Out of Dust

              Another trip to the children's books section brought me to this book, the story of a young girl growing up in Oklahoma during two years of the Dust Bowl. An important note is that this book is written in free verse poetry. At first, I was very bothered by this, feeling like I couldn't properly immerse myself in the story because of each sentence being spaced between lines and a new idea for each new poem seemed to make the story jumbled up in my mind.
 Eventually, after learning a little about the characters and their life the poems didn't seem so haphazard. Some of the poems were so heart-wrenching that I was glad they ended quickly and she spoke of another day, reminding me her life continued on. The time period was fascinatingly devastating and it made me wonder why I had read so little about it before.
It was a great reminder of how lucky I am to grow up in this time and place and while I probably won't reread this I got a lot out of it and would recommend it to a friend of the philosophical variety.

1 day to read.

My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante

The Gilmore Guys ( a fantastic podcast) Michelle Obama and Rory Gilmore all decided I should read this book and you can just get ready for the gushing now because I really really loved it. 

It is a coming of age story about a young italian girl named Lenu and her best friend Lila, and yes it unfortunately is the first in a series of 4 books called the Neopolitan novels. (where do you find non-series anymore?) 

 Her line of thinking resonates within me from an adoring child to insecure middle schooler to self searching teenager I felt deeply connected with the main character (Lenu). And as Lenu and Lila grow apart the desperation with which they need each other, love each other, and yet have no idea how to still be part of each other's lives takes over my soul with its truthfulness. Every few pages a thought or feeling would so move within me I could picture the exact moment I felt or reacted that way to my best friend within my life.  And the utter honesty with which it is told simultaneously convicts me because of the connections I see to myself and the approval-seeking, jealous, selfish thoughts of an adolescent while also bringing me joy and nostalgia of childhood, growth and perseverance of true long-term female relationships bound by real caring. 

I want everyone I know to read it so I can have deep discussions with them about it. It leaves you hanging and I must read the rest of this series. I feel like it will explain to me my life now and even tell me my future, not in exact moments or experiences but in thought processes and emotions. I don't know how to explain it, I need a book club specifically for this book and the rest of the series which I will definitely be reading. After I finish the pile I have...

The Immortal Nicholas Flamel series by Michael Scott



You may think wow she read the whole series, 6 entire books! It must be great! Nope, I'm just that committed to reading what's in front of me. It wasn't bad, it was simply ok. The first book was actually very intriguing. I love the idea of everyone having an aura they can shape into magic but using that aura depletes the energy available to them. Perenelle Flamel was an exceptionally interesting character even though she spent most the books separated from the other main characters I always wished for more of her storyline.

However, as it went on the characters and stories just seemed to pile on and pile on rather than fit together.  I went on a road trip with my fiancé but was very close to the end of the 6th book so I had him read the last 20 or so pages out loud to me while I drove.  About every 3rd paragraph he would just give me a look like 'what the heck is happening?' and I just gave him the 'I know, I know, keep reading' look back. First adding mythical gods, then crazy beasts of legend and every famous person from Virgina Dare and Billy the Kid to Shakespeare and Joan of Arc. It felt like a movie with too many cameos.  

They also constantly stop and list the insane events that have been occurring or the amount of famous people they are with. Again it reminds me of when shows or movies point out the crazy to show, 'hey, we are aware of how crazy this is and the fact that we acknowledge it makes it okay'. It just ruins the flow of the story and the amount with which its done causes a lot of repetition. In fact, there is quite a lot of repetition in the books in general.  Again, these weren't bad, just ok, not a reread kind of book.

Etiquette and Espionage

My sister found this book on sale at borders and quickly passed it on to me, saying she loved it, and I have to agree with her. This book is part of a series which is the last thing I need to be starting considering the pile of books waiting on me and my imminent move but fortunately for me it is a very stand alone book, the entirety of the story is wrapped up and while I would love to read more of the series I feel I can wait and go back to it when I have the time.
This is a steampunk novel about a girl being forced to go to a finishing school only to find it is actually a school for spies, which she quite excels at. She makes friends and enemies of teachers and students and meets a werewolf and a vampire (though neither of those takes up a big part in the story which I was thankful for, I mean the school and the main character were interesting enough).
Good, 300 pages or so, fairly quick read. I look forward to more of them.