What I've been reading

So I've had some time to read. First I read the Year of Living Biblically, a birthday gift from Alen, which was actually interesting and funny. Then I read a great book, the Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell. I love how this guy brings together such disparate stuff. The book definitely raised a lot of questions - I have to check if he continues these kinds of discussions on his website.

Then I read The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron. It was long and Alen's brother (the MBA) said he could not get through it, so I viewed it as something of a challenge. However, I'm not sure what I gained from it in the end, except maybe a better understanding of the California power crisis that I had never paid attention to. I still don't really understand what short selling is and I only have a vaguely better conception of what a hedge fund is.

After starting but deciding I could not get into Born to Kvetch (a history of Yiddish), I picked up The Bitch in the House, 26 Women Tell the Truth about Sex, Solitude, Work, Motherhood and Marriage, edited by Cathi Hanauer. I think the title may have kept it from being a bestseller :-) but I just finished it and liked it a lot. Most of the authors are professional writers and it's missing the voices of any out lesbians. But I really enjoyed it. It also makes me grateful for being a mom in my 40s and not my 30s.

Alen has finished Julie and Julia and I hope to have time for that along with a Bill Bryson book before we return. Here's to vacation!!!