WHERE'D YOU GO, BERNADETTE * WALDEN ON WHEELS

Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple - The cover and title suggest fun chic lit which is exactly what Bernadette is.  A frustrated Seattle mom with a precocious daughter and techie husband, she has multitude of issues in all areas of her life.  She finally reaches rock bottom (for her) and disappears into thin air.  It's one of the year's hottest books and it's a page turner..... most people are raving about it, but for me, although it's not rave-worthy, I can see why they're loving it.  It's an easy story with a fun voice.  Walden on Wheels by Ken Ilgunas - On the Road from Debt to Freedom - Ken Ilgunas graduated from college with an unmarketable degree and $32,000 in debt.  He had no idea about how he was going to pay down the debt, he just knew that he had to do it as fast as possible.  And he did it.  In about four years.  The only way it gets done.  By being single-minded and conscientious about his goal.  I'm with Ken when it comes to debt.  It's a bad bad thing.  I only buy what I can afford to buy with cash. If I don't have the cash, then I don't buy the thing.  Simple.  If the thing costs more than I have, then I save up for it.  I've been like this my entire life, and the few times I've borrowed money, I've always paid it back super fast while denying myself all kinds of other things so that I could erase the debt.  Ken's story is interesting because he actually took it back in the other direction by simplifying his life down to basics, which I never did.  I like more than my basics!  Thanks to Christina Askounis for the recommendation on Facebook.  She is also acknowledged by the author which was cool to read, because during the time he was at Duke University, mentioning his classes, I was wondering if any of them were Christina's classes, and they probably were.  The whole story is good.  Ken goes to live in Coldfoot Alaska, he hitchhikes, he becomes a Vandweller and a really good story teller.

TELL THE WOLVES I'M HOME

Tell The Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt - In addition to the obvious brilliance of the title and the cover, this is my current best book and top recommendation if anyone asks.  And maybe even if they don't ask, because I just wanted to savor each and every page, and I did for the past 4 days.  Tell The Wolves I'm Home is beautifully written, and about love, and our narrator and protagonist is a 14 year old who is both clueless and wise beyond her years.  She has this wonderful honest voice, though;  it's the kind of story I've been loving since I was that same 14 year old girl, on the edge of adulthood, and so smart, but still so far away from my future.  It's about June, Finn, Greta and Toby, New York, and secrets and misunderstandings, but these few words don't capture the magic and emotion that make up this beautiful story.