Seriously Literate Book Club: August

I just made my own Book Club. You like it? I do. Now the fun part...

Skinny Bitch:Freedman, Barnouin
Meh. If I weren't such a foodie*, I may have found it more persuasive...And while some of the points about additives and growth hormones were really interesting, I just can't commit to a strictly organic, herbivore lifestyle. Plus I don't like fruit all that much, and they're like, obsessed with it. Not for me. You vegans, however, may get some great food tips. Note: Not that you'd be offended by crass language if you're reading a book with the word Bitch in the title, but just a heads up...they like the four letter words. As do I, so that was the best part, in my opinion.
*Is it pretentious to use the word foodie? Feel free to exchange that statement with 'if I didn't enjoy being such a fatkid' if it helps my image.

Water for Elephants: Sara Gruen
I Loved this book. Capital L. My only complaint is that there are a bajillion supporting characters, and I couldn't keep any of them straight. But it didn't detract from anything, and seeing that it took place on a traveling circus, having a bunch of extraneous people around was unavoidable. The characters I needed to know and follow I did.
The relationships blossomed throughout the book, whether they were romantic, platonic, boss/employee or even animal/human...I never felt like anything jumped out of nowhere or was forced. And even more importantly, the ending was perfect. I would so read this again. I'll even see the movie when it comes out next year. I'm not sure I see Robert Pattinson as the main character, but it's not as if I've ever seen the kid act, so I'll keep those reservations to myself.

Girl With a Pearl Earring: Tracy Chevalier
I watched this movie a couple weeks ago not actually knowing it was based on a fictional book (yeah, I'm slow sometimes)...I thought it was a bit confusing, honestly, but it was really pretty to look at...so after the bosslady told me it was like, her favorite book ever, I figured I'd take a chance on it.
And it was lovely. It put together all the pieces the movie glazed over, not surprisingly, and was so descriptive I almost stopped picturing Scarlett Johansson as the main character, Griet, about half way through. (The bad news is that I catch myself calling KittyH Griet all the damn time now. Greta...Griet...you follow.)
I was a bit surprised by Griet's underlying sadness throughout the story...the movie portrays quite a few bits of happiness to offset her grief, but her true feelings show through much more clearly in the book. It's understandable, given her situation, but I still wasn't expecting to feel for her as much as I did.

What's next? I'm taking any and all suggestions. The library has all six of the books I've requested on backorder, so I'm in limbo. Guess it's back to Netflix for me...