shorties.

(Semi-non-sequitur: don't you love that episode of Ellen where Hugh Laurie tries to figure out what "shorty" means in American slang? Love him.)

I've decided that Wednesdays are going to be my book review days here at larking. Why? I don't know -- I guess I was thinking about how "wordless Wednesdays" are popular posts around the blogosphere, and I guess I was feeling contrary. What else is new, right?

I've been reading a lot more lately now that L is sleeping in her own room at night (gulp!) instead of right beside me in her little bassinet. Oh, how I miss those sleepy grunts and sighs in the wee hours...but that's for another post. Anyway, I don't feel like doing a full write-up for any of these books, but I want you to know about them just the same. Here goes:

A Rule Against Murder by Louise Penny
If you've been following my book reviews for a while, you know that I've been reading this series pretty steadily (with a big baby break in the middle). I really enjoyed this one -- same characters from Three Pines, but this mystery is set a little ways off from the quaint town we've all grown to know and love. In this one, Armand Gamache and his wife are on holiday and get mixed up in a murder that involves an extremely dysfunctional family's annual reunion. I think my favorite character (besides our wise detective) is the second husband to the shrill, cold matriarch of the Morrow family -- his "frankness does him great credit," to borrow from Oscar Wilde, and his conversation with Gamache at the end of the novel is worth at least one reread.

Solar by Ian McEwan
I sort of hated this book. Not because the writing was bad (I adore Ian McEwan) or the topic was boring -- the main character was just so, so reprehensible. And when I figured out that he was supposed to be an allegorical stand-in for the United States in the global struggle to deal with climate change? Whoa. Just -- whoa. If you're interested in the politics of environmentalism, or are looking to read about the complete and utter destruction of a person's life from the inside out, this is the novel for you. Fair warning: the two scenes that just about did me in were the one on the snowmobile in Antarctica and the one with the crisps wrapper. You know how, when you watch The Office, sometimes you have to hide your face behind a pillow because it's so excruciatingly painful you can barely take it? Yeah, those two scenes are like that. Read at your own peril!