Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella


I am not sure why I picked this book up. I have read other books by this same author and they are alright, but not really my thing. Basically a woman, Lara, attends her great aunt Sadie's funeral only to become haunted by the Sadie's ghost.

Sadie wants Lara to find her lost necklace and to lighten up and have some fun. Various hi-jinx occur. Oh the fun.

Boring. Not much to talk about. Good vacation book.

the Law of Love by Laura Esquivel


I could not get through this book. It was just too odd. I did love Like Water for Chocolate, but saw it first in movie form. Maybe that helped?

Cream Puff Murder by Joanne Fluke


Do not read this if you are dieting. This is from a series of books that revolve around the owner of a bakery. At the end of every chapter there is a recipe for cookies, cake, pie, etc. Not only does the owner of the bakery make each of this desserts and describe them in detail but she also solves crimes. The book was alright, nothing that will change your life (except that you might gain five pounds). I think this would be a perfect book to read around the holidays where you want something fun and are looking for some great things to bake.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeanette Walls


Jeanette Walls' parents shouldn't have had children.
This book is horrifying in its details of her childhood. Her parents could at best be described as mentally unstable, completely self-absorbed and immature. There were images and stories in this book that I will never forget and will never be able to get out of my head. I hated this book and wish I could erase it from my mind. It was good for discussion, but it is kind of like seeing a car crash, you can't look away but wish you hadn't seen it.

Standing in the Rainbow by Fannie Flagg


This is one of my favorite books of all times. I looooooove this book.
The story is simple and homey and comforting. The main charecter is a 10-year old boy. His mom is the local radio personality, Neighbor Dorothy. She broadcasts a daily radio show from their front room with the help of her mother-in-law, local celebrities and neighbors who just stop by. The story takes place over time as all kinds of change come to the tiny town of Elmwood Springs, MO.
LOVE THIS BOOK. It's like chicken noodle soup. :)

A Redbird Christmas by Fannie Flagg


I love Fannie Flagg. She is like fried chicken and gravy....pure comfort reading. The story is centered on a town in Alabama. Oswald, from Chicago, is told he has one year to live so he packs up his bags and ends up in Lost River. He wants to die in peace, but the people of Lost River won't let him. It is a sweet, heart-warming story.

Rebecca's Promise, etc. (Adam County Trilogy) by Jerry S. Eiche


An interesting fact about Ohio...there are a lot of Amish and Mennonite people living here. AND there is a whole genre of Amish/Mennonite fiction. This is not the best example of Amish fiction, but it is a sweet, peaceful romance trilogy. If you are looking for something that is comforting, this would be a good choice. However, you should check first to see if any Beverly Lewis or Wanda Brunstetter books are available.

Mr and Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy: Two Shall Become One by Sharon Lathan


I should have known I would hate this book after reading the introduction. The author starts off by saying she had never read any Jane Austen before she went to see the MOVIE Pride and Prejudice. So then she loved the movie, read the books and decided she was qualified to continue the stories of the brilliant Austen. NO THANK YOU, Ma'am.
As a person who has read every Jane Austen book a million times (starting from when I was 12) I feel a bit possessive of Miss Austen and don't think it's okay for any old movie loving person to presume to write books in her voice. I got about 10 pages into this book and did in no way find any of these characters familiar. For all that is holy in the world, at one point she refers to Darcy as WILLIAM!!!! (which is apparently what her Lizzie calls him as a shortening of Fitzwilliam). DEAR LORD WOMAN!
I had to put this down and walk away.
Oh the sacrilege.

Did I mention there are MORE of these?

Dune Road by Jane Green


I HATED every character in this book. HATED THEM.

The main character is the mother of 2 who got a divorce because she and her husband grew apart and she just didn't know who she was anymore. So she gets her life back together, moves into a smaller house and becomes the assistant to a famous writer who is some 20 years older than her. She becomes friends with a gorgeous yoga teacher but then gets really bitchy when the yoga teacher starts to date her boss. Is she interested in her boss? No. Apparently she just doesn't want her friend to date him. Then her half sister who she has no idea exists shows up and there is all kinds of drama there. She has constant run-ins with her ex-husband and always thinks, now why did we get a divorce? UGH. I hate this woman. In the end, everything works out with not a single loose thread. I know this is a book that the masses will love. So not for me. Which I can only blame myself for as I have read other books by this author and didn't like them either. (Swapping Lives)

Virgina Woolf A Writer's Diary


I thought this book was a diary of Virgina Woolf (who I have never read anything by) but it's more of a diary of HOW she wrote, her 'process'. I just couldn't get into and was so disappointed. I also picked up a couple of her novels and found that I just couldn't get into them. So sad. I still no absolutely nothing about Virginia Woolf who has been called one of America's best novelists.


Overview from Amazon: An invaluable guide to the art and mind of Virginia Woolf, drawn by her husband from the personal record she kept over a period of twenty-seven years. Included are entries that refer to her own writing, others that are clearly writing exercises; accounts of people and scenes relevant to the raw material of her work; and comments on books she was reading. Edited and with a Preface by Leonard Woolf; Indices

The Odds by Kathleen George

This was a good book. There are a couple of overlapping stories. I guess this is part of a series of detective stories featuring homicide chief Richard Christie and his team of detectives but they were merely a sideline to the main characters. The storyline that was of most interest to me was that of 4 siblings who have just been abandoned by their losery step-mom. Determined not to end up in foster care, the kids decide to tell no one and to fend for themselves. In the process they meet the man who runs the pizza shop across the road who gives them a free pizza when they can't afford to pay for it. Later, one of the kids finds the pizza guy near death lying in an abandoned building with another man dead beside him. The kids adopt him as a project and nurse him back to health. All this runs concurrently with a story of a drug dealing ring, lots of hodlums and the police seeking to figure out just what is going on. It was an interesting story, very well written and an easy read.