Favorite Books: "The Elegance of the Hedgehog"

In all honesty, I usually avoid New York Times' Bestsellers. I found The Da Vinci Code to be rather laughable, never mind the tackiness of Fifty Shades of Gray (I read the former, not bothering with the latter). 

I had heard the name The Elegance of the Hedgehog, but I did not read it until it was heavily recommended by my sister-in-law. I had found the name a tad off-putting, thinking it was about some sort of blithering philosophy, over-bloated with its own importance. However, nearly as soon as I began, I was scrabbling about for spare bookmarks as Muriel Barbery's prose knocked my socks off. 

The book, while very, very deep, is not lacking in humor. I suppose that is a talent of the French (or is it anyone non-American?): to transmit thinking concepts while not taking themselves seriously. 

The protagonists are relative loners, content in their own company with their own thoughts. I like characters like that; capable of maintaining fascinating conversation with their ownselves without being narcissistic. 

By the time I was done, my copy was stuffed chock-full of paper scraps, marking a multitude of fabulous insights.   

My sister-in-law's next bestselling must read: All the Light We Cannot See.