Kierkegaard A Single Life

This was a good biography by Stephen Backhouse.  I used to read a bit of philosophy when I was a teenager but what I most enjoyed was reading biographies about them.  These philosophers were usually eccentrics.  I haven't read anything on philosophy for more than ten years.  However watching the first two seasons of "The Good Place" made me want to pick them up again so I got this.  Kierkegaard was a Christian philosopher.  More than twenty pages of the book goes into details on each of his specific works.  You get to read about the love of his life Regine, who he shafted.  (The book says incompatibility but I think Kierkegaard being scared had something to do with it.)  I also learned about how Kierkegaard criticized many thinkers of his day, most later forgotten.  I didn't know this side of him so I learned something.

Firefly Hollow

This book didn't rock my world but it was cute.  It's about a vole, cricket, and a firefly.  The cricket wants to be a catcher for baseball.  The firefly wants to fly to the moon.  The cricket and the firefly become friends with a human boy who is currently dealing with his friend's death.  They are amazed to become friends with the boy despite the misconceptions about the "giant" creatures.  They are able to somewhat fulfill their dreams.  The boy is able to move on with his life.  It's a good book for kids to read because it teaches about the value of friendship.  

Extraordinary Adventures

I picked this up randomly at the library.  It said it was done by the author of “Big Fish” and that was a movie done by Tim Burton in recent years that I thought was ok.  A man in his 30’s gets a phone call about a free vacation.  The catch is you have to watch a timeshare presentation.  Only the operator makes it mandatory that he bring a companion with him. The character Edsel has never been in a relationship so this sounds hard for him.  Only within the next few weeks, he manages to get three women interested in him.  They are an older woman from his apartment complex Coco, an eccentric woman from work Sheila, and a sassy policewoman.  There are two subplots about a drug-dealing neighbor and his mother who is losing it.  This book didn’t change my world but it was cute.  I was happy with who he ended up with.  

Iris

This was an ok biography about Iris Murdoch written by her husband.  The one thing that is clear about this book is that John Bayley loved his wife.  He talks about her Alzheimer's and her writing.  He even discusses her unfaithfulness without getting mad about it.  I’ve read a couple of books by her and I love her writing especially “The Bell.”  I’m going to read another biography about her since I want to learn more about her writing process. Also, this doesn’t discuss her childhood at all.  However, I feel like I got to learn more about Iris so it was worth the read.