I was surprised to discover that I forgot to post my January reads. Well, maybe not surprised – February was an insane month, and if I missed stuff it was because other stuff jumped up in my face and made me forget the other stuff. Or something like that… the metaphor is kind of tortured.
Anyhoodle – on with the reads for the past two months!
~ Willig, Lauren. The Emerald Deception (6.5)
More serious, less frivolousness than the other books. However, there was a couple of Monty Python references that cracked me up.
~Cruise, Jennifer and Bob Mayer. Agnes and the Hitman (3)
Highly implausible, too many plots to keep straight. Didn’t really like any of the characters.
~ Moore, Alan. Lost Girls (7)
For all the controversy about this book, it was not as bad as I was expecting. The art was not excessively detailed, yet very colourful.
~ Gabaldon, Diana. Lord John and the Hands of Devils (7)
Basically, it was three novellas featuring Lord John. It was well-written although not as compelling at Brotherhood of the Blade (probably because it was three stories, not one. Wait, I already said that…)
~ Rice, Christopher. Blind Fall (8)
This one was an ARC left on the staffroom table [1], and which I snapped up. Pretty good overall – it explored a number of overlapping issues which got confusing at times, and there was a little too much dialogue, but otherwise a good read.
~ Vizzini, Ned. It’s Kind of A Funny Story (8)
An unusual story about a teenager who institutionalizes himself when he seriously begins to contemplate suicide. What was usual about is was that the parents and family were incredibly supportive of his decisions, and that he knew he needed help and wanted to get better. It’s one of the better Young Adult novels I’ve read in a while.
~ Juby, Susan. Another Kind of Cowboy (6.5)
My horse-obsessive days are long behind me, so it was kind of hard to work up any kind of enthusiasm for this horse-themed YA novel. However, while I found the plot somewhat predictable, it was still a far cry better than a lot of the horsey books I read in my youth because the characters were more realistic, the situations were appropriate to teenagers, and the ending was slightly bittersweet.
~ Dessen, Sarah. This Lullaby, Just Listen and The Truth About Forever (8)
All comfort rereads, which I should do more of when I’m stressed out.
~ Bourdain, Anthony. Gone Bamboo (7)
Surprisingly good fiction from someone who’s known for their non-fiction. Well-paced, lots of action, and of course, lots of food described.
~ Oats, Joyce Carol. Middle Age: A Romance (6)
This one took me at least three weeks to read, and if I hadn’t felt like I needed to finish this book I probably would have abandoned it after the first few days. I slogged through long, melodramatic passages about self-absorbed, upper-class white people moping about the death of a man they really didn’t know very well. Then about halfway through the book, I asked the person who gave it to me if I was supposed to read this as a genuinely sad story, or if it was a parody. Once we decided that she was probably making fun of these people and their self-absorption, it went a lot faster. My final assessment is that it would make a great book club book, but not for mine [2].
~ Krum, Sharon. The Thing About Jane Spring (4)
The whole time I read this, I wasn’t sure if it was a thinly veiled dig at feminism. At any rate, it was a nice palate-cleanser after the heaviness of the Oats book.
Right now, I’m stuck in the middle of Snow Falling on Cedars. I should’ve held off reading this until I’d read a few more fluffy books because it feels like a reading assignment as opposed to a recreational read. However, since I’m auditioning it for book club I should at least get through it before moving on.
[1] Just one of the many bonuses of working at the library – advanced reader’s copies of upcoming books!
[2] I’m starting a book club at my library, which will commence in the fall, or whenever stuff stops breaking down that needs to be fixed ASAP and I can get the materials together.