I'm Back! My California Trip and Books

I'm back from California!

You guys, I miss it so much. It was such an amazing trip. I had never been to the west coast before, and I had no idea that it was so beautiful. Everything felt so foreign. Like mountains everywhere? That are actually technically hills and are completely normal? My midwestern heart could hardly handle it.

We spent a day in San Francisco itself, which was wild. My legs still burn from it. While we were there, we visited Fisherman's Wharf, the Golden Gate Bridge, Coit Tower, and Chinatown (kind of). And we went to City Lights, a beautiful bookstore, where I picked up Fram by Steve Himmer. I loved looking at the poetry books that I'm not artistic enough to understand. Only problem with San Francisco was the public transportation! It's actually horrible. How does anybody get anywhere? Who would want to own a car in a place where it looks like your car will actually start tumbling down the street at any point?

One day we spent on the Berkeley campus with my brother. Because my college campus is some buildings strewn about downtown Chicago, I was blown away by the beauty of this campus and the town surrounding it. There we went to the great Pegasus Books where I FINALLY got Wallcreeper by Nell Zink. We also stopped by Shakespeare & Co Books where my boyfriend got a book about unusual creatures. I think Pegasus Books was the bookstore highlight of my trip. Did I mention there was a cat?
I was supposed to go to my first ever frat party that night, but it didn't end up working out. I guess some things just aren't in the cards for nerds like me.

Our last day there, we visited Tilden Regional Park for a few miles of hiking. It was INCREDIBLE. I legitimately felt like I was in a jungle. I loved it. And once we hiked up to the highest peak, we saw fog roll into the bay at sunset. Unreal. Can I go back now?


The Books I Read:

• Soil by Jamie Kornegay - It took me weeks to finish this book. Luckily the airplane rides trapped me with it and I got all the way through. I think I mostly liked it. Well, I liked the idea of it. The paranoia and the darkness of it all. But the execution left me mostly disappointed.

• Our Endless Numbered Days by Claire Fuller - This book brought me back to life. I thought I was in trouble reading another book about a survivalist right after one that kind of let me down. But, man oh man, this was a book. I couldn't put it down. I loved it.

What did you read this week? What did I miss?