March Books

Swamplandia! by Karen Russell - This is the book I just gave up on. I tried to read it, but it was so stupendously boring that every time I would read a page, my eyes would get heavy and I would end up asleep. I'm attempting to curb my afternoon nap addiction and this book did not help. I wanted to like it because it was on every news outlet's bestseller list, the authored was interviewed on NPR, and it sounded like a fun read.  But it was not. I read 45 pages or so and then just brought it back to the library.

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley - It was a perfectly sweet book. I enjoyed it.  Kind of Nancy Drew meets Sherlock Holmes.  I don't know if it will make my top books ever, but it's certainly worth a read.

The Passage by Justin Cronin - The book notes from our library said this:

So I was a bit confused when I started this book because I didn't know if it was going to be incoherent or a great read.  As you can imagine, I was excited to read it after such divergent reviews.  Here's what I discovered.  It was somewhere in the middle...I think you can start reading at Chapter 17, though, and not miss much.  My husband claims that the first part is just a demonstration of how mundane life was before the apocalypse happened, but I claim it was just boring.  For my part, I added a note that said, "just start reading at page 250 - you'll be happier." However, since I did finish reading the novel, it  did have some interesting moments and interesting writing.

The Lonely Polygamist by Brady Udall - I stopped reading at page 250 here.  It was so disjointed and all the characters were awful and I just didn't care and I just stopped. It wasn't quite as horrific as Swamplandia!, but it was kind of a bad library trip for me.

Callum & Harper by Fisher Amelie - This book made me so mad.  It took a problem, kids aging out of the foster system, and created a stupid, unrealistic expectation of what will happen to those poor kids.  No, just no.  I wanted Harper to stand up on her own and succeed on her own, to be a role model for some poor girl who is going through something similar, and instead I got a spineless, weak-willed character.  As a woman, I veto this book.

Someone Else's Fairytale by E.M. Tippetts - The main character here is better, but I really do expect more out of young adult romances. I guess it shouldn't surprise me that finding the boy will make everything better, but I just want young girls to know that it's not reality.  Plus, (SPOILER) I really, really, really dislike it when characters get married uber young.

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher - This book gets a lot of good reviews and I can see why. It's haunting and compelling and deals with suicide in a very real way.  I was not a fan of Jay Asher's novel The Future of Us, so I didn't know what to expect with this book, but I have to admit I was impressed with this book. I though the dual narration was done well.  I spent a good chunk of the book wondering where the hell the parents were, but I have that feeling in most young adult novels, so this was nothing new for me.  And let's all remember to be kind to one another.

At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson - I adore Bill Bryson. I found myself reading paragraphs of this out loud to Dr. BB and giggling.  He basically strolls through his home in England and entertains us with historical tales about the rooms.  It's not as hilarious irreverent as A Walk in the Woods or In a Sunburned Country, but it really did make me happy.  I recommend Bill Bryson in the same breath that I recommend Mary Roach who writes hilariously on topics that catch her fancy.  A fun non-fiction read.

A Cool Breeze on the Underground by Don Winslow - A fun book.  It's the first in a series about a private eye and it has a kind of noir feel, but it's more modern in tone.  So I got another Winslow book from the library.


Way Down on the High Lonely by Don Winslow - zzzzzzzzz...and my brief love affair with the Neal Carey mysteries was promptly over.  On to new and better things!