The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz.
It's pretty awesome so far. My limited Spanish - as in, able to read or listen to Spanish and get the gist of what they're talking about, but can't remember how to actually speak it because that was not emphasized in four years of the language - makes it fine for me...but torture for my mother who is also reading it. She took French in school. She knows no Spanish, aside from the obligatory, 'Hola.'
Also, how can I seem like less of a snotty **** when people try to talk books with me at work? If one more person asks me, "What did you think of Twilight/Fifty Shades of Grey/Nicholas Sparks novel," I'm going to explode. My default response is, "Oh, it was interesting (if I've read it) but I don't remember too much about it, honestly, because I was reading several books at once. Or, "Haven't read it yet, but I have a huge stack of books I need to read before I can move on to anything else."
Is there any alternative method that will shut them the **** up without sounding like a bitch? Because I worry my replies warrant a follow-up.
I also don't want to say that said book is "not my bag," because I think that would make me sound just as snotty, and/or condescending.
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It's a hand-me-down, the thoughts are broken
Perhaps they're better left unsung
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