Lost Memory of Skin by Russel Banks (library ebook) - Hey, let's write a book about a sexual offender and how hard his life is! And then let's add another shady character! Let's call it a romp in the park! Or not.
The Little Black Book of Style by Nina Garcia (library ebook) - I do not have the same philosophy about style as Nina Garcia. I agree that each item in our closet should make us feel fabulous. But I just can't agree with much anything else this woman says. I borrowed The One Hundred at the same time I borrowed this book and sent it back unread. I just don't think Nina Garcia lives in the real world. (Look, I may be extremely bitter because I have bad feet. As soon as you start waxing poetic about how every woman should wear stilettos all the time, you have ceased to be an authority who I can trust.)
Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri (library ebook) - The writing in this collection of short stories is so uneven that I felt like I was getting whiplash. The first story was so good I wanted more of the characters. The second story was so boring I felt like I was going to fall asleep drooling on the page. The back and forth in consistency of quality was disconcerting. I don't know. Some of it was great. Some of it was not.
The Alchemyst (The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel) by Michael Scott (library book) - I felt like I had fallen into a Rick Riordan novel. It's not great, it's not horrible. I won't be reading any further into the series. Hey, why does Bastet always gotta be a bad guy?
A Feast for Crows: A Song of Ice and Fire: Book Four by George R. R. Martin (library ebook) - You know what? I liked this book a lot. Martin divided the fourth and fifth books up by characters and a lot of readers were disappointed that their favorite characters weren't in this book. But I loved what was here and look forward to reading the next installment.
City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare (library book) - I didn't think this was quite as good as the first in the series, but it was pretty compelling. I got a little irritated with (spoiler) how Clary's mundane friend had to be made un-mundane, but I'm willing to get over it. I'll put the next book in the series on my list.
I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb (library book) - I had to take a break about halfway through this book and read another book to cleanse my palate because this book was just so maudlin and emotional. Bad thing after bad thing after bad thing kept happening to our narrator and I just had a hard time with it. It's 898 pages of sadness and 2 pages of an unrealistic happy ending. But I do think Lamb is a brilliant writer and I would recommend this book for the clean, concise, yet somehow poetic prose. I don't often think, "hey, I wish I could write like that" because I read a lot of crap, but as I was reading this book I was envious of Lamb's talents.
What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty (library ebook) - I have borrowed this from the library multiple times and put off reading it because I was under the impression it was going to be a sad book about Alzheimer's. I was wrong. It's an amnesia story and not a bad one at that.
Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins (library ebook) - Completely acceptable young adult romance novel.
The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen (library ebook) - I read this because somebody who hated The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo also hated this book. Scandinavian mysteries are apparently the hot new thing right after paranormal teen romance. Anyway, not as good as Steig Larsson, but what can you expect? Pretty good, not great.
Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts (library book) - This was made into a movie with Natalie Portman and Ashley Judd. I don't think it was anywhere near as good a book as The Honk and Holler Opening Soon and yes, that fact did disappoint me. I'm going to start putting books back on the shelves as soon as I see that little Oprah's Book Club warning flag. I just felt like it tried too hard to be diverse and the villains weren't villainous enough.
The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily Danforth (library ebook) - Huh. This book is about something really important, but it was not well done at all (in my unique to only me opinion). I could forgive bad plotting if the characters were developed in a meaningful way, but I can't forgive a novel where both nothing happens until halfway through and when stuff starts happening I don't care because the characters mean nothing to me. The novel addressed real issues in the LGBT community and I commend Danforth for taking on a big issue like this, but I cannot say I was impressed with how she handled it. From the s...l...o...w start of the book to the sudden ending of the book, I was disappointed.
Revenge of the Homecoming Queen by Stephanie Hale (free Kindle book) - This book should give hope to all would-be novelists that if there is room for such a poorly written book to get published in the world, there is room for their undoubtedly awesome novel to get published. The main character was so unlikeable that I wanted her to get killed and the predictability of the plot was so off the charts, I was half convinced that there was going to be a twist ending (there wasn't). Ugh.
Pieces of Us by Margie Gelbwasser (library ebook) - A couple of months ago, I read Wintergirls and I wrote "Why do we have to deal with eating disorders, suicide, and mental illness all in one book?" and I think I stand by that statement except we throw in sexual assault, cyberbullying, and screwed up family dynamics so there's a slightly different plot. It wasn't bad, but it needed some focus. Plus, the switching back and forth in voices from one character to the next, and even more jarringly, first to second POV, occasionally made me want to throw my Kindle across the room.
She's Gotta Be Mine by Jasmine Haynes and Jennifer Skully (free Kindle download) - The mystery didn't start until more than halfway through the book. The characters were all obnoxious. Grrr.
Stuck on You by Christine Wenger - A perfectly acceptable fluff read. You probably won't remember it three days later, but it's good candy reading.
I've read the Lamb book twice. Absolutely loved it for some reason. His other She's Come Undone is excellent too, from what I can remember, and isn't as much of a commitment because it is a little shorter.
ReplyDeleteHave you read The Namesake? And, if so, did you like it? I really like Lahiri because of The Namesake - it was so fresh and interesting and spanned so much time without (in my opinion) getting boring and it managed to surprise me several times, which is rare.
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