I Laugh, I Cry, I Do Things To Embarrass Myself....

I’m a very emotive person when I read. I laugh, I cry, I yell and throw things (generally not in anyone’s directions, but I’d be lying if I said that there had never been any slip-ups). Many books have left me feeling happy or angry or just plain confused, but this week is about the first book that pops into my head when I think of a particular emotion.

Continuing this theme, here is the next batch of book moods:

• Hysterical: Let’s Pretend This Never Happened: (A Mostly True Memoir) (Jenny Lawson)
• I should have been more prepared given the regularity with which I follow the Bloggess, but, not thinking things through, I started reading this book when I was in public. Had to put it down after awhile because the people around me seemed nervous about my manic laughter.
• Frustrated: A Sliver of Shadow (Allison Pang)
• When I finished this book, I just stared at it for a few seconds, thinking, WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?!?!?!?
• Sad: First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers (Loung Ung)
• There really are no words.
• Confident: Animorphs #12: The Reaction (K. A. Applegate)
• Sixth grade. My parents wanted me to go to the school roller skating party. I wanted to stay home and read. As a compromise, I went with my book hidden in my jacket, found an empty table and spent the night reading. Was not at all worried about kids making fun of me. Why? Because no one looks cooler than a kid reading Animorphs. No. One.
• Embarrassed: Midnight Sun (Stephanie Meyer)
• I’m not embarrassed that I read the Twilight series. That I went on Stephanie Meyer’s website and read the unfinished version of the story from Edward’s point of view? A little uncomfortable. That when I was asked by someone else how long it was, I didn’t say “around 250 pages,” but instead the unfortunately specific, “you know, just like 264 pages”? Horrifying.
• Happy: The Autobiography of Santa Claus (Jeff Guinn)
• I’ve read this book every year since I first got it in 2007. The first sentence of the Foreword was more than enough to suck me in: “You’re right to believe in me.” I always think, Damn straight, and happily settle in with my hot chocolate and the promise of magic.

·         Mischievous: The Wraith Squadron (Aaron Allston)

o       The number of pranks that these characters pull on each other always makes me want to play a trick on the Roomie. Or really, whoever I happen to be reading around. But mostly the Roomie.

·         Disgusted: The Spitting Image: Myth, Memory, and the Legacy of Vietname (Jerry Lembcke)

o       I had to read this book for a history class in college. The author starts off by condemning all those who traffic in rampant generalizations and then continued to do just that throughout the rest of his book. I might have been able to accept that if he said he was writing an opinion piece, but more than once he discussed the objectivity of his study. Roomie had to listen to a lot of yelling while I was reading this one.

Now, let’s hear what you’ve got.