Last night I finished The Memory Keepers Daughter. It was a quick read and it was so-so. I did not love it, but was glad that I read it. Towards the end I was basically skimming because I was getting terribly bored. I rushed through the last 100 pages so that I didn't have to spend another night reading this book. I didn't particularly like the ending, nor did I love the characters. I thought all the characters blamed everyone else but themselves for their problems and never really owned up to their mistakes. Again, I found myself hating the mother character (what is with me and hating the mother figures in books...I don't have any pent up rage against my own mother) and not liking the way she shunned her husband and ignored her fault in her miserable marriage. The dad was pinned to be the root of the problem (which, admittedly he made huge mistakes) but his wife did nothing to make the situations any better. I didn't like the son's character either, he was a shit and needed to be slapped around. I found the basis of the book to be off and kind of out there (I guess that's the point of a novel and creative writing). I don't know if it was the actual book that left me feeling high and dry (totally not ridden hard and put away wet), but maybe the fact that after reading The Shadow of the Wind, this book just couldn't compete.

I started reading The Kite Runner last night and so far it's okay, I will update you when I get a little farther in.