books to read

this year was the 10-year anniversary of the shootings at columbine. the week of the anniversary, colorado public radio did a big series of interviews with people related to the tragedy; one of the interviews was with dave cullen, whose book columbine was released for the anniversary. i decided to check it out from the library, and after a month and a half on the wait list for it finally picked up my copy last week: it's good. dave cullen is a journalist who began covering the story the morning of the shootings, and uses the book to do an in depth exploration of the day of the shootings, dylan and eric's motivations and experiences leading up to april 20, and the fallout for the media, the sheriff's department, and for the families and survivors after the fact. it's intense, for sure, but well worth it - one of the quotes on the back of the book equates it with capote's in cold blood, and i'd say that's pretty spot on. one thing i thought was interesting was that he addressed a lot of the myths surrounding the shootings. most of what i remember hearing about columbine was cassie bernall saying yes, the trench coat mafia, and that the killers went bowling (i was a self-absorbed 16 year old living in illinois at the time, forgive me), but apparently most of what the country heard are half-truths that he unpacks over the course of the book. anyway, you should definitely check it out, and be prepared with at least one or two kleenexes nearby.

a book i haven't read yet but have on hold at ye olde library is shaunti feldhahn's for women only. yesterday afternoon, kelly and i were discussing the simple dollar's incredibly sweet tribute to how great his wife is, and she mentioned how some of the things tsd appreciates about his wife are opposite of how she tries to treat her husband. (ie, tsd likes his wife to correct his little mistakes, while kelly tries to overlook mistakes and appreciate the thoughtfulness that went into them.) she recommended the for women only book, which is a relationship book written by a christian author that uses stats and interviews with men as the basis for her suggestions. the part kelly and i were discussing reminded me of the love and respect method that i remember hearing about in grad school - basically, the premise is that women want love and men want respect. anyway, i thought it sounded super interesting, so i'm going to read it. kelly did caution that it's helpful reading it in part with your husband, because every guy is different and the things that may be enlightening regarding some guys is completely inapplicable to yours.

and, if you're in the mood for chick lit, i highly recommend melissa nathan. despite the fact that i love chick flicks, i've always looked down on chick lit - maybe because so much of it is dominated by pink covers starring sassy girls wearing high heels and going out for drinks with strange men. (or at least, that's been my impression ... i honestly don't think i've read any chick lit pre-melissa nathan.) a friend who is very smart and academic and was an english major in college recommended melissa nathan, though, so i figured she couldn't be that awful. plus she gave me two of the books in time for a week i spent completely alone in the office, so i had plenty of time to ease into the idea of reading chick lit. not going to lie, i kind of love melissa nathan and her books. they're fun and funny and non-smutty, and they make for a great lighthearted read.