What I've been reading

"Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" by John Berendt. I'd seen the movie based on it a couple times but just recently got around to reading the book, which is really a loosely-related collection of essays about live in Savannah, Ga. in the late 1980s. There are many more eccentric characters in the book than they could cram into the movie. I found this highly entertaining and very readable.

and

"Lucky," a memoir by Alice Sebold. It's the story of her rape at age 18 while a freshman in college, how she prosecuted the rapist and how it affected her life. The book is an intense read but surprisingly funny in places. While I wouldn't say it's "uplifting" exactly, it's not as much of a downer as you might expect, and I want to read more by her.

My full comments on both books here.