on my bookshelf : late summer/early fall

For this installment of "On My Bookshelf," I'm including my favorite quote from each book!  These are listed from my least favorite to my most favorite...the bottom 2 might be tied though. :)

Learning to Swim : : Sara J. Henry

Woman rescues kidnapped child, tries to find the kidnappers. This book gets a big "meh" from me.
The thought made me uneasy, which probably meant I should do it, my theory being that almost always the choice that makes you the most uncomfortable is the one you're supposed to do.

 Gone Girl : : Gillian Flynn

Woman disappears--did her husband do it? This book was crazy!  You'd have to read it to find out why.  But "crazy" in a brutal and often crass way.  Not sure I'd recommend it.  But the plot did keep me guessing!
The once plentiful herds of magazine writers would continue to be culled--by the Internet, by the recession, by the American public, who would rather watch TV or play video games or electronically inform friends that, like, rain sucks! But there's no app for a bourbon buzz on a warm day in a cool, dark bar.  The world will always want a drink.

 Started Early, Took My Dog : : Kate Atkinson

I love a book with a likeable main character (or characters, in this case).  This one was pretty good!
There was a lie at the heart of the camera, it implied the past was tangible when the very opposite was true.

Cutting for Stone : : Abraham Verghese

You know this post, from May, where I talked about maybe giving up on this book?  Well, my sissy told me not to give up, and I FINALLY finished it (4 months isn't too long to get through a book, right?)  Anyway.  You know those books where all of the sudden you want to slow down and devour every word because it's that good?   Yeah.  Read this book.
The key to your happiness is to own your slippers, own who you are, own how you look, own your family, own the talents you have, and own the ones you don't. If you keep saying your slippers aren't yours, then you'll die searching, you'll die bitter, always feeling you were promised more. Not only our actions, but also our omissions, become our destiny.

The Happiness Project : : Gretchen Rubin

So, this book is tied with "Cutting for Stone" for my favorite (curiously, also a book I started a LONG time ago and finally finished), but they are completely different.  "The Happiness Project" is all about one woman's project to make herself happier, by keeping specific resolutions each month for a year.  I'm a pretty happy person but I think this book made me happier!  Two gems were these:
One of the best ways to make yourself happy is to make other people happy; one of the best ways to make other people happy is to be happy yourself.
"It is easy to be heavy; hard to be light." -G.K. Chesterton

Definitely read this book, or follow Gretchen Rubin's blog here: www.happiness-project.com
As soon as I come down off my current happiness high, I'm going to get her new book: Happier at Home.