I really wish I had read this book in school, or at least that I had an annotated edition. I feel like I was definitely missing out on some shit. But I'm glad I read it; Rushdie's prose is wonderful and I'm still thinking about the book after finishing it. Plus any book that earns the author a death sentence deserves to be read by me. I'd definitely like to revisit it again armed with some supplemental material.

This book forever teetered on the brink of being too precious, but to me it ultimately never crossed over. Oskar is a hilarious and tragic character. At first I was annoyed with the grandparents' storyline but it grew on me. I also really liked all the visual elements of the book.

I liked this book way more than I thought I would when it was described to me as a "romance novel about Frank Lloyd Wright's mistress." First of all, I wouldn't really say it's a romance novel so much as a novel that involves a romance. It's really more about Mamah's own self-discovery, and it has a lot of interesting historical territory to cover. I didn't know very much about FLW or about this woman, Mamah, who was a minor player in the early feminist movement. Rad.

I don't know what to say really, I liked this book but it didn't grab me the way The Unbearable Lightness of Being did. It's beautifully written, for sure, and has some moments of great insight, but it's not going on my Top 10 list or anything.

I love Anne Lamott, particularly her nonfiction. I think it is awesome that I can read about & adore her worldview even though I am in definite disagreement with her re: the divinity of Christ. Plus, she is hilarious.

I mean in fairness I grabbed this off the PC library shelf specifically for when I needed a little light reading--I ended up reading this entirely in one feverish, bedridden day, and it kept me moderately entertained and did not overtax my addled brain. I think Nick Hornby is pretty overrated personally, and it made me outraged that the back cover referred to this as "The Breakfast Club written by Beckett." What? No. Maybe the Breakfast Club written by Nick Hornby. Anyway, whatever, it was okay.

This was hard to get into. I know Kafka is complex and perhaps I was not putting enough attention into this, but I didn't like it as much as I like his short stories (which I love). So it goes.

The thing about first-person historical fiction, is that it's hard to give proper historical context without seeming clunky... and this seemed clunky. Still though, the historical context IS interesting, and this was a fun, quick read.

This felt less like a book, and more like having a conversation with Vonnegut. Which I really liked having. I don't think anyone could get away with having Timequake as their first novel, but coming from Vonnegut, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

In two words: endearingly whimsical?