It Chooses You by Miranda July

I have a bit of a fascination with Miranda July. Her previous movie You Me and Everyone We Know was oddly entertaining, so I was intrigued when I read a review of this new book, published by McSweeney's that arose from her writer's block while working on her new movie, The Future . So David got me the book and the movie for Christmas. The day after Christmas is one of my favorite days of the year - stay in my pj's and read my Christmas gifts - and I sat on the couch and read It Chooses You in one sitting. As July's website below details, she took a detour into the live of individuals advertising in The Penny Saver and spent her days fueling her creative process by meeting and interviewing an bizarrely fascinating assortment of individuals advertising items for sale. The book really informed my viewing of the movie later that night - a movie I may not have enjoyed much at all without the back story. So a wonderful day of this Christmas break was spent with the quirky creativity of Miranda July.

Miranda July's Website

My Abandonment by Peter Rock

This was our December book club book, recommended by Dave Edmonds because his "other book club" had had such a lively discussion about it. And so did we. Based on a true story of a young girl and her father who were found living in the wild in Oregon, the book only features Caroline's side of the story. We decided her narration is unreliable and discussed the many questions left unanswered by the book. Even those who came to book club convinced that the story was predictable, left with questions. All in all - a great discussion book.