Books in Bed

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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Trust Me On This

2014, Books in Bed, Chick Lit, Fiction /

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

2014, Books in Bed, Chick Lit, Fiction /

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

2014, Books in Bed, Cybil Challenge, Non-Fiction, Young Adult /

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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