After finishing grad school, I finally rediscovered my love of reading. It's so refreshing to read for pleasure instead of under a deadline. Here's a list of my latest reads.

Currently reading... Got a suggestion?

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon
This was a very interesting look into the mind of a child with autism, with an interesting story to boot. Reading a narrative from the point of view of this kid gave me a lot of insight into how the students I've worked with from time to time experience the world.

A Million Little Pieces, James Frey
I have to say, I wasn't a fan. Maybe it was because I read it after all the hulabaloo about it being made up, but I'm not so sure. I just never cared a bit about the "character", and PLEASE throw a period in ONCE IN AWHILE.

Kitchen Confidential, Anthony Bourdain
This was a fun read, since Trapper and I enjoy watching his show so much. It was also an eye-opening account of the restaurant business and all of the chaos it entails. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't ever want to be a professional chef, but it'd be fun to hang out and hear one's stories!

War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy
Done and DONE! I'm really glad I stuck through and read this. It's so hard to describe or comment on, as it's not so much a plot-based story line, but a portrait of an era through its history and the personal lives of its characters. What stands out most is Tolstoy's amazing ability to describe people and situations in a way that feels so familiar even now, 150 years later.

Freakonomics, Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
Trapper read this book and had lots to say about it, so I picked it up as well. It's not something I would typically read. And while I don't entirely buy looking at the world through numbers and trends only, there are definitely some interesting ideas here. A great thought-provoking read.

Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child, Marc Weissbluth
This is the best sleep book I have read. It's like a textbook that covers all the different sleep "theories" and puts them all in a nutshell for you with some research behind it to boot. If I had to do it all over again, I'd skip all the other books about sleep and just read this one instead.

The No-Cry Sleep Solution, Elizabeth Pantley
On my quest to get Hannah to be a good sleeper, I am reading a lot of baby sleep books. This one seems very moderate on the whole cry-it-out vs. soothe-to-sleep continuum. Basically, you just keep picking up the baby when they cry, soothe them, then put them back down and repeat for as long as it takes. I don't know- that might get old pretty quick. But there are some very good suggestions in here on scheduling and routines that will probably prove useful.

The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini
Wow, is this story amazing! It is a great companion to The Story of My Life because it is a fiction account of a guy from Afghanistan during the similar time period. You hear all this stuff on the news about how horrible the Taliban is/was, but it hits home so much more clearly when you read about it in a book. This book reminded me of Memoirs of a Geisha in the way that it spans a person's life over many years with characters coming in and out, threading an intricate plot line. I definitely suggest this!

The Story of My Life: An Afghan Girl on the Other Side of the Sky, Farah Ahmedi
This was a great quick read. This girl lived in Afghanistan during the tumultuous changes in government from the King, to the Russians, to the Taliban. After stepping on a land mine and losing one leg, she eventually comes to the United States as a refugee. Seeing America through her eyes for the first time is really remarkable. Great tribute to the human spirit.

Morality for Beautiful Girls, Alexander McCall Smith
I really like this Ladies Detective Agency series. Not necessarily because the plot is so exciting, but because of the way the story is told. There is a calm, melodic tone that is just so relaxing to read.

The Girlfriends' Guide to Surviving the First Year of Motherhood, Vicki Iovine
My friend Anne had sent me this author's Girlfriends' Guide to Pregnancy, and I had found it to be great comic relief during the stressful moments of my pregnancy. So I rushed to Borders to pick up this second book the week after Hannah was born when we were stressed out about jaundice, breastfeeding and sleeping. It helps to laugh when you're about to cry!

The Happiest Baby on the Block, Harvey Karp
This, as with many of the baby books I have read, is a very informative magazine article spread out over 288 pages. The basic principles, the "5 S's", actually work really well and Trapper and I both have used the swaddling especially. But the lengthy explanations, testimonials, and hypothesized scientific explanations? Could do without them.

The Time Traveler's Wife, Audrey Niffenegger
This book came highly recommended by friends of mine at work. A man with the gift (or plague) of time travel falls in love with a woman and visits her throughout her life. My reaction was lukewarm. It's an interesting idea, but I kept thinking the woman got a bum deal out of it. Lots of good Chicago references- right down to restaurants and clubs that we go to here!

Rule of Four, Ian Caldwell
This book was recommended to me as an intellectual thriller along the same vein as The Da Vinci Code. I didn't like it as much as the Dan Brown books because the subject matter was so abstract that the author had to walk you through the solution to the mystery, while in Da Vinci, you know enough about Jesus to try to figure it all out on your own.

Life of Pi, Yann Martel
I really liked this book a lot. A young boy, traveling with his family and their zoo animals from India to Canada, is shipwrecked. He is the only survivor except for a bengal tiger who shares his boat. It's surprising how interesting a book with 2 characters in the middle of an ocean can be!

The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency, Alexander McCall Smith
Mma Ramotswe is a detective in Botswana with exciting adventures. This book is calming and enticing at the same time.

Devil in the White City, Erik Larson
There are two story lines interweaving through this book- one dealing with the history of the Chicago World's Fair and the other detailing a serial murderer who committed his crimes during that time. I really liked the historical information about Chicago. Makes me want to go down to Hyde Park and view the parks there with new eyes.

Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, Marcella Hazan
I tried many recipes from this book for our anniversary dinner and they were really great! Especially the Roman-style grilled halibut. And the pesto made with my home grown basil.

Memoirs of a Geisha, Arthur S. Golden
Wow this was great- I plowed through it in 3 days- couldn't get enough! Now I've got my sister reading it as well.

Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, David Sedaris
My favorite guy has a new book - and it's proving to be just as funny as I expected! The best part so far is a description of a game of strip poker that he masterminds to his advantage. Too bad his show here in Chicago is already sold out!