Currently Reading: The Goldfinch

I just finished reading Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch and it was astounding. My sister's boyfriend, Alex, bought me two great reads for my birthday in June and I finally found the time to sit down and devour this 700-plus pages.

The enormous novel was intimidating at first (the commitment seemed astronomical!) and I was slightly concerned that it would seem I was part of this global book club––it's the novel of the summer and kind of a chit-chat point like TV shows. However, I'm always game for a book about art featuring a Russian supporting character.

The Goldfinch is what you would call a bildungsroman (a story about growing up, usually through a "journey"), so Tartt writes in the voice of a boy spanning at least ten years and both American coasts (and continents!). His travels, battles & triumphs intersect and spiral into the lives of other diverse characters that creates a multidimensional life for Theo and the reader.

While it took me weeks––I'm a slow reader, I'll admit (you can see my progress on Instagram from beginning, middle, and end)––I was melancholic when I finished. I felt some serious pride and also sadness, because it has passages that are just so breathtakingly beautiful. I haven't read something this  popular & lovely in a while.

Donna Tartt only publishes a novel what seems like every decade, and I can see why. The Goldfinch is perfection. I highly recommend carving out a chunk of time to read this stunning novel.

P.S. I heard it's going to be a movie?!?!; here's the actual Fabritius Goldfinch

A Hilarious Read/See

For my birthday, Abby's sweet boyfriend, Alex, bought me two books (he knows me too well!). I just finished the first; a comic, fast read, This Is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper, is truly enjoyable and a book you want to pass to your best friend the minute you close the cover.

At a little over 300 pages, the book goes quickly as the first person narrator moves deftly from present tense to memories to lucid dreaming to nightmares. While dealing with infidelity and bereavement, This Is Where I Leave You stays lighthearted and witty.

To top things off, it's been produced as a family dramedy for the summer. (It looks great!) It stars some of the top rom-com players including Jason Bateman, Jane Fonda, and Tina Fey. I wanted to read it before I see it, will you do both?

Photo via

Currently Reading: Non-Fic Royalty

Now that school is out and I've had a minor academia detox, I thought I'd share what I'm currently reading. As you all know, I'm really into non-fiction writing, whether that be essays, journalistic articles, or diaries and journals. I'm really pleased to say that a book I picked up over winter break is just as good as I hoped it would be.

I'll be honest and admit that the initial reason I picked up The New Kings of Nonfiction is because it's edited by Ira Glass and I'm a wanna-be NPR junkie. So far I am about half way through (I've yet to get to my beloved DFW) and it's great. What makes it readable and less daunting than a 400 page novel is that you can read one essay a day and feel like you've made considerable progress because you start and finish a subject. (The Atlantic and The New Yorker seem to be reigning champs of originally published sourcing . . . so there is kind of a specific audience niche implied here, which is slightly smug and presumptuous.)

My favorite essays thus far are:

"Six Degrees of Lois Weinberg" by Malcolm Gladwell

"Shapinksy's Karma," by Lawrence Weschler (this story is incredible!)

"Among the Thugs," Bill Buford

I'm hoping to finish this before Saturday when I leave for Germany, because I want another new book to read for my flights!

Have you been reading any good nonfiction lately? I'd love your suggestions!

{Currently Reading}...Norwegian Wood

Of course, I'm reading many great books for many great classes right now. But I also try to read things for fun on my own time. It does take me significantly longer to finish books during the school year, but it's well worth it.

For Christmas my parents got me Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami, the author of IQ84 (which I've admittedly not read...). I'm only a little over 100 pages into it, but thus far I'm enjoying it. It's kind of heartbreaking, as most coming-of-age stories are.

At first, it seemed really superficial and flat. It was just this boy wandering around his university being a university boy. However, now that I've gotten a little more into it, the novel has taken a much more reflective tone with the introduction of some significant characters.

It was adapted into film, and I'd really like to see it after reading the novel!

I'll let you now how it goes! This is also one of my first experiences with reading a contemporary novel that was first written in a different language and then translated to English. Do you have any good book recommendations? I also got White Teeth for Christmas, so that's next on the list, but I'm always game for suggestions!

Photo from film via