Seven wonderful (and not so wonderful) books

In no particular order, here's what I've been up to since October. (I may have forgotten one in here.) I apologize if these aren't great reviews. It's been a while for some of these books. E-mail me if you want to know more.

EDIT: I did forget one. It's here now.

Bollywood Nights
By Shobhaa De
332 pages

Aasha Rani, a young Indian movie star, is a mess. Introduced into the corrupt world of Bollywood as a young teen, she learns only one way to get ahead. This book seems repetitive and far-stretched, even if a few scenes are nearly outstanding.



Giants in the Earth
By O.E. Rölvaag
531 pages

A family of Norwegian settlers moves West with friends into Dakota Territory to make a life on the land, encountering many of the prairie's perils along the way (bonus points for no memorable snake moments). It takes place in southeastern South Dakota, so the area is familiar to me, making it more interesting. It's a heavy read, but also much like an older Laura Ingalls Wilder novel.

Random note: The second thing you get when searching for this on BarnesandNoble.com is Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs.

We Wish To Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families: Stories from Rwanda
By Philip Gourevitch
353 pages

I've been working on this since my sophomore year of college. It's wonderfully written, but the nature of the book makes it a hard read at times. The story of Hotel Rwanda is included, but the book captures the stories a number of individual Rwandans, while still tracing the genocide as a whole.

Alice in Wonderland
By Lewis Carroll
124 pages

Normally I enjoy children's classics, but I really had to push my way through this one. I tried going into "Through the Looking Glass" as well because I heard people talking about it's deeper implications. In the end, however, I gave up. Alice was more bratty 7-year-old than I can handle.



See Jane Write: A Girl's Guide to Writing Chick Lit
By Sarah Mylnowski and Farrin Jacobs
187 pages

What started as an impulse buy during a regular "What do I want to be when I grow up?" crisis became possibly the best book I've read on fiction. If things had been explained to me like this in high school, literature classes would have been a much happier place for me. While the book fixates on writing chick lit, it has practical writing and life advice throughout. If I ever teach English or journalism, I'll likely use selections from this book because of its down-to-earth approach.

Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia
By Elizabeth Gilbert
331 pages

So fantastic! The first time I went to buy this book, I got skeptical and put it back. Reading it, however, was definitely the better choice. It's clear, easy to read and thought-provoking. Although we can't all pick up and travel for a year, it's nice to think about some of the life-impacting things that such trips bring about without leaving home.

The Golden Compass
By Philip Pullman
399 pages

Another bandwagon/children's classic/on-sale book I hadn't read. I didn't find all the controversy, but it's a quick read (written for tweens to young teens) that it's worth reading. The story and characters are well developed and thick enough to keep you reading. Lyra becomes drawn from her carefree life into a moral and mortal battle amid armored bears, the Magisterium, friends and family.