2011

The Night Circus

1 Comment / 2011, Books in Bed, Favorites, Fiction, From the Stacks Challenge, Sci Fi and Fantasy /

@sassymonkey went to BEA and all I got was a really awesome, amazing, unforgettable book (an advanced copy.) WIN for me!  (OK I got some other books but this is the first one I’ve read…)

The Night Circus was… Magical. Fabulous. Creepy. Beautiful. Fascinating. Frightening. Overwhelming. Awe-inspiring. A-Freaking-Mazing.

I’m talking about both the book and the Le Cirque des Reves.

This is the kind of book that I want to devour in one sitting. But it’s also the kind of book that I wanted to put down and think about – to really dig into the imagery. I wanted to know how it all ended but I was sorry to see it end. (And it ended so very well, I think.)

This one… might be the best book I read all year.

You should pre-order now.  I’m actually wondering whether I’d like it just as well on audio and am considering buying it on audio. That my friends is how much I like this story.

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Creep

2011, Books in Bed, Fiction, Mystery /

Last week TW was mumbling about a book creeping her out. I was surprised because not many books creep her out. I’m the one with corn field issues and stuff. Then, we were in the car and a Radiohead song came on. She said, “I’m glad they aren’t playing Creep” which confused me because I like Creep. I could not imagine any circumstance where I would be unhappy to hear Creep on the radio. I shrugged it off and just chalked it up to being a weird TW thing that could not ever really be explained – or understood.

And then I started reading Creep.

I guess I understand why it creeped her out. Though oddly enough, it didn’t really creep me out. No cornfields, I guess.  It wasn’t til the end when I figured out why Creep, the song, was on TW’s creeped out list. That… was pretty creepy. Well maybe not creepy, just ugly.

The book was good in a bad things happen to good people (and to sex addicts, as well) kind of way. Nice little twist at the end – we should all remember that homeless people are not STUPID and when they tell you someone is BAD, maybe you should consider the possibility. I’m not creeped out by listening to Creep (I tried it earlier today just to be safe) and I wouldn’t mind reading the sequel because it sure seems like there’s going to be a sequel.

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Ink Flamingos

1 Comment / 2011, Books in Bed, Favorites, Fiction, Kindle, Mystery, Women /

I downloaded Ink Flamingos to my Kindle app, which annoyed TW since she does not like e-books but she does like the Tattoo Shop Mysteries. I couldn’t help it, I really wanted to read it and I think it would be a good book to read in airports and on planes, which it sort of was – I read about half of it during the trip to/from BlogHer 11 (and that’s pretty much the only thing I read for an entire week!)

I really like The Tattoo Shop Mysteries and I mostly like Brett but sometimes I just want to kick her. She’s so awesome and then she does something really stupid – like drink absinthe with a guy she doesn’t even like. What would lead her to make such a stupid mistake? She’s not a stupid woman. Whatever. I got passed that and appreciated the role the flamingo tattoo played in the mystery.

Hmm. Maybe that’s the tattoo I should get… a flamingo, just like Dee’s.

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Madame Tussaud

2011, Books in Bed, Feminism, Fiction, Women /

It took me WEEKS to finish Madame Tussaud: A Novel of the French Revolution and it really shouldn’t have. Not with all of the discussions we’ve had this year about this particular era. Or maybe that was part of the problem? I kept hearing Elly talking about Marat and Charlotte Corday and “Let them eat cake” and all of that nonsense, so I was too distracted to read Moran’s version of the events? Nah, that’s not it. That should have made it more fun. I think it was just timing. Timing can be everything with a book like this and I’ve finally come to terms with the fact that I cannot read just prior, during, or immediately following a BlogHer conference. I’m going to just stop trying.

So – Madame Tussaud, kind of loved it. I think I’d like a sequel. Or I think I’d have liked to have had the book stop with the hanging of Robespierre and begin the sequel there. That would have been excellent. Unfortunately that didn’t happen and after the reign of terror, we’re just kind of dumped into the ending. Marie survives reign of terror. Marries asshole. Has three children. Leaves asshole. Goes to England. Does stuff. The end. All in one quick ending.

Poof. After all of that… I wanted more story and less wrapping up.  (Oh. I just looked at some reviews of Moran’s books and this is her pattern – and some people who aren’t me also find this troubling. Good, I thought it was just me.)

Otherwise – pretty darn good book, particularly if you have an interest in the Reign of Terror or Madame Tussauds.

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The Memory of Water

2011, Books in Bed, Favorites, Fiction, Women /

After reading The Beach Trees for the BlogHer Book Club, I decided I needed to read some more books by Karen White – The Memory of Water was the only one I had a chance to read before TW took the others back and it was excellent.

I’m normally a little skittish about books set in Charleston or even around Charleston but this one, set in McClellenville was just right.  It made me homesick, as any book about the Lowcountry should. The ending made me a little sad but I think it was the right ending for such a traumatic story.  

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Cleaning Nabokov’s House

1 Comment / 2011, Books in Bed, Chick Lit, Fiction, Women /

TW said Cleaning Nabokov’s House wasn’t very good. I ignored her and started reading it anyway and immediately liked it – depressing though it was in the beginning.  I’d like a sequel but I guess that won’t happen. I’d like to know what happens to the kids – and the dogs.

I would also like to read a book about Babe Ruth written by Nabokov. What WOULD that be like?

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The Eve Tree

2011, Books in Bed, Favorites, Fiction, From the Stacks Challenge /

It’s really hard to talk about The Eve Tree without talking about Journey Mama – even though they are not the same thing.

The book is not the blog. Molly is not Rae. The Eve Tree is not the albino tree, though I have to say when The Eve Tree first appeared in the book, I was confused – I remembered an albino tree from Rae’s blog – an albino redwood, not a black oak and I had to stop what I was doing and go look on the blog to make sure I hadn’t just misremembered.  And then I got distracted by reading some of the old posts on Journey Mama, which is really just what I needed right then because Molly had stressed me out. That wasn’t a bad thing. I think it was a good thing.

I want to read a book where the characters get under my skin – and Molly did. Oh boy, Molly did.

And then there was the fire.

I have fire issues.

I often smell fire just before I fall asleep – which means I have to get up and make sure there is no fire. (There isn’t.)

And I wake in the middle of the night from a dream where the bed is on fire. (It isn’t.)

Even with all of that anxiety, caused by Molly and the fire, underneath it all was that thing that has caused me to read Journey Mama – life, and peace, and spirit and love.

The Eve Tree is exactly the kind of novel you would expect Rae to write. Her characters are exactly right – honest and real but not perfect. They’re struggling with that imperfection and struggling with love and faith.

I breathed a sigh at the end – one of those sighs of relief and happiness and sadness all rolled up into one. You know the kind I mean, right – something like this?

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Little Bee

1 Comment / 2011, Books in Bed, Favorites, Fiction, Women /

Way back at the very beginning of the year, Sassymonkey asked what everyone was reading. Someone mentioned Little Bee and since I’d been seeing a lot of buzz (hah!) about the book, I decided to go ahead and add it to my reserve list. 

The book arrived and I didn’t read it and I didn’t read it and I didn’t read it. It’s due back soon so I figured what the heck, I’d give it a try.

And I could not put it down.

It’s a hard book to talk about because I don’t want to give it away. You just need to read it for yourself.

A woman and a girl meet on a beach in Nigeria… and this is their story. Dual narrators – done beautifully.

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The Little Women Letters

2011, Books in Bed, Chick Lit, Feminism, Fiction, Women /

Sigh.

I didn’t hate it. Really, I didn’t.

The problem is that I didn’t love it. And I really, really wanted to love it.

The Little Women Letters had so many things going for it – I should have loved it. A feminist mom who does a good bit of patriarchy blaming. Interesting sisters. The “March girls’” letters.  I could go on, you get the point.

So many things I should have loved but I just didn’t.

Yes, I did chuckle in places – which TW took as a good sign.

I did smile on numerous occasions. And I did even sigh at the end, cheesy as it was.

But no, I did not love it. Something was missing. I don’t know what it was but something. Something important.

Have you read it? Did you love it or did it let you down?

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