Fiction

The Storyteller

4 Comments / 2013, Audiobooks, Books in Bed, Fiction /

I’m way behind on book blogging. Gah. I am afraid I’m never going to catch up … oh wait, I forgot I’m reading a book that I’m not really enjoying so it’s taking me a really long time, which should give me time to catch up on the books that I (mostly) enjoyed. All Cybils…

First, The Storyteller (on audio). I’m a Jodi Picoult fan except for the book she wrote with her daughter — that one, I did not love. This one… it’s YA but not very YA, if you ask me. Yes, Minka was a young girl when the war began and Anya, the parallel story character was also a young girl, and Sage was also fairly young but… this didn’t seem very YA to me. (Updated: Turns out it’s not YA. I ended up with the Picoult book that has the same title as a YA book I reserved. Total confusion ensued. NOT YA, which is good. I’m short a Cybil, which is not good.)

It also was very very depressing, as WWII books can be when they go into great detail about those who were at Auschwitz.

The ending, I saw coming — though knowing Picoult I expected her to try and double back and make it not be the twisted ending that I saw coming. Nope. It was, as I expected. Now I’m left wondering how Sage is going to deal with this for the rest of her life.

Typical Picoult book. If you like her, you’ll like this. If you don’t, then you will not.

The Storyteller Read More »

The Yonahlassee Riding Camp For Girls

2013, Books in Bed, Feminism, Fiction, Women /

I couldn’t really decide whether I liked The Yonahlossee Riding Camp For Girls. In the end, I decided I did because the writing was pretty. I’m not sure I liked the STORY very much at all though.

Well parts of it I did, parts of it I didn’t like at all. The biggest problem was that I didn’t really like any of the major characters. It’s hard to love a book when you don’t love SOMEONE in it, ya know? I think I loved the places more than the people… which makes sense, really, when you read the book. A lot of the characters loved places more than people, too.

The Yonahlassee Riding Camp For Girls Read More »

Dexter’s Final Cut

1 Comment / 2013, Audiobooks, Books in Bed, Don't Read This, Fiction /

Sigh. I’m disappointed in Dexter’s Final Cut. So disappointed. I get that Dexter wasn’t a good guy, even though most of us grew to really love him. But… this. This was too much. It’s ok to kill off the Dexter series, it’s not ok to fuck with the people who’ve read your books for all of these years and have come to appreciate the characters and the storytelling.

It’s not OK at all. If you’ve ready all of the other books, don’t read this one. 🙁

Dexter’s Final Cut Read More »

Backtracking Book Reviews

2013, Books in Bed, Favorites, Fiction, Mystery, Non-Fiction, Queer, short stories, Women /

I didn’t do a very good job of talking about most of the books I read during the #readathon, so I’m backtracking a bit.

Astronaut Wives Club — I liked it but it wasn’t nearly as interesting as I’d hoped. I see now why someone (Julie?) said she didn’t really like it very much. It was vague where I wanted more detail. I’m glad I read it but I wish it had been better.

Jeanette Winterson’s The Daylight Gate was really good — witchery popery popery witchery, it’s really much the same when you think about it, right?

Troubled Daughters, Twisted Wives — a book of short stories, very good short stories. That’s saying something since I’m not really a fan of short story compilations.

Lake Geneva: Life At the Water’s Edge was a really nice coffee table type book. Great photos. Interesting. Makes me a little sad that we cancelled our mini vacation in November. We’ll do it in the spring, instead, and I’m looking forward to it now more than ever.

Day Trips From Chicago was nothing special. I didn’t find anything unusual or extra interesting. Not a bad book of day trips it was just a little vanilla.

A Short History of Myth, I think I did write about this one a little yesterday. It was ok. Dry, as you’d expect. Something to think about (or to try not to think about?) as I read the other books in the Myth series in the months ahead.

Backtracking Book Reviews Read More »

The Raven Girl

2013, Books in Bed, Fiction, Sci Fi and Fantasy /

The Raven Girl is a fairy tale about a postman who falls in love with a raven — they have a raven girl baby (chick?) who has to find her way in the world when she never feels quite right. She looks like a human but she feels like a raven.

Cute story. Good mix of fantasy and scifi. Nice illustrations.

I’m actually more interested in it now that I know it was written to be a ballet. Now that’s interesting. I’m betting it’s a great ballet. Not that it wasn’t a good book. It was. I liked it, though the end felt a little rushed.

The Raven Girl Read More »

The Mermaid of Brooklyn

2013, Books in Bed, Fiction, Women /

There were a half dozen books on the library cart that needed to go back soon, so I asked TW which of them I should read (as I often do) and she said I should read The Mermaid of Brooklyn. So I did.

I see why she thought I’d like to read it — it had potential. Park Slope mom with a degree in Russian folklore or some such thing and a crummy husband, jumps (I mean falls) off of the Brooklyn Bridge and is saved by a rusalka.

But, I didn’t really like Jenny — not before the rusalka or after or even after that. Not liking her made it very hard to enjoy the story. VERY hard. So I didn’t. Not really.

The Mermaid of Brooklyn Read More »

Tons of Children’s Fiction, Some are Cybils

1 Comment / 2013, Books in Bed, Children's Literature, Cybil Challenge, Favorites, Fiction /

Pretty much the only thing I had the energy to read while JMP was here were picture books — and boy we read a lot of those. I’m not sure this is the complete list (plus the ones I already blogged, a couple of weeks ago) but it’s a start. I’ll figure out the rest… later.

From the Usborne touchy – feely series, two books that JMP loved —  Diggers and Dinosaurs (that’s not one book title, that’s two books.) He loved them so much that I’m tempted to break my no Usborne books rule and buy the entire touchy feely series.

Hamsters Holding Hands came from the library and was an impulse check out on my part. I thought the hamsters might look enough like prairie dogs to interest him. He liked it but not that much.

Hippopposites is the most fascinating children’s picture book EVER. I’m ordering a copy of this one and you should, too.

The Pigeon Has Feelings Too — oy. I’m kind of anti-Mo Willems, generally speaking but I figured one pigeon book wouldn’t kill us. It didn’t.

Harry the Dirty Dog was one of my favorites when I was a kid and was one of my kids’ favorites. JMP likes it but he doesn’t love it (yet).

We bought Farts in the Wild from some bookstore or toy store long, long ago — and we’ve been holding it here until JMP is old enough for it. He’s not yet but our friend Emma who will be three in December loved, loved, loved it and JMP was fascinated by it, too.  It’s a great book.

TexasEbeth sent us “Who Flung Dung” and then we spent the next three weeks yelling “WHO FLUNG DUNG” and pushing buttons on the fart book I mentioned above. Hahaha. Want to know what to buy for a pre-schooler or kindergartener? Who Flung Dung and Farts in the Wild. HUGE WIN for the whole family.

Extra Yarn is a book from the Cybils Shortlist. I didn’t think JMP would like this one but he did. He sat all of the way through it without too much wiggling or trying to flip too quickly through the pages. I thought it was pretty cute, too.

Infinity and Me is a Cybils Shortlister and I loved it. JMP, not so much. Math is hard and too much for a 16 month old. We might try this one again next summer when we can really talk about Infinity.

Chloe and the Lion is a Cybils Shortlister and it caused me to roll my eyes. JMP liked the lion but that was pretty much it.

One Special Day is another Cybils book and it made me go awwwwww and then it made JMP’s mom say “maybe I should have another baby”. JMP didn’t love it or hate it. We’ll try it again if/when he becomes a big brother.

Tons of Children’s Fiction, Some are Cybils Read More »