What I Read, What I'm Reading, What I'm Super Excited to Read Next

I have nothing unique to say about the weather, but I'd love to chat with you about some books!

What I Read:
I'm sorry to say that I've only finished one more book since my last set of reviews.  I'll tell you why momentarily.  However, I finished The Ice Storm by Rick Moody on the 17th.  It's 1970's uppercrust Connecticut with a huge ice storm on the way.  The adults are being naughty and attending a key party and have no clue and no care where their teenagers are (getting stoned and/or getting themselves killed).  All of the characters were odd and I felt just generally uncomfortable for most of the book.  I'd recommend skipping, despite that fact that it was a bestselling novel in 1994.

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What I'm Reading Now:
My mom and I decided to read a classic novel together.  My sister gave me a few books for Christmas that were to be discussed in her Victorian Literature class, which was not tops on my Christmas list but God love her, any book gift is a good gift!  Anyway, we decided to go with Middlemarch by George Eliot (published in 1871, 904 pages, yuck), as I already had it in my house.
When I tell you that I'm SLOGGING through this book, I mean it!  I feel that there is no end in sight.  I'll look forward to providing a review when I finish up, but currently I can tell you that maybe about half of it is probably lost on me because I am so used to straightforward storytelling and the other half has not contained much outside of lots of talking.  No murder, no kissing...... but I'm trying to stay positive.  Jeff keeps exclaiming, "You're STILL reading that?"  I've been with it for 10 days.  

On the other hand, I'm super loving Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris, which is a book about a WORKPLACE!!  I love books about workplace dynamics, and this one is straight up hilarious.  It's also pretty long at 400 pages, which is still less than half of Middlemarch.  I'm looking forward to finishing it up and reviewing it for you, as I know several of you (so, about half of you) would really enjoy it.

What I Can't Wait to Read Next:
I'm pumped that my book club chose Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris.  As you know, I loved my first taste of Sedaris, which was his most recent darkly comedic memoir, Calypso.  

Daughter of Moloka'i: A Novel by Alan Brennert!!!  Goodreads sent out a newsletter today on what exciting books are coming up in February and I nearly choked on my Lucky Charms when I saw that Moloka'i will have a sequel.  Book Club read it some years ago and it was universally adored.  Looks like we'll have to wait until February 19th, though.  Which is fine, because I probably won't be finished with Middlemarch until then!


So tell me - what are your reading plans for February?  
I'm resisting the urge to tell you to stay safe and warm.  I like to think that you know to try to stay safe and warm today.  I trust you to not go streaking through your neighborhood and hurl yourself in a pile of snow.  That would be dumb, and even I'm not that dumb (despite not being very good at understanding Victorian Literature).

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