Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk

Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk by David Sedaris


If anyone could write a book for adults about animals from the points-of-view of animals, it's David Sedaris. A squirrel and a chipmunk on a date, a stork explaining sex to her son, an owl seeking wisdom from other animals--genius! I'd expect no less from Sedaris.

Freedom

Freedom by Jonathan Franzen


After more press, more anticipation, more build-up than any novel I can recall, Freedom was a real let-down. How do people use their freedom? How can freedom some time lead people astray? Why are so many middle-class Americans depressed and unhappy with their lives? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Luckily, David Sedaris has a new book...

Orange is the New Black

Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison by Piper Kerman


Thirty-something Piper Kerman spent nearly 15 months in a minimum security prison for her involvement in a drug ring shortly after college. Orange is the New Black" is a detailed reflection on her time behind bars in Danbury, CT. I was prepared for stories of sad lives and mentally ill prisoners, but I wasn't prepared for all the privileges Kerman enjoyed behind bars--reading books for hours, taking yoga classes, and watching television with her prisonmates. At times it sounded like a college freshman dorm. If anything, this is a book with a strong voice against the absurdness of the justice system. Most of the women behind bars were in for minor drug offenses. The charge per prisoner per year? Over $30,000.

It was interesting for 200 pages and then it takes a boring drop. I wanted to hear what life was like after prison, but she stops before we can get to that part of the story.