Bookshop Bumblings

Uglies Trilogy by Scott Westerfield

June 14th, 2007 by Miss Laura

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Icy!

What a lame-o ending to an otherwise good story and series.




Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

June 14th, 2007 by Miss Laura

In honor of Harry Potter coming out I’m focusing most of my reading on YA series. I finally got off my duff and started this trilogy which I should have been done with ages ago. So far, it’s really good!

It was a little slow to begin with, but by the end I was smacking myself that I hadn’t already bought the second book in the series so I could immediately hop into the next novel. Of course, that would be the only time in my life I wanted to plunge myself into a knife, subtle or not.




A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

June 14th, 2007 by Miss Laura

A book so sad it was hard not to rip the pages out just to have some freaking tissue.

Who knew there could be a book even more depressing and heart wrenching than the Kite Runner? At least this time I knew better than to read it while in a public place so I wouldn’t be sobbing in front of the masses.




Stolen Child by Keith Donahue

June 14th, 2007 by Miss Laura


Good story with a horrible dissatisfying ending that was just… weird.

Actually, let me change that to “Good-ish” story because it was rather slow to get into but I really liked the concept. Parts of the story were just lovely, but not enough to carry the entire tale through.




Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

June 14th, 2007 by Miss Laura

Pretty good … for a Mormon.

I knew I finally had to get off my duff to read this one when my teenage niece was talking about how she read it “way back in” like she was a Nam Vet. At least I got it in before I turned 30 – whew.




Book #68 A Redbird Christmas by Fannie Flagg

November 25th, 2006 by Miss Laura

I was just in the mood for something funny and sappy. This fit just perfectly.




Book #67 Man Of My Dreams by Curtis Sittenfeld

November 22nd, 2006 by Miss Laura

When this first came out, I swooped it up incredibly excited to read it since I had really liked Sittenfeld’s first book. Or at least, I had adored the first half of, “Prep.” The ending was unsatisfying but I will forgive such things for a first novel.

However, I couldn’t even get past the first chapter of this one so I put it down and completely forgot about it. Until, the other day when a former co-worker raved about it to me while commenting that it had reminded her of me. Of course, she made this into an insult by saying, “The woman is just desperately searching for the man of her dreams.”

I might have never had a boyfriend until I was 26, but I had mostly been quite content with that. In fact, after deciding I actually wanted a serious exclusive relationship I began my current one within just a few weeks of tying up all entanglements. There was no long time of pining for a serious relationship. Pining, yes, but just because I do love a good long sigh while swinging my legs back and forth wistfully. However, I’m southern and my family is Mormon so the fact that I’m unmarried at 29, boyfriend or not, puts me into the category where I OBVIOUSLY desperately want to be wed but I am too useless to figure out how to catch me a man.

Even though the comment made me bristle, I went ahead and picked up the book. I just skipped rereading the part that had turned me off and started at Chapter 2 where my bookmark was. (I’m a mood-reader so it is very common for me to set a book down after a few pages if I’m just not in the mood for it. I’m kind of lazy because I figure there’s so many books out there that one has to fit what I want at that moment without me having to work for it by plugging through page after page even when I’m not enjoying what I’m reading.) Immediately, I loved it. I no longer take offense at what my former co-worker said because that main character was me. Not exactly, I’m not so hopeless relationship wise. However, I know I’ve thought and made some of those very same statements to myself and the running unconscious self depreciating dialogue is quite on target.

I have no idea whether this qualifies as chick lit though. Good gracious, I hope not. Not because I have disdain for chick-lit but if that what most of my inner dialogue is defined as I might be found out and forced to read Austen or some such non-sense.

*Shudders*




Book #66 Cooking For Mr. Latte by Amanda Hesser

November 22nd, 2006 by Miss Laura

Oh, I loved this one and could kick myself for not having read it sooner (seeing as I’ve owned it for years now). I love the story of her courtship with her husband based entirely around food with recipes followed by explanations of, “This is just an excuse to eat mayonnaise.”




Book #65 Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

November 22nd, 2006 by Miss Laura

After reading so many reviews which proclaimed this book as “unputdownable”, I had to try out this book which caused someone over the age of ten to make up such a useless word. I don’t really get it. It wasn’t bad, but I wouldn’t create any words which make it seem as if I have an IQ under 40 for it.

I’m always a sucker for books with main characters I really relate to. Who would I relate to more than a woman who grew up and still works in a bookstore her father owns? Evidently, a lot more. This book was pretty – meh.




Book #64 Sunshine by Robin McKinley

November 16th, 2006 by Miss Laura

1. Bookstore and libraries need to take this out of their “young adult” sections PRONTO.

2. If I keep reading vampire books will I lose all respect for myself? Because, to be honest, I actually quite like a lot of them.

3. I feel as if I should take a shower after that last sentence.





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