I'm splitting it up this month! I read a bunch on the way to and from the Blathering and finished a few books I started in other months. Also, I'm trying to ramp it up to make my reading goal for the year - 12 to go...
The Racketeer by John Grisham
This book grabbed me on the very first page. I’m not one to get caught up in the mechanics or impressiveness of a writing style, but even I can’t help noticing Grisham doesn’t use a single extraneous word. Every sentence imparts the maximum amount of action and information.
The Racketeer by John GrishamThis book grabbed me on the very first page. I’m not one to get caught up in the mechanics or impressiveness of a writing style, but even I can’t help noticing Grisham doesn’t use a single extraneous word. Every sentence imparts the maximum amount of action and information.
This is what he does best and it makes me wonder why he ever bothers to write anything else. I mean, his sports/nonfiction/short story books are good, but not exceptional in the same way.
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Future by Michael J. Fox
Soon after I bought Michael J. Fox’s memoir Lucky Man as a Kindle deal of the day and loved it, this also showed up as a daily deal. I bought it not realizing it was advice for high school graduates. A lot of it was a repeat of stories in Lucky Man and only Part IV was really new to me, which, given that it was about optimism, may have been a repeat of his second book, Always Looking Up.
This might be a good gift for a graduate who isn’t much of a
reader, since it’s only about a hundred pages and a quick read. Otherwise, just
skip it and buy Lucky Man.
I liked this book a lot better than Sharp Objects. There was one part of the ending I really hated, though. I won't spoil it here, but if you've read the book and want to know what it is, you can go to my Goodreads review and click past the spoiler alert.
Pretty Little Mistakes: A Do-Over Novel by Heather McElhatton
I liked this book a lot better than Sharp Objects. There was one part of the ending I really hated, though. I won't spoil it here, but if you've read the book and want to know what it is, you can go to my Goodreads review and click past the spoiler alert.
Pretty Little Mistakes: A Do-Over Novel by Heather McElhatton
This is a choose-your-own-adventure type novel Swistle recommended as a good book gift for a wide variety of people. I enjoyed it at first, but it quickly got repetitive. It was also frustrating what seemed like the responsible choice often led to ruin while the opposite led to lifelong happiness. I understand mixing it up and trying to be unpredictable, but she took it so far she WAS predictable - always choose the 'wrong' choice and you'll usually do well. There's also some really weird, unnecessary storylines I could have done without, so...be prepared.
I only gave this two stars, because I don't recommend reading the whole book. I made a little chart and crossed off each section I read. By the time I was halfway through I was DONE. This was in August. I picked it up again this month thinking I might enjoy finishing after a break and...no. I finished it, but did not enjoy it. Which is sad, really, since, as I said, I enjoyed it so much at first.
Dead And Gone (Sookie Stackhouse, Book 9) by Charlaine Harris
I read this while on the way to and in New Orleans. I don't think I would have liked it much better than book 8 if I had tried to read it at home a few minutes here and there like usual. It was a nice diversion for the plane, though. I actually got into it and was sad when I finished.
I should probably only read this series on vacation.
Operation Bonnet by Kimberly Stuart
Kimberly Stuart goes to my church. I've read all her books and, unfortunately, didn't like this one as much as the rest. It was essentially a YA novel, though the main character was (a naive, immature) 20. There also wasn't much substance to it. But, again, that made it a good vacation book. I like Kimberly's sense of humor and laughed out loud at several points.
For a Christian novel, it was pleasantly light on the "Christian-ness." Instead of hitting you over the head with it, references were sprinkled in and didn't detract from the story. If you like YA fiction (even if you don't like Christian fiction) I think you'd like it.
I only gave this two stars, because I don't recommend reading the whole book. I made a little chart and crossed off each section I read. By the time I was halfway through I was DONE. This was in August. I picked it up again this month thinking I might enjoy finishing after a break and...no. I finished it, but did not enjoy it. Which is sad, really, since, as I said, I enjoyed it so much at first.
Dead And Gone (Sookie Stackhouse, Book 9) by Charlaine HarrisI read this while on the way to and in New Orleans. I don't think I would have liked it much better than book 8 if I had tried to read it at home a few minutes here and there like usual. It was a nice diversion for the plane, though. I actually got into it and was sad when I finished.
I should probably only read this series on vacation.
Operation Bonnet by Kimberly StuartKimberly Stuart goes to my church. I've read all her books and, unfortunately, didn't like this one as much as the rest. It was essentially a YA novel, though the main character was (a naive, immature) 20. There also wasn't much substance to it. But, again, that made it a good vacation book. I like Kimberly's sense of humor and laughed out loud at several points.
For a Christian novel, it was pleasantly light on the "Christian-ness." Instead of hitting you over the head with it, references were sprinkled in and didn't detract from the story. If you like YA fiction (even if you don't like Christian fiction) I think you'd like it.
This was another vacation read. The author contacted me on Goodreads because I put in my profile I like 'cozy mysteries'. The Kindle version was free at the time (now 99 cents) and she encouraged me to try it. It was a well-written, not at all pushy promotion of the book and I needed stuff to read in the airport, so I figured why not?
My uncertain expectations might have figured into it, but I liked the book a lot. It was another fluffy-ish vacation read, but it was my favorite of the three. I didn't finish it before getting home and was crazy busy doing stuff like five loads of laundry in one night, yet I often thought "I can't wait to read more of that book."
(To warn you, though, I wouldn't exactly call it a mystery, since the murder doesn't happen until 73% through the book. Some reviewers called it a historical romance, which I suppose it technically was, but it's certainly not a bodice ripper. It was lighthearted and fun, with some romance, and a little mystery. So...historical chick lit, maybe?)
My uncertain expectations might have figured into it, but I liked the book a lot. It was another fluffy-ish vacation read, but it was my favorite of the three. I didn't finish it before getting home and was crazy busy doing stuff like five loads of laundry in one night, yet I often thought "I can't wait to read more of that book."
(To warn you, though, I wouldn't exactly call it a mystery, since the murder doesn't happen until 73% through the book. Some reviewers called it a historical romance, which I suppose it technically was, but it's certainly not a bodice ripper. It was lighthearted and fun, with some romance, and a little mystery. So...historical chick lit, maybe?)
Thanks so much for the lovely review.
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