"Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist" by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn has a great energy - told from two viewpoints about one crazy night in NYC, it's quick-paced and quick-witted and fresh about sophisticated teenagers who are knowledgable about queercore bands, strippers dressed as nuns, transgendered people, etc. I really liked the funny, modern voices but after a while, the constant use of "fuck" got tiresome. It was in every sentence at least once. I got pretty weary halfway through.
I also read "Love is the Higher Law" by David Levithan about teenagers in NYC on 9/11. At first, I was turned off by the topic, who really wants to relive those days and who can say something new? But, as the author points out in the end, kids today don't have those memories and need to be told what those days were like. Anyway, it's also about sophisticated teens grappling with love lives. It was sad and sweet and lovely.
On to nonfiction! "The Audacity to Win" by David Plouffe about the Obama campaign was totally gripping. It's my favorite story - how a man named Barack Obama became our president. Plouffe is not a writer's writer and the book doesn't really capture the emotional arc, but he comes across as a nerdy genius. He even played with a game called "Landslide" as a kid about election math. I never fail to marvel at the improbable story of Obama's election and savor the transcendent moment.
"How Reading Changed My Life" by Anna Quindlen is about how much she likes to read. I quite agree. The best part is the book lists in the back. I'm eager to pick up "Poems for Life" her book of famous people's favorite poems.
What's next:
Love in a Cold Climate (halfway done)
Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
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