Fiction

The Whole Town’s Talking

2017, Books in Bed, Chick Lit, Don't Read This, Fiction /

I generally like Fannie Flagg. I also liked the other Elmwood Heights books so I thought I’d be perfectly happy reading The Whole Town’s Talking. Turns out, not so much.

I hated the style of the book. I hated that we didn’t get more of the early settlers and their early lives and instead got… what we got. (No, I won’t spoil it for you in case you don’t take my advice and decide to read it.) I absolutely hated the ending (and the only reason I kept reading it was to see what happened to the folks up on the hill. Ugh.)

I also found the conservative messaging to be more than I could stomach — at the end it got to be a lot MUCH.

Don’t waste your time on this one.

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Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew

2017, Books in Bed, Favorites, Fiction /

I love Flavia but I’ll admit that the last book, A Chimney Sweep Comes to Dust, was not my favorite. So, I was a tiny bit worried that the series was going downhill… I needn’t have worried.

Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew’d was one of my favorite books of the series. Flavia is growing up… I like that. I did not like the ending, which I predicted during the first chapter of the book. Gah. WHAT NEXT????

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Mr. Lemoncello’s Library Olympics

2017, Audiobooks, Books in Bed, Children's Literature, Favorites, Fiction, Library /

Here’s where I talk about missing our beloved Glenview Public Library…

We wanted to listen to the new Mr. Lemoncello book on audio because the first one was so much fun. So, I looked at the Alachua County Library to reserve it on CD. They had no CD versions. So, I reserved it for Overdrive. It arrived, fairly promptly but the check out time was HORRENDOUS… a week? 10 days? I don’t know but NOT long enough. No big deal, I thought because I can just renew it, like I could with Overdrive books checked out from the Glenview library.

Hahaha. Not so much.

I had to actually RE-RESERVE it and wait for it to be re-delivered to me. THAT WAS ANNOYING and FRUSTRATING and I MISS THE GLENVIEW LIBRARY SYSTEM. (Though I do also appreciate Alachua County’s library… the auto-renew thing is awesome. I love that.)

Anyway, about Mr Lemoncello’s Library Olympics… totally fun. Obviously. I highly recommend it.

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The Patron Saint of Ugly

2017, Books in Bed, Fiction, Women /

I really enjoyed The Patron Saint of Ugly, though I have to say that the ethnic slurs drove me insane. I mean, I get it — the story was based in the 70s but it did make me cringe every time (and it happened constantly.) Oy, we were pretty sucky people in the 70s. Unfortunately, a whole lot of us are still sucky people. (Today is, after all, inauguration day… Jesus.)

Anyway, magical realism. Was Garnet (or her Nonna) really healing all of the people? Was it the water? Was it a combination of all three? Yep, I enjoyed it.

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The Witches of New York

2017, Books in Bed, Favorites, Feminism, Fiction, Women /

Sassymonkey is the BEST and I’m so glad Ami McKay is her internet girlfriend because it means I was gifted with a signed copy of the Canadian version of The Witches of New York, for Christmas. (The link goes to the American version that is available for pre-order.) MONTHS earlier than I’d have been able to get the American version. Also, SIGNED. WOOT.

I stayed up way too late finishing it the other night because I had to find out how Beatrice got out of the… place she was in… and once I read that part, there wasn’t much left so I figured I should keep reading. And I did and it was awesome.

I loved all of our witches and the supporting cast. Loved Perdu. Loved the spirits (and demons) and dearlies.

I know it’s a silly, tiny little thing that meant very little to the story but I loved the addition of Georgie, towards the end. Nice touch.

I also wouldn’t mind a sequel to this one (even though Ami hasn’t really done sequels.) I mean seriously, NYC — suffragists, mediums, witches, demons — and three very strong, independent female characters. It would be awesome.

Thanks, Sassymonkey (and Ami!)

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Small Great Things

1 Comment / 2016, Books in Bed, Favorites, Fiction /

Damn Jodi Picoult (in a good way.)

If you’re not generally a fan or you used to be a fan but got tired of the formulaic stories, characters and writing … you need to read Small Great Things — particularly if you are WHITE. Particularly right now with P45 choosing White Supremacists for his team. (Have a clueless WHITE mom or sister or friend who loves to read? Buy her this book for Christmas… just sayin’.)

This is not a perfect book. It’s still formulaic. It’s still got everything a Jodi Picoult novel has, that you may not love or may be tired of, but it is a must read RIGHT NOW. (And, do yourself a favor and follow her on Twitter, as well. She’s done a very good job of speaking up and speaking out. I respect that and appreciate it.)

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The Fog Diver

2 Comments / 2016, Books in Bed, Children's Literature, Cybil Challenge, Favorites, Fiction, Sci Fi and Fantasy /

My expectations for The Fog Diver were low. Another post-apocalyptic/middlegrade/ya/adventure book. Ho hum? OK not ho hum, because I LIKE this genre but still… turns out, this was one of the better ones.

Really clever cultural references gone wrong, gone very very wrong. Likable characters. A plot that moved fairly quickly. Mostly it was the cultural references that got me.

***

Off-topic but not really: I’m considering not doing the Cybils Challenge next year. Or ever again. It’s not that I don’t love these books, I do. But, so many of them are series’ books and I just can’t keep up with the series’ while also reading a bunch of newly introduced series. When I try, I find myself reading nothing but YA and Middle Grade fiction/scifi/fantasy. I need to find some sort of balance. So… stay tuned, this may be the last full shortlist challenge I attempt. Figures, since odds are high that I’m not going to successfully complete it, for the first time – ever.

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The Book That Matters Most

2016, Books in Bed, Fiction /

I should have been reading books from my Cybils Shortlist Challenge but instead I was reading stuff that’s been on my TBR list for awhile and finally arrived at the library for pick up. I’m glad I ditched my challenge in favor of The Book That Matters Most. (Even if I can’t figure out which book I’d choose. Which would you choose?)

This one was TOUGH in places because KIDS. Parenting (barely) adult kids who are struggling is TOUGH. Been there, done that, probably still doing it because KIDS, man. KIDS.

And then there was the ending. I saw it coming. Couldn’t believe it. Still can’t quite believe it. Pretty much hated it. (It’s been awhile since I said I hated the ending of a book, hasn’t it? Huh.)

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