A Couple More Book Reviews...

Although I have started back to school, my work load is not overly heavy (yet), so I've read a couple more books.  I also read a book for a political science class called Our Undemocratic Constitution by Stanford Levinson.  I feel like the chances of someone reading this blog also having the urge to read a book about the flaws in our Constitution are quite slim.  But, just in case, it has a lot of good points, but very few solutions to those problems.  I did learn a lot more about the details of the Constitution, so it was a worthwhile read.

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer:  This is the best novel I've read in a long time.  It is centered around an incredibly intelligent nine-year-old boy named Oskar Schell who lost his dad in the 9/11 terrorist attacks.  He narrates most of the novel.  Oskar takes a long journey around New York trying to find out more about his dad.  The book is also layered with stories of the boy's grandmother and grandfather and their life in Dresden, Germany.  This is also the most unique novel I've ever read.  There are changing type faces, photos, and even a few blank pages.  Even with the sad parts, it is a wonderful story that I highly recommend.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon:  I've always seen this book at Half-Price Books and have never read it or picked it up before.  In this novel, the narrator is an autistic 15-year-old boy who has been encouraged by a teacher to write a book.  The story begins with him intending to solve the mystery of who has murdered his neighbor's dog.  As the story progresses, he ends up discovering more than he intended and has new, scary experiences.  I would recommend this book because of the interesting perspective of someone with autism.  The author has a history of working with autistic people and it provides a better understanding of the disability.