Women

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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Fast Women

2014, Books in Bed, Chick Lit, Favorites, Women /

I just plain like Jennifer Crusie and I don’t read nearly enough of her books because my TBR list is generally PACKED. When I ran out of books I wanted/needed to read, I figured this was a good time to grab one of her paperbacks and have some fun.

Fast Women was fun. I loved ALL of the “fast women”. Every single one of them. And, I stayed up way too late, two nights in a row, reading this one. I’m tempted to start one more Jennifer Crusie novel while I’m waiting to go to the library and pick up some holds that are on my TBR list… though I really should read something from my stacks of unread books…

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The House of Impossible Loves

2014, Books in Bed, Fiction, Women /

You never really know what you’re going to get with a book that’s been translated to English… a bad translation can turn a good book into something not great. Luckily, The House of Impossible Loves was a pretty darn good book.

If you like fairy tales or good storytelling, in general. If you like extra-quirky storytelling, then you’re probably going to really like this one. It’s not a quick, easy read (which is why it took me so long to get through it. I read like a chapter a day for the first three days, because I was too sick to really focus and it does take a lot of focus to follow) but well worth sticking with it.

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Maisie Dobbs: Among the Mad

1 Comment / 2013, Audiobooks, Books in Bed, Favorites, Feminism, Fiction, Women /

I sound like a broken record here, don’t I? Among the Mad was excellent. Another great Maisie Dobbs book. I keep waiting for a bad one. Or a not excellent one. A mediocre one. You know there are always a couple that just aren’t amazing when you’re reading a series.

I think I’m going to call 2013 the year of Maisie Dobbs because I’ve enjoyed these so darn much.

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Relish

2013, Books in Bed, Comics & Graphic Novels, Non-Fiction, Women /

I grabbed Relish to take to the hospital yesterday when we took TW’s mom to the ER — and I finished it before the doctor had even made his way in to see her. It’s a super fast read, as graphic novels often are.

I liked it, though not as much as I’d hoped — based on whatever reviews or reading list I read that caused me to reserve it last week. But, it was good — I just had super, super high expectations.

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Temple Grandin: How the Girl Who Loved Cows Embraced Autism and Changed the World

2013, Books in Bed, Children's Literature, Cybil Challenge, Non-Fiction, Women, Young Adult /

The last of the Cybils non-fiction about Temple Grandin. I was a little surprised since it seemed like Temple Grandin was every where a few years ago and I thought I’d probably be bored with this. I wasn’t. And, TW especially liked it, though that shouldn’t surprise anyone — Moo!

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