I read the second book in the Bibliophile Mystery series before I read the first. I hate it when that happens so I reserved the first one, Homicide in Hardcover, to get the back story. It was an ok book but the second one was much better, I think. (And how often does that happen?)
Fun chick-litty mystery series that involves food but only because Brooklyn really likes to eat. I’m looking forward to the next book.
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I received a review copy of Syren AGES ago and I put off reading it because I’d fallen behind on the Septimus Heap series and I thought I’d catch up and then read it. (TW and Prince J both read it ages ago and liked it a good bit…) I realized in January that I was never going to catch up with the series but I still wanted to read Syren so I read some reviews and blog posts for the books I’d missed and then started Syren. The first chapter or two left me confused because, duh I’d missed a lot, but by the fifth chapter I was hooked and happily reading. In fact I wanted to read it all of the way through without putting it down.
This really is a terrific middle grade series. In some ways, I like it better than Harry Potter (blasphemy, right?)
The other night, I was looking for something light and fluffy to read and I came up empty. So I figured, what the hell, I’ll read these non-fiction prairie dog books that TW made me reserve at the library.
First – Prairie Dogs (The Complete Owners Handbook) made me stop halfway through and look to see if Sharon Vanderlip was on Twitter. She’s not and I want to know why. I would like to talk to her about some of the things she mentions are important for prairie dog owners to know. I’d also like to ask her some questions. Like has she ever spent any time with a prairie dog in her house. Ya know, stuff like that. I also am anxiously awaiting the updated version of this book because it’s only freaking available used – for more than $100. Do you know how many giant plastic balls I can buy with $100? I want the book but I need the stupid balls. (Which are not, by the way, mentioned in the book at all. They should be – along with the fact that you’ll have to buy new ones constantly.)
Next – The Prairie Dog: Sentinel of the Plains was awesome. I’d like to buy this one too, and I might because it won’t cost me four giant plastic prairie dog balls errr $100. Great photos, nice bit of prairie dog history, and a well balanced look at the prairie dog “problem”. (I have an unbalanced opinion – stop killing the damn prairie dogs, people. They are a keystone species. We don’t kill our keystone species without serious consequences.)
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Cherie Priest did it again. Another excellent book! Boneshaker starts slowly and builds and builds and builds … Steampunk and Zombies. Where’s the sequel?
Cherie Priest just gets creepier and creepier – but that’s good. I’ve been trying to figure out how to convince RJ that she needs to start reading Cherie Priest – Dreadful Skin might just be the way to do it. Werewolves and a really cool Nun – could it get any better than that?
TW was right, Goth Girl writing letters to Neil Gaiman was a nice touch. Without the letters, I don’t think I’d have enjoyed Goth Girl Rising nearly as much. The poetry pages were a nice touch, as well – slowly adding stanzas until we get to the end. Lyga does a nice job of building us up and then bringing us back down safely – or as safely as you can get when you’re dealing with Kyra.
Great sequel.
Normally I want a series I like to continue but I think in this case, Lyga should call it finished.
I had high hopes for Curtains: Adventures of an Undertaker in Training – it wasn’t bad, I just didn’t find it quite as interesting or compelling as Stiff. TW seemed to appreciate it more than I did – and when she read it, we ended up having an awful lot of discussions about plans for her death. Err I mean plans for her body after death. She’s sure that Prince J should be the one to manage her affairs after she’s gone – which insulted RJ – and made me laugh out loud. It made Prince J stare blankly at her – which is why I laughed out loud. I just can’t picture it… I can, however, picture her being cremated and having her ashes placed in “bottle urns” and hung from a bottle tree.
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It’s weird, I really didn’t have any desire to read Julie and Julia. I don’t know why, the book has everything I like – food blogger, grand ideas, Julia freaking Child. So why didn’t I want to read it? I don’t know, it was probably the hype that turned me off. I only read it because a) I saw it on the shelf, in large print, and thought TW’s mom would like it b) TW’s mom said it was “weird” and it didn’t make sense to her that someone would do such a project c) TW’s mother raised TW who would CERTAINLY think up something like this – and carry it through.
I couldn’t NOT read it after hearing TW’s mom talk about it.
Turns out this was a horrible book for TW’s mom. She doesn’t do the F word and lord, the F word is all over the book. I think had this not been the case, she’d have probably had a different reaction. (TW’s mom would totally be one of those “bleaders” who gave Julie shit for her language.)
I, on the otherhand, loved every word of it. Every single word. Well the killing of the lobsters made me kind of queasy but that’s to be expected. Lots of the recipes made me queasy – that’s a lot of mess, a lot of work, a lot of crazy food that I really do not want to eat. But… the project… pure brilliance. And the writing, fun. Fun, fun, fun.
I’m so glad I read it. (I’m sorry though to hear that Robert, the dog Julie and Eric adopted post-project, passed away a couple of months ago. I was irrationally sad about that when I saw it on her blog last night.)
We always listen to the Ladies #1 Detective Agency books on audio. It’s a tradition. Thankfully, my reserved copy arrived really quickly and we didn’t have to wait long. (Oddly, the day I picked up the reserve copy in audio, I saw a large print copy just sitting on the shelf – that would never have happened at my old library! I grabbed it for TW’s mom – she’s not a fan, apparently…)
We enjoyed The Double Comfort Safari Club, as expected. There wasn’t enough storyline from the apprentices, hopefully the next one will include them a wee bit more. Violet was back and wreaking havoc, of course. Grace got a new pair of shoes. And in the end everything was as it should be in Botswana.
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The Brontes Went to Woolworths is one of those books I’ve wanted to read but couldn’t find easily on the shelf – or at the library. I ended up buying the Bloomsbury edition though I wish I had a Virago like Sassymonkey has. Sniff.
When I needed to choose three books for the 1930’s Mini Challenge, this was the first one on my list. It would give me a good excuse to break down and buy it since my libraries have never been cooperative. When I started to read it, I was afraid I’d made a mistake. I knew it was going to be a farce but those first five pages were downright confusing and I was having trouble relaxing and just going with it. Whatever it was. That was the problem really, I couldn’t tell what was real, what was made up and what I was supposed to know was real or made up. I felt like one of the poor Governesses in the book.
After those first ten pages, I did settle into the characters and it was all fun. The Bronte Sisters, Toddy and Lady Toddington, the works – amusing maybe because I live in a house where people make up elaborate sagas all of the time – and then play them like they are real. Yep, we definitely live in a “fun house” around here.
And with that – my 1930s Mini Challenge is complete. It was fun. Three great books that I’ve wanted to read – finally read. I’m glad I joined.
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