100 Books: February Updates

I thought I read 14 books again this month, but I accidentally marked a John Irving book that I have not read as read on Good Reads, and I didn't realize it until today.  Damn it.  SO my total for the year so far is 27.  I have 7 more at my fingertips for this week and next, so I hope to get March off to a running start, and Ben bought me a thriller by one of my favorite authors for my hospital bag-- can't wait!

13.  Karin Slaughter, Criminal:  Shlock.  Bought it at Walgreens.
12.  Molly Ringwald,  When it Happens to You:  Um.
11.  Stephanie McAfee, Happily Ever Madder:  Super cute-- probably should have read the first one first?
10.  Marie Mongan, HypnoBirthing: The Mongan Method:  SO INTERESTING, but I really don't believe it.  I have breathed my way through 2 med-free births, and they had some pain, not going to lie.
9.  Jane Green, Another Piece of my Heart:  Schlock, but I read it in one night because it was so pleasant and engaging.
8.  Susan Richards Shreve, You Are the Love of My Life:  Kind of schlocky, but so engaging and more interesting characters than Green.
7.  Megan Abott, Dare Me:  A great, trashy read-- narrator has a creepy poetic voice
6.  Cynthia Gabriel, Natural Hospital Births: The Best of Both Worlds:  Terrific!  Made me LOVE our wonderful hippie hospital.  The author is a PhD medical anthropologist and a doula, so a really fascinating perspective.
5.  Amy Willis-Franklin, The Lost Saints of Tennessee:  BEAUTIFUL and really entertaining-- one of the best first novels I have read in a long time.

The last 4 are really hard to rank because they were all sensational, and they don't have much in common from genre to style.

4.  Dave Eggers, A Hologram for the King:  I never would have picked this up on my own, but I read it for a committee (best committee ever-- have 2 more awesome books to read this week for it) I am on at school.  It's great and really engaging but still pretty smart.
3.  Anne Lamott, Some Assembly Required:  Lamott is great no matter what, and this book is about her son's first son's first year.  It's a perfect book for a future MIL to read.
2.  Jenifer Block, Pushed: The Painful Truth About Childbirth and Modern Maternity Care:  HOLY SHITBALLS!  This book was fantastic!  Especially the discussion about whether or not births the way we want them (not the way hospital schedules dictate or the way absurd  malpractice fears structure them) are part of reproductive rights and the scary shit about studies linking epidurals and Pitocin to SPD and ADHD.
1.  Cheryl Strayed, Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail:  Read this book right now.  It's genius.  Funny.  Sad.  Exciting.  Total package.  Best read of the month and second-best read of the year (Still love Russo, what can I say?)