Book #40: The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith

I heard about this book along with everyone else in the world, after it was revealed that Robert Galbraith is actually a pseudonym for J. K. Rowling and that she'd somehow secretly written and published a crime/mystery novel! I wasn't really planning on reading it specifically, but my friend Ruth picked it up at the library and offered to let me borrow it before she returned it. I started it last night and then plowed through it--I basically did nothing else other than reading and keeping Dane alive today. (We went on three walks so that I could just push him in the stroller and read the book balanced on the top of the stroller, haha!) It was definitely a page-turner.

The main character is Cormoran Strike, a down-and-out private detective who gets a stroke of luck when asked to investigate the supposed suicide of a famous model. The storyline is basically what you'd expect from there--the investigation carries on and you find out what really happened a little at a time from interview to interview, and then Strike does his big reveal to the killer at the end. But that's not to say that it was formulaic or boring in any way--I just am not sure how else to describe a mystery without giving up too much information. Galbraith (or, okay, Rowling) does a really cool job of giving you just a little information at a time and making it all coordinate and collaborate. I also thought it was a nice touch having the main subject of the investigation be a famous celebrity, because it added the extra intrigue factor of the tabloids and celebrity excess and such. I did kind of suspect who the killer was partway through the book, but I think that's just because I've read a good number of mysteries lately, and at least one of them had this same set-up with who the killer actually was. I also liked how Strike's past and his life was revealed to you gradually as you read the book as well--you didn't find out everything all at once. (That really reminded me of Broken Harbor, actually, which I also really liked.) All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and am really glad I took the chance to read it. It's always refreshing to get back into a book you can't put down.

Book #39: The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

Wow. It sure has been a long time since I've posted on here--and frankly, it's been a long time since I've read any books! I feel so ashamed of myself. My big excuse is that we were traveling for six weeks (from the end of June to the beginning of August), and traveling with a baby is SO much less relaxing than it used to be. There just wasn't that much time for reading. And I was reading War and Peace on the Kindle while we were there, so I WAS reading, but I'm still not even halfway through it, so I can't even report on it yet. (I'm enjoying it, though!) Looks like my goal of 100 books is definitely down the drain for this year, especially since I'm now teaching a class at the community college this semester, so a lot of my free time I used to use for reading is going to be taken up with planning and grading and such. But it's all for good reasons, so I don't mind that much!

But I finally can report that I've read Ben Franklin's Autobiography. I am ashamed to admit that it's only a little over 100 pages long, and I started it something like three years ago--and never finished. I just never really got that into it (obviously). I read part of it in one of my American Lit classes at BYU, and then right after we got married, Tommy read it and enjoyed it. So I started it and just never really got around to finishing it. It is really fascinating to read Franklin's stories and to kind of put yourself in his mindset, in his time period. It's all pre-Revolutionary War stuff, and mostly, he tells little anecdotes about how he started his business and how he began his life of public service. A lot of the stories have morals to them, because the whole point of his writing his autobiography is to show up his life as an example of how hard work and virtue pays off.

My favorite part of the book is when he talks about his project to perfect himself, where he chooses 13 virtues and tries to live those virtues without fail every day. He's so methodical about it--he chooses the virtues, defines what they mean in everyday life, and then makes a chart where he marks off every day how he does at living them. The Happiness Project author, Gretchen Rubin, basically rips off his idea (she gives him the credit though) for this when she makes her goals and keeps a checklist to see how she does every day too. It seems like it's got to be the most effective way to remind yourself of your goals and to keep tabs on yourself.

I just wish the book were a little more organized and more extensive, if anything. It feels so incomplete (probably because I bet it is)--it ends before the Revolutionary War even starts and there are whole decades of Franklin's life that you don't really know anything about. It's hard to really feel like you've got a good appreciation of his life as the book is, and that's what I really love about biographies/autobiographies. But it really is an interesting book when you look at it as a period piece of literature and you appreciate it for what it teaches you about that time and their mindset.

So at least I've finally crossed this off my list! Even though I didn't love it, I won't have it sitting on my shelf mocking me.