and it was said:

**i totally forgot one book. doh!
Travels
by Michael Chrichton
short stories of Chrichton's life through medical school and his subsequent travels through the world and into the psyche. he's a bit far-fetched and self-righteous some of the time, but this is a good read. who else would prepare to climb Mt. Kilamanjaro by cutting down cigarettes to 3/day? who else would tell you that his personal spirit confidant was a store-bought cactus? i enjoyed these stories as lunch-time fare. one or two of them were perfect for the lunch hour.

**end of update. ;o)

it was a hard month kids, and i decided to tackle some big dogs, so i've got a short list for ya this month.

bizzare of the bizzare, 2 of the 3 books i completed in August were audiobooks. this is mostly due to high levels of travel. i find it hard to read text when in a moving vehicle.

so my first recommendation is:
The Secret Life of Bees
by Sue Monk Kidd
WOW. this was a lot better than i thought it would be. i dont know if its an oprah pick or what, but book clubs everywhere have been gobbling this thing up. now i know why. it's a sweet story of 15 year old Lily Owen, which takes place in 1964 Georgia. Lily's mother was killed when Lily was 4, and her father, embittered by this event, treats Lily poorly. the black housekeeper, Rosaleen, takes a stand in front of the town's notorious bad boys on her way to register to vote. Lily rescues Rosaleen from an unfair jailing/beating and together, they run away to Tiburon, SC. They discover a family of 3 unique beekeeping black women. Taking refuge in this house leads Lily to many self-realizations and a lot of healing via beekeeping and real love. this book has a lot more depth to it than i expected. the narrator sounds/thinks/acts like a 15 year old through-and-through and i enjoyed every revelation and marvel that appeared.

my next endeavor was the third installation of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
by Anne Brashares
the summer before they all depart for college! more coming-of-age decisions and scenarios. i enjoyed the development of 2 of the girls (Lena & Bee) as the author followed through with thier character development from the previous book. the other two girls (Carmen & Tibby) didnt seem to carry much over, and it frustrated me. i discussed this story with my mom and sister, who also read the series as voraciously as i did. we decided there needs to be one more book in this series. luckily, when i googled the sisterhood, it appears that a new book is coming soon to a bookstore near you! yay.

and finally,
Kafka on the Shore
by Murakami Haruki
A very different book than what i'm used to. i've indulged in fantastical fiction, noir fiction and all things psychological and supernatural this year. but this one takes the cake for "wierdest book yet". Kafka Tamura is a 15 year old runaway who finds himself searching for his forgotten mother and sister in a small town, private library near the shore in Japan. his story co-incides with Mr. Nakata's story: an old man who was mysteriously "bewitched" as a child and has become a simple-minded man who can talk to cats. Kafka, Mr. Nakata and Kafka's mother are all intertwined in this sexual/sensual murder-mystery-esque story. if you want to explore something totally out of the ordinary, i recommend this book. it's well-written, but has some very graphic scenes. overall rating of: bizzare.

i did finish a real book, but not until the 3rd of september, so you'll get to read about that one next time around. :o)