I tell you – work is kicking my butt lately.  It’s been very stressful and I can barely wait until vacation next week.

I have been working my way through my 30 book challenge this year.  I love my Kindle!  The only thing I don’t like about checking books out of the library on the Kindle is that you can only borrow them for 14 days with no renewal, so if you don’t finish, you have to get back on the list to borrow again.  I ended up having to get this book out in a few installments because of that.

The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles DuHigg.

Nonfiction on this one.  I have to say this is one of the more interesting nonfiction books I have read in a while.  It explores how habits are created in our mind and how it affects everything from how companies market to us (Febreeze) to creating social change (Rosa Parks).  Really fascinating.   The book actually seems a lot longer than it is because there is a very large section of citations at the end.  He actually also gives a plan of action on recognizing pattern habits and how to change the cycle.  Definitely recommend this book.

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The Painting by Nina Schuyler

If you like books that use the words themselves for imagery, you will love this book.  Color and art are very central for this book.  It follows the story of 2 sets of people in the time period of WWI.  There are 4 people in Japan, 2 of whom are in an arranged marriage (Ayoshi and Hayshi).  Ayoshi pines for her lover and paints pictures of them together.  To hide the paintings, she wraps her husband’s pottery in them before they are shipped off to France.

In France, Hayashi’s painting is discovered by Jorgen, who lost a leg in the war, and the painting brought back his deadened emotions.  The story in France revolves around Jorgen and Natalia and how the war affected them.

The 2 stories are only connected by that painting. They never really come together, but an interesting device because neither story was long enough to warrant a whole book.  I really enjoyed this one.

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The last one I finished (last night, in fact) is:

The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat by Edward Kelsey Moore

This was a very, very good book. It follows the lives of 3 African American women (Odette, Clarice and Barbara Jean) – dubbed The Supremes – who grew up in Indiana in the 1960s and how all the events in their lives shaped where they ended up.  None of them left their home town for various reasons. Every week, they meet at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat, which is kind of the central hub for the book. It’s really a study in friendship – the good and bad parts, racism and social status.  It tackles a bit of everything: infidelity, religion, alcoholism, cancer, ghosts, mother/daughter relationships, etc.

At times the writing did dip into a bit of stereotyping and I found it a little strange that with the three women, Odette used first person narration and the others used third person. I am not sure why.  I also didn’t care for the talking to ghosts that Odette did.  It seemed a bit silly, but I think maybe it helped bring in some back story that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise.  I did tear up a bit near the end of this book.

I can see this book becoming a movie really easily.  You read that here first!

I recommend reading all of these.

Now time to walk up the street for a kiddy cone and keep counting down to vacation 😀