Bad Mother by Ayelet Waldman

I have nothing nice to say about this book. It was self-absorbed, congratulatory, full of judgement regarding anyone with a different political take than the other and really disturbing.

Didn't like it, wouldn't recommend it and (edited for not nice-ness)

Beatrice and Virgil by Yann Martel

Wow. There are certain books that stay with you. That are haunting. That change how you think of things. That make you feel like you aren't sure what happened....but that something important has taken place and maybe you better go back and read it again and figure this out. That you should read more about the subject, the author, that you should figure out what is real and what was fantasy.

These types of books are few and far between (The Sparrow, Life of Pi, The History of Love and now Beatrice and Virgil).

This book was so engrossing. I don't think it has chapters so once you start it, its hard to take a break. And then once you finish it, you find the need to just sit and think about it and then think about it. I know that many people I know will hate this book. It is a book for READERS.

So what's it about? Hahaha. Throughout this book, people are asking 'what's it about?'. Some stories are about nothing and everything. This story is about 2 Henry's and their written art and taxidermy and the holocaust and death and loss and love and how fake hapiness might be the first rung on the philosophical ladder that leads to real happiness. I loved this book. LOVED this book. I am glad Yann Martel is a writer. Thank you Yann Martel.

Immanuel's Veins by Ted Dekker

This book was okay...but the flyleaf and introduction were so bizarre that I was distracted the whole time. The first 3 pages of the books are testimonials from readers (even though the book is hard-cover so I assume it was the first run?) about how amazing the book is, the author is, etc. And there is verbage along the lines of, 'read more to see how this book is changing lives' UH What?

Basically this is a vampire story. And not a good one. Well, maybe it would have been good if there wasn't this random, odd, glowing minibook of raving testimonials.

HOWEVER, I did become interested in the author, who has the typical glowering head shoot in the back of the book. His parents are (were?) missionaries who worked with headhunting tribes in Indonesia. It seems like his real life is maybe more interesting than he stories if they are all like this one. I won't be reading his other books, but would love to read his biography/memoir (if he ever writes one).

The Island by Elin Hilderbrand

I have read a couple of books with this title and I have to say I LOVED THIS BOOK. I am excited to read other books by this author. This is the perfect book to read in the winter in Ohio or on the beach in Jamaica.

This is the story of Birdie and India who are sisters and Chess and Tate who are Birdie's daughters. After Chess has broken her engagement, the four women are off to spend a month in the family beach house on an island off Nantucket. The house has limited electricity and limited running water (and to me) sounded like paradise. Also in the cast of characters are love interests to each of the 4 women. This was a beautiful story of how love changes over time, what love is, and the relationships between women, specifically mothers and daughters and sisters.

Revenge of the Kudzu Debutantes: A Novel by Cathy Holton

Three friends, living outside Atlanta, decide to take control of their lives and get revenge on the husbands who have done them wrong. They will lie, cheat, and blackmail in order to regain control over their lives.

This book is cute and fun and interesting.

Bad Heir Day by Wendy Holden

The best way to describe Bad Heir Day is to refer to it as 'British'. It is very much in the vein of Bridget Jones. Anna, the main character is dating a complete ass of a man and suddenly isn't and is homeless to boot. She accepts the job of a writer's assistant, but really becomes the live-in nanny to the worst child alive. She does meet another nanny who offers inspiration and advice. There are several zany adventures and a nice, wrapped-up ending. A great book to take on vacation. I liked it, but eventually will forget all about it.

The Cookbook Collector: A Novel by Allegra Goodman

The flyleaf refers to the author as a modern-day Jane Austen. Um, yeah. Why would you do that to someone? This book was good, but clearly, it was going to be a disappointment. The story lacks the humor of Austen, but it was good.

It's about two sisters who are complete opposites. One is about to be rich in the dot.com explosion. The other is a wanderer who can't seem to get it together but is blissfully unaware (they are no Elinor and her sister in Sense and Sensibility). It was interesting and a good read.