What I've read

I'm moving this into a post so I can replace the information in the sidebar... Also, I meant to post something yesterday since I won't have another chance to date an entry February 29 for 4 more years...but I didn't get to it.

• 1 Dead in Attic: After Katrina: My Dad bought this from the author while in New Orleans recently. The author is a columnist for a paper down there and the book is a compilation of his articles in the aftermath of Katrina. I think it is hard to imagine the level of destruction that is STILL part of the status quo down there. The author talks about going to play basketball and walking by a dead guy out of the porch of a house for 3 weeks before someone took him away. Now, dear reader, sit and close your eyes and imagine your current neighborhood totally empty, think of the closest stores to you- they are all abandoned, think of the next closest stores/businesses to you - sorry, they are abandoned too, some of your neighbors have been dead and rotting for almost a month in their houses or on the sidewalks...sounds like some armageddon hollywood film right? Nope, New Orleans after Katrina.
• Watership Down: I read this many years ago and asked for it for Christmas. Santa delivered and I enjoyed it again. It is about rabbits...and interestingly, the author would like to make clear that it is NOT an allegory or parable of any kind. Just a good story about rabbits I guess.
• We Are All Welcome Here: The idea for a book about a woman who contracted polio and gave birth in an iron lung apparently came from an actual person...but the plot is entirely made up. I wish I had read something about the woman who actually did this and then lived another 30 something years inside an iron lung instead.
• My Soul to Keep: I didn't notice until after I got home that this had a dove sticker on the binding = the Provo library has tagged it as "Christian literature" = it reads like a proselytizing pamphlet that someone decided to add a plot to after the fact. Enough said.
• The Last Voice They Hear: A murder mystery story...although not very mysterious. Described as a psychological thriller so I kept expecting some big shocking plot twist or revelation, but, alas, there was none.
• Madeleine is Sleeping: This was extremely odd...like a very odd Japanimation type dream. Extremely bizarre. I won't even bother to describe the plot because you will think I'm kidding. On a side note, I do like the name Madeleine.