Shelby's Life and Whatnot

Puffy Things in the Air

The weather is beautiful, despite a predicted chance of rain. Unfortunately the pollen is again out in full force. Today Scout and I were bombarded by puffy things in the air. They looked almost like dandelion puffy things but not quite. I believe they're coming from some tree. Anyway, I'm quite sure I'm allergic to them. My poor nose feels as if it's been abused.

Did I mention I read The Da Vinci Code? Meh. I was hoping to find out what the Big Deal is with this book--and I'm still wondering. The story was interesting and gripping, but the writing was only mediocre and used a few hokey plot devices to drag the reader along. Not being a fan of the mystery genre I'm not qualified to say how this holds up with other popular mysteries, but it didn't strike me as anything new. The ideas put forth were also ones I encountered before and I'm sorry but nobody, and I mean nobody, is going to convince me of a compelling connection between Walt Disney and the Knights Templar. Overall it was an entertaining book and one that I'd recommend as lightweight reading, but I just don't get the hype and the people who think this is the best book ever written.

In fact, looking at the Amazon reviews, the review by "ecri89" (currently the first review on the list) pretty much sums up exactly how I felt about the book.

Speaking of amazing books, I'm in the middle of one right now--The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami. I have read one other Murakami book, South of the Border, West of the Sun which I was also impressed with, but this one is better. I haven't read any other books by a Japanese author so I don't know if Murakami's writing is indicative of a national style or unique to him, but it's exquisite. It's not an easy book to swallow--the magical realism is reminiscent of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, but it's definitely worth the effort. So far. I'm only halfway through. I may come back telling you the book fell apart, but I doubt it.