I finished three books this week. Somehow I'm finding more time to read these past few weeks. It's kind of nice. I read Twelve Sharp, the latest in the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. I thought it was good. The books are becoming very similar. I think in a previous book she was kidnapped, taken to a remote location and chained in a bathroom. I could be wrong. I still liked it, but it wasn't as laugh out loud funny as some of the earlier books. Also, I kept waiting for her car to blow up, and it never happened! She did have to accompany her Grandma to a funeral, so that hasn't changed.
I also recently read Baby Proof by Emily Giffin. I had read her Something Borrowed and Something Blue and really enjoyed them. This one was a bit of a disappointment. I didn't like the main character at all. I wasn't crazy about the storyline either. It just didn't do much for me.
Earlier today I finished Queen of Babble by Meg Cabot. It was a bunch of fluff, but I liked it. The main character was very flaky, which I usually find annoying. I found it annoying this time too, but I liked the supporting cast of characters. Parts of the book reminded me of Sophie Kinsella's Can You Keep a Secret? The ending was kind of open-ended, so I'm wondering if there might be a sequel in the future.
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Thursday, June 15, 2006
Rumspringa & Welcome to the Real World
I recently finished two books - Rumspringa: To Be or Not To Be Amish by Tom Shachtman and Welcome to the Real World by Carole Matthews. The Carole Matthews book was one of the freebies I got at the Book Expo.
Rumspringa was really good. I'm fascinated by the Amish, so I thought it was really interesting. It was mainly about the period in an Amish person's life after they turn 16 until they decide to join the church. Or, in some cases, not to join the church. I think the retention rate is something really high, like 80-90 percent eventually join the church. The focus was on teenagers, but the author interviewed a lot of Amish people, so it provided a broad picture of Amish life. It really is a crazy thing to suddenly be exposed to all these new things and be able to do things you've never been allowed to do before, and never will be allowed to do again, if you join the church. As the Mom of a one-year-old I've given no thought to the upcoming teen years. Now I'm terrified! Reading this book made me realize how hard it must be for parents to let go as your kids get older. Right now, I control so much of Ryan's little life. I guess it's a gradual process, but you get to the point where you have to let your kid make the big decisions and take responsibility. I'm not looking forward to that! I guess I have a few years to prepare myself. Anyway, I really enjoyed the book.
I also enjoyed Welcome to the Real World. It was a typical chick lit kind of love story, with one twist. The basic story was aspiring singer sings in bar with her good friend who she's known forever, dated briefly a long time ago, and he's been in love with her ever since. She meets this other, older, rich man and sparks fly. Circumstances keep them apart and you're sure she'll wise up and realize she loves the friend that's been in love with her. Surprisingly, that doesn't happen and she ends up with the other man. It was entertaining.
Right now I'm reading Anybody Out There? by Marian Keyes. I haven't read that much of it. It's part of a series about the Walsh sisters that includes Rachel's Holiday, Angels and Watermelon. She's written quite a few other books that I've enjoyed.
Rumspringa was really good. I'm fascinated by the Amish, so I thought it was really interesting. It was mainly about the period in an Amish person's life after they turn 16 until they decide to join the church. Or, in some cases, not to join the church. I think the retention rate is something really high, like 80-90 percent eventually join the church. The focus was on teenagers, but the author interviewed a lot of Amish people, so it provided a broad picture of Amish life. It really is a crazy thing to suddenly be exposed to all these new things and be able to do things you've never been allowed to do before, and never will be allowed to do again, if you join the church. As the Mom of a one-year-old I've given no thought to the upcoming teen years. Now I'm terrified! Reading this book made me realize how hard it must be for parents to let go as your kids get older. Right now, I control so much of Ryan's little life. I guess it's a gradual process, but you get to the point where you have to let your kid make the big decisions and take responsibility. I'm not looking forward to that! I guess I have a few years to prepare myself. Anyway, I really enjoyed the book.
I also enjoyed Welcome to the Real World. It was a typical chick lit kind of love story, with one twist. The basic story was aspiring singer sings in bar with her good friend who she's known forever, dated briefly a long time ago, and he's been in love with her ever since. She meets this other, older, rich man and sparks fly. Circumstances keep them apart and you're sure she'll wise up and realize she loves the friend that's been in love with her. Surprisingly, that doesn't happen and she ends up with the other man. It was entertaining.
Right now I'm reading Anybody Out There? by Marian Keyes. I haven't read that much of it. It's part of a series about the Walsh sisters that includes Rachel's Holiday, Angels and Watermelon. She's written quite a few other books that I've enjoyed.
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Queen: the Definitive Biography & Chang & Eng
I finished Queen: the Definitive Biography last week. It was really interesting. I love Queen, so I enjoyed reading about how the band formed and the path their career took. I didn't start listening to them until college, so I missed the time when they were really popular, and I really had no idea how big they were, at least how big this book made them sound. Very exciting! I have been a diligent Queen fan recently - I've seen both the Queen musical, We Will Rock You, and went to see Queen with Paul Rodgers in DC just a few months ago. Both were excellent!
For book club we read Chang & Eng by Darin Strauss. I think 4-5 people finished it, a few more read part of it and 2 people didn't start. I think that's about average. While I like reading all the books, I think it's nice that in this book club, you can go even if you don't finish the book. Or even start it! I really like this group of people and enjoy getting together with them once a month. I thought the book was ok. It was written from Eng's perspective and went back and forth through different periods in their lives. I thought that was an odd, and unnecessary way to write it. I'm probably missing some important parallels that were obvious to everyone else, but I found it distracting. The book left me with more questions about Chang and Eng than I had before I started. I guess that's a good sign since I wasn't so sick of them, I never wanted to hear their names again! We had a good discussion about the book and their miserable lives. Since the book was fiction, based on their lives, I'm not sure which parts were fiction and which were reality. Were their marriages as awful as the book made them out to be? Was Chang a drunk?
Our book for next month is The Sad Truth About Happiness, by Anne Giardini. I voted for One Thousand White Women: the Journals of May Dodd by Jim Fergus, but was outvoted. Oh well.
For book club we read Chang & Eng by Darin Strauss. I think 4-5 people finished it, a few more read part of it and 2 people didn't start. I think that's about average. While I like reading all the books, I think it's nice that in this book club, you can go even if you don't finish the book. Or even start it! I really like this group of people and enjoy getting together with them once a month. I thought the book was ok. It was written from Eng's perspective and went back and forth through different periods in their lives. I thought that was an odd, and unnecessary way to write it. I'm probably missing some important parallels that were obvious to everyone else, but I found it distracting. The book left me with more questions about Chang and Eng than I had before I started. I guess that's a good sign since I wasn't so sick of them, I never wanted to hear their names again! We had a good discussion about the book and their miserable lives. Since the book was fiction, based on their lives, I'm not sure which parts were fiction and which were reality. Were their marriages as awful as the book made them out to be? Was Chang a drunk?
Our book for next month is The Sad Truth About Happiness, by Anne Giardini. I voted for One Thousand White Women: the Journals of May Dodd by Jim Fergus, but was outvoted. Oh well.
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