Feeling bookish

What are you reading these days?

I've been awash in a sea of novels in addition to my usual litany of parenting/child-rearing tomes.  Here's what's on my bookshelf:

• I'm over halfway through Madeline Levine's The Price of Privilege, a book that's a must-read for every parent in Silicon Valley (or anywhere else as materially wealthy as this place).  If you seek to raise a kid who's happy and thoughtful despite the pressures of adolescence in a higher-than-average-performance area, this book will inspire a lot of reflection and make you reconsider how to handle your kids' responsibilities and accountabilities.  I can't say enough about it and plan to gift it to friends who haven't read it.

• I'm making my way through Stieg Larsson's popular trilogy, having finished The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and just begun The Girl who Played with Fire.  I didn't love the first one, though I was happy with the way it picked up halfway through; the friend lending me the books tells me that the second one is incredible.  The characters are interesting enough to keep me reading and mourning the death of the author after the third book.

• At my strong suggestion, my book club is reading Girl in Translation by Jeanne Kwok.  I'm planning to re-read it for our meeting.  Click on the book's link to see my review for the (former) Silicon Valley Moms Blog book club.

• I can't wait for the upcoming From Left to Write book club featuring our first cookbook, The Earthbound Cook.  The granola clusters are so good that my husband has eaten his way through two batches since I received the book a week ago!  There's lots more in there I want to try, as I'm having a bit of a cooking renaissance.

• With Dash in kindergarten and Petunia rapidly approaching middle school, this year I'll re-read Real Boys by William Pollack and Reviving Ophelia by Mary Pipher.  I don't know if these books count as self-help or child-help, but, either way, I use them as touchpoints to reflect on raising resilient kids.

I have a lot more on my docket, but those are the ones that are pulled from the shelf and waiting.  If you have any books to recommend, I'm all ears!  Or should I say eyes?