Books in Bed

Unclean Spirits

2009, Books in Bed, Fiction, Sci Fi and Fantasy, Women, Young Adult /

TW said I should read Unclean Spirits and it seemed like a smart choice for the trip home from BlogHer Food. There was no way I’d be able to read anything deep or serious, not with that level of exhaustion, illness and frustration.

As it was, I could only barely read the fluff (in a dark, deadly sort of fluffy way) and it took about twice as long to finish as it should have.

Jayne is a pretty solid female character. Oh she has her problems but she’s a teenager. With bad parents. And a crazy uncle who didn’t prepare her for what she was stepping into. (People, learn a lesson – if you’re going to leave someone a gazillion dollars and the job of fighting demons, prepare them for the task – even if you are sure you aren’t going to die for ages and even if you think the person you’re leaving the money and the job to is too young to hear it. Prep is good. Really it is.)

I’m not dying to read the next book but I won’t turn my nose up at it if it appears on my library list.

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The Year We Disappeared

2009, Books in Bed, Children's Literature, Cybil Challenge, Don't Read This, Non-Fiction, Young Adult /

The very best thing I can say about The Year We Disappeared is that with this book I finished my Cybil Challenge. Yay me!

I really wish I hadn’t finished with such a dull book. Dull, dull, dull. Disappointing because it’s a true story and a great story.

I’ve always wondered about relocation programs. So this should have been interesting and compelling for me. Did I mention it was dull?

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The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

2009, Books in Bed, Favorites, Fiction /

I kept meaning to read Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Soceity and I really thought I’d already reserved it once and TW had read it.

But nope, she picked it up off of the shelf and I actually read it before her.

Best book I’ve read in ages. It would have been perfect for the airport/plane but once I had read three letters and realized this tidbit, I couldn’t put it down.

Quick, easy read.

Interesting, compelling, likable characters.

A WWII storyline that didn’t bore me to tears because I’ve read so many WWII stories.

Funny but smart funny.

Go read it and if you find a reading group like this one, let me know and I’ll join it with you.

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Dexter by Design

2009, Books in Bed, Favorites, Fiction /

I loved the ending of Dexter by Design and as sassymonkey pointed out, that’s the exactly the opposite of how I felt about Dexter in the Dark.

I’m a wee bit troubled by the title of the next book… I thought I knew what it would be, based on the ending. But it’s not (according to wikipedia…) Hmm now I’m a little nervous that Lindsay is going to flub up the next book after doing so well with this one.

OK I’ll stop worrying, I have to wait two years for the next book. Might as well settle in and just enjoy this one – and imagining GOOD things about what the next one might be like.

(SPOILER ALERT… instead of forcing us to wait 2 years, he should really release the next book 9 months from now…)

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Drawing in the Dust

2009, Books in Bed, Fiction, Women /

TW put Drawing in the Dust on my bedside table. When I asked her why, she said because it was good and I should read it.

When I picked it up last night she asked me why I was reading that.

See what I live with????

She was right, it was good. It was worth reading. I read it straight through.

I never used to read these Biblical excavation/mystery types of stories, now I seem to read them all of the time. (I blame HER for that – it’s a good thing most of them are interesting.)

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Princess Ben

2 Comments / 2009, Books in Bed, Children's Literature, Favorites, Feminism, Sci Fi and Fantasy, Young Adult /

I couldn’t figure out why TW was so happy to read Princess Ben. And when she started talking about how excited RJ would be to read it, I was just plain skeptical. (RJ only reads vampire novels right now, unless forced to read something else…)

When TW and the kids came home from school pick up and RJ had stolen Princess Ben out from under TW… and then would not return it to her later that evening so her mother could finish it, I was more than a little shocked.

There are no vampires in Princess Ben. And it seemed like just another strong girl princess sort of book. Also, while I liked Off Season and Dairy Queen, the writing was not so compelling as to cause teenage girls (or their mothers) to fight over them.

So what was it about Princess Ben…? I have no idea, but it was good. It was compelling. It was worth fighting over. There wasn’t anything super surprising about it. This was not the first time we’ve read a Princess slays dragon and wakes the Prince with a kiss sort of book. I don’t even think it was the emotional eating Princess.

Not that I know what, exactly, causes this to be a great book – a combination of those things plus surprisingly good writing, characters you’re drawn to, and the dropped mentions of other fairy tales – all of the above?

Surely this will make the Cybil short list…

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Fight Like a Girl

2009, Books in Bed, Feminism, Non-Fiction /

I probably would never have made time to read Fight Like a Girl if it hadn’t been assigned for Michelle’s Intro to Women’s Studies class.

I’ve picked it up several times, in various women’s book stores, but always put it back down in favor of buying something else. Always thought “I should reserve this at the library.” and then never did it.

It’s that kind of book.

It’s also not the best book for someone who spends a lot of time knee deep in feminist issues (whether they are second wave, third wave or fourth wave issues) because it’s a little slow.

It is an excellent book if you’re looking for a what was feminism, what wasn’t it… what is it now, what can it be, what do you want it to be – or not be… type of book.

It’s also an excellent book if you’re looking for more resources and basic ideas for doing feminism or activism of any type. The “how tos” in the back were brilliant, not because they included anything new or unusual but because they were included at all.

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Yay Killer Unicorns!

1 Comment / 2009, Books in Bed, Favorites, Sci Fi and Fantasy /

I was terribly nervous to read Rampant. What if it wasn’t good. What if it was really really bad. What if it was just plain disappointing. What if, what if, what if…

But it was terrific! I loved it. I love the evil unicorns. I love all of the unicorn hunters. I loved Astrid. I hated her mother, with a passion that I cannot even begin to explain. I still hate her. I will hate her forever.

Need more killer unicorns, immediately.

But… also… because I complained about Sassymonkey avoiding the virginity issue, I’m going to mention it.

I wasn’t bothered by the fact that the hunters need to be virgins. I get it. Completely. I was bothered by the number of times these hunters, girls from all over the world, griped about boys – and all boys want… and how they constantly have to deal with what boys want. Never once mentioning that girls sometimes, really would like to have sex as well. And that girls also think about having sex. It made me ill.

I blame the patriarchy for a lot of things but this was something else, this was blaming boys and men. And it was a wee bit over the top for me. OK A lot over the top for me.

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Wake

1 Comment / 2009, Books in Bed, Cybil Challenge, Fiction, Young Adult /

Oops, almost forgot another Cybil Challenge book. Wake.

TW and RJ read it ages ago and both were surprised to see it appear from the library, apparently RJ owns it. Who knew? Oh, I think I did – I just forgot. It’s hard to keep track of all of the books RJ owns. She does not avail herself of the library nearly enough.

So, about Wake. That would be my nightmare. To find yourself inside of someone else’s dreams? Ugh. No thanks. Interesting book, though. I’ll read the sequel.

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A couple more Cybils

2 Comments / 2009, Books in Bed, Cybil Challenge, Fiction, Young Adult /

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. My Cybils Challenge is almost complete! I wish I could say that the last two books from the challenge were great ones. They weren’t. They were good, but not great.

Ten Cents a Dance was probably only interesting because of the Chicago backdrop. I found it just a wee bit boring.

I think I might enjoy the story of what happens to Ruby when she leaves Chicago more than I enjoyed the story of her in the Taxi Dancing business.

And then there’s The Explosionist, a book I’d really been looking forward to reading. Slow. Slow. Slow. It was only at the end that I began to really get into it and enjoy the plot. I expect the sequel will be better because we’ve gotten a ton of backstory out of the way. Surely there will be a sequel. We will find out what happens to Sophie and more about Nobel and his brain in a jar. Won’t we?

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