tiffany's spot

I just finished reading a collection of short stories called Double Dutch for my book club. It's been a while since I read short stories as opposed to novels, but I have to say, this one was weird and a little dark and kinda spooky, and I really liked it! The very first story is about a single mom who has a fairly important and well paying job, but she doesn't have any friends, or hobbies, and her baby has no daddy. Well, I'm sure he does have a daddy somewhere , but in this story she's single-handedly raising this kid. She admits to not bonding with him, but insists that she does love him. She talks about how he's a horrible child. He doesn't share, doesn't make friends at daycare, is always in trouble for hitting (he's now 2). Then, he starts talking in his sleep. She's convinced it's Arabic, and that her son is the reincarnation of a terrorist. Not even kidding. She starts researching known terrorists who died shortly before his concepti...

 I ordered The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman for my book club. Imagine my pleasant surprise when Amazon sent me a signed copy! Also, this is definitely what I'll be doing for the rest of this morning. If you haven't read it I suggest doing so.

I just read Secret Daughter by Shilpi Somaya Gowda. I read the entire thing yesterday. It was amazing. The story follows two women; one from a village in India and one from America. The women couldn't be more different. The American woman is a doctor and married to a doctor. Her husband is from India, but his family is well-to-do and spares no expense for their family. The other woman is from a hard-working village where money is scarce and little girls are a burden. When the Indian woman has her first child it is a girl and her husband takes the baby from her and he and his brother bury her. She is not spoken of again. The second child is also a girl, and the baby's mother makes an hours-long journey into Mumbai to leave the baby at an orphanage, where she is eventually adopted by the American woman and her Indian husband. The story is beautifully written, and is told from the points of view of the wives, the husbands, and eventually the daughter. It brought me to tears a n...