Catching Up

Yesterday I had grand plans to do a Sunday Salon post about all my lovely new books, but it turned out to be a blah kind of day and I just couldn't get myself motivated. So here I am today playing catch up.

Before we get to the books though, I want to mention that I have a guest appearance over at Books on the Brain as part of Lisa's ongoing series, "In Praise of Book Clubs." It's a short little piece about how much I love my book clubs because they get me to read and keep me in touch with my friends. Stop on by and leave a comment there if you'd like.

Now, on with the new books!

First off is Matrimony by Joshua Henkin, which I'm reading as part of an online book club over at Everyday I Write the Book. At first I wasn't planning on participating this month, but then Josh (can I call him Josh?) graciously sent me a signed copy of the book so I can participate and review it here on my blog. In addition, he's agreed to do an interview here! So keep your eyes peeled for that.

The book itself is a novel about Julian Wainwright, a high society son, who goes to a smaller college (not Yale like his dad) and studies creative writing. While in college he meets his best friend, Carter, a fellow writer. He also meets his future wife, Mia. The book goes through the next 15 years following Julian through his relationships with these two people, all the while working on that unfinishable novel. As I haven't finished the book yet, I can't give much more detail about the plot, but I think this is a pretty good start.

Next up: The Memory Keeper's Daughter. I've been putting off reading this book for a long, long time. I've read the back and know that the plot will make me incredibly uncomfortable (anything about family relationships going awry makes me anxious), so despite all the praise this book has received, I've avoided it at all costs. Until of course it was offered as a giveaway by Kim over at Bold.Blue.Adventure. So now I'm going to read it, but probably a couple of weeks after I get over Matrimony.

And lastly, my copy of In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan finally arrived at the library. I've been on the waiting list since February! I'm leaving it at the library though until I'm certain I can read it. The worst thing would be to have to go on the waiting list again because I couldn't get to it in my allotted three-week checkout period.