It is with a tear that I tally up this year's total. Though I have been maintaining this list for more years than I would like to count, this is the first using a blog, so I am sad and disappointed to report that the final number is: 28. It may be my lucky number, but it's two short of the goal. I guess I could blame it on my new job, which has kept me ridiculously busy, or just the holiday debauchery (which has kept me equally busy), but I'm sure you don't want to hear lame excuses. I don't suppose I can read two more books in an hour and 29 minutes?
New Year's Resolution #1: Read 30 books. Duh.
On a brighter note, I am looking forward to the books that 2007 will bring. In the queue right now (thank you Dallas Public Library) are...The Deception of the Emerald Ring (the third installment), Dreams of my Father (in progress), A Long Way Down (thanks for the loan, Craig), some Thomas L. Friedman, some Erik Larson, Lolita and The Turn of the Screw. I am looking forward to some long summer nights, a vacation in Oman, and a few more cozy winter nights in which my beloved books (and my cuddly canine) will be my companions.
Happy New Year!
Sunday, December 31, 2006
#28, The Boleyn Inheritance, Philippa Gregory
The Boleyn Inheritance. It wasn't bad, though it wasn't The Other Boleyn Sister, either. It was just over 500 pages, which was really about 200 pages too many. I suppose if you didn't already know what was going to happen to Anne of Cleves and Katherine Howard (the fourth and fifth wives, respectively, of Henry the 8th that the book centers on) then the minute details would build suspense; but since I knew the outcome (it is historical record after all, and even has a little rhyme to go along with it if you forget), it was more like, let't get on with it! It also lacked the debauch of its predecessor, which let's face it, helps the history lesson go down better.
So in short, I'd recommend it, but only if you're a little vague on the details.
Oh, and the rhyme? Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived. That Henry the 8th was a real monster. Let me just make that point too. A murderer, a madman, and a misogynist.
So in short, I'd recommend it, but only if you're a little vague on the details.
Oh, and the rhyme? Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived. That Henry the 8th was a real monster. Let me just make that point too. A murderer, a madman, and a misogynist.
Saturday, December 02, 2006
#27, The Thirteenth Tale, by Diane Setterfield
"The Thirteenth Tale is a love letter to reading, a book for the feral reader in all of us, a return to that rich vein of storytelling that our parents loved and that we loved as children. Diane Setterfield will keep you guessing, make you wonder, move you to tears and laughter, and, in the end, deposit you breathless yet satisfied back upon the shore of your everyday life."
That's what the book jacket says. Don't believe it - clearly the copywriter was not reading the same text. While this isn't the most horrible book I've read this year (though definitely in the bottom five), it has been WAY over-hyped, most especially by Barnes n' Noble.
The Thirteenth Tale and I started on the wrong foot -- having been compared to Jane Eyre and having stolen from Jane Eyre (you know, fire-ravaged house, crazy relative locked away, and an innocent entering that world), I expected more. And when the book didn't deliver, then I just found the device to be pretentious. I mean, who compares their own book to Jane Eyre, for god's sake?
A better choice would have been Flowers in the Attic. Every character has some freakish story (evil twin, dead conjoined twin, abandoned baby, etc) and every character is unlikeable for one reason or another (evil being the central affliction, along with boring, naive or too one-dimensional). Add to that a healthy helping of incest and abuse, and you have Flowers in the Attic for the erudite.
The biggest problem with the novel is that the premise is unconvinving, and a novel cannot survive that. We are introduced to Vida Winter, England's most famous living novelist, who has invited our dull and mousy protagonist to write her life story. In short order, we learn that her uncle has an unhealthy (to put it mildly) fixation on her mother, and their coupling produces two very disturbed children, twin girls, Adeline and Emmeline. I won't ruin the story for those who are still interested by detailing it, except to say that Adeline (who has been presented as Vida Winter, pre name change) is an evil child who delights in beating her twin mercilessly and destroying whatever she is able to get her hands on. That's fine (we're back to Flowers in the Attic again), but it is entirely unbelievable that this child has grown up into a productive adult, ie Vida Winter. So, at the end of the novel, when the big "shocking" plot turn rolls around to work this out, it's not all that shocking. It just takes 300+ pages to get to the explanation of what was obvious from the beginning. 300 VERY long pages.
It brings me back to my central complaint of all bad books: with so many great ones out there, why did I waste time reading this drivel?
Not sure what my next book choice is going to be, though it is coming down to either Barack Obama's first or High Fidelity. I only have three more books to read this year to make my goal, but a new job, so I think the last three will most likely be fun, easy reads. I'm saving Lolita for the first book of 2007.
That's what the book jacket says. Don't believe it - clearly the copywriter was not reading the same text. While this isn't the most horrible book I've read this year (though definitely in the bottom five), it has been WAY over-hyped, most especially by Barnes n' Noble.
The Thirteenth Tale and I started on the wrong foot -- having been compared to Jane Eyre and having stolen from Jane Eyre (you know, fire-ravaged house, crazy relative locked away, and an innocent entering that world), I expected more. And when the book didn't deliver, then I just found the device to be pretentious. I mean, who compares their own book to Jane Eyre, for god's sake?
A better choice would have been Flowers in the Attic. Every character has some freakish story (evil twin, dead conjoined twin, abandoned baby, etc) and every character is unlikeable for one reason or another (evil being the central affliction, along with boring, naive or too one-dimensional). Add to that a healthy helping of incest and abuse, and you have Flowers in the Attic for the erudite.
The biggest problem with the novel is that the premise is unconvinving, and a novel cannot survive that. We are introduced to Vida Winter, England's most famous living novelist, who has invited our dull and mousy protagonist to write her life story. In short order, we learn that her uncle has an unhealthy (to put it mildly) fixation on her mother, and their coupling produces two very disturbed children, twin girls, Adeline and Emmeline. I won't ruin the story for those who are still interested by detailing it, except to say that Adeline (who has been presented as Vida Winter, pre name change) is an evil child who delights in beating her twin mercilessly and destroying whatever she is able to get her hands on. That's fine (we're back to Flowers in the Attic again), but it is entirely unbelievable that this child has grown up into a productive adult, ie Vida Winter. So, at the end of the novel, when the big "shocking" plot turn rolls around to work this out, it's not all that shocking. It just takes 300+ pages to get to the explanation of what was obvious from the beginning. 300 VERY long pages.
It brings me back to my central complaint of all bad books: with so many great ones out there, why did I waste time reading this drivel?
Not sure what my next book choice is going to be, though it is coming down to either Barack Obama's first or High Fidelity. I only have three more books to read this year to make my goal, but a new job, so I think the last three will most likely be fun, easy reads. I'm saving Lolita for the first book of 2007.
Monday, November 13, 2006
#26: The Masque of the Black Tulip, Lauren Willig
They say that it's harder to writer your second book than your first (even I know that), and that the second usually can't compete if the first was a big success. So I extend my condolences to Lauren Willig. The Masque of the Black Tulip isn't a bad book; I just can't rave over it like the first one. (Maybe the law school/PHD thing proved too much of a load the second time around).
My biggest pet peeve was clever phrases that were used more than once. The first time, it's witty. The second time appears to be a mistake. The third time -- well, the author knows she's being clever, and hopes you won't remember that she used it 100 pages ago. Oh, you need an example? Okay, page 373 (just 26 from the end, I guess she couldn't resist one last go): "Miles made a strange choking noise that sounded like it wanted to be a laugh when it grew up."
It sort of goes along with the not-quite-successful artifice of "defining" chapters. Each chapter starts out with a definition from the Personal Codebook of the Pink Carnation (a character who is barely seen in the sequel). For a couple of chapters, it seemed clever - until I realized it didn't actually say much about the chapter at hand, and then just became a distraction.
I think the reason I wasn't so keen on this sequel, though, was that there were no surprises. It was as obvious who the Black Tulip was as that Miles and Henrietta would end up in marital bliss, from about page 10. The gem of the first book was that it was a witty combination of spy plot and chick lit. This one was an imitation of the first, as opposed to be an enlargement on those ideas.
Having said all that, I am looking forward to the third installment, which promises some romance - finally - for Jane. Jane, who went from dull tag-along cousin to being described as a beauty the classic Greeks could admire. Not sure when that change happened, but that's a criticism for another time.
Oh, and on a final note, I don't hate all books. It's more interesting to talk about their particular foibles -- I can't just say, "I liked it" over and over again, can I?
Next up: The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. Only 4 more books to read before December 31...I think I might make the goal this year!
My biggest pet peeve was clever phrases that were used more than once. The first time, it's witty. The second time appears to be a mistake. The third time -- well, the author knows she's being clever, and hopes you won't remember that she used it 100 pages ago. Oh, you need an example? Okay, page 373 (just 26 from the end, I guess she couldn't resist one last go): "Miles made a strange choking noise that sounded like it wanted to be a laugh when it grew up."
It sort of goes along with the not-quite-successful artifice of "defining" chapters. Each chapter starts out with a definition from the Personal Codebook of the Pink Carnation (a character who is barely seen in the sequel). For a couple of chapters, it seemed clever - until I realized it didn't actually say much about the chapter at hand, and then just became a distraction.
I think the reason I wasn't so keen on this sequel, though, was that there were no surprises. It was as obvious who the Black Tulip was as that Miles and Henrietta would end up in marital bliss, from about page 10. The gem of the first book was that it was a witty combination of spy plot and chick lit. This one was an imitation of the first, as opposed to be an enlargement on those ideas.
Having said all that, I am looking forward to the third installment, which promises some romance - finally - for Jane. Jane, who went from dull tag-along cousin to being described as a beauty the classic Greeks could admire. Not sure when that change happened, but that's a criticism for another time.
Oh, and on a final note, I don't hate all books. It's more interesting to talk about their particular foibles -- I can't just say, "I liked it" over and over again, can I?
Next up: The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. Only 4 more books to read before December 31...I think I might make the goal this year!
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
#24: The Ivy Chronicles, Karen Quinn
After the horror that was The Pilot's Wife, I found - much to my joy - a large English-language bookstore, and I picked out The Ivy Chronicles. I had meant to read it awhile ago, but never got around to it. Now, while I had a couple of plane rides coming up, I thought it would be a good choice, promising some lighthearted entertainment. (I should say, I almost went for Wide Sargasso Sea, but it didn't seem like it would go well with jet lag).
It's been a little over a week since I finished it (and I finished it in about 28 hours), and I've almost completely forgotten what happened. Oh yah, she was a kindergarten-admissions counselor trying to get some young 'uns into fancy schools while romancing her neighbors. But it doesn't matter - the book served its purpose. It was fun, funny and the pages went surprisingly quickly. What more can you ask from the genre? I give The Ivy Chronicles two thumbs up.
Next up: I'm almost all the way through Geisha: A Life by Mineko Iwasaki. Supposedly, her life story was the basis for Arthur Golden's Memoirs of a Geisha, and she felt that he had misrepresented some of the facts about the geisha way of life, so she wrote her own book. Good for her.
It's been a little over a week since I finished it (and I finished it in about 28 hours), and I've almost completely forgotten what happened. Oh yah, she was a kindergarten-admissions counselor trying to get some young 'uns into fancy schools while romancing her neighbors. But it doesn't matter - the book served its purpose. It was fun, funny and the pages went surprisingly quickly. What more can you ask from the genre? I give The Ivy Chronicles two thumbs up.
Next up: I'm almost all the way through Geisha: A Life by Mineko Iwasaki. Supposedly, her life story was the basis for Arthur Golden's Memoirs of a Geisha, and she felt that he had misrepresented some of the facts about the geisha way of life, so she wrote her own book. Good for her.
#23: The Pilot's Wife, Anita Shreve
Let me just set the record straight before I begin ripping this book apart: I was in Eastern Europe and had NO other book choices. Not a single one. I learned a long time ago to stay away from the Oprah selections. Don't get me wrong, I like her (and doesn't everyone like the big O, besides perhaps, er, James Frey?). I just think she has horrific taste in books, as she tends to choose subject matter (usually involving abuse, affairs and/or alcohol) over the author's actual writing ability.
Melodrama seems to be the defining element of the genre of so-called "women's" lit, and it is in full supply here in The Pilot's Wife. Chick lit is about sex; women's lit is about feelings. (This demand for plot over talky-talky is starting to make me feel like a man). But seriously, these books are not great literature -- if I wanted a tedious exposition on life and love, I would pick up Madame Bovary and at least notch a classic.
For example: After the in-air death of her pilot husband, our heroine ponders..."What was it like to watch the cockpit split away from the cabin, and then to feel yourself, still harnessed to your seat, falling through the night, knowing that you would hit the water at terminal velocity, as surely Jack would have known if he were conscious." ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!? How did this shlock get through her editor? I hate to be the realist here, but Ms. Shreve, Jack wouldn't have seen or felt anything, seeing as a bomb went off about a foot from where he was standing.
On top of the melodrama are pat phrases that would be better stiched onto a sampler: Sometimes, she thought, courage was simply a matter of putting one foot in front of the other and not stopping." Or how about this one: "To be relieved of love, she thought, was to give up a terrible burden." It's like she didn't even try while writing this book, and it's an insult to the intelligence of the reader. For the millions of dollars that Anita Shreve gets paid to churn out these books, she could at least attempt to be a wee bit insightful.
It leaves me with one question, really: did I actually waste hours of my life reading this drivel?
Melodrama seems to be the defining element of the genre of so-called "women's" lit, and it is in full supply here in The Pilot's Wife. Chick lit is about sex; women's lit is about feelings. (This demand for plot over talky-talky is starting to make me feel like a man). But seriously, these books are not great literature -- if I wanted a tedious exposition on life and love, I would pick up Madame Bovary and at least notch a classic.
For example: After the in-air death of her pilot husband, our heroine ponders..."What was it like to watch the cockpit split away from the cabin, and then to feel yourself, still harnessed to your seat, falling through the night, knowing that you would hit the water at terminal velocity, as surely Jack would have known if he were conscious." ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!? How did this shlock get through her editor? I hate to be the realist here, but Ms. Shreve, Jack wouldn't have seen or felt anything, seeing as a bomb went off about a foot from where he was standing.
On top of the melodrama are pat phrases that would be better stiched onto a sampler: Sometimes, she thought, courage was simply a matter of putting one foot in front of the other and not stopping." Or how about this one: "To be relieved of love, she thought, was to give up a terrible burden." It's like she didn't even try while writing this book, and it's an insult to the intelligence of the reader. For the millions of dollars that Anita Shreve gets paid to churn out these books, she could at least attempt to be a wee bit insightful.
It leaves me with one question, really: did I actually waste hours of my life reading this drivel?
Monday, October 09, 2006
#22, Almost French, Sarah Turnbull
I rushed through this book, and while I enjoyed it, I also thought it lacked substance. I guess, in effect, it was a good book to read while traveling around -- easy to pick up for even just a five-minute read -- but not a work of great literature.
The story is basically this: the author, Sarah Turbull, decided to take a year off from her TV job to travel the world. During a stint in Bucharest, she meets a dashing Frenchman, and spontaneously decides to take him up on his offer to visit him in France. Romance blooms, and the story is basically about how she learned to adapt in France.
But the weirdest part about it was, there was very little mention of the dashing Frenchman at all, the man who eventually becomes her husband. I think I knew more in the end about crazy Pierre, who obnoxiously rode his bike through the street. But I think the book could have benefitted more from a look at their relationship -- surely it wasn't all sunshine and roses, especially since at the beginning they barely understood each other.
I don't have much more to say about it...easy come, easy go, I guess. I am sure that in two months I will struggle to remember what it was even about.
Next up: The Pilot's Wife, by Anita Shreve. I am not too excited about this book, but I am in Eastern Europe right now and have very few choices!
The story is basically this: the author, Sarah Turbull, decided to take a year off from her TV job to travel the world. During a stint in Bucharest, she meets a dashing Frenchman, and spontaneously decides to take him up on his offer to visit him in France. Romance blooms, and the story is basically about how she learned to adapt in France.
But the weirdest part about it was, there was very little mention of the dashing Frenchman at all, the man who eventually becomes her husband. I think I knew more in the end about crazy Pierre, who obnoxiously rode his bike through the street. But I think the book could have benefitted more from a look at their relationship -- surely it wasn't all sunshine and roses, especially since at the beginning they barely understood each other.
I don't have much more to say about it...easy come, easy go, I guess. I am sure that in two months I will struggle to remember what it was even about.
Next up: The Pilot's Wife, by Anita Shreve. I am not too excited about this book, but I am in Eastern Europe right now and have very few choices!
Thursday, October 05, 2006
#21: The Secret History of the Pink Carnation, Lauren Willig
So good, I couldn't put it down! The Pink Carnation is certainly the best book I've read all summer, if not all year. While the plot itself - a combination love/spy story set in Napolean's court - was captivating, it was really Willig's writing style that vaulted this novel above ordinary chick lit.
Une example, mes amis...
"Amy managed the difficult feat of looking at him askance with her nose only inches from his. 'It would be much easier for me to answer that question if I knew who you were.'
'What's in a name? A Gentian by any other name would-'
'Be an entirely different flower,' interjected Amy, swatting him on the arm. 'I refuse to be fobbed off with poor imitations of Shakespeare.'
'If you don't like Romeo and Juliet, how about a sonnet?' Richard suggested. 'Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art-'
'Not that easily deterred.'"
Tres clever, non? Making matters worse is author Lauren Willig's biography. Get this: While she wrote this fabulous novel, she was at Harvard writing her history dissertation AND going to law school. It makes me wonder what the hell I've been doing with myself.
Oh, and as an aside, who knew that a gentian was a flower? Boy, am I getting smarter every day!
Une example, mes amis...
"Amy managed the difficult feat of looking at him askance with her nose only inches from his. 'It would be much easier for me to answer that question if I knew who you were.'
'What's in a name? A Gentian by any other name would-'
'Be an entirely different flower,' interjected Amy, swatting him on the arm. 'I refuse to be fobbed off with poor imitations of Shakespeare.'
'If you don't like Romeo and Juliet, how about a sonnet?' Richard suggested. 'Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art-'
'Not that easily deterred.'"
Tres clever, non? Making matters worse is author Lauren Willig's biography. Get this: While she wrote this fabulous novel, she was at Harvard writing her history dissertation AND going to law school. It makes me wonder what the hell I've been doing with myself.
Oh, and as an aside, who knew that a gentian was a flower? Boy, am I getting smarter every day!
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
#20: Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte
One quote sums up this novel:
"'She's fainted or dead,' I thought: 'so much the better. Far better she should be dead, than lingering a burden and misery-maker to all about her.'"
While I liked Wuthering Heights, in that trashy "my father's in love with my cousin/wife's dead mother" way, I understand why schoolchildren across America want to tear out their hair when this book is assigned. Why is this book a classic? I think it failed in two of the major tenets of good literature: None of the characters are particularly likeable, and Bronte resorts to "Deus ex Machina" tactics to both create and finish out the story.
On likeability: The above quote says it all. Catherine Earnshaw is a pain in the ass. Heathcliff is demonic. So why should we care that their love has been thwarted? Both of them were so cruel to the people around them that frankly, in the world of literary justice, you are rooting for them to fail. Which means that the real appeal of the book becomes the trash angle, once you cease to care about the protagonists.
On Deus ex Machina:The format of the book was strange, and quite contrived. Bronte resorts to telling a story within a story -- the lodger wants to know why Heathcliff is so crabby and Catherine Linton so aloof but distressed, and Nelly, the faithful houseservant, spills all. Once the story-within-the-story catches up to the present, the lodger, Mr. Lockwood, leaves Thrushcross Grange. When he returns some time later, the story suddenly resolves itself -- lo and behold, Heathcliff, formerly the picture of health, has suddenly died and now those who are left -- Catherine Linton and Hareton Earnshaw (cousins, it should be noted) can live happily ever after in their bucolic wonderland. I suppose it helped that Heathcliff was tormented by ghosts, starving himself and wandering the moors at all hours, but his death was pretty darn convenient. Without it, god knows how long that book would have gone on!
Having said all this, I think the book could be better on a second read. If you knew what was going to happen -- especially that Heathcliff believed Catherine's ghost is tormenting him, it might explain his behavior better, and his decline. But that's just a hypothesis -- not sure I can handle another read at this point...
Anyway, next up, and sure to be quicker to get through: The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig
"'She's fainted or dead,' I thought: 'so much the better. Far better she should be dead, than lingering a burden and misery-maker to all about her.'"
While I liked Wuthering Heights, in that trashy "my father's in love with my cousin/wife's dead mother" way, I understand why schoolchildren across America want to tear out their hair when this book is assigned. Why is this book a classic? I think it failed in two of the major tenets of good literature: None of the characters are particularly likeable, and Bronte resorts to "Deus ex Machina" tactics to both create and finish out the story.
On likeability: The above quote says it all. Catherine Earnshaw is a pain in the ass. Heathcliff is demonic. So why should we care that their love has been thwarted? Both of them were so cruel to the people around them that frankly, in the world of literary justice, you are rooting for them to fail. Which means that the real appeal of the book becomes the trash angle, once you cease to care about the protagonists.
On Deus ex Machina:The format of the book was strange, and quite contrived. Bronte resorts to telling a story within a story -- the lodger wants to know why Heathcliff is so crabby and Catherine Linton so aloof but distressed, and Nelly, the faithful houseservant, spills all. Once the story-within-the-story catches up to the present, the lodger, Mr. Lockwood, leaves Thrushcross Grange. When he returns some time later, the story suddenly resolves itself -- lo and behold, Heathcliff, formerly the picture of health, has suddenly died and now those who are left -- Catherine Linton and Hareton Earnshaw (cousins, it should be noted) can live happily ever after in their bucolic wonderland. I suppose it helped that Heathcliff was tormented by ghosts, starving himself and wandering the moors at all hours, but his death was pretty darn convenient. Without it, god knows how long that book would have gone on!
Having said all this, I think the book could be better on a second read. If you knew what was going to happen -- especially that Heathcliff believed Catherine's ghost is tormenting him, it might explain his behavior better, and his decline. But that's just a hypothesis -- not sure I can handle another read at this point...
Anyway, next up, and sure to be quicker to get through: The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig
Monday, September 04, 2006
#19: Daughter of Fortune, Isabel Allende
I liked Daughter of Fortune, but didn't love it, which was a disappointment. I had read Allende's wonderful, amazing House of the Spirits some years ago, and I keep reading her other books in the hope of recapturing the magic of that one novel. But this one was not to be it (and I think I'm giving up now). The story is about an orphaned girl named Eliza, who gets taken into a wealthy home in Chile in the 1870's (or so). One day, she falls in love with a poor but intelligent boy, who soon leaves her to search for gold in California; when she discovers she's pregnant (gasp!), she decides to follow him, and the rest of the book is about her adventures in America, where she spends most of the time pretending to be a boy while searching for her love. I did like the novel while in the middle of it, but I ended up putting it down for about a week when I went away, and found I had forgotten most of the story, and why I cared. Also, my biggest pet peeve in books and films, Allende just ends the book without giving a definite conclusion. Didn't she get paid an absurd amount of money to both write and finish this book? I hate when it's up to the reader to decide what really happened - that's the author's job!
Next up...Wuthering Heights.
Next up...Wuthering Heights.
30 Great Books
Yes, it's the title of my blog. Why? About ten years ago (god, can it have been that long?!?), I realized that I had stopped reading for pleasure - life had gotten in the way. As a lifelong bookworm, it was a problem that immediately needed to be rectified, so I set a goal to read, yes, 30 books a year. I was (and still am) dorky enough to keep a list, in order to keep myself on track. Some years I exceeded the quota, in others I failed miserably.
Will I be able to keep myself on track this year? When I finish a book, I will post a, er, post. I decided to go anonymous on this one, so I can love and hate with impunity, and will suffer no criticism for my literary choices.
Numbers one through 18, so far...
(1) Jane Eyre, Bronte (2)Something Borrowed, Giffin (3)Something Blue, Giffin (4)How to Sleep with a Movie Star, Harmel (5)Summer in the City, Sisman (6)Busting Vegas, Mezrich (7)London, Rutherfurd (8)The Second Assistant, Naylor and Hare (9)The Geographer's Library, Faisman (10) The Know-it-All, Jacobs (11) The Historian, Kostova (12) Baby Proof, Giffin (13)School Days, Parker (14)Mayflower, Philbrick (15) Zorro, Allende (16) The Professor and the Madman, Winchester (17) Marley and Me, Grogan (18) The Beach, Garland
Will I be able to keep myself on track this year? When I finish a book, I will post a, er, post. I decided to go anonymous on this one, so I can love and hate with impunity, and will suffer no criticism for my literary choices.
Numbers one through 18, so far...
(1) Jane Eyre, Bronte (2)Something Borrowed, Giffin (3)Something Blue, Giffin (4)How to Sleep with a Movie Star, Harmel (5)Summer in the City, Sisman (6)Busting Vegas, Mezrich (7)London, Rutherfurd (8)The Second Assistant, Naylor and Hare (9)The Geographer's Library, Faisman (10) The Know-it-All, Jacobs (11) The Historian, Kostova (12) Baby Proof, Giffin (13)School Days, Parker (14)Mayflower, Philbrick (15) Zorro, Allende (16) The Professor and the Madman, Winchester (17) Marley and Me, Grogan (18) The Beach, Garland
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