May 2012 Reads

21. The Blue Bistro - Elin Hilderbrand
22. The Library of Shadows - Mikkel Birkegaard
23. Fifty Shades of Grey - E.L. James
24. Fifty Shades Darker - E.L. James
25. Fifty Shades Freed - E.L. James
26. The Sense of an Ending - Julian Barnes
27. The Quilter's Apprentice - Jennifer Chiaverini
28. Some Tame Gazelle - Barbara Pym

I liked all of the books I read in May-I can't remember the last time I could say that. The Fifty Shads books were surprisingly better than I excepted, and not just because of the naughty bits! I actually liked the story too :) Jennifer Chiaverini's The Quilter's Apprentice is the first in the "Elm Creek Quilts" series, and I am excited to read more. Very easy reads, a bit crafty, and the intricacies of female relationships-yes please! Barbara Pym is a new/old find. She reminds me of Maeve Binchy but a bit less scandalous-not that Binchy is scandalous! She started writing in the mid 1930s and has been compared to Jane Austen. So I guess a cross between Jane and Maeve-again, yes please! So those were all my favourites...my least favourite was The Sense of an Ending. I liked the writing, and I thought the "philosophy" of the book was quite interesting (basically that our memories are imperfect), but the ending was not satisfying.

April 2012 Reads

18. The Night Circus - Erin  Morgenstern
19. Madame Tussaud - Michelle Moran

20. Major Pettigrew's Last Stand - Helen Simonson

I thoroughly enjoyed all three of these books by The Night Circus was by far my favourite. It was one of those magical reads that I adore! I highly recommend it!!

 

February 2012 Reads

Here's what I read in February (I am starting the numbering where I lef toff in January):

 7. Read Player One - Ernest Cline
 8. The Wretched of Muirwood - Jeff Wheeler
 9. The Blight of Muirwood - Jeff Wheeler
10. The Scourge of Muirwood - Jeff Wheeler
11. The Weird Sisters - Eleanor Brown

The Muirwood books were free downloads for my Kindle and I quite enjoyed them even with the overtly religious themes (that usually turns me off). My favourite book however was Ready Player One-really neat-and my least favourite was The Weird Sisters. I almost didn't finish that one because it was pretty boring with way too many Shakespeare quotes, but my sister gave it to me for my birthday so I really wanted to not only finish it, but I wanted to like it. It got a bit better once I decided to skip all the italicized quotes, even though they were part of almost every conversation! 

Book Review: Knit One Pearl One

I just finished the third installment in Gil McNeil's Beach Street Knitting Society Series - Knit One Pearl One. I loved it!! Oh books about knitting and life are so wonderful! I found her first novel "Diva's Don't Knit" (aka The Beach Street Knitting and Yarn Society" in the clearance section at Chapters a few years ago and loved it. Last year I read her second novel Needles and Pearls and really enjoyed it because the main character Jo was pregnant-and so was I! In this third novel Jo's little girl Pearl is turning 2 (she also has 2 boys), and although my little guy is only 6months, I am beginning to get a handle on this parenting thing and can relate (and commiserate) with Jo! I can only hope there are more novels to come because I am dying to know what happens next!

Book Review: State of Wonder

I have read a few of Ann Patchett's novels and I must say they are all very different. Different topics, characters, and themes and by different I mean from each other and different from other books in general.

From amazon.ca: "Dr. Marina Singh, a research scientist with a Minnesota pharmaceutical company, is sent to Brazil to track down her former mentor, Dr. Annick Swenson, who seems to have all but disappeared in the Amazon while working on what is destined to be an extremely valuable new drug, the development of which has already cost the company a fortune. Nothing about Marina's assignment is easy: not only does no one know where Dr. Swenson is, but the last person who was sent to find her, Marina's research partner Anders Eckman, died before he could complete his mission. Plagued by trepidation, Marina embarks on an odyssey into the insect-infested jungle in hopes of finding her former mentor as well as answers to several troubling questions about her friend's death, the state of her company's future, and her own past. Once found, Dr. Swenson, now in her seventies, is as ruthless and uncompromising as she ever was back in the days of Grand Rounds at Johns Hopkins. With a combination of science and subterfuge, she dominates her research team and the natives she is studying with the force of an imperial ruler. But while she is as threatening as anything the jungle has to offer, the greatest sacrifices to be made are the ones Dr. Swenson asks of herself, and will ultimately ask of Marina, who finds she may still be unable to live up to her teacher's expectations. In a narrative replete with poison arrows, devouring snakes, and a neighboring tribe of cannibals, State of Wonder is a world unto itself, where unlikely beauty stands beside unimaginable loss. It is a tale that leads the reader into the very heart of darkness, and then shows us what lies on the other side."
State of Wonder was a fantastic novel. I pretty much liked everything about it except for the last chapter. I felt like there were a few things thrown in there just to add twists and it felt a bit forced-but I still really liked this book.

Book Review: Tamar

I downloaded Tamar by Mal Peet for my Kindle when it was the daily deal a while ago, and finished it while we were in Winnipeg. It is apparently a YA (young adult) novel but I wouldn't have classified it as such if it weren't for the forced/awkward romance between two of the characters. I rather liked this book (minus the previously mention romance)-but since I am on the lazy side I am not writing a full review. Sorry. I promise I will get back to proper reviews....at some point.

"A thrilling and moving story about love, betrayal and belonging. When Tamar's grandfather, an intensely private man, falls from a balcony to his death, he leaves behind a box with Tamar's name on it. For a long time Tamar refuses even to think about it...until one hot June day she opens it to reveal a series of clues and hidden messages from her grandfather. She and her cousin Johannes follow the clues and discover that her name also belonged to someone else over half a century before; someone involved in the terrifying world of resistance fighters in Nazi-occupied Holland during the Second World War. As she pieces together the mystery her grandfather left behind, another Tamar's story is unravelled; a story of passionate love, jealousy and tragedy played out amongst the daily fear and horror of war.;By the author of "Keeper", winner of the 2004 Branford-Boase award.;Written with such detailed historical and emotional sweep, this novel will stay with you long after you've turned the last page and is bound to attract child and adult readership." Taken from here.

I find anything most perspectives on the Holocaust fascinating and Tamar was no exception, I liked how the book went back and forth between the granddaughter's perspective and back to her grandfather's experience during the war. I was not expecting the book to end the way it did, but thought Peet did an excellent job!

Book Review: The Golden Acorn

I found Catherine Cooper's The Golden Acorn on amazon.com as a free Kindle book. Clever considering there are two more in the series and they each cost over $7! Oh well, the first one WAS free and I don't HAVE to buy the other two, except I do. I want to describe it as a young adult novel along the lines of Harry Potter but I guess that's not true (although it is VERY much a YA novel).  It's easy to call any book that has magic in it "like Harry Potter"...so no it's not like Harry Potter but it does have magic in it, and there is a prophecy about the main character Jack that he is "The one", even though he himself among others, does not believe this to be the case. A very quick and easy read, The Golden Acorn was entertaining nonetheless. I must admit I'm a sucker for magic, other worlds, talking animals, prophecies, and rooting for the underdog (when you know he's going to win).
Now to PAY for the nest one... Glasruhen Gate!

Book Review: The Reading Group

I just finished Elizabeth Noble's The Reading Group (I was determined to finish it tonight so that it would count as my 4th book in November). I picked this up at Chapters a few weeks ago because it was in the bargain section and well, look at the title!! The Reading Group is about a small group of women who all at least sort of know each other, who meet up once a month  to -you guessed it!- have a book club. I miss my Toronto book club terribly. I really miss reading a book and discussing it with people, but mostly I miss the women!! After meeting on a monthly basis for a few years I was getting to be really close with some of the members and I miss their friendship so much! Ok back to the book...it was told from the different voices of the women in the group as well as some of the significant people in their lives. These women dealt with everything you can think of over the course of a year...love, loss, betrayal, pregnancy, weddings, sickness, death...you name it and it happened to at least one of these women. A light easy but engrossing read-I do recommend it!

What we're reading

I have been reading for myself a little bit lately, but most of my reading these days is to Félix, and although I know I can read anything to him at this point, it's more fun reading kids books. We read a few books a few times a day, and Dave usually spends some time each day reading to him too. Félix will sit and listen and try to touch the pages, and grab them if he can. Surprisingly at 5 months he does have a few books that he prefers, and others that he doesn't really care about. Ok without further ado then, this is what we've been reading lately:

Good Morning World and Good Night World

This is Félix's absolutely favourite book. We read it every morning and as soon as he sees it he gets super excited and makes all kinds of sounds and wants to touch it the whole time. As I mentioned we bought this in Vancouver and it's also one of my favourite's. The artwork is gorgeous, with lots of bright colours and simple fun (and educational) text (ie:Good morning whales playing and singing in a pod). Good Night World is also enjoyable, but for the same reasons but there's something about the morning version that Félix seems to like best.

Goodnight Moon

 

 Does anybody not love this book? This is one of  Félix favourite night time reads. I mean, seriously, how can you not love "...and the quiet old lady whispering hush"? She kind of creeps me out to be honest,but I that's what I love about her!! I also love the page  that says "Goodnight nobody". That's just great. We picked up a book while on vacation in Nova Scotia that is loosely based on Goodnight Moon (and it's pretty good too).


A Porcupine in a Pine Tree

I saw this book a few times and finally decided to buy it this weekend. It's awesome!! It's a Canadian take on a Partridge in a Pear Tree. I love the drawings and Félix loves the singing aspect, especially "Five Stanley Cups!". You can also buy a really cute porcupine toy, but we didn't because we have  lots and lots of stuffed toys...but it is super cute!


Simon et les Flocons de Neige

We picked up this beauty from the library.  I love love love the illustrations and it's a nice easy read for me-I can speak french, but it isn't always pretty. I don't think Félix really cares much about this one though.


Last but not least, my parents brought a few more french books for us (they are super hard to find even at the Chapter's here in Red Deer-where there is no French section!!)...

Le plus beau des bonhommes

This one is extra fun because the snowman (bonhomme) is shimmery. The first time we read this book Félix  could have cared less about the shimmery bits, but now he likes to touch them. I find that most ""touch and feel" books don't have big enough spots for him to touch so he usually misses out, and he usually doesn't appreciate it if I try to help him out!

Do you have children's books you'd recommend that are either Christmas or winter themed?

Too long...and The Irish Country Series

I can't believe it's been 1 whole month since I've posted ANYTHING on here-not even a Booking Through Thursday or Friday Fill-Ins!!! How can this be? Well, I suppose having a 2 1/2 month old baby may have something to do with it, plus the visitors we've had, plus the 2 weeks we just spent back home in Winnipeg visiting family.

I have managed to read a few books since my last post-namely the first three Irish Country books by Patrick Taylor: An Irish Country Doctor, An Irish Country Village, and An Irish Country Christmas.

Please check out his website for book descriptions!! I know I should be reviewing them since this is a blog about reading (mainly), but as I think I've mentioned recently, I'm having a hard time finding the time and patience to give a thorough review, but I do want to keep blogging about reading-so I figure it's better to write a little something (even if it's just the titles and author's of the books) so that I don't completely stop, in the hopes that one day I will be able to write more! SO I hope you keep stopping by, but I'll understand if you don't!

Book Review: Minding Frankie

Two books so far this month-woooohooooo!!! I just finished Maeve Binchy's latest novel Minding Frankie. I actually got this one for Christmas but because of the 2nd line in the description I thought I would be too emotional to read it while pregnant (and it's a good thing I waited).

From the author's website: "Baby Frankie is born into an unusual family. Her mother is desperate to find someone to take care of her child and she doesn't have much time. Noel doesn't seem to be the most promising of fathers but despite everything, he could well be Frankie's best hope. As for Lisa, she is prepared to give up everything for the man she loves; surely he's going to love her back? And Moira is having none of it. She knows what's right, and has the power to change the course of Frankie's life... but Moira is hiding secrets of her own. Minding Frankie is a story about unconventional families, relationships which aren’t quite what they seem, and the child at the heart of everyone's lives".  

I love Maeve Binchy's work but the last few novels haven't been as great as some of her earlier ones, but I thoroughly enjoyed Minding Frankie! It was a quick easy read-which is what I need right now!

Book Review: The Passage

Hurray!! I finally finished my first book since I had Félix (5 1/2 weeks ago can you believe it!!). I started Justin Cronin's The Passage at the end of June and finished it yesterday!!I don't think it's ever taken me that long to read a book!! I kept coming across The Passage at the bookstore, on blogs, and from amazon and chapter's recommendations so I decided to give it a go!  A mix of the movie Outbreak + vampires + army experiments + the future, The Passage was nothing like I imagined-and referring to the Cronin's virals/smokes/dracs as vampires does not do this book justice. I am looking forward to the next two novels in this trilogy-as well as the movie adaptation of The Passage!!

Sorry-not much of a description, or review for that matter,  but I'd rather at least write something rather than nothing, because I want to keep up with this blog-if only in a lackadaisical kind of way :)

Book Review: This Cake Is For The Party

Still no baby! Book #11 for June completed! I read This Cake Is For the Party, Stories by Sara Selecky. 

From The Globe and Mail: "...while the collection explores sites of emotional and physical volatility, Selecky sinks her teeth into something far more powerful than the violence of loss: She skillfully wrests devastation from its customary gloom of lamentation and regret, and bares its overwhelming beauty...Indeed, Selecky catches each of her characters in the midst of acute crises and keenly extracts the stories behind the stories we tell ourselves. Our capacity for vision depends upon our ability to look again – to see the cake that is not one.

I found myself flying through these stories and had to pace myself so that I could absorb them individually.  Regardless if you think you like short stories or not ( I used to think I didn't) I highly recommend This Cake Is For The Party!

Book Review: Plantation

June book #10 completed: Plantation by Dorothea Benton Frank. Wow.... I don't know if I've ever read this many books in one month before (...checking my list....) nope, my previous best was 9 in both May 2011 and May 2011. The way things are looking I should be able to fit in another book or two, because I  don't think this baby is quite ready to come out ( I was due YESTERDAY!!!).

Back to Plantation, according to the reading guide: "Caroline Wimbley Levine always swore she’d never go home again. But now, at her brother’s behest, she has returned to South Carolina to see about Mother—only to find that the years have not changed the Queen of Tall Pines Plantation. Miss Lavinia is as maddeningly eccentric as ever—and absolutely will not suffer the questionable advice of her children. This does not surprise Caroline. Nor does the fact that Tall Pines is still brimming with scandals and secrets, betrayals and lies. But she soon discovers that something is different this time around. It lies somewhere in the distance between her and her mother-and in her understanding of what it means to come home…"

Although I am basically sitting around waiting for baby and have a fair bit of free time, I find it hard to stay focused on anything for more than 20 minutes at a time. With t hat being said, I was totally caught up in Plantation! Another easy read, and again another book dealing with the relationships between women. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and wish I had some o Frank's other books with me right now, especially more of the Lowcountry novels!!

Book Review: Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind

I finished my 9th book of June last night: Ann B. Ross' Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind. Meh. Not my favourite. It started out as the kind of book I've been reading but this one had a bit of "mystery" to it that I just found frustrating! Just get on with it already!! And some of the plot was simply ridiculous.

From the author's website: "This book begins the series that features the sharp-tongued, but soft-hearted in spite of herself, Julia Springer of Abbotsville, North Carolina. In it, Julia learns of her recently deceased husband's perfidious activities when his mistress, Hazel Marie Puckett, and his nine-year-old illegitimate son show up on her front porch without a nickel to their names. In spite of counselling by Pastor Ledbetter, criticism by her friends, gossip in the community, a kidnapping by a televangelist and the discovery of a new will that threatens to send her to the poorhouse, Miss Julia takes Hazel Marie and Little Lloyd into her home and learns to hold her head up high."

Needless to say I will not be reading another Miss Julia book. On now to book #10!

Book Review: A Most Uncommon Degree of Popularity

I finished my 8th book this month!! Kathleen Gilles Seidel's a Most Uncommon Degree of Popularity.

From the author's website: "Her own daughter...one of the popular girls? On the first day of middle school, Lydia Meadows, a former lawyer turned full-time mother, is startled to discover that her daughter Erin is one of the popular girls, a tight foursome whose mothers are also great friends. Lydia has always thought of popular girls as ambitious little manipulators who enjoy being cruel. But Erin is kind and well-adjusted. Maybe this popularity thing won’t be so bad after all.

Then a new student ruthlessly targets Erin to boost her own popularity, and Lydia helplessly wonders what to do when her daughter’s phone stops ringing..."


Seidel's novel fits the bill for what I've been looking for these past few weeks :a quick, easy read that deals with relationships between women this. This one had it all: friends, sisters, mothers and daughters....it's been great! 


Onto book number nine!!

Book Review: The Ballroom on Magnolia Street

After reading Sharon Owens' The Tea House on Mulberry Street I was very excited to read the next novel in the sort-of series: The Ballroom on Magnolia Street. Unfortunately I was quite disappointed. Although similar in style, I just could not get interested in the characters or their stories! Oh well. I've read quite a few "gooders" as my friend Marcia might say, so  I guess a dud was due!

I have a stack of 8 library books to choose from and I'm hoping to get at least one more in before this baby makes an appearance (I'm due in 5 days) so I could very possibly not meet that goal, or finish all 8!! We'll see!!

Book Review: Firefly Lane

Kristin Hannah's Firefly Lane is about a lifetime friendship between two women, Tully and Kate. The first chapter reveals that somewhere along the way the women had a major falling out and one of them (we don't know who) is finally reaching out to the other. I totally thought I knew what the falling out was all about and I was 100% wrong. Not only that the book ended in a way that I never would have expected. I almost finished it last night but was super tired so I went to bed-and thank goodness I did, because on the very next page something happens that I know if I had read it before bed I would NEVER have been able to sleep. I won't say more about it, but that it completely caught me off guard.  The past few books I've read have all been about the relationships between women, as was this,however Firefly Lane definitely was not a light read! I did enjoy this book but need something lighter right now!!

Book Review: A Country Affair

I am on a ROLL!!!! I read Rebecca Shaw's A Country Affair this afternoon. WOW! It's the first of her Barleybridge novels and I can't wait to read the next ones! Another quick easy read-this one set at a veterinary clinic in rural England. I found it to be similar in writing style to some of Maeve Binchy's works as well as the last book I just read and reviewed by Sharon Owens, in that it deals with the lives and relationships of a fairly large group of people in a small town.

From the author's website: "It is Kate's first day in her new job, and she is more apprehensive than she thought was possible. But there is no time for nerves, and her anxieties soon vanish as she finds herself flung headlong into the hectic world of the busy vet's practice and the clients who visit it.

But it's not just the animals who win Kate's affections: the staff are friendly and welcoming, particularly Scott, the Australian, whose wicked sense of humour and enthusiasm for life Kate finds hard to resist, despite his rather colourful reputation.

Before long, Kate begins to feel there are other changes she wants to make in her life - and her boyfriend, Adam, is not at all happy about it. As Kate struggles to cope with Adam's increasingly erratic behaviour, she realises she must make some very difficult decisions . . ."

I have a whole bunch of books from the library so I don't know which one to pick next...I'll give it an hour or so to decide :) I unfortunately did not get any of Shaw's other books....next time I guess!!

Book Review: The Tea House on Mulberry Street

I am just flying through books this week-it's great!! I picked up Sharon Owens' The Tea House on Mulberry Street at the library because on the inside cover a reviewer compared Owens to Maeve Binchy's Quentins, and I  LOVE Maeve Binchy-especially that book!! I was not disappointed. The Tea House on Mulberry Street has an interconnected cast of characters that are involved in or are guests at a tea house in Belfast. It was very Binchyesque and as I've said in my past few reviews, exactly what I'm in the mood for: nice, easy, uncomplicated reads, that I can lose myself. Even better when they are set in United Kingdom!!

As of today I have now been to BOTH libraries in Red Deer, and have a total of 19 books checked out (2 of which are baby related). I wanted to have plenty to choose from over the next days or weeks before this highly anticipated baby makes an appearance and I no longer have time to read-or will I?