Fiction

Matchless

2009, Books in Bed, Favorites, Fiction /

When I gave up on The Lacuna, I picked up Matchless. Yay, a short book by an author I like, based on a fairy tale. I could wash away my depression around not being able to read the Kingsolver with a bit of Christmas fairy fantasy.

Yep. That’s what happened. Sort of.

Matchless is a nice, easy story. I read it right before I turned out the lights last night. A very nice bedtime story. I believe you can listen to Matchless on NPR – it was written specifically for NPR and meant to be listened to rather than read.

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The Lacuna

3 Comments / 2009, Books in Bed, Fiction /

Sigh. I couldn’t read The Lacuna. I’m not sure I even made it through 100 pages. It’s wonderfully well written. Smart. But, it’s slow as molasses. And, I just didn’t care much for the main character. I kept hoping, as the boy grew up, it would move more quickly or that I’d get attached to him. Maybe that would have happened, had I kept going.

But, the book was due back to the library and if I only managed to get through 1/6th of the book in a week… it just didn’t seem worth it. Which is sad. I like Kingsolver. Or maybe I just want to continue liking Kingsolver? Maybe I should stop reading her new books and just re-read Bean Trees and Pigs in Heaven?

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Windless Summer

2009, Books in Bed, Fiction /

Oh look, another book with a dissatisfying ending. It’s not that I like happy endings, but good grief! The ending of Windless Summer was pretty spectacularly depressing.

The whole book was surprisingly depressing and I found myself dreaming about weird hotel rooms and the number six. I also have no idea why TW insisted that I needed to read this book. It seems an odd book for her to insist on. Must be the autistic kid factor? Or maybe the karma surrounding room six?

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Fade

2009, Books in Bed, Fiction, Young Adult /

RJ and I got into a discussion about the Lisa McMann series and she convinced me that I shouldn’t wait to read more, that I should either read her copy of Fade or grab it from the library. So I did.

RJ was very troubled by Fade. I’m not sure why it was more troubling than Wake. Maybe because Janie figured out what’s going to happen to her because of her dream catching? Or maybe it was the date rape stuff? I don’t know, I haven’t had a chance to ask her. I just enjoyed it and am ready for the next book.

Of all the “powers” one might have, falling into other people’s dreams has got to be one of the most horrible. shudder.

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The Monster in the Box

2 Comments / 2009, Books in Bed, Fiction, Mystery /

How is it possible that I’ve never read a Rendell book? She’s awfully prolific and it’s certainly the type of book I’d have found myself considering from the shelves.

The Monster in the Box was pretty good. I liked Inspector Wexford. I liked his wife and I liked his friends. I liked the bad guy though it was a very unsatisfying “ending” to that bad guy. Very unsatisfying. Do all of Rendell’s bad guys come to such an unsatisfying demise? I’ll have to check out another one and find out.

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Lakeshore Christmas

1 Comment / 2009, Books in Bed, Chick Lit, Don't Read This, Fiction /

I saw Lakeshore Christmas on a bunch of blogs and book lists so I figured… maybe it will be good? I reserved it. In large print.

TW read it and cursed me for getting it. And then she forced me to read it even though it took me six hours to get past page 2. It just wasn’t a compelling start.

What did I expect? More than I got, that is for sure.

The book did improve but not a whole lot. TW though, feels compelled to read the next one because she likes Daisy and she’s hoping there will be more Daisy storyline in the next book. I’m going to skip it.

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Ophelia Joined the Maidens Who Don’t Float Group

2009, Books in Bed, Classics, Favorites, Fiction, Reading Lists /

Ophelia Joined the Maidens Who Don’t Float Group is the funniest book I’ve read in ages.

I’ve been trying to describe it, over in the BlogHer Book Club, and I think I can sum it up best like this:

1) Take cliff notes of all of the classics and hire someone to rewrite them.

2) Hire Christopher Moore to rewrite them.

3) Chris Moore decides to use the Facebook style interface to rewrite them.

Tada – this is the book you get.

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