Books I've Read

It's been a while since I've talked about any of my recent books... of course, taking 2 classes at the community college has kept me from having any time to read at all, but I have snuck in a few audio books... so I guess I'll catch up for the year so far.... here's my books for January-April.  In no particular order.....

The Race by Clive Cussler  
Another fun adventure novel about the charming, smart and just plain awesome turn of the century detective, Isaac Bell.  I've discovered  I really have a love for turn of the century novels.  Even without the British accents I love so much, I think it's just the time period that fascinates me.  (Not sure why... no running water for bathrooms or electricity yet in most of the country!)  This one was all about a cross country airplane race and it did not disappoint.  It was entertaining, interesting and exciting.  Not Book Club deep discussion material, but enjoyable fluff reading.  Details about the very first flying machines often went over my head, but I still enjoyed it none the less.

Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James

This was our most recent book club book.  I was only half way through the book on the night we had book club, so I didn't get to  participate in the delicious discussion about the newest Pemberley scandal.  This isn't a classic Jane Austen, but it is a tribute to her amazing works and I thouroughly enjoyed it.  Sadly, it was more from Darcy's point of view than it was from Lizzie's, but it was interesting to see how the Darcy's and Bingley's have evolved in the few years after the double wedding.  All the favorites from Pride and Prejudice were brought back, including our not so faves like Wickham and Mrs. Young.   And references were made to characters from Persuasion and Emma, which delighted me!  All in all,  an enjoyable romp through England in 1903, despite the serious subject of a murder on the grounds of Pemberley.  

The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
I seem to be reading Malcolm Gladwell's books in reverse order.  I first heard of this book many years ago, when I lived in Dublin.  The dear friend who worked so hard to get me to come to Book Club chose this book once in our book club there.  I never had a chance to read it, and I was busy the night she hosted book club for this book, so I missed the discussion as well.  This book focuses on the way in which epidemics happen... like how a particular TV show becomes an overnight hit, or how fashion trends are made by such small groups.  Fascinating reading material, but not really life changing.  I guess I can rest assured that my posts on Facebook about whatever I'm passionate about are not going to start any kind of social epidemic.

A Member of the Family by Cesar Millan
Ever seen or heard of the Dog Whisperer?  This is a book he wrote for the masses to help ease us all into the life of being dog owners.  Max is our second dog, but we are the first t to admit we didn't do a great job with our first dog, so we definitely wanted  to do it right this time around.  Cesar's tips make perfect sense and really helped me understand how the "pack mentality" works with dogs.  I highly recommend his books if you are getting a dog, just got a dog, or struggle with managing your dog.

The Guernsey Literary Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer
Try saying that  title with a British accent... it sounds so much better than when we butcher our way through this tongue twister of a book title.  This book has to be one of my all time favorite books EVER.  And I don't give that distinction out lightly.  I was surprised that the format was so easy to follow, as the entire book is written in the form of letters going back and forth between the main characters as they retell their histories during the German occupation of WW2.   This is one of those books where you wish it was a real story... you love it that much!   If  I ever get the chance to visit Great Britain, it will not be complete without a trip to the Channel Islands!

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
Another story about WW2 from a different a angle.  I have a really hard time handling books about WW2, Nazis and concentration camps, in particular.  So I  always find it refreshing to find a book about the war that talks about other aspects of war-time life.  This book is about what life was like for the Asian immigrants who lived in Seattle during WW2.  We didn't have concentration camps, but we did throw all the Japanese living in America into "internment camps".  Not very AmericanL-like behavior.  Especially for the Japanese who were born in America and had citizenship here.  Many of them didn't even know how to speak Japanese because they'd been living in America their whole lives!  Read it... you'll love it...I promise!

The King's Speech by Mark Logue
When this movie came out, I really wanted to see it.  But my commitment to not watch rated R movies kept me away.  :(  No one is a bigger fan of Colin Firth than I am.  (And any man who can nail Mr. Darcy like he did can definitely play a king!)  When I found out there was a book, I RAN to the library to check it out.  It did not disappoint.  It was a fascinating  memoir written by the grandson of the speech therapist used by the king, Lionel Logue.  Absolutely fascinating how a self taught Aussie became such an important figure in Britian's history.  If anyone sees the King's Speech popping up on their TV guide as an edited for TV movie, I EXPECT to be told!  Can't wait to see it!

Books I’ve Read

October 2011

 

 Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

I’m embarrassed to admit I’ve never read an Agatha Christie novel before.  Good thing it got picked for Book Club or I would have never discovered how delightful these books can be!  The audio was hard to listen to at first… all the French accents were tough to understand, but after a while I got used to it.  Once I could understand everyone and learned all the names, it was very enjoyable to listen to.  I’m looking forward to many more Agatha Christie novels in my future. 

 

 

  The Weed that Strings the Hangman’s Bag by Alan Bradley

This is the second book about the character Flavia de Luce.  Flavia is an eleven year old girl obsessed with chemistry and death.  Flavia also happens to be a great detective.  Between Flavia’s obnoxious sisters, the 1950’s English country setting, and her obsession with chemistry, there’s plenty to keep you entertained.  This was the perfect book to take on my trip to Seattle last month.   It kept me entertained on my long days of travel back and forth.  I highly recommend this series of books.  Currently reading #3 in the series and so far it has not disappointed! 

 

I haven’t updated my good reads account in ages, so I’m feeling like there was another book I read in October that I’m currently forgetting about. If I remember it soon, I’ll update this post to include it.  I’m currently reading 3 books right now, so November’s post should be much more exciting! 

Books I’ve Read

September 2011

  The Good, the Bad and the Undead:  Kim Harrison

This is the second novel in the Rachel Morgan series.  I wouldn’t recommend reading these out of order… they aren’t really stand alone books.  Not because it’s one big continuous plot, but because there is so much given in the magic world explanations that don’t really get repeated or explained again in subsequent books.  I still think this series reminds me of a cross between Stephanie Plum and Twilight.  The first book was pretty tame, but the second one was definitely more racey.  Not sure if they are going to keep that trend, or not, but the overall plot was really good.  There are several more, but I’ve got a bunch more books on my “want to read” list that I will probably try to tackle before I come back for Rachel Morgan #3. 

 

  The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks:  Rebecca Skloot

This was our September book club book.  Again, someone picked a book that I would have NEVER chosen on my own.  And again, I was blown away by how good it was.  This is the biography of the real life woman, Henrietta Lacks, who was the unknowing donor of the world famous HeLa cells.  This story is both inspiring and tragic.  Inspiring in how many medical advances and discoveries were made because of Henrietta’s cells.  But tragic in the way the doctors/researches dealt with her family.  Anyone who has any kind of medical background at all will LOVE this book.  I don’t have any medical know how, and I loved it anyway. 

Books I’ve Read

August Edition

Fablehaven:  Keys to the Demon Prison by Brandon Mull

I’m so happy to say I finished this series.  I liked it, but I didn’t love it.  Listening to the audiobooks was probably a bad call.  Some voices I loved, others I hated.  I often felt like I was trudging through a Sunday School lesson, and I couldn’t believe that Seth kept making the same stupid mistakes book after book after book.  Having said all that, though, I think they are a great series for those in the tweener age range.  Megan (14) loves them, and I think Ian (11) would love them if I could get him to take the plunge.  (He’s not a big reader of anything. )   The last book was action packed, not at all boring, and I loved how the ending wrapped up all the loose ends that had been developed over the first 4 books.  I’m glad to say I finished the series, but once was enough for me!

  Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross

This was our book club pick for August.  A friend of mine has been trying to get me to read this for years, so she finally picked it for book club, so I would be forced to finally buckle down and get it done!  It’s a fictional telling based on a myth (not widely known) that back in 800’s there was a woman Pope.  It’s been a long time since I’ve read a book of this magnitude and her research on the Dark Ages was thorough and educational.  The book was extremely well written.  The plot was plausible and believeable.  What I didn’t really like was Joan’s character.   How she handled some situations bothered me.  But I think I was in the minority on this point, and almost everyone LOVED everything about the book.  I would love to get my hands on a copy of the movie version that was made a couple years ago, but it’s not available in DVD in the US.  If you buy it on Amazon, you have to have a special DVD player that will play DVD’s coded for Europe.  Weird, no?

Books I’ve Read

May and June:

I was consumed with Girls Camp preparations during the month of May, so I didn’t get much reading done.  And what I did start reading, I didn’t finish until Girls Camp was over.  Except this book:

  Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

This was our book club pick for May.  With a week left to go before book club I figured I better just read it and get it over with.  This typically isn’t my type of book.   Within the first chapter I was hooked. 

It’s basically the science and reasons behind how certain people become extraordinary Outliers in our society.  People like Bill Gates, The Beatles, or any of the hundreds of Professional Canadian Hockey Players.   As he explains, extreme success is more than just being smart or talented.  It’s a combination of talent or IQ, timing, culture and luck.  For example, Bill Gates likely only because the computer tycoon that he is because he happened to be a smart kid raised in WA with access to a computer lab as a teen.  He had access to  computer labs that didn’t exist in most places of the world and he learned a set of skills that he couldn’t have acquired anywhere else.  He was born at just the right time to take advantage of new technology in the 60’s that made computer code writing easier and he spent about 10,000 hours as a teen/college student honing his craft.  This book was fascinating and completely enjoyable to read.  I highly recommend it!

 

Fablehaven:  Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary by Brandon Mull

I’ve been slowly working my way through the Fablehaven books.  I have to say, I’m not as big of a fan as most people are.  They are good, but I don’t put them in the “great” category.  I think I would like them better if I hadn’t listened to these on audio.  At first I liked the reader, but the farther we get into it, the more I get frustrated with the way he does certain voices.  Some voices like Tanu and Vanessa are done well, but other’s are terrible.   But, even the narrator isn’t the only thing that bugs me.  During the first book, I felt like I was sitting through a Sunday School lesson.  I guess for kids, stuff like choices and consequences have to be spelled out, but I felt like it was too much.  But, I have to say the 4th book would rank near the top in my favorites.  I liked this one more than the rest, and I’m only one book away from being done.  Throughout the whole book, I kept thinking, there has to be a spy… there has to be a spy… and there was… but it was NOT who I expected.  I couldn’t have been more shocked by it!  I do like them enough to finish the series and find out how it ends, but I usually need a break between each audio book so I don’t go crazy from listening to the narrator.

 

  The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale

This was our book club pick for June.  I’ve read it before and own a copy of the paperback, so I took it to girls camp with me thinking that in my free time I could skim it and refresh my memory.  Except that I had no free time at camp, so I read it after I got home.  Which I really didn’t have time to do, but oh well.  I have to say that this isn’t my most favorite Shannon Hale book.  I like it, and her writing is so awesome, but I just can’t get excited about the special gifts Ani has.  I don’t know why it bugs me, but it does.  I do love the general plot, the romance between Ani and Geric, and all of Ani’s Forest-Born friends.  Most people love this book by Shannon Hale, and I like it, but I don’t love it.   It is the first in a series of four, so eventually I will get around to reading the rest.  I guess I better do it before I forget too much, though, huh?

 

  City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare

Megan and I have been waiting a long time to read this book.  It did not disappoint.  The story of Clary, Jace, Simon and company continues in this story where the plot continues to get even more complex and intriguing.   This is the fourth book in a six book series and it’s going to be tough waiting for the next two books to come out.  My only complaint is that C.C. really pushed the boundaries on intimacy between teens.  I hope that it doesn’t get worse in the next books, but I’m not hopeful that these fictional teens will suddenly develop that kind of responsibility.  We’ll have to see.   So far, I highly recommend this series, though. 

Last Month in Books

 These is my Words by Nancy Turner

I first read this book just after I’d moved to Arizona.  I loved it then, but I’d forgotten how much I loved it and why.  It got chosen for our Book Club Book this month and so I hunted far and wide to get the audio version of this book, but it was not to be found!  So, I ordered a paper copy from Amazon and set it aside until I had time to read.  I ended up taking it with me to Science Camp.  It made for a great distraction on the bus and I read it by headlamp at night when I needed something to help me until I got super sleepy.  Once I got home, I couldn’t do anything without picking this book up and reading it some more.  I hate it when that happens, especially since I already knew how it ended… you’d think I could have spread it out a bit more.  But it is that captivating, and was even more so the second time around.  I would love to see a movie version of this book!  It’s a fictional diary of a girl living in the Arizona Territories in the late 1800’s.  I haven’t talked to many people who didn’t like this book. 

 A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

I can’t decide what to write about this book.  It’s a “coming of age” book set in turn of the century Brooklyn.  It follows the life of Francie Nolan and all her relations as they work through tough times and extreme poverity.  You get a real feel for how it was to live in New York when most of it’s residents were still considered immigrants.  The descriptions of Brooklyn are detailed and interesting.  Each family member has it’s own unique personality and I think the family dynamics were pretty true to life of what it would have been like.  But on a whole I had a really hard time getting through this book.  I would almost call it drudgery.  Almost.  The only thing that kept me sane and coming back for more was the narrator (this one was audio, thank goodness.)  I’d have never finished it in paper, for sure.  Being from California, I don’t consider myself having an accent.  (Maybe East Coasters think we have one, but I’ve always been fascinated with east coast accents.)  The narrator does a wonderful job of nailing all the accents.  In all honesty, it’s the only reason I finished it.  I’ve decided that I’m just not a big fan of the “coming of age” story.  I can’t decide why, but I’m not.  Here is the proof:  I didn’t really like A Painted House by John Grisham.  I thought The Secret Life of Bees was just okay.  I felt like the ending to this book was really disappointing and quite sad.  I know that’s how life is, and that’s what makes it such a moving story, but I just can’t get into these types of novels.

My “Bookies”…

I haven’t had the time to review as many books as I’d like to, so I’m going to give some “bookie” awards to my faves from this year:

Best Fiction:  This one is a tie.  I honestly can’t decide.  So, I have two favorites for the year – The Actor and the Housewife by Shannon Hale and The Help by Kathryn Stockett.

The Actor and the Housewife was a captivating story that pulled me in deeper than I have been sucked into a book in a long, long time.

The Help was an amazing story about the deep south in the 60’s and what life was like for both blacks and whites, as the civil rights movement progressed. 

With both books, I laughed, I cried, I rejoiced and I despaired… and not necessarily in that order.

Best Non-Fiction:  The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls.  This is an amazing memoir of a woman’s upbringing that will have you saying, “no way!” Over and over and over again…  if you think your family is dysfunctional, think again. 

Best Self-Help:  ChiRunning by Danny Dreyer.  If you are an avid runner, if you struggle with injuries or pain, or if you want to be a better runner than you are, get this book.  Danny teaches a running technique that combines running with Tai Chi, in a way that reduces impact on joints/muscles and maximizes energy and efficiency.  I can’t say enough good things about this book.  Now I want the companion DVD that goes with it.

Best Juvenile Fiction:  Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke.  I haven’t read a lot of JF this year, but this was by far my favorite.  It’s a wonderful tale of dragons and other mythical creatures living in the modern world.  It is entertaining enough for the older crowd and tame enough for the younger set.  I’ve read a lot of Funke’s books, and I think this one is my favorite so far.

Best Young Adult Fiction:  The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan.  The Percy Jackson books are a family favorite right now.  Two of my kids have read them all (Megan has read the whole series 3 times, I think.)  And Ian, my non-reader is reading them, too.  For the record, I started them before the movie was even announced.  In this rare case, I don’t recommend listening to the audio versions of these books.  And I also don’t recommend waiting long periods of time in between books.  (Unless you are a Greek Mythology buff…. in that case you will have no trouble whatsoever keeping track of every character and sub-plot.)  The last book was the perfect ending to the series.  Loved it!

Best Series:  The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare.  I picked this one up after reading a review on www.blogginboutbooks.com.  I don’t know how to describe these books.  They are kinda like Twilight, kinda like Lord of the Rings, and kinda like Harry Potter.  If you enjoy fantasy, teen angst and forbidden love, and if you haven’t tired of witches, vampires and werewolves, then you will likely enjoy this series.  Megan liked them even more than I did.  The first book in the series is called City of Ashes.

Now for the worst – books I won’t be able to recommend:

Didn’t finish:  Rain of Gold  by Victor Villasenor.  This was our book club read a few months back.  I was first turned off by the lack of audio for this book.  Because I couldn’t find the audio, I had to wait for a library copy to be available, which left me with less than a week to finish this one before book club.  I didn’t finish, and I didn’t make it to book club, and within a day or two I lost interest.  This book has merit… I just wasn’t in the right mood to read it in the time allotted.  It’s a dynasty story about a Mexican-American family, written in a similar fashion as East of Eden.  I LOVED East of Eden, but about half way through this one I started to lose interest.  And honestly, I just couldn’t keep going… I don’t think it was the book, it was just me.

Biggest Disappointment:  Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins.  What more can I say about this that I haven’t already said?  I’ve griped plenty, but time to let the dust settle hasn’t lessened my disappointment any.  Maybe one day, I will go back and read them all back to back.  I still think that the epilogue in Mockingjay was the most well written chapter in the entire book.  The epilogue was the most moving.  How pathetic is that?

Wasn’t Terrible, but left me wanting more:  Artemis Fowl:  the Atlantis Complex by Eoin Colfer.  I was sucked into the Artemis Fowl vortex a few years ago, and have enjoyed his books immensely, although the last couple have had plots so complex, that I couldn’t always wrap my simple brain around the concepts. However this most recent book was a letdown.  Artemis isn’t himself in this book, and the villain ends up being a disappointment too.  The big climatic conflict in the end turns out to be so anti-climatic, that I finished the book thinking, that’s it?  Huh?

Now that I’ve wrapped up my year in reading, I plan to work on a wish list for next year’s reading.  I also need suggestions for books to read with our book club for the year, so please send any good ideas my way! 

Book Club

I just got in the library queue for the April book club book: The Help.

I thought I was being so clever and efficient... getting a head start on the book before we announced it at Book Club tomorrow night.

There were three versions of the book, and no available copies of any version, so I put a hold on each type, figuring one would come up pretty quick. But, when I found out what place I was in line, I'm not so sure I will get my hands on the book before we meet in 5 weeks.

This is where I stand in line right now:

Audio book #17
Large Type novel #13
Regular Novel #93

Yikes!

So, either this is a FABULOUS novel,

OR...

it's a school assignment for some English class in our local High School.

I'm hoping for the former.