What’s on my bookshelf

Ok technically I don’t have a bookshelf, but I have been reading quite a bit lately. When my parents got here they brought the book Chocolat, which was written by the same author as “5 quarters of an Orange”, which I finished on the flight to France. Chocolat was enjoyable and a quicker read. Made me want chocolate all the time though, which wasn’t a highly desirable side effect. After I finished the book I watched the movie and enjoyed it, but thought the book was better.
I have been plugging through Anna Karenina as will in a long-distance book club with one of my friends. Let me tell you, if you have never read it: you better have some time on your hands and an interest in peasant rights in Russia back in the day. Me? I don’t so much care about peasant rights in Russia and kind of intensely skim those parts. The other story lines are decent, but whoa the book takes energy and thinking and sometimes that just isn’t my objective.
So. Concurrently with Anna I read the book Help on my roommate’s Kindle. 2 thoughts here:
1. The book Help was fantastic and I highly recommend it. It has developed and engaging characters and there is some real investment into what the book is about. Ok ok, here’s a quick summary. The book is written in Jackson, Mississippi (yes I just sang the little tune in my head) during the 1960s, so yes, race relations and civil rights are what the book centers on. It is mostly written from the point of view of the maids that work for the rich white people. An interesting perspective.
2. This was the first time I have read book on the Kindle and I thought it was definitely a good way to read a book. I’m sure it won’t take the place of physical books for me because there is something about real paper and turning pages and seeing the cover and such, but I didn’t think it was hard to read, it didn’t hurt my eyes and it was easy to use. For people who don’t want to carry books around everywhere, it seems to be a pretty decent option. I might wait until the prices come down a bit before buying one, because as I said, I don’t want it to replace books, and if I don’t have to carry them then it isn’t a big deal.
Now back to Anna with maybe a little Dan Brown “Lost Symbol” to break up the heavy thinking.