Review: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

The second book choice for the Brazen Bookies (my book club) was The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz. This book centers around Oscar who is nerdy, overweight and unlucky in just about everything. It goes through his family history and the curse that they have endured and also throws in a lot of history about the Dominican Republic.

I personally liked the book and found it humorous and interesting. The biggest complaint at the meeting was all the Spanish that was used in the dialogue but I didn't find it too distracting. I know a bit of obvious Spanish and a number of cuss words so that was pretty sufficient to help me translate. I really didn't know anything about the history of the DR and it was pretty interesting to learn about it since we visited it a few years ago.

I don't really have too much to say other than it's a good book and if you speak English and Spanish you will probably really enjoy it (but if you just speak English it could be harder for you to get into). Also, Matt is a terrible book club member and didn't finish the book. Just want to get that out there. Boo Matt!

Our next choice is another nonfiction (I think we will alternate) and I am looking forward to it! We're going to read The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Bartlett. I have already decided that I am going to envision the man as Johnny Depp in his role in The Ninth Gate. Every rare book hunter/thief looks like Johnny Depp, right?

Is Anyone Out There?

I guess I should start this off saying that I am not dead. This blog isn't dead either, just on hiatus. I am hoping that this hiatus will be ending soon. What happened? Life. I think I underestimated what repatriation was going to be like. Things were going lovely and then life hit. Nothing bad, just busy. There were hockey games to go to (someone has to cheer for the Oilers, right?) and bills to pay, shifts to work, beer to drink. Then there was Christmas and MY BIRTHDAY (Yeah, I turned 28! If you missed it, I am accepting belated birthday gifts up until my next birthday. No worries.). I thought a lot about writing and about what writing means to me. I'll never be Anne Bronte, Anne Frank (fingers crossed!) or even Anne Rice and I don't have any professional literary aspirations, but I do like writing things down. It's nice having something to look back on because I have a terrible memory.

I want to stress, things here are good. Matt is doing really well, possibly better than I am. He was officially accepted into the law school of his choice (and rather early on in the process, I might add) and has already attended the Dean's welcome. I'm pretty sure he and the Dean be tight now. And he really likes his job which he'll work at until school starts in September.

Me? This has been a big year for me. I didn't even know it. I thought, hey, repatriation during a recession- piece of cake?! And it's been actually pretty good. Change is my mantra and I am trying to take deep breaths and scoop up as much of it in my arms as I can. This is a confusing time and I am re-examining everything. Career- check (I somehow got one of those.) Living situation- check. Friendships- check. Dreams- check. Money- check. Everything is going at lightning pace. I can't say a lot because I don't want to jinx anything but I may have some big news soon.

Oh, and I have a book club again! We've met once and are reading our second book! My reading progress has been abysmal but I'm not illiterate yet. I had a lot of high hopes but life is in the way again. I am going to keep trying. We're reading The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao right now by Junot Diaz and I am really liking it. Good thing all the Spanish I know is swear words!

So don't delete me from all of your bookmarks just yet. I know there are lots of blogs out there and I am not trying to become number one on everyone's blogroll, but I think I have a few more things to say. I am just finding the time. Love you all!

Catching Up

Before I went to Korea I was struggling at a job that didn't make me happy. In fact, most of the time it made me pretty miserable. One of the few things I loved about that job was getting to work with my friend Diane. It's been too long since I've seen her but we finally managed to meet up. It was so refreshing to hang out with someone who understands my sense of humor and holds so many of the same interests as I do.

She's interested in joining a book club and I have been trying to find one/get one started. I met up with Catherine from my Bookleaves book club (in Korea, yeah she lives here now) and she has a book club with some friends. Also a friend from university messaged me about a book club and so now I think I just need to get off my butt and call people.

Aren't Diane and I cute? It took me a lot of convincing to get her to let me take her picture. People can be so funny. We had a yummy brunch and basically talked until we were just about hungry again.