There is this one shelf right by the entrance of our library called "lucky day" and on this shelf are all the books that people want right now. Usually each one has about 200 holds on it so you're only alloted two weeks to read them. Now under normal circumstances I would keep an ear out for what people are reading and then put a book on hold. But since the life of a mama with two young kids, and an overwhelming desire to "sleep when the baby sleeps" even though said baby is now two and a half, doesn't really afford that luxury, I am forever indebted to the library for this service.
I should probably re-do that sentence but it's late and I'm half watching Mad Men so just go with me on this. I must admit that I have a slight addiction to this shelf. If I see anyone near it I get a little antsy and I may or may not knock Ian down to cause a diversion so that I can get my hands on something that looks interesting. Desperate? Maybe. But it's been a LONG winter so again, just go with me on this. Aside from checking out some very confusing science fiction and one soft core porn book (the title French Lessons sounded promising but looking back I probably should have known), I've had some very interesting reads. So if your looking for a book to take on your trip to the french riviera, I'm sorry we can no longer be friends, but if you find yourself locked in a closet while you're supposed to be playing hide and seek with your children, I've got a few suggestions and maybe some to avoid.
Oh Mindy. She does warn us in the beginning that she's no Tina Fey but even though I read Bossypants a year ago I still couldn't shake the comparisons. Still the last few chapters finally got me laughing out loud. And the one about dating men instead of boys is worth the price of the book. If you're the sort who actually buys books. Amy O. you will particularly love the Kids In The Hall references.
I realize I'm a little late to the party on this one but I thought I'd throw in my two cents anyway. I read a book called the Maze Runner a couple years ago and this kind of reminded me of it. I think it's a very well written story and I liked the suspense. But I've decided the Apocalyptic/Dystopian society genre isn't really for me. Although I didn't let it stop me from seeing the movie. I liked Katniss but Peeta just made me giggle. Couldn't they find someone taller than her? I thought Finn from Glee would have been much better. Cute, tall, strong, but still a little vulnerable. The movie sort of felt like the book. Well done, just not really my thing.
This one was definitely worth the twenty minutes it took to read it. It actually reads like a story so you need to start from the beginning. Take it on a road trip and read it to your significant other as they are driving to keep them entertained.
I'm a pretty big Jane Austen fan so I was excited about this one. It's a murder mystery that takes place a few years after the two big weddings of Pride and Prejudice. I thought it was worth it just to get a little more of Elizabeth and Darcy's story. There were a lot of parts where I couldn't stop smiling, especially her twists at the end.
I'm a little embarrassed to put this on the list but like I said, there was someone eyeing the book and so I felt the need to take it. I finished it so that says something right? It's not that the story's bad it's just that it feels like he's going through the motions. Here is a quote from the book:
"On his way home from the pool hall, Thibault remembered his second tour in Iraq. It went like this, Fallujah, spring 2004."
Or my translation,
"Seriously, can someone please just write me a check for a million dollars because I don't really feel like coming up with a legitimate transition paragraph."
And finally, The Paris Wife. This was by far my favorite. I must preface this by saying I went through a serious Ernest Hemingway phase while I was living in a shabby Chicago apartment that he and his first wife inhabited after they got married. This book is about that marriage from her perspective. I think it would be classified as historical fiction. I don't know how the author managed to write with such detail but I suspect she did her homework. She created such sympathetic characters that you feel their heartbreak instead of judging their actions. I couldn't believe that I cried as much as I did towards the end. She manages to give a strong voice to a woman who rarely gets more than a line in the volumes on Hemingway's life. This was one of my favorite paragraphs from the book:
"But in the alleyways behind the marketplace, fruit and meat rotted in crates. Rats crawled; pigeons crowded and pecked each other savagely trailing feathers and lice. This was reality, and though living with Ernest was giving me more tolerance for the real than ever before, it made me feel sick even so. It was like looking into the gutters at the Place de la Contrescarpe, where colored dyes ran freely from the flower vendor's carts: brief false lushness, and ugliness underneath. What had Ernest said way back when in Chicago? Love is a beautiful liar? Beauty was a liar too. When I saw the rats the first time, I wanted to drop my basket where it was and run away, but we weren't rich enough for symbolic gestures. So I walked."
Happy Reading!
