fact, this book helped remind me of how much I love food, why I love food, and that I can be a modern woman (not a fifties housewife) and still love to cook without having to give up my modern ideas of what it means to be a "woman" (which, I'll be honest, I'm still figuring out what the hell that means; but I know it doesn't mean cooking, cleaning, and baby-making/rearing).

So, if you can handle a little language (well, let's be honest, a lot of language) and you have any love of food at all, to any degree, this is a fabulous, fabulous, fabulous read (and it is about so much more than cooking too). I highly recommend this book.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

First, I am aware that the book was published (at least in my country, the good old U. S. A., as The Sorceror's Stone; I am also aware that the author preferred her original title, and out of respect for her, I am referring to it by her title).

Second, I am aware that everyone under the sun has either read this book, read a review about this book, or talked to someone who has read this book or read a review about this book. There is no one besides hermits and those who live under rocks who has not heard of this book, and its six sequels. So I am trodding all-ready trodden ground, and I know I will not do nearly the justice that this book deserves, or that others before me have done. But I can't really call myself a book reviewing blog without addressing these marvelous books that have turned into an international phenomenon.

I first read the book, or rather my dad read it aloud to us, when I was fifteen. It was a magical, captivating experience of a book (especially since it had taken years for my dad to be willing to expose us to something so controversial, since he was at that time a pastor; but don't get me started on that barrel of monkeys). It was so moving that in the next week I read the second, third, and fourth books. The third book I read, from start to finish, in under three hours straight. I was hooked.

I stopped, for the time being, after the fourth book largely because my dad still wasn't sure he was entirely comfortable with the series (come on, dad, it really isn't a big deal) but also partly because the main character was growing up into a teenager. And if there is one thing I never, ever had much patience for (haha, pun) it's teenage boys. Even when I was a teenager and had crushes on teenage boys, I still couldn't stand most of them (including the ones I had crushes on).

Eventually I did read the fifth and sixth as well, but I still refuse to read the seventh (I literally could not stand Harry any more after the sixth book, plus I knew the seventh would just be sad, sad, sad; I could just feel it). But I'm a bit off topic.

Ahem. The Philosopher's Stone. A gem of a book, one that every child and every adult should read or have read to them at least once in their life. This is a children's classic that people will still be reading in fifty, a hundred, two hundred years (and beyond). This book inspires me; inspires me to read, inspires me to write, inspires me to live my life to the fullest. I literally cannot impress upon you how amazing this book is, and if you are one of those few people who hasn't read it, you really really must. Really.

Unless you are one of those religious nuts who thinks it promotes sorcery or witchcraft (in which case I would have to say you are dead wrong and closing yourself off to a moving and central piece of modern literature and culture; reconsider, because it was actually written by a woman struggling with christian faith, not with wicca or satanism).

To sum up. Read this book. Read this book. Also, read this book.

The Wind in the Willows

I apologize for my absence. My husband has been recovering from an accident involving a broken hip and surgery for the last two and a half months, so I hope you'll excuse my negligence.

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame is a classic piece of literature, generally classed as children's lit or family friendly, but as an adult (without kids and never intending to, thank you very much) I found the story charming, beautifully rendered, and very telling. It had much to say about pride, about happiness, about addiction and learning from your mistakes. But then, nobody reads books for their morals anymore. No, it wasn't the morals that I loved, it was the brilliantly convincing story line as well as the moving, lyrical prose and the explosively lovely setting. It was exactly my kind of book, and it was moving. I devoured the book in just over 24 hrs.

I could keep going, but one of two things would happen. Either I would spoil the plot (in which case, you would want to stop reading) or I would just go on saying the same lovely things about the book (and in that case, you still might as well stop reading). So I will just end this post saying, this book was amazing, one of my new favorite books of all time, and you really, really, really should read this book!

Oh, and this book is free to read on the kindle. So now you have no excuses.