Review: Idiot Girl and the Flaming Tantrum of Death by Laurie Notaro

I had high hopes for this book when I bought it. I had read a review in the New York Times, thought it sounded at least amusing, and so I decided to get it for my Sony Reader. It was convenient, and I thought it would be a quick funny read. The Times assured me so. There were parts where I found myself laughing out loud as I read, things that made me giggle, but I didn't really enjoy this book. The author comes off as a paranoid hypochondriac, someone I would sit with and talk to a while if I were stuck next to them at a really boring sports game, but I wouldn't want to hang out with on a regular basis. I almost put this book down and didn't finish it, but then decided that I was better than that and needed to finish what I had started. I found a few redeeming qualities, but not enough to make me pick up another Notaro book any time soon.

Review of March by Geraldine Brooks

One of the best written historical novels that I have ever read. Historical fiction has never really been my forte, but a recent interest in the Civil War has caught my attention, and this book was recommended during a short story discussion, so I thought to pick it up on my Reader and take a look. Lately, I haven't been reading very quickly (a vampire romance novel goes fast, but anything else creeps), however this novel went quickly for me. The pace and the story had me up at night wanting to know what happened to Mr. March next. The story takes one of the classic books written by a superb American writer, Louisa May Alcott, and pulls an absent character, the father, out into a fully realized person, who comes with his own guilt, his own background, and his own moral and mental wounds. Definitely a wonderful book and highly recommended! I know why it won the Pulitzer. It is great.