2014

Curtsies & Conspiracies

2014, Books in Bed, Favorites, Fiction, Steampunk, Young Adult /

I sent Michelle a copy of Curtsies & Conspiracies for her birthday so I decided to read it in celebration of her birthday. Seemed fitting, right?

I enjoyed it — still not as much as I liked the Parasol Protectorate but I definitely enjoyed it. Like Michelle, I really like Vieve and wish she had more of a primary role. I’m kind of hoping we see a third series spin off for her… or something… Not that I don’t like Sophronia and the other girls, I just like Vieve more. I also wish Carriger wrote faster, darn it.

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The Strangers on Montagu Street

2014, Books in Bed, Chick Lit, Fiction /

I’m on a Karen White roll and finished The Strangers on Montagu Street last night. I liked it. I really liked the dollhouse story line, that was excellent. But I’m dreading the next book because I accidentally saw a spoiler. Not a spoiler I wanted to know about (or wanted to happen.) Gah.

NOT happy about what comes next at all. So not happy that I’m considering not reading the next book… that’s crazy, right? Yea, it’s crazy so I’ll probably just go ahead and reserve the book and get it over with. Maybe I’ll end up liking it more than I think I will?

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The All-Girl Filling Station’s Last Reunion

2014, Books in Bed, Chick Lit, Women /

Oddly enough, I haven’t read a lot of books by Fannie Flagg. I have no idea why — I like her ok. Certainly as much as any other southern chick lit writer. I never think to reserve her books. I rarely notice them on the shelf. The last one I read was back in Gainesville, I think… Welcome to the World, Baby Girl.

TW was all proud of herself for getting The All-Girl Filling Station’s Last Reunion for me. I had no idea why she was pleased with herself but I definitely appreciated having it on the shelf when I ran out of books (again) a couple of days ago.

It was cute. A little jarring at first to move between the southern women in Alabama and the Polish women in Wisconsin but after a couple of chapters I was ok with that and laughed quite a lot at Suki’s attempts to see a therapist without the whole small town finding out.

The WASP, (Women Airforce Service Pilots) storyline was nice, too. I saw the final twist coming a mile away but that’s ok, it was a fun read and I might even consider reserving another Fannie Flagg book later this year.

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Bluffton: My Summers with Buster Keaton

1 Comment / 2014, Books in Bed, Children's Literature, Comics & Graphic Novels, Cybil Challenge /

I wasn’t really expecting much from Bluffton: My Summers with Buster Keaton. I’m not a big Buster Keaton fan. Turns out, I really enjoyed this book.

It was well drawn/colored and the story was cute. It even made me kind of want to watch The General again. I’m not sure whether this is a really appealing book for kids. Most of them probably won’t have a clue as to who Buster Keaton is… will they?

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The Girl on Legare St.

2014, Books in Bed, Fiction /

I’ve pretty much lost the “I’d love to own an old Charleston house someday” desire. Or I thought I had. Last night, while reading The Girl on Legare St I found myself surfing zillow to see how much a house on Legare St costs right about now… hah.

TW and I realized we are very picky about our Charleston houses. There was one, which I won’t message, that has had horrible things done to its kitchen. Not horrible like the house on Legare St in this book but horrible enough. Anyway, back to the book…

It was excellent. Again. It’s not so much the mystery but the characters and location for me. (Melanie ate at Blossoms again, lucky woman.) And I absolutely did NOT see that ending coming. Not at all.

I am a little confused about the gifts Melanie’s mom has… she seemed to know something was going to happen along those lines — but how? Did the spirits tell her? I didn’t know she could predict the future? I thought that was Rebecca’s gift? Hmmm. That’s the only part that left me puzzled and it’s a very small thing since it was one sentence toward the end and the last paragraph of the book to set up the next book, (which I will be reading).

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5 Children’s Graphic Novels (One Cybils Shortlist)

2014, Books in Bed, Children's Literature, Comics & Graphic Novels, Cybil Challenge /

Since I didn’t love love love the first Hereville book last year, I wasn’t so sure I’d enjoy How Mirka Met a Meteorite but it turns out, I loved it! I quite enjoyed it and found it much better than How Mirka Got Her Sword (I think that’s what the first one was called.) I highly recommend it. (This one is on the Cybils shortlist)

Next, four books in the Squish series, none of which is on the Cybils shortlist but I wanted to read these first because #5 IS on the shortlist… now I’m waiting for it to be ready for me at the library.

I really like this series. There’s just a tiny bit of science in here, disguised as fun. I love all three of the main characters, plus Squish’s dad and the extra characters that appear to help us learn good growing up lessons. I do hope we see Squish’s mom someday… This series is by the Babymouse author and I love Babymouse so it makes sense that I’d like Squish, too. Oh, the science experiment and “How to draw…” pages in the back are EXCELLENT.

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Frommer’s EasyGuide to Miami and Key West (2014)

2014, Books in Bed, Non-Fiction /

Total impulse pick up at the library a couple of weeks ago. I was roaming, waiting for TW to finish filling her bag and I saw Frommer’s EasyGuide to Miami and Keywest 2014 on the shelf. I figured what the heck — we’ve been to Miami but if we get lucky enough to make it to BlogHer Food in a few months, it wouldn’t hurt to take a peek at what was new and interesting and/or nearby the hotel.

It was a fun read late last night and made me homesick. And, I have a couple of ideas for things to do if we find ourselves with some free time in Miami in May.

(Just a note to myself, read in 1/14 – counted in 1/4)

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The Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon

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

For a minute there, I thought this was the end of the #1 Ladies Detective Agency… but no, it seems like everything’s going to work out ok. Thank goodness Mma Makutse is a modern woman. Sheesh.

I really enjoyed The Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon. It was odd though because the two cases didn’t quite end the way the cases normally end. We know what happened but the people involved in the cases… not so much. Interesting. I would have liked to hear how things were resolved with the copy shop chick and with the lawyer/boy/aunt/mother. We usually get at least a small scene with Mma Ramotswe getting things straightened out. Interesting.

The best part… Charlie. Charlie and the baby. Awesome.

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Lost Lake

1 Comment / 2014, Books in Bed, Favorites, Fiction, Women /

If you have read all of Sarah Addison Allen’s previous works and LOVE HER and LOVE them then you might want to consider not reading Lost Lake. Or at least reading it with the understanding that it’s not quite the same. The magical element(s) are there, but it is not so magical as the others. Some of the reviews I read indicate there was NO magic. Or they pointed out one bit of magical storyline and completely missed the other. All very interesting — people tend to think of magic, particular Addison-Allen’s brand of magic as light, fluffy, shimmery, happy, good things…. people should look again and think a little harder, shouldn’t they?

In some ways I liked this book more than her other books (which puts me in the minority from what I can tell from the few reviews I surfed.) There’s a lot of sadness in this book, even when the characters are happy — or when they were happy, the sadness just kind of leaks out all over the place. I liked that.

The characters and location are well written and described, as usual. I’d like to go visit Lost Lake but only if those characters are there, too.

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