Reading while on vacation...

We were away for 10 days and, even though I didn't read much while we were in Florida or on a cruise ship (no, we didn't have any power outages), I did read a lot at the airport and on the plane. I started with Lorrie Moore's collection of short stories Birds of America because my MFA mentor suggested I read "Terrific Mother." I loved Moore's brutal honesty, her unflinching look at humanity, in all her stories, some of which I read before but no matter. They were wonderful. Then it was on to A Mouthful of Air by Amy Koppelman. This is a heartbreaking book about a woman who has returned home after a suicide attempt to her 1 year old son, her husband, and her very complicated life. This book is not for the faint of heart but I loved it. Koppelman writes with excruciating detail of every unfolding emotion main character Julie experiences and the result is that the reader ends up feeling as emotional frayed as Julie. After that, I needed something a little lighter (the Bible would have been lighter) and I was glad to read Ann Tyler's Earthly Possessions. Sometimes I find Tyler a little fluffy for my taste but this one I liked. Maybe I was just in the mood for something that didn't leave me devastated. Upon my return home, I picked up a copy of the New Yorker so I could read Sarah Braunstein's "Marjorie Lemke." I love short stories and ones like this that are so beautifully crafted, so delicately written--it was worth the $6.99 for the New Yorker. (who knew the New Yorker was $6.99??). Now I'm reading Faulkner and I have to say, I think I was smarter in high school when I first read The Sound and the Fury because now it seems really hard. Not that I don't appreciate the language but, honestly, I'm not 100% sure what's going on! I'll keep on, though.