january: 1 & 2

here we are at the end of month 1 in year 2 of my book challenge!

this month i read:


maus: a survivor's tale (I - my father bleeds history), by art spiegelman (this is a non-fiction graphic novel [fancy way of saying "intellectually stimulating comic book"] and consequently it's a very quick read.  an amazing personal story of the author's father's experiences at the beginning of the holocaust, and somehow more poignant because it's in such a simple format.  the jews are depicted as mice ("maus" is german for "mouse"), communists are pigs, and german non-jews are cats.  the book ends with the author's father's arrival at auschwitz.  there is a part 2, and i'm on the list at the library for it.  i would definitely recommend this book.)

the thorn birds, by colleen mccullough (this book is a soap opera in written form.  a long, epic soap opera.  but you feel better about the soap opera because you are reading it [what smart people do!] instead of watching it [what dumb people do!  or, this is what you tell yourself].  the story follows three generations of one family on the australian outback.  there is love, there is scandal, and there are boring parts.  in fact, the last 200 pages have a lot of boring parts, but never mind.  i enjoyed the book, but i won't be rushing to re-read it any time soon.)