<h3>wily wiley reads.</h3>

imperial bedrooms by bret easton ellis

- much like all of his work, i loved this book.  written as a sequel to less than zero (my favorite easton ellis novel), this story combines the same fragmented stories of sex, drugs, and mystery as his work from decades earlier.  i find it very easy to get lost in his stories and this was a perfect vacation read.   if you like bret easton ellis this is a must-read.  if you haven't read any of his work then go pick up less than zero and give him a go!

the poisonwood bible by barbara kingsolver

- i may be the last person on this train, but i have only just now gotten to read this novel.  kingsolver tells the story of a family of missionaries in the belgian congo.  she uses multiple perspectives, which i always enjoy in a story and does a great job of portraying the voices of five very different women.  i couldn't put this one down and found myself surprisingly sympathetic to each of the characters.  kingsolver does a particularly good job of combining fiction with historical fact and i enjoyed doing some of my own research on the congo in the fifties and sixties.  highly recommended.

brutal: the untold story of my life inside whitey bulger's irish mob by kevin weeks

- jeb definitely has a fascination with anything boston mob, mostly stories of whitey bulger, of the winter hill gang.  he borrowed this from our friend casey and thought it was great, so i thought i'd give it a go to keep myself informed for the endless amounts of documentaries and books that will eventually make their way through our home.  kevin weeks, the book's writer and whitey bulger's right-hand man, tells his own story of life growing up in the south boston projects and how he became entangled with whitey and his crimes.  living in boston, i've read and seen so many things on this same topic so there wasn't a whole lot i gained from this particular book, but hearing weeks' perspective on whitey was very intriguing.  my recommendation; if you want to read a great non-fiction piece on southie, pick up michael patrick mcdonald's all souls: a family story from southie.  this book discusses some of the same crimes and happenings in southie, but has a lot more heart.

squirrel seeks chipmunk by david sedaris

- i cannot ever say anything bad about david sedaris.  he is my favorite storyteller and i have spent hours laughing til i cry while reading his books.  squirrel seeks chipmunk is a collection of stories personifying animals and placing them in hysterical human situations.  i found it very interesting to read about the human condition through such silly stories.  my personal favorite was 'the migrating warblers.'  obviously a must-read for sedaris fans, but i could give you a list of other sedaris books i would read first if you're new to his writing.

it's that time again....so soon, i know!  after a long vacation filled with books i would love to hear more of your suggestions.  i haven't been into a bookstore in awhile...is there anything new out there that i need to get my hands on?  anything you love dearly that i still need to read?