2014

Boxers & Saints

2014, Books in Bed, Comics & Graphic Novels, Cybil Challenge, Young Adult /

I really liked Boxers & Saints — I particularly appreciated the way the second book (Saints) tied into the first book (Boxers)… with the opera mask girl. I liked that very much.

What I didn’t like was good grief, how depressing. All the dying peoples. All the blood and gore. All the unhappy unhappy. I mean obviously there would be a lot of that, it was a difficult time period in China but sheesh. ALL the unhappy and ALL the blood & gore. Shudder.

Well drawn. Well written. (Some typos in my version, I hope there aren’t any in yours.)

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The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp

2014, Audiobooks, Books in Bed, Children's Literature, Cybil Challenge, Favorites, Sci Fi and Fantasy /

Lol

The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp is a cybil middle grade book, I believe. We listened to it on audio and you’d think the fact that it was read by Lyle Lovett would make this a slam dunk. It did not, my friends, no it did not (lol — I’m laughing at myself for typing that, which you would understand if you’ve read this book.)

He started slowly and it took awhile to warm up to him. The whole book started a wee bit slowly and then suddenly, we were hooked.

The language is fantastic. The vocabulary — holy hell, sports fans… remember those dumb assignments where you had to find five words you didn’t know (while reading some library book) and write the definitions and it was impossible because you already knew all of the words. If you have a kid like that, try this book. Brilliantly done. Really.

I’m not generally a fan of anthropomorphism, but in this case — I loved the racoons and the canebrake rattlers, and the armadillo and even that horrid porcine family. Oh and the cat. I liked him, too.

I’ve also got a nasty craving for a sugar pie…

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One Hundred Names

1 Comment / 2014, Books in Bed, Chick Lit, Fiction /

I needed something easy to read after making my way through Hard Choices … since One Hundred Names was due back to the library soon and TW enjoyed it and I’ve enjoyed Ahern’s books in the past, I decided this was a good choice.

It was. Sort of. I pretty much hated Kitty from the first page and never really warmed up to her. The rest of the characters in the book saved it. I really loved everything else about the darn book.

If you read this and you’re just hating Kitty — hang in there til she starts the interviews. The people she’s interviewing make it worth reading.

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The Nesting Place

2014, Books in Bed, Favorites, Non-Fiction, Women /

Oh look, another book from another shelter/DIY blogger! I know, you’re shocked, lol. You might be shocked to hear that The Nesting Place is one of my favorite books in the genre. Even though the blog, nesting place, is not my favorite — I like it but I don’t love it.

The book is one of my favorites because she includes photos of people with their feet on the table, laundry strewn around and crap like that. They’re still staged, pretty photos of a staged, pretty house but she’s right about the idea that some imperfections make a person feel more comfortable. That’s what happened with the book — I felt comfortable.

I was also amused by all of her stump tables, the section on putting holes in walls (lol), and I was fascinated by the entire series of homes she’s lived in. (And I thought I’d moved a lot…) (I also love what she did to the outside of the not perfect for us house. Brilliantly done — my partner liked it before the changes. I did too but we shall ignore her opinion on the updated version because she’s dumb.)

I don’t think anyone will necessarily LEARN anything from this book — unless you just hate your (rental or non-rental) home and think it’s the house that’s making you unhappy. In which case you might learn something from this book. Or at least get a glimmer of hope?

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Hard Choices

2014, Books in Bed, Non-Fiction, Women /

Now that I’ve finally finished, I realize I should not have decided to read Hard Choices in July. That was a bad choice. I should read a book like that in September. October. November. When life is much calmer and I can process serious things.

Overall, I did like the book. It’s just high on fact and short on personal reflection, which means it’s not easy to read. My favorite chapters were of course about topics/issues that I feel most strongly about. The chapters covering issues that didn’t immediately push my personal buttons were often the most interesting though since I haven’t previously spent a lot of time thinking about them.

Overall, I liked the book. I didn’t love it but I didn’t hate it, either.

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Lockwood & Co: The Screaming Staircase

2014, Audiobooks, Books in Bed, Children's Literature, Cybil Challenge, Sci Fi and Fantasy /

We listened to The Screaming Staircase on audio and man that was creepy. I think this was on the Cybils middle grade scifi/fantasy list and if that’s true… I hope the middle grade readers can handle some really creepy, yukky descriptive content.

It was good. Really good. I liked all of three of the kids a lot. I’m looking forward to book 2.

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All Fall Down

2014, Books in Bed, Chick Lit, Fiction, Women /

I haven’t read a book written by Jennifer Weiener in… years. Maybe 10 years. I’m not even sure what led me to reserve All Fall Down when I saw it on the New Orders library list. Or maybe I figured I’d reserve it and TW would probably like it. I certainly never thought I’d read it — too many books on my TBR list and I am way behind for the year.

But, for some reason, I picked this one up a couple of days ago (instead of the books I had planned to read) and I’m glad I did.

I always like her Philly/Cherry Hill setting. Having lived in Burlington County and having a child living in Philly right now means I have a little soft spot for the book right off the bat.

And then I realized it was about a mommyblogger. A mommyblogger addicted to pills.

I’ve read those blog posts! I know those women!

It was a very familiar story. The characters likeable enough for me to want to keep reading. Except Dave. I did not like Dave. Still do not like Dave. Would like Dave to disappear off the face of the earth with his work-wife or something.

If I was going to jump back on the Jennifer Weiner bandwagon, this was the book to get me back on. It’s still chicklit, whether Weiner wants to embrace the label or not — albeit chicklit tackling a serious subject.

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The Ice Cream Queen of Orchard St

2014, Books in Bed, Favorites, Feminism, Fiction, Women /

I really liked The Ice Cream Queen of Orchard St, the book and the character. TW liked the book but not the character. I guess that makes sense. Lillian could be a little unlikeable. Maybe. I just saw her as a flawed human being — flawed in so many ways because of her childhood. I loved the businesswoman Lil — she was awesome. No she wasn’t a nice boss, or a nice woman — so what, sue her (lol), she wasn’t any worse than her male counterparts was she?

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Reading In June

2014, Books in Bed, Reading Lists /

15 total for June. That’s actually better than I thought. Oh, 16 if you count reading my friend RE’s book (and I do!) so yay for me. I’m way behind on my goals for the year. I need a full day of reading or three full days of reading. Or something.

Here’s the breakdown (and no, the total in these categories won’t add up to 15! Some audio books are also YA or non-fiction, etc… this is only for me to keep track of the TYPES of books I read and mini-challenge goals.)

3 Audio books
4 from the Cybils shortlist
3 were YA
1 graphic novel
5 non-fiction

I’m also still working on Bleak House but it’s so bleak that I only read a few pages a week. I might finish it by this time next year… maybe.

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