The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, by David Wroblewski

This is the book for Oprah's book club this week. She says she loved this book. I thought it was good. Not at all an upper.

Edgar Sawtelle is a mute. His family runs a dog breeding business. Edgar's estranged uncle returns home after several years away. After his father dies of unknown causes and his uncle seduces his mother Edgar runs away from home. He learns about adulthood while on the run, and decides to return home.

Parts of the book were a little abstract for my liking. An entertaining story. It has over 500 pages and I read it in a little less than a week.

All in all, one and a half thumbs up, the missing half thumb is because I didn't appreciate the ending.

Angle of Repose, by Wallace Stegner

I had zero expectations coming in to this book. It was good. I had no idea what it was about, it was recommended to me by someone (I don't remember who). But everyone that I know who has read said it was a good book. Even when I was flying up to my dad's for a girls weekend, the pilot walked past me as I was boarding the plane and said, 'Good book.'

It is about Lyman Ward, the grandson of Susan Ward. He is writing his grandmother's autobiography. So the story is partly about her too. Susan grew up in the Hudson River Valley and marries Oliver Ward who is an engineer for coal mines in the west (circa 1870-1880). It talkes about her marital struggles and their life together. We also learn the story of Lyman and his own personal struggles.

It was not a happy book. But entertaining.