Here are some thoughts on a book I read a while back and posted on my other blog...

I've been having thoughts lately of writing - maybe this will be the starting point. My thoughts on writing have stemmed from all of the reading I've been doing lately. Not necessarily reading more than usual, which is probably on average 4 to 5 books a week, but it's gotten me thinking about what it takes to write a book. Could I do something like that? I've read a couple of memoirs in recent weeks (not my usual) - one by Nicholas Sparks, which I found to be a very enjoyable book. And the other by??? Ah, Augusten Burroughs, Running with Scissors. I've tried to erase it quickly from my mind as I found it to be completely vile. Ironically it's about to become a major motion picture starring Annette Bening and others. And it was also #1 on the New York Times Bestseller List. How can that be? Am I the only one who didn't get it? I found myself turning the pages and actually saying out loud "Why am I reading this book". I felt obligated to finish it as I had started it. Which is just crazy, no one was holding a gun to my head or forcing me to read it. And even more crazy was each time I'd finish a chapter I would go to the back of the book and re-read the reviews, I guess to try and encourage myself to keep reading. The one review I read over and over described the book/author as "Wickedly, ridiculously funny". I could not for the life of me get that. It was truly disgusting. Maybe I should stick to my mystery, thriller, and happy books and steer clear of the memoirs....

I just finished reading this book by Lisa See and it really left me with a feeling of appreciation. It was a book about friendship but also about a very different culture. I learned so much from this book that I had no idea ever existed. There were many parts of it that were incredibly cruel, yet is was continually passed down to each generation. I had a hard time in the beginning because there was so much I didn't understand. And then when I got about a 1/3 of the way into it I couldn't put it down. I'd recommend you read it. I'll give it a 4.5 on a scale of 1 - 5, 5 being best!