There is more pleasure to building castles in the air than on the ground.-Edward Gibbon

Tuesday, on the subway, I finished up Owen Chase’s The Wreck of the Whaleship Essex. It’s an absolutely crazy account, although I guess not that crazy since it did actually happen. Basically, the case of the Essex is the first recorded incident of a whale purposely ramming a whaleship (twice actually). After the second ramming the whaleship foundered, and the crew was left to survive in three whaleboats. Over the course of months spent at sea, the three boats end up separating from each other, rations run out, members of the crew start to die, and the remaining members resort to cannibalism to survive.

Chase’s account is very to the point and factual, without any frills or over embellishing, but that’s part of what makes it so great. Even though the reader knows that it must have been an absolutely harrowing experience, we are spared the crews inner thoughts and spoken words, and thus the work doesn’t begin to take on the veneer of fiction. I believe that it would be very difficult for a reader (at least me anyway) to stay attached to this story if there was too much detail; it would be just too graphic and desperate. However, if you like that sort of thing, there is also Nathanial Philbrick’s In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex. I’m not sure I can read that one though.

I began reading Mansfield Park by Jane Austen again (third time, I think), but yesterday I was at the thrift store and spotted Sophie Kinsella’s latest Remember Me?. I read the entire thing last night (it’s near 400 pages), and I liked it. Kinsella’s books are great when you just need a breezy, upbeat, good-ending type of read. I’ve read everything by her now, except the stuff she has under another name. I really liked this one because it had a different kind of struggle for the heroine than any of the others. This one is really about being your “authentic self” (as Oprah would say), and what happens when you change who you really are for other people, money, ambition, etc. I liked it, although I would have liked a slightly different ending, but that’s just me. I really needed this type of book right now, it’s been a rough few days since my Grandmother had a heart attack on Tuesday and has been in the hospital since. I hope she’ll be okay.

Now we’re back to Mansfield Park again…again.

It's not me - it's you.-Matt Dunn

I spent most of Sunday reading (and finishing) The Ex-Boyfriend's Handbook by Matt Dunn, it was absolutely hilarious! I randomly came across it at the thrift store last week, and was caught by this line on the back: "You’ve let yourself go,” she says, “so I’m letting you go too.” Bah, friggin hilarious! It's basically about a guy, Edward, who comes home one day to find a note from his girlfriend of 10 years, Jane, saying that she's leaving him and going to Tibet for three months to find herself. Edward decides that he has three months to get in shape to try and win her back when she returns. What ensues is utter hilarity as Edward gets himself a trainer, diets, and tries speed dating, among other things. This novel really just shows the lengths that someone will go to for love. It's very British, and all the good things that some along with that (if you like British humour that is). The writing and style of humour are very akin to the Shopaholic (and other Sophie Kinsella) novels, and was absolutely wonderful as a funny, yet warm, read. The only thing I didn't like were some of the assumptions put on women in the book (women DO NOT just have sex with a guy in hopes that he'll be her boyfriend/marry her...ridiculous!), but for the most part assumptions of that kind were few and far between, so they can be forgiven.

I've had a crazy book-buying couple of weeks, I need to slow down, but I really can't! If I see a book at the store (thrift store/used bookstore, I can't buy every new book I want or I'd never eat) I can't just leave it there if it's a reasonable price. Yesterday, I had the day off for a doctor's appointment, so I went to a used bookstore that I love afterwards. I haven't been in awhile because they're closed on Sundays (the only day off I have in a week). I went in and the proprietor had books set aside for me (he's knows what I'm looking for). I was stunned when he had put aside a copy of Looking for Anne: How Lucy Maud Montgomery Dreamed Up a Literary Classic by Irene Gammel for me. This book only just came out a few months ago, I couldn't believe it was at the used bookstore already. It looks brand-new, like someone got it for a gift and didn't want it, I bought it of course! I also picked up three more blue Nancy Drew's (#2: The Hidden Staircase, #3: The Bungalow Mystery, and #27: The Secret of the Wooden Lady), yay!

I also stopped by the thrift store before my doctor's appointment and got The Famous Five Adventure Collection by Enid Blyton and The Tea House on Mulberry Street by Sharon Owens, I also stopped by today on my lunch break and got Leave it to Psmith by P.G. Wodehouse (and a present for Jen). Last week I bought the Matt Dunn book, About a Boy by Nick Hornby, Saturday by Ian McEwan, Nathaniel's Nutmeg or How One Man's Courage Changed the Course of History by Giles Milton, and one of the Dana Girls Mystery Stories (#2: The Secret at Lone Tree Cottage). I'm almost 100% sure that I actually bought at least one more book last week, but can't remember what it is right now.

Oh gosh, I'm literally going to have to build myself a house out of books if I keep going at this rate. Oooohhh, a house made out of books, what a "novel" idea...bahahahahaha...I know, not funny.