Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling

It is true, I have enjoyed the Potter series in book and movie form. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was the last movie I saw before Owen was born and it may be that Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix will be the last one I see before the next baby is born. I read the last book in one night, it was quick and easy. A relatively painless few hours - yes, there is death and destruction as you would expect. But, I was almost disappointed. I didn't feel like I couldn't put it down, I finished it more because I was still awake and not ready to fall asleep yet. And when the book was done, I didn't feel the need to talk about it with others. There weren't unfinished threads to discuss. So, while I enjoyed it and think it finished off the series nicely, I won't say I loved it. But as a series ending book, it definitely closed things up.

It'll go on the shelf and one day we'll be reading the series with our kids.

Selected Stories - Henry James

After Reading Lolita in Tehran, I did it. I actually picked up Henry James's selected stories. Ok - I only made it through Daisy Miller and then a small portion of Washington Square, but at least I picked up the book. I really don't know what all the fuss was about - maybe I need the literature class discussion about the meanings behind things? Maybe, I missed the subtle nuances? It just seemed like a straight forward story, and of course the girl who broke with convention died. It didn't stick with me the way that short stories by Shirley Jackson or Franz Kafka have stayed with me. It seemed overly simplistic - but I guess you can't have the same character development in a short story that you have in a longer one.

I'm glad I read it, and I'm sure I'll read more. But I won't be reading it cover to cover - I'll just pick and choose.

Last Lessons of Summer - Margaret Maron

I was reading a review for a Marcia Muller book "Vanishing Point" to determine if I had read it before. It was the American Librarian Association review and at the end it said to suggest Maron's books to those who enjoy Muller. So, since I am always looking for someone new to read, I had Higgy look for those on his trip to the used book store. He picked one at random for me.

I finished the book just as the plane was coming to the gate on my return home from SLC. It was a quick read; maybe 2.5 hours? Nothing fancy, but it was interesting to read about the family drama. The lives of the rich and not-famous. An idea of the people behind the multi-millionaire families - and I don't mean Paris Hilton style. Having the heroine realize that what is such a small amount of money to her is such a large amount of money to others. Not that she is a spoiled rich kid - she does stay within her budget, but with a budget like that it's hard to see how you don't.

It's a story of family intrigue. Heroine returns home to clean out her grandmother's house before it's sold and starts to dig into the death of her mother, all while dealing with a spoiled half-sister who unexpectedly shows up and the fear that her husband is cheating on her while she's away. Some parts were predictable while others weren't. It was a fun read.

I doubt I'll keep it, but I will continue to pick up more Moran books at the used book store. They would need to improve greatly before I'd pay full price.

Dead Certain - Mariah Stewart

Higgy went off to the used book store and picked me up some light reading for my one day travel extravaganza. This is the follow up to Dead Wrong which I read in Hawaii. I was flying to and from Salt Lake City on the same day - I needed something light to keep me entertained even while my mind was working off less than 6 hours sleep. Getting up at 4a is hard, especially, when it feels like 1a because you are still jet lagged from your last trip!

This book fit the bill. It's the continuation of the Strangers on a Train / Throw Momma from the Train storyline from Dead Wrong. Now the second killer is out of jail and out to get his assigned victims. This, of course, has all the fun storylines as the first book. One intended victim finds out they are the target and the rest of the book is spent having them evade the killer and then the predictable love interest aspect. But it was fun and quick - and just enough for my poor tired brain to comprehend.

I'll keep it while I get through the rest of the series - 2 more I think.

Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books - Azar Nafisi

This month's book club selection was one I had heard about but never really had on my own personal reading list. It was nothing like I expected. It's part literary criticism, part Iran history book and part memoir. I never thought much about life in Iran or what daily life must be like in a country ruled by Islamic militants. I don't think about what it would be like to live through the transition from a more liberal rule to a more militant one. In some ways, I like to pretend that it doesn't happen - that people aren't so cruel.

I know I live in freedom, but I don't think about all the ways I am free. Free to think, free to act, free to talk to strangers on the street, free to work at home or in the office, free to wear the clothes I want, free to travel, free to learn, free to read, free from fear. This book makes me appreciate what I do have.

On the other hand, it also made me miss one of the things that I don't have - discussions about books that go beyond the superficial, "I liked it." Discussions that are all about one particular passage or ones that compare the heroine in one book to the heroine in another book. Discussions that talk about the parallels between the book and current events, the role of women in society vs. books, the role of men. It made me want to read Nabokov, James, Austen. But it also made me feel like I would be missing something to just read them alone and not discuss them. Maybe I need to find my own literature class - not just a book group.

Since it is borrowed, this book will go back. Otherwise, it would go on the shelf. I could see rereading sections - at least as I tackle those classics.

Dead Wrong - Mariah Stewart

On the recommendation of the guy at my current favorite used book store, I tried a new author - Mariah Stewart. He said they fit with other authors I read and I would definitely have to agree. While it was a fairly typical detective / serial killer story, it went quickly and I wanted to know what would happen next. The characters, while not extremely complex, were believable and apparently will be returning in Dead Certain. I don't know if Dead Wrong is in the middle of the series or beginning.

A fun book - but I'm not sure if it made it back from Hawaii or not. If it did, I would probably keep it to re-read once I have the other ones with the same characters.

Autobiography of a Face - Lucy Grealy

This book is a companion to Truth & Beauty - the book that Lucy Grealy wrote about her experiences with cancer and how it shaped the rest of her life. It was interesting to see Lucy through her own eyes vs. those of Ann Patchett. Reading Ann's book, I often wondered how you could have a friend that was needy all the time. Reading Lucy's book, I could see being friends with her.

The prose of this novel showed the poet in Lucy - the precision of language. But it was also interesting to see the things she left out of her life story and the things Patchett's book added. This book focused more on her childhood and the many surgeries to reconstruct her jaw. In the later years, Lucy doesn't mention how she supports herself or how she survives from one surgery to the next. I think that if you read one of these two books, you should really read the other. It will make you think of her in a different light.

It'll go on the shelf for now. It might go out in the next purge depending on how I feel about it then.