2014

Trust Me On This

I didn’t feel like reading graphic novels a couple of days ago and another Jennifer Crusie novel sounded like a good idea, luckily Trust Me on This was still on the library cart.

It took me longer to get into this Jennifer Crusie novel than it usually does. I think it was the setting up of all of the major characters, particularly the con man and his g/f. Once I got settled, I was amused — particularly by Harry and Vic. It’s not often you see older characters given these roles in books that are primarily about 30/40 somethings. Nice touch.

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The House on Tradd Street

I saw a review of the fourth book in the Tradd Street series and thought I’d fallen behind on this series. Turns out, I hadn’t actually started it. (Sometimes I get my series’ confused, particularly when they’re set in Charleston or by authors who typically write about the south.)

So I figured what the heck, I’d reserve the first one, The House on Tradd Street, since I like Karen White anyway.

I can be pretty picky about books set in Charleston. Get one thing wrong and I’ll hold it against you for the whole book. That didn’t happen in this one. Nothing was really out of place or so wrong that it irked me. And, you mention Jestine’s and Blossom and Magnolia and I’m yours for life… well maybe not quite, but it makes me very happy.

The book itself, the storyline and characters, was pretty good. I like a good Charleston ghost story and this was one of those. I’ll probably try and keep up with the series throughout the year — these will be nice easy reads during travel periods or high-stress times.

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The Bronte Sisters: The Brief Lives of Charlotte, Emily and Anne

From the Cybils Short List, The Bronte Sisters (and brother, because you can’t actually have a book about the three sisters without mentioning the poor brother — more than mention him, give him just about as much page space as the sisters…)

A pretty good book for kids who don’t know much about the Brontes. A little boring for me since I seem to have read quite a few books about them. The photos were a nice touch — helped with the dryness of the text from time to time. Nice job including sections from their works. Overall, nicely done.

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Fast Women

I just plain like Jennifer Crusie and I don’t read nearly enough of her books because my TBR list is generally PACKED. When I ran out of books I wanted/needed to read, I figured this was a good time to grab one of her paperbacks and have some fun.

Fast Women was fun. I loved ALL of the “fast women”. Every single one of them. And, I stayed up way too late, two nights in a row, reading this one. I’m tempted to start one more Jennifer Crusie novel while I’m waiting to go to the library and pick up some holds that are on my TBR list… though I really should read something from my stacks of unread books…

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Low Budget Tricks for Small Spaces

Well. It was pretty. That’s just about the only good thing I can say about Low Budget Tricks for Small Spaces.

I picked this one up at the library because, well, it was pretty. Unfortunately there’s almost no text in the book and the “low budget tricks” didn’t appear to be very low budget, as far as I could tell. I also couldn’t always figure out what the “trick” was.

I’m not going to say it was a waste of time because it was very pretty and there were some super interesting rooms. It just wasn’t a very helpful book if you wanted, umm, low budget tricks for small rooms.

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The House of Impossible Loves

You never really know what you’re going to get with a book that’s been translated to English… a bad translation can turn a good book into something not great. Luckily, The House of Impossible Loves was a pretty darn good book.

If you like fairy tales or good storytelling, in general. If you like extra-quirky storytelling, then you’re probably going to really like this one. It’s not a quick, easy read (which is why it took me so long to get through it. I read like a chapter a day for the first three days, because I was too sick to really focus and it does take a lot of focus to follow) but well worth sticking with it.

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The Mapping of Love and Death

The Mapping of Love and Death was another great Maisie Dobbs book. Sad, so sad. But, interesting to see where Maisie goes now that the world is her oyster, so to speak. I’m not sure how I feel about the whole James Compton thing. It’s probably going to be fine and certainly better than Dr Dean for goodness sakes.

I really enjoyed the whole cartographer/diaries/letters thing. Well done. Very well done.

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The Good Neighbors: Kind

I’m doing a great job of catching up on series I’d started and let slide. Holly Black’s The Good Neighbors series, for instance. I read #3, Kind last night.

It was good but who didn’t see that coming? Apparently all of Rue’s human friends? This is a good graphic novel series. Very Holly Black-like. I sometimes find the illustrations a little confusing. Sometimes the guys seem drawn a little too similarly and I have to do a double take when I realize this is not the guy who I thought it was? Otherwise, a perfectly enjoyable faerie graphic novel.

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