Baby Books -

Taking Charge of Your Fertility, by Toni Weschler
This is a great book all about fertility, charting for ovulation and the wonders of the female reproductive system.
The Pregnancy Book, by Dr. William Sears
The Birth Book, by Dr. William Sears
Becoming a Father, by Dr. William Sears
The Baby Book, by Dr. William Sears
The Discipline Book, by Dr. William Sears
The Nighttime Parenting Book, by Dr. William Sears
The Sears' approach (they're a husband and wife team with a whole bunch of kids) leans toward "attachment parenting." They advocate long term breastfeeding, co-sleeping with infants and keeping babies in close contact at all times. We don't buy into all of it, but a lot of their ideas make sense to us.

What to Expect When You're Expecting , by Arlene Eisenberg
Run! Run as fast as you can away from this book! It was a freebie from the doctor's office. It's uppity, judgemental and annoying.

The Girlfriends' Guide to Pregnancy, by Vicki Iovine
This book almost got me thrown out of a cafe, I was in such hysterics. A funny look at the realities of pregnancy.

The Girlfriends' Guide to Surviving the First Year of Motherhood, by Vicki Iovine
Yet another Girlfriends' Guide.

Mayo Clinic Complete Book of Pregnancy and Baby's First Year, by Robert V. Johnson
This is a HUGE book. It must weigh 15 pounds and it covers absolutely everything you could ever need to know about pregnancy and early parenthood. And, the best part is, it was FREE! State Farm Insurance had a promotion and all you had to do was call and ask for it and they sent it right out.

Dr. Spock's Baby and Child Care, by Dr. Spock
He may be gone, but his advice on raising children lives on.

Birthing From Within, by Pam England and Rob Horowitz
This is a touchy, feely, hippy, dippy sort of book about how a woman can utilize her inner creative and artistic resources to better manage the pain of childbirth.

The Pregnant Woman's Comfort Book, by Jennifer Louden
Suggestions on how to pamper yourself while pregnant.

The Pregnancy Journal, by A. Christine Harris
A good day by day guide to what's going on during pregnancy with room to write notes and thoughts.

She's Having a Baby: And I'm Having a Breakdown, by James Douglas Barron
This one's pretty self-explanatory, no?

Current/Recent Reads -

White Oleander, by Janet Fitch

Music for Torching, by A.M. Homes

Jernigan, by David Gates

Preston Falls, by David Gates

A Fan's Notes, by Frederick Exley

Layover, by Lisa Zeidner

Lust and Other Stories, by Susan Minot

Light Years, by James Salter

Vinegar Hill, by A. Manette Ansay

Model Behavior, by Jay McInerney

Expecting Adam, by Martha Beck

The Orphan Game, by Ann Darby

The Child In Time, by Ian McEwan

1999 Reads

The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing, by Melissa Bank

A Certain Age: A Novel, by Tama Janowitz

Ruby, by Ann Hood
Finished 10/31/99.

Memoirs of a Geisha, by Arthur S. Golden
Finished 10/5/99.

The Stars My Destination, by Alfred Bester
I had my doubts about this, but I'm really enjoying it. Written in the 1950's, it's got that classic, hard sci-fi feel but there's a humanity to the writing that makes it familiar and accessible. The story involves a gruff spaceman's quest for revenge against the spaceship that left him to die after his own ship was wrecked and left floating in space for six months. The story takes place in the 25th century, when humans have mastered the art of teleportation and "jaunting" is the common mode of transporation. The plot moves quickly, with lots of suspense and humor. Finished this on 8/30/99.

Breakup: the End of a Love Story, by Catherine Texier
I finished this 8/27/99. Ouch. Great writing, sad, sad story. The author shares all the gory details of the slow, painful death of her 18 year marriage. It's hard to believe she's French, her command of the English language is so good. The book is filled with wonderful imagery. Lines like "I am left holding our love like the end of a sheet that nobody will help me fold," make me want to cry, and make me envious of her ability.

Enduring Love, by Ian McEwan
This is a lot tamer than most of his earlier works, but it maintains that eery, twisted, slightly sinister quality that characterizes his writing. The story centers around a man whose relationship slowly falls apart when a young, independently wealthy and mentally disturbed man starts stalking him after a freak ballooning accident. I would have liked to see the characters drawn more sharply, or perhaps deeply, but the story moves along well nonetheless.

Night Train, by Martin Amis
A rather complete departure from his usual style, but he manages to create a good, solid crime story. It's a short book and a quick read. The characters are as interesting, and as important, as the plot and as always, his writing is impeccable.

Heavy Water, by Martin Amis
A collection of stories previously published over the last two decades.

Cavedweller, by Dorothy Allison
This is a big book, and while it has its slow moments, it's one you don't want to end. Her writing is so vivid, you know exactly what it's like to be 12 again, and you can smell the cool mud in the depths of the dark caves. It's about a family of women, trying to get life figured out.

The Year of Reading Proust, by Phyllis Rose
I actually sent this woman email after finishing her book. She's a professor at the college I went to, in the department I was in, and somehow, I never met her. What a shame. As the title suggests, it's a memoir of the year she spent reading Proust. On the one hand, she routinely hangs out with eminent authors and famous people, and she's brilliant, but she's also just like you and me and in her fifties, she still hasn't decided what to do when she grows up.

The God of Small Things, by Arundati Roy

Bridget Jones' Diary, by Helen Fielding
Funniest book ever. I laughed so hard I cried.

The Kiss, by Kathryn Harrison
Exposure, by Kathryn Harrison
Kathryn Harrison had an affair with her dad, into her 20's. The Kiss is the non-fiction memoir of that affair, and Exposure seems to me to be a (not so) fictional account of the same story. Her writing is spare and powerful, the topic is subversive and uncomfortable - my kind of reading.

In a Country of Mothers, by A.M. Holmes
Another writer who's not afraid to be subversive - her last book, The End of Alice was about a pedophile and his correspondence from prison with a young teenager - and interestingly, there are similarities between the main character in this book and the Kathryn Harrison character in The Kiss and Exposure. Both women have a bad shoplifting habit and immensely screwed up lives that, somehow, seem rather appealing.

Underworld, by Don DeLillo
I didn't actually finish this one, but in my defense, it is over a thousand pages. His writing is like a beautiful piece of music, each sentence is a work of art; I worship this man's talent.

Straight Man, by Richard Russo

The Liar's Club: A Memoir, by Mary Karr

Separate Flights, by Andre Dubus

Dancing After Hours:Stories, by Andre Dubus

Selected Stories, by Andre Dubus
Andre Dubus reminds me of a modern day Hemingway - who happened to be one of his favorite writers. His characters are so well drawn that you can see them sitting in your kitchen after reading one sentence. The writing is so good that it becomes almost transparent - the characters and stories seem alive and three dimensional as if the words aren't even there. The stories generally take place in college towns where there's a mix of academic types and local blue collar folks. They all end up being the same in the end, because the human condition is the same. Not much happens in these stories: people wake up and go to work, they smoke cigarettes and drink beer or bourbon, they go running, they cheat on their husbands or wives, they have hopes, they have regrets. They're simple lives, lived completely and fully.
The House of Sand and Fog, by Andre Dubus III
Andre Dubus' son! He's inherited his father's talent and this is a good, complicated book.
About a Boy, by Nick Hornby
Nick Hornby is the male Helen Fielding, of Bridget Jones' Diary fame. Both this, and High Fidelity are hilarious, completely absorbing books.
Foucault's Pendulum, by Umberto Eco
I wasn't sure I'd get through this, but I loved it. It's about a trio of book editors searching for medieval mysteries, numerical codes and secret societies. It's religious, philosophical, scientific, literary, mathematical and political, but most of all, it's a good, suspenseful thriller with great writing, a sense of humor and well drawn characters.
Summer Sisters, by Judy Blume
Judy, Judy, Judy...Not one of her finer efforts, but if you're planning to spend a day at the beach, this is a good book to drag along. It's about two girlfriends, one rich, beautiful and out of control, the other not: their lives, their summers, their men.
Operating Instructions, by Anne Lamott
The Inn at Lake Devine, by Elinor Lipman
Spending:A Utopian Divertimento, by Mary Gordon
I was completely smitten with this book. It's deliciously wicked, luxuriously decadent, succulent, sensual and totally engrossing. It's about a female painter and the relationship she has with her male "patron." Art, sex and money - what more do you need?
I Know This Much is True, by Wally Lamb
Wonders of the Invisible World, by David Gates
What a happy discovery. Gates' style is similar to Dubus' and I read the whole collection of stories in two sittings. Utterly engrossing.
New Year's Eve, by Lisa Grunwald
My Idea of Fun, by Will Self
Island of the Sequined Love Nun, by Christopher Moore

Books Waiting in the Wings -

Sacred Clowns, by Tony Hillerman
Glimmering, by Elizabeth Hand