"Straight Man" by Richard Russo
I read this for my book club. I usually like Richard Russo so I may have read it on my own one day anyway. However I don't think this one of his best books. I liked the characters and even laughed out loud several times. However the subject matter, a small town college professor stressing over his department's budget just didn't grab me. I really didn't care much. - C+
"Squirrel seeks Chipmunk" by David Sedaris
I was a little disappointed by this book but perhaps it was my own fault. This was not a typical Sedaris book but a Modern book of fables. A 21st century Aesop. All the characters are animals, a self centered bear, overbearing stork parents, chipmunks with a disapproving family etc. I did laugh at a few of the fables but frankly most of them just did not grab me. Once I realized what the book was the idea intrigued me but I think Sedaris really didn't have enough great fables for a book so just threw together a bunch of half assed ones. I did love the illustrations buy children's author/illustrator Ian Falconer (Olivia books) I'm not sure why I finished this book, maybe I kept hoping it would get better. Best quote when one animal said about another species "It's not that they are stupid. It's that they are actively against knowledge". - B-
"The Apple Turnover Murder' by Joanne Fluke
I have read several books in the Hannah Swenson Murder Mystery series (Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder, Strawberry Shortcake Murder etc) but the "Apple Turnover Murder" will be my last. If not for the fact I wanted to bitch about the book publicity on this blog I would not have even finished it at all. Hannah Swenson is lives in small town Eden Prairie Minnesota. She owns a cookie bakery. Besides a mystery the books are full of recipes. Hannah is like Minnesota's answer to Jessica Fletcher. It seems whereever she is a murder happens. I think I would steer clear of Hannah just in case I was around when someone was getting killed. And of course even though she has no formal training, even though her part time cop boyfriend tells her every time to stay out of the murder investigation, she still sticks her nose in and solves the murder although she almost gets herself killed every time. But No, this is not the reason I will no longer be reading these books. I will no longer be reading them because Hannah is a little bitty. I am sick of her frumpy attitude. Ugggg Hannah are you 32 or 75?? In the books Hannah has two men in her life. Norman and Mike. Norman is the Nice guy dentist and Mike is a the "bad boy" cop. Really he isn't much of a bad boy he is just slightly less cozy then Norman. Hannah spends every book going back and forth and these men who both want to marry her continue to wait for her. To top it off she doesn't even sleep with them. Come on lady, you are grown woman. Want to know if you are compatible, hit the sheets. Do you want to spend your whole life with a guy that is lousy in bed? My last rant - Hannah is a know it all that treats people around her like idiots. How do they stand her because I know I can't. I will not be reading anymore cookie mysteries and I give this book a big fat D. I would give it an F but the recipes sound good.
"The Heroes of Olympus, Book One: The Lost Hero" by Rick Riordan
I stared reading Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympian series after my son read a few and raved. The books have also lead to his interest in Greek Mythology and mythology in general. As a mom I love when my kids pick up subjects to be interested in that are more academic or cerebral then Pokemon. I must say I enjoyed the Percy Jackson books immensely. So when First Born finished The Lost Hero I knew I wanted to read it as well. The Lost Hero takes place in the same world and many of the same placed as the Percy Jackson books (Camp Half blood figures prominently for example) but Percy Jackson is only mentioned in passing. In the Lost Hero we are introduce to 3 new Demi Gods. I don't know if I like the lost Hero as much as the Percy Jackson series but I liked it a whole heck of a lot. And like last summer when my boys and I read the whole Harry Potter series together I really enjoy being able to talk in depth with my kids about what they are reading. - B+
"A Visit from the Goon Squad" by Jennifer Egan
When I finished this book I wasn't sure what I though but the more I think about it the more I like it. The book has many characters and jumps back and forth through time. The music industry is the one common theme between all the characters. I can't even begin to get into plot detail but if you like character study you will like this book. At first it almost seems like each chapter is a story in it self, the book a volume of short stories. But, when you finish you realize that the book in fact is a complete novel. - B+
The Hunger Game Trilogy by Suzanne Collins. I read the first two books, "The Hunger Games" and "Catch Fire in March" I finished the trilogy by reading "Mockingjay" in April. I love these books. They are written for teens so they are quick reads but the books are well written and compelling. Yes they are Sci-Fi but more Social Science Fiction. This is the basic plot of the first book (thanks wikipedia) Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives in a post-apocalyptic world in the country of Panem where North America once stood. This is where a powerful government working in a central city called the Capitol holds power. In the book, the Hunger Games are an annual televised event where the Capitol chooses one boy and one girl from each district to fight to the death. The Hunger Games exist to demonstrate not even children are beyond the reach of the Capitol's power.
I won't give the plot of the 2nd book as it gives away the ending to the first.
"Hunger Games" A
"Catch Fire" B
I also started two books in March but did not finish them. I put them both aside as I got caught up in the Hunger Games Trilogy.
"Super Sad True Love Story" by Gary Shteyngart I am still figuring out if I like this book. I've read almost 100 pages but I am not sure I will finish this book
"Talking to Girls about Duran Duran" by Rob Sheffild. This is a memoir about music and growing up in the 80s. I think this book is very funny and I can relate to Sheffild. Each chapter revolves around his experiences when one song figured prominently. All the chapter are named for an 80's song , "I'll Tumble 4 Ya", "Maneater" "Crazy for You" etc. This book is almost bathroom reading. You don't have to read it front to back, just a chapter at a time while you do your business (or hide from your children pretending you are using the bathroom) I am more then half way done will definitely finish "Talking to Girls about Duran Duran" in April
Coming Soon - April Reading waiting for me on the shelf
The rest of "Talking to Girls about Duran Duran"
"Mockingjay"
"Cleopatra: a Life" by Stacy Schiff
"When the Killing's Done" by T.C. Boyle
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