so, since part of my goal with this blog is to keep track of the books i’ve read (i’m notorious for forgetting the ending of a book….which does come in handy 6 months later when you have nothing new to read!), i may as well start off with this. on a trip to boston last week, i started and finished (in two plane rides) “the kite runner” by khaled hosseini.

to be honest, i hadn’t expected to love it…i bought it because i had heard from so many friends whose opinions i trust that it was a fabulous read, but every time i’d picked it up at the bookstore, i just hadn’t been that excited about it. but about 50 pages into it, everything changed. i haven’t been this impressed by a novel since “the house of the spirits” by isabel allende, which is now one of my ‘all-time favorites.’ the perspective is really amazing…authors from the middle east are rare, and those that are able to convey such an honest portrait of their culture (including the ugly parts) are even more so.

i definitely didn’t get a ‘warm & fuzzy’ feeling from “the kite runner”….in fact, i’m still nauseated when i think about some of the pieces of the story that have stayed with me. but the fact that the story has stayed with me, in such dramatic detail, is telling in and of itself – i can’t imagine someone putting this book down and truly ‘walking away’ from its message. my only regret is that it didn’t leave me with any real feeling of hope or resolution…but maybe that was the point.

PS – when i link to books in this blog, you’ll find i’m linking to indy bookstores. everyone knows how to search for a title on amazon.com….but hopefully some of you will enjoy a chance to check out some of the smaller booksellers that are out there.

now that my affinity for dailycandy.com is waning, i’ve had to find other daily distractions to keep me busy online while i’m supposed to be working. my new favorites:

nedandshell – this site does a great job of finding things i wouldn’t have stumbled across in my own internet travels, and their “weekly dose” has all kinds of great deals.

stylebakery – great gift guides, and again, lots of fun things i wouldn’t find on my own.

thesuperficial.com – whoever is writing this site entertains me to no end. occasionally, i get the itch for some completely superficial celebrity gossip, and this guy has it in spades.

reesycakes – you know, i have to say that i used to rely almost exclusively on www.naughtycodes.com for my online discounts. they’re still good, but reesycakes is great!

enjoy!