Books I Returned to the Library Today

The Quality of Life Report by Meghan Daum - Yesterday I met with an old friend who was visiting the Twin Cities for lunch and her seven year old son came along with us.  He has just started reading chapter books and we were sharing with one another some suggestions for good children's books when he started talking about how he's reading a Hardy Boys book and he can't stand it.  I told him he should feel free to stop reading a book if he doesn't like it.  He looked at me with a puzzled look on his face and quizzed me about how often I don't finish books.  And I told him that I didn't do it a lot, but when I really didn't like a book, I didn't feel too badly about just stopping in the middle because I could be spending that time on a book I did like.  He seemed satisfied with my response. 

And then I realized I should have stopped reading this book after page four when the narrator was talking about how awful gold jewelry was and I started hating her. It just didn't get better after that. That narrator was an idiot, she made idiotic choices, and I never knew if I was supposed to feel as completely superior to her as I did. I felt bad about myself when I read this book because I hated this make believe woman so very much. I know some folks loved this book, but I just didn't feel it.  Thumbs down, way down.


Service Included by Phoebe Damrosch - This was an interesting peek into the world of fine dining, a world I will never be a part of.  I heard some chef on NPR talking about some of the things that I read about in this book and I felt like the book did a much better job of explaining some aspects of fine dining to me. I liked it.

Dark Water by Laura McNeal - This is one of those damn books that tells you the ending at the beginning of the book.  I guess it's a popular thing in literature these days, but I'm going to yell at those damn kids to stay off my lawn and remain staunchly in the camp that it's a dumb trend.  Despite this, I really loved this book. It was creepy and strange and I feel like the character was developed in a weird way, but I loved it.  So there you have it.  I have no defense for my feelings for this book, but they are strong and they are true, so back off and let me love it.


Rules of the Road by Joan Bauer - I wanted to like this book.  I love that the main character is good at something, even if it is something kind of weird and mundane.  I love that the main character knows she's good at this and takes advantage of how she's good at it for her benefit and to help other people.  But this book just fell flat for me, Newberry Honor book or not. I didn't feel it at all and if that means I'm an evil, soulless woman, then that's what it means. The ending was contrived and unrealistic.  The secondary characters were caricatures.  The whole thing just sucked.  So, another thumbs down.

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Protector and Redemption by Laurel Dewey - I bought this two books for my Kindle.  They involve a female member of law enforcement (first she's a cop, then she's a PI, then she's a cop again - it's all very clear in the novels, but sound confusing as I type it and a couple of high profile cases she's involved with, along with a tale of woe in her personal life. I was momentarily obsessed with these books and I do think they are good, but I no longer feel an overwhelming urge to read the entire Dewey oeuvre.  Good reads, though.