Since we got our delivery date for the Airstream, I’ve been waking up in the middle of the night and very early in the morning. The picture above is sunrise on Lake Whatcom. While we were on this walk, Curtis found a ball and was excited to have some off-leash time.

During my bouts of insomnia I read. This is what we’ve read so far this year:

We’re currently reading The Help. I had started the first chapter a few times and it didn’t grab me, but fortunately this last time I was looking for something to read I couldn’t find any other options and I’m glad I did. This book is a page turner. I know it’s in theaters now and Marissa Mayer said that the movie is better than the book, but I glad I’m reading it first.

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I first heard about The Triple Agent: The al-Qaeda Mole who Infiltrated the CIA on NPR. The events in this book take place from the beginning of the Obama administration and to the killing of Osama Bin Laden. The book reads like a novel and makes a very complicated subject very readable. Bri and I found this book fascinating.

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I always thought Tina Fey is funny, but I didn’t realize she’s my soul sister until I read Bossypants. Tina is 6 months older than I am and the commonalities we share were a little freaky and made the book extra enjoyable. To top it off, the only time I had insomnia while reading her book was her insomnia chapter.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is a fascinating story about a woman and her cells that were used for cancer research. The book covers both the story of Henrietta and the story of her cells. Henrietta’s cells are still used for the majority of the cancer research done since her death in 1952. I liked this book a lot, but it was a touch too scientific at times.

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I know I’m a little late to the circus with Water for Elephants but I’m glad I finally read it. I read this while Brian was reading Under the Banner of Heaven which I really couldn’t get into. Water for Elephants was good, but not my favorite book on this list. We didn’t see the movie because the casting seemed to be really far from what we imagined.

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Our friends Cheryl and Brad recommended Plum Island. It is a fun campy detective novel where NYPD detective John Corey goes to Long Island to recover from a gunshot wound but somehow gets involved in a murder mystery. There’s some good suspense in this book and the reading is easy.

We really enjoyed the Andre Agassi book Open. Neither of us play tennis, but his story is fascinating. We read it because it was ghost written by J.R. Moehringer who wrote The Tender Bar, a book I thought was beautifully written. In the book Open Agassi shares how he wrestled with his demons and comes out on top.

We started 2011 reading The Hunger Games trilogy. It’s young adult page turning fun. We’ve recommended this to everyone. I’ve heard some criticism over the 2nd and 3rd books not being as good as the first, but we liked them all.

Can’t wait for the movie! Link: See trailer

We’re almost done with The Help (yes we read the same books at the same time – you can do that with kindles that share the same user account) – we need some recommendations for what to read next!

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