by Haven Kimmel

• The Solace of Leaving Early by Haven Kimmel
• She Got Up Off the Couch: And Other Heroic Acts from Mooreland, Indiana by Haven Kimmel
• Something Rising (Light and Swift): A Novel by Haven Kimmel

These are the books by Haven Kimmel I have read in the last month. She is one of the few authors I read all the way to then end and then read the acknowledgements. Love her! If you haven't read her you should. A Girl Named Zippy and She Got Up Off the Couch are memiors, but she also have 4 novels (I've only read two so far). She has a wonderful sense of humor - wry, dry, with sarcasm (of course).

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.

Honeymoon with My Brother - Franz Wisner

I already wanted to travel before I read this book - but now I REALLY want to travel. I already have times when I want to quit my job and find a way to live without one, but this book made me REALLY want to throw it all away. Of course, I don't have a $77K bonus to fund my travels or a house I can make $250K selling... so I guess I will have to continue dreaming.

This book reminded me of my friend Melodie - she actually did this. Took a year off and visited the world - ok, not sure about South America... Of course, when she came back to work, the work travel was too much - she just wanted to stay home.

The style of writing reminded me of the e-mail messages she would broadcast to friends - that she still broadcasts on her blog. The kind of writing that makes you feel like you need to pack a small bag and go see the world. The kind of writing that makes even the scary times (robbed or held at knife point) seem like humorous stories to tell at a party later.

I'll pass this one on the friends and see if it comes back. If it does, I'll keep it. I don't know if I can have this kind of inspiration in my house all the time.