by 
But I wanted to. I took this at Union Square yesterday, where I did nothing while Howard tried to write (except I kept interrupting him with stuff like, “look at that dog!”).
Thanks to the internet, members of the families at the center of some unexplained events that I included in my book got a hold of me. I may soon have an inside view! I’m very excited. Thank you, Andrea Herrmann and Raoul Larrinaga.
In other news:
– My choir will be performing Mozart’s C Minor Mass next.
– Jen on Big Brother should be in therapy and not on TV.
– I was so sorry to see Shauna go on So You Think You Can Dance.
– I’m discouraged about how long my arm is taking to heal.
– I’m going to try to cook for a second time tonight. Wish me luck.
– Echo is going to move to a new host on July 31st! I’m stressed, but thrilled.
– I could use some book suggestions, guilty pleasure book suggestions. What books have you read that you couldn’t put down? The kind where you go, “I’m just going to finish this chapter, then I’ll go to sleep.”
Life of Pi, Yann Martel
Figersmith, Sarah Waters
David Copperfield — it really is a guilty pleasure.
Anything by Edith Wharton is hard to put down (Age of Innocence, The Fruit of the Tree, the Reef, The House of Mirth, Summer, etc.)
Crime and Punishment is a real page tuner – not a guilty pleasure per se, but it has guilt covered.
Winner of the National Book Award by Jincy Willet is fun.
Gone with the Wind
A Gesture Life, Chang-rae Lee
Anything by Margaret Atwood
The Golden Compass, Philip Pullman
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
I think I know that dog. If it’s the one I’m thinking of, his name is Phil.
I second Life of Pi, also The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. I used to love Tom Robbins, but that was in my 20’s. I wonder if I would love him now… Right now I am reading Suite Franaise by Irene Nemirovsky, and highly recommend it 🙂
ok, a second vote for The Time Traveler’s Wife; I’m pretty sure you’d really like it! Also A Confederacy of Dunces, one of my all time favorites which received a Pulitzer Prize after it was published posthumously after the author commited suicide. His mother found it in his things and sent it to someone to evaluate it’s worth. Also Marley and Me.
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
Fall on Your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald
Not really guilty pleasures but both were books that I devoured and had trouble finding something to read afterwards because I felt somehow that I could never find another book as good ever again. Ever feel like that? I am proud to say, though, that I read these books YEARS before Oprah slapped her stickers on them!
Too Close To The Falls by Catherine Gildiner–
the funniest & most touching autobiography I’ve ever read
The Next Thing On My List by Jill Smolinski–
perfect summer reading: lite, yet compelling. Optioned for a movie & I can’t wait!
If the dog came from a pet store or a web site (or through most of the classifieds) this is the kind of place it came from
http://www.prisonersofgreed.org and http://www.stoppuppymills.org
Most people have no idea these kinds of places even exist. But they supply ALL the pet shops (no matter how “exclusive”) and sell directly through websites where they ship the puppy to you (they don’t want you to see the horrific kennels.)
An ugly, secretive business
Guilty pleasure oldie but goodie suggestion is The Two Mrs. Grenvilles. Another book, though not in that same category, but one that totally grabbed me and also stayed with me long after I finished it is Seabiscuit. If you have not read that book, you really should. It was suggested to me one summer a few years ago. I somewhat reluctantly started reading it and oh, what a mistake it would have been had I not.
Ha! Jackie, you know all the Union Square dogs!
Thank you, thank you, thank you everyone for the book recommendations!! I am noting them all.
Jess, I’m on your side but no way and I going to go those urls. I won’t recover from them if they are bad. I donate to rescue organizations, though.
Maybe it’s too late to suggest more books but I just got back from Africa and while there read “A thousand splendid suns” by the same author, Khaled Hosseini, who wrote The Kite Runner. A ‘can’t put down’ kind of book.
Not too late — thank you!!