I love to read. I really, REALLY love to read. I belong to four different book clubs, so you know I'm seriously ill or just serious when I say that. However, I tend to read fairly quickly and when I'm done and onto the next book, sometimes I forget. So this is a spot for me to recollect my faves, share the new goodies I've encountered, and, quite frankly, . . . to remind myself what I've read. : ) If you have a fabulous find you've read recently, send me an email and I'll read it next!

Thursday, June 2, 2011

The Maze Runner

by James Dashner

This was one of those futuristic juvi-fics that I finished in two days.  It was riveting, exciting, and thoroughly suspenseful.  Perfect summer reading if you don't have anything else to do . . . mostly because I didn't get anything accomplished during those two days! I really enjoyed the characters, the plotline, the idea . . . can't wait for book 2!  (or maybe I should, since we have no food in the house, the dishes need to be done, and I have errands to run!)

****

Sunday, May 29, 2011

The Lincoln Lawyer

by Michael Connelly

Just finished this--it reminded me of my first infatuation with the Grisham books, which we read religiously for one summer and annually every February after that.  For a long time, the new Grisham novel was Dave's Valentine's Day present, since that's right when they were released. : )  But I digress . . .

I really liked this one!  Loved the character and tone of Mickey Haller and the fly-by-the-seat-of-his-pants type of work that he does.  Loved the story line, loved the suspense, loved that he looked dowdy in his "best suit," loved that he had the con with the photographer....clever, clever.

And if that wasn't enough for a perfect almost-summer read, it's a movie with my all-time dreamboat, Matthew McConaughey!?!  Say no more.

***

Sunday, March 6, 2011

The Stieg Larsson Series

This is The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest.  At present I have only read the first two, and while they are wildly sexual, with language issues galore, I do enjoy the mystery and the strange characters.  They make for really good reading on my iPad while I'm running : )

The Forgotten Garden

by Kate Morton

I LOVED this book!  It was a beautiful time-period-switching fiction that reminded me a lot of Secret Garden.  The characters were wonderfully human, I loved the tension and the uncertainty of the plot, as well as knowing what might happen . . . I don't remember if I figured it out correctly, but it was fun to try even if I didn't.  I would whole-heartedly recommend this one--great reading for anytime!

Three Weeks With My Brother

by Nicholas Sparks

This was a fantastic read--I enjoyed it quite a bit!  I loved how he kept switching time periods (seems like that's a common literary technique, but it works), and discovering the characters of him and his brother.  I appreciated his candid honesty, and the "real life" qualities and traits that he describes in his family.  They had quite a rough time of it growing up, but not realizing it.  Being the only two left in the family, Nicholas and Micah are pretty close, and it reminded me of me and my siblings.  To go on a trip together, without spouses, parents, or kids, would be so fun!  I probably wouldn't want to do the same trip they did, even though it sounds amazing.

I read this right after Dave and I went on our own amazing trip, so I could totally relate to the feelings he had seeing the amazing history of the different cultures.

Red Scarf Girl

by Ji-Li Jiang

This was a fast read.  I found myself grateful for her candid honesty, as well as for the epilogue where she answers the questions I had throughout the book.  I really don't get how the adults of the time period allowed this to happen, and even though she describes it, how the children got so caught up in the fervor of Mao and his insanity.  I am undereducated in this topic, however, and freely admit that.  I am also extremely grateful that I haven't had to live through that.

Saving Cee-Cee Honeycut

by Beth Hoffman

This was a sweet, refreshing read after a couple of WW II stories.  I'd had enough of the drama and the angst, and the craziness involved with that era, so this was wonderful and I completely devoured it!  It is a mix between The Help and Secret Life of Bees, with emphasis on the Southern women running the show, genuinely caring for each other, and displaying Southern Hospitality at it's finest.  It was a little too sweet at times, and completely predictable, but I didn't care.