24. 12/26/09 Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer (326 pages)

Karli and I went to see Jonathan Safran Foer speak at Bowdoin last year. He was great- funny and articulate. After that, I really felt like I should read his books. I think I like this one better than Everything is Illuminated, but it was very depressing. Oskar's father was killed on 9/11, and he spends the rest of the book on a massive scavenger hunt across New York to solve a mystery about him that may or may not be real. Oskar made me incredibly sad, but he was also very endearing, and it was easier to read about the fallout from 9/11 from a child's perspective. Basically, I really liked the book, but it gave me heavy boots.