• The Parade - Dave Eggers. No. Just no. First time I've ever sat in one place for almost 30 minutes shell-shocked from a single paragraph at the end of a book.
• milk and honey - Rupi Kaur. Probably the first poetry collection I have read in a while that I...didn't really like? Or connect with? I greatly respect the author for sharing her abuse and raw emotions. I think I just found this book at the wrong time. When I'm older perhaps.
• Kafka on the Shore - Haruki Murakami. I'm about halfway thru this book (jan 31), and it such a surreal atmosphere that settles in your brain. It feels like everything that happens is completely normal, even talking to cats. Kafka is super likeable, and things just...it's like you're floating when you read it. very philosophical as well. "responsibility for your dreams" (Feb 4) I guess you could say that escalated quickly. My brain started to go haywire with theories and I was only slightly disturbed to put it lightly. It makes me want to go back through the whole book. The Oedipus Curse, Johnny Walker, is Nakata Kafka in the future? Did Nakata cross over into limbo when the children collapsed? When the "border is open" you can talk to cats??? WOW. Honestly I really liked this book. It was a mindbender and really up my alley.
• Morning Child - Gardner Dozois. I listened to Levar Burton reading this story. It was the first time in quite a while I froze after reading a certain sentence - completely taken by surprise. Since I have a difficult time with imagery in my mind, the story seemed crooked. Like, everything didn't quite fit together, environment/location-wise. But thinking about it, honestly I think it's what the author intended. The world-building is minimal because it's a short story (duh silly me). And it just made it all the more poignant? Your brain is scrambling to fill in the missing pieces but it can't process everything until you get to the end. And go back and listen. Or remember something from the beginning of the story. A cyclical story. Which the theme of time bending back and forth, it makes more sense. Super cool story, I want to read more of this author's work (he is like a god in the science-fiction world, I think)
• Two Serious Ladies - Jane Bowles. A story that somehow made me want to be friends with these woman but also look at them fromm far away and just wonder ... why? It was probably the most sides to a character (for both the women)I've seen written in such a way. It felt foreign at times, like what is going on in these women's heads? Thinking back on it, there is never much inner dialogue from the two women - it is always brief, and often more-so focused on what they are doing, rather than the thoughts behind it. Christina Goering was especially an ever-confusing mystery. In the beginning of the book, it seemed as if she'd be a very strict person, and somewhat cold in her adulthood. She is not cold, or aloof but rather somewhat blending into the background. She seems to be rather weak-hearted and emotional, she enjoys to be around people which is a bit surprising. I suppose her childhood, not being around many people supposedly never bothered her, but now she claims to love it?

I think the best thing about this book was the off-kilter way of writing. At first I was very much rooting for Mrs. Copperfield and Pacifica...but the end of the book made me realize what a wretched person Frieda was turning into. She was completely reliant on her new friend, and even admits she thinks that she is a lot more "important" than Pacifica is (in spite of Pacifica's importance to her mental-wellbeing). Rather than there being a love between them, it is in some ways a parasitic relationship. Now I feel bad for Pacifica, as she wants to get married but Mrs. Copperfield literally cannot live without her. Phew! The ending really caught me off guard. I wasn't expecting Mrs. Copperfield to be so un-hinged, and Ms. Goering had already thrown me for a loop for agreeing to go with a gangster. It felt hollow. I think that was the point though. By that time in the story, I had been distracted by all the zany antics that I didn't stop to realize what the women were really doing. How empty it all was. Ms. Goerning never said that the games she played as a child were for fun - they were played because they must be played. Her life was lived because it must be lived, and her attitude began to make her act as if a leaf was flying and settling wherever it landed without question. Interesting book, though! The author is fascinating as well (even though it's sad :( )