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The Eve Tree

2011, Books in Bed, Favorites, Fiction, From the Stacks Challenge /

It’s really hard to talk about The Eve Tree without talking about Journey Mama – even though they are not the same thing.

The book is not the blog. Molly is not Rae. The Eve Tree is not the albino tree, though I have to say when The Eve Tree first appeared in the book, I was confused – I remembered an albino tree from Rae’s blog – an albino redwood, not a black oak and I had to stop what I was doing and go look on the blog to make sure I hadn’t just misremembered.  And then I got distracted by reading some of the old posts on Journey Mama, which is really just what I needed right then because Molly had stressed me out. That wasn’t a bad thing. I think it was a good thing.

I want to read a book where the characters get under my skin – and Molly did. Oh boy, Molly did.

And then there was the fire.

I have fire issues.

I often smell fire just before I fall asleep – which means I have to get up and make sure there is no fire. (There isn’t.)

And I wake in the middle of the night from a dream where the bed is on fire. (It isn’t.)

Even with all of that anxiety, caused by Molly and the fire, underneath it all was that thing that has caused me to read Journey Mama – life, and peace, and spirit and love.

The Eve Tree is exactly the kind of novel you would expect Rae to write. Her characters are exactly right – honest and real but not perfect. They’re struggling with that imperfection and struggling with love and faith.

I breathed a sigh at the end – one of those sighs of relief and happiness and sadness all rolled up into one. You know the kind I mean, right – something like this?

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Little Bee

1 Comment / 2011, Books in Bed, Favorites, Fiction, Women /

Way back at the very beginning of the year, Sassymonkey asked what everyone was reading. Someone mentioned Little Bee and since I’d been seeing a lot of buzz (hah!) about the book, I decided to go ahead and add it to my reserve list. 

The book arrived and I didn’t read it and I didn’t read it and I didn’t read it. It’s due back soon so I figured what the heck, I’d give it a try.

And I could not put it down.

It’s a hard book to talk about because I don’t want to give it away. You just need to read it for yourself.

A woman and a girl meet on a beach in Nigeria… and this is their story. Dual narrators – done beautifully.

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The Dead Boys

2011, Books in Bed, Children's Literature, Cybil Challenge, Favorites, Young Adult /

Oops. I had it in my head that The Dead Boys was a Cybils Shortlist middle grade graphic novel. Imagine my surprise when I picked it up last night and discovered it wasn’t. Hah. It’s definitely a Cybils short list middle grade fiction but it’s so not a graphic novel, (though it would make a truly excellent one if the right someone drew it.)

This was one hell of a creepy story and I think a whole lot of kids will love it – I’m really surprised at the ending. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a book like this, end this way…

**spoiler – do not read this part if you think you might read the book!!!**

Every 10 years, one 12 year old boy disappears. The bodies are never found… flash forward and a new 12 year old boy moves into town and something wants him to disappear now.

But he figures out what’s happening and finds those missing boys. They’re still 12 year old boys… and in the end, the boys are brought back… as 12 year olds.

I want to know how that goes over with their families… that’s just weird, and creepy!

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Three Graphic Novels – One Great, Two Not Horrible

2011, Books in Bed, Children's Literature, Comics & Graphic Novels, Cybil Challenge, Favorites, Young Adult /

From the Cybils short list middle grade graphic novels list, Guinea Pig Pet Shop Private Eye: Hamster and Cheese was my least favorite. It was cute but I was annoyed by the pet store owner who knows nothing about animals. I don’t believe that was really necessary. I did, however, really like the part at the end with interesting information about animals. That was the best part of the book.

Athena: Grey-Eyed Goddess was what you’d expect. The Fates spin us stories about Athena. I didn’t love the drawings but I didn’t hate them either. The stories were fine. Nothing to write home about, really.

My favorite of these will not surprise you. Mercury, written by the author of Chiggers. This one is better than Chiggers and as all good graphic novels should, it left me anxious to find out what happens next! (Which is good because at the beginning, I wasn’t sure I liked the jumping between times. It was jarring until I got comfortable with the characters.

I can’t wait til Elly gets home so she can read these three and tell me what she thinks.

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The Last of the Easy Readers – Surprising!

2011, Books in Bed, Children's Literature, Cybil Challenge, Favorites /

I’ve finished all of the books from the Easy Readers category of the Cybils Shortlist, yippee! And that deserves an  extra yippee because besides the somewhat boring but nicely illustrated Cork & Fizz: The Babysitters, I actually enjoyed this year’s Down Girl and Sit: Home on the Range. It had prairie dogs! I laughed all of the way through it.

This was a good year for the easy readers. I actually loved a Down Girl and Sit and an Elephant and Piggie book. (That doesn’t mean I want to see either in next year’s list. Let’s not press our luck, ok?)

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The Summer Without Men

2011, Books in Bed, Favorites, Feminism, Fiction, Women /

Earlier in the week, I was looking for something to read that was either short, funny, or a quick read because nothing on the library stack was really screaming “Read ME Next!”. The Summer Without Men looked like it might work. Short book, interesting title, interesting cover, interesting paper, and the author has an interesting name.

Two pages later I realized that while this book is short, it’s not really funny or a quick read. It was downright serious and, gasp, literary! So a book I thought would take me a day – took a week. Now that’s not a bad thing, it just wasn’t what I was interested in at that moment. With no significant time to read and fried brain cells when I did have time to read, this book would have been better read on the weekend because it wouldn’t have taken me nearly as long.

50 something woman (who happens to be a poet and a Colombia professor) has a bit of a breakdown after her husband tells her he’s having an affair (with a younger woman, obviously.) She spends the summer in a small town, teaching a poetry class to pre-teen girls (with all of the mean girl madness that goes with something like that), in the house next door is a young mom of two whose husband is an ass, and her mom is in a retirement facility nearby where we also meet some wonderfully interesting “swans”.

The book is just plain brilliant. I think it’s miss-titled but I can overlook that.  I’d like to own it. In fact, I think I’ll put it on my “this is what I want for my birthday list”.

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One of Our Thursdays is Missing

2011, Books in Bed, Favorites, Fiction /

I really like the Text Thursday, well this Text Thursday. I liked her so much that I almost hoped she was the REAL Thursday. Which is probably a spoiler right there but I’m pretty sure if you were reading the book before reading this that you knew that wasn’t going to happen. Fforde is crazy but he’s not that kind of crazy because One of Our Thursdays is Missing would really means that one is missing, not that one is no longer in existence or that he pulled a “Bobby Ewing” or anything like that.

I also loved theat NaNoWriMo has a place in BookWorld. And I loved the clown problem(s). Hell I loved the whole book, which is good because I didn’t particularly love, love, love the last Thursday Next novel.

Jasper Fford is a crazy, evil genius – or he does a lot of drugs.

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The Love Goddess’ Cooking School

2011, Books in Bed, Chick Lit, cookbooks, Favorites, Fiction, Women /

TW asked me why I was reading The Love Goddess’ Cooking School, like it wasn’t a book I’d like, or something. Weird because there was nothing about it that I didn’t like. I like food stories. I like a nice piece of chick lit. I like stories with good teen characters. I like stories with a little bit of magic tossed in.

TW said this book was like Sarah Addison Allen – she’s right. But I think it might be more like a cross between Sarah Addison Allen and Adriana Trigiani which means – you should read this one.

I wonder what happens next… sequel, please.

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Jeannie Out of the Bottle

2 Comments / 2011, Books in Bed, Favorites, Non-Fiction, Women /

Who knew Barbara Eden had been in so many movies and TV movies and stuff? I mean I knew she was a staple of my childhood but when I think Barbara Eden, I just think Jeannie.  OK I also vividly remember her on Dallas because that was kind of unforgettable. Reading Jeannie Out of the Bottle made me want to go back and watch some of these old movies and stuff.

If you grew up with Jeannie, read the book. It’s fun – except when it’s sad, of course.

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