The Jungle Book, Rudyard Kipling

Henri Rousseau, Surprised, 1891

(July 13) I love him (more for Kim than for this, but this was good, too). I don’t know why I never read any Kipling before; I certainly heard enough about him. I guess I thought he might be a bit clichéd, a bit jingoistic, a bit hokey. He is all these things (plus racist and imperialist), but the guy can tell a story! And every page or two he is so surprising in his style, his insight, or his plot that he takes your breath away. Like, he is a true creative. Not for nothing is he so popular and enduring.

Bossypants, Tina Fey

Jason Mecier, Tina Fey, 2010

(June 29) I heh'd at least once per paragraph and laughed out loud numerous times reading this. Very entertaining observations. I felt that I might be missing out on even more jokes because, though of course I know who she is, I never watched her on SNL or 30 Rock. Still was very entertained.

Not absolutely sure why she called it "Bossypants" since it's kind of an autobiography.

Some funny quotes:

I should have known he and I weren't going to make it when for my seventeenth birthday he gave me a box of microwave popcorn and a used battery tester. You know, to test batteries before I put them in my Walkman. Like you give someone when you're in love.

There are a lot of different opinions as to how long one should breast-feed. The World Health Organization says six months. The American Association of Pediatrics says one year is ideal. Mothering magazine suggests you nurse the child until just before his rehearsal dinner.

I have one top-notch baby with whom I am in love. It's a head-over-heels "first love" kind of thing, because I pay for everything and all we do is hold hands.

[W]henever someone says to me, "Jerry Lewis says women aren’t funny," or "Christopher Hitchens says women aren’t funny," or "Rick Fenderman says women aren’t funny... ", [I say m]y hat goes off to them. It is an impressively arrogant move to conclude that just because you don't like something, it is empirically not good. I don't like Chinese food, but I don't write articles trying to prove it doesn't exist.

The Tiger’s Wife, Téa Obreht

Milena Dragicevic, Supplicant 31, 2008

(June 17) I really, really liked this novel -- I liked the magic realism of it, a style I always associated with South America but which is nonetheless perfectly suited to this ancient part of Europe. Some very lovely myths are entwined into the narrative. I was inspired to learn a lot about the Bosnian war. Also inspired to read The Jungle Book.

How many books with “wife” in the title have I read lately?