Author: Laurie Notaro
After the worst time of her life, Lucy gets hit by a bus, sent to spook school and assigned her ex-boyfriend and his new woman (her old coworker) to haunt until she completes her unspoken assignment. Humorous and light, good bathtub read.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Half-broke Horses
Author: Jeannette Walls
Reads like a memoir, but is actually an interpretation of her grandmother's stories told in a consistent voice. Fascinating. Life in the depression on the ranch. Very short bits, easy to digest.
Reads like a memoir, but is actually an interpretation of her grandmother's stories told in a consistent voice. Fascinating. Life in the depression on the ranch. Very short bits, easy to digest.
Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic
Author / Illustrator: Alison Bechdel
Reread.
Still brilliant. Love the way she unwraps further layers of narrative the deeper you are in the text. Also a genius with line. Will reread many more times.
Reread.
Still brilliant. Love the way she unwraps further layers of narrative the deeper you are in the text. Also a genius with line. Will reread many more times.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Busy Body
Author: M.C. Beaton
An Agatha Raisin mystery.
Love Agatha Raisin, even though I imagine I couldn't stand her in real life.
This takes place in a neighbouring village, Odley Cruesis. The first victim is a safety inspector who has shut out all the joy for many villages at Christmas. Second victim, the american at the Manor House.
Great cast of characters as always.
An Agatha Raisin mystery.
Love Agatha Raisin, even though I imagine I couldn't stand her in real life.
This takes place in a neighbouring village, Odley Cruesis. The first victim is a safety inspector who has shut out all the joy for many villages at Christmas. Second victim, the american at the Manor House.
Great cast of characters as always.
This will all end in tears
Author / Illustrator: joe ollman
Short stories in graphic form. Generally dark and with great characterizations. He's not afraid of letting someone be ugly and/or desperate.
Big boned, my favorite.
Short stories in graphic form. Generally dark and with great characterizations. He's not afraid of letting someone be ugly and/or desperate.
Big boned, my favorite.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Mennonite in a Little Black Dress
Author: Rhoda Janzen
Read on a sick day. Just right. Makes me glad to at least be Ukrainian and have some small claim to the glorious feasts emanating from the woman's domain of the kitchen. Upbeat despite all the downs encounted, very loving look at her family, religion and her life.
Read on a sick day. Just right. Makes me glad to at least be Ukrainian and have some small claim to the glorious feasts emanating from the woman's domain of the kitchen. Upbeat despite all the downs encounted, very loving look at her family, religion and her life.
Stitches
Author: David Small
Brilliant, horrific and beautifully drawn.
Genius with line and wash, sensitive understanding of childhood fears and helplessness. His portraits of his mother are so poignant.
Brilliant, horrific and beautifully drawn.
Genius with line and wash, sensitive understanding of childhood fears and helplessness. His portraits of his mother are so poignant.
Before I Fall
Author: Lauren Oliver
Hard to put down.
A teenager dies in a friday nioght crash, only to wake up and repeat the last day of her life seven times. Insights into bullying, popularity and the thin line between outcast and popular.
Hard to put down.
A teenager dies in a friday nioght crash, only to wake up and repeat the last day of her life seven times. Insights into bullying, popularity and the thin line between outcast and popular.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag
Author: Alan Bradley
I wish I'd been Flavia de Luce. Another great mystery. Puppetry, gossip and Flavia flying under the radar.
I wish I'd been Flavia de Luce. Another great mystery. Puppetry, gossip and Flavia flying under the radar.
Plain Kate
Author: Erin Bow
Woodcarver, witches, gypsies and a rusalka (spirit of a drowned woman) and best of all, a talking cat. Not sure I completely followed the plot point at the climax, but enjoyed the book.
Woodcarver, witches, gypsies and a rusalka (spirit of a drowned woman) and best of all, a talking cat. Not sure I completely followed the plot point at the climax, but enjoyed the book.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Sorta Like a Rock Star
Author: Matthew Quick
Amazing book. Haiku, a rescue dog, an autistic math savant, Korean Divas for Christ, Joan of Old, the list of good things and great characters goes on and on.
Amber Appleton is exuberant and believable and I could not stop reading, even as I wept. Seriously, wept.
Another ALA list find.
Amazing book. Haiku, a rescue dog, an autistic math savant, Korean Divas for Christ, Joan of Old, the list of good things and great characters goes on and on.
Amber Appleton is exuberant and believable and I could not stop reading, even as I wept. Seriously, wept.
Another ALA list find.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Royal Blood
Author: Rhys Bowen
Murder mystery, solved by the thirty-fourth heir to the throne of England, just before Edward abdicated. Fun, outlandish and an easy read.
Murder mystery, solved by the thirty-fourth heir to the throne of England, just before Edward abdicated. Fun, outlandish and an easy read.
Free as a Bird
Author: Gina McMurchy-Barber
Told in the voice of a girl with Down syndrome, the language is filled with misspellings and odd colloquialisms. The character shines through despite this and the language is less jarring than the perfect grammar of overheard conversations. This story takes the reader inside Woodlands, part of the infamous Riverview / BC Pen complex, and out on the streets, before getting Ruby Jean home.
Finalist for the Governor General's awards for children's lit, deservedly so.
Told in the voice of a girl with Down syndrome, the language is filled with misspellings and odd colloquialisms. The character shines through despite this and the language is less jarring than the perfect grammar of overheard conversations. This story takes the reader inside Woodlands, part of the infamous Riverview / BC Pen complex, and out on the streets, before getting Ruby Jean home.
Finalist for the Governor General's awards for children's lit, deservedly so.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Please ignore Vera Dietz
Author: A.S. King
A bit of a mystery novel, info being doled out sparingly though chapter long flashbacks until we find out what happened the night Charlie died. Lots of character growth and change. Mainly Vera's POV, interspersed withPOV's of dead boy (Charlie), Dad and even the view from the Pagoda, an inanimate building.
Another version of best friend = boy = shoulda been love interest
A bit of a mystery novel, info being doled out sparingly though chapter long flashbacks until we find out what happened the night Charlie died. Lots of character growth and change. Mainly Vera's POV, interspersed withPOV's of dead boy (Charlie), Dad and even the view from the Pagoda, an inanimate building.
Another version of best friend = boy = shoulda been love interest
Fat Cat
Author: Robin Brande
Overweight Cat takes on a seven month project of trying to eat and live more like a cave girl than a modern teen. Her body and situation transform, but the central conflict with an old friend takes longer to resolve.
Best childhood friend = boy = ultimate love interest
Overweight Cat takes on a seven month project of trying to eat and live more like a cave girl than a modern teen. Her body and situation transform, but the central conflict with an old friend takes longer to resolve.
Best childhood friend = boy = ultimate love interest
Toads and Diamonds
Author: Heather Tomlinson
Title jumped out at me from the YALSA 2011 top 99 books list. I expected something closer to an old Enid Blyton version of the folk/fairy tale, one girl rewarded for kindness, the other punished, but was delighted to see a story that went far beyond this. Beautiful, detailed world and societies, characters and events.
Was so swept up in the story that I didn't realize how completely made-up the worlds were (I thought I was in old India).
Title jumped out at me from the YALSA 2011 top 99 books list. I expected something closer to an old Enid Blyton version of the folk/fairy tale, one girl rewarded for kindness, the other punished, but was delighted to see a story that went far beyond this. Beautiful, detailed world and societies, characters and events.
Was so swept up in the story that I didn't realize how completely made-up the worlds were (I thought I was in old India).
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Perfect Blend
Author: Sue Margolis
Another bathtub/beach read. No real bad guys, at least not in the centre of the action, instead likable characters muddling through. Single mom trying to break into journalism finally breaks the 'manboob' story.
Another bathtub/beach read. No real bad guys, at least not in the centre of the action, instead likable characters muddling through. Single mom trying to break into journalism finally breaks the 'manboob' story.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Decked with Folly
Author: Kate Kingsbury
A british cozy, set in the Pennyfoot Hotel in Badger's End. Wouldn't you love to be somewhere named Badger's End? Servants and upper class, annoying hotel guests and murder, all post-Victoria pre-war. Satisfying read. Will keep an eye out for more in this series.
A british cozy, set in the Pennyfoot Hotel in Badger's End. Wouldn't you love to be somewhere named Badger's End? Servants and upper class, annoying hotel guests and murder, all post-Victoria pre-war. Satisfying read. Will keep an eye out for more in this series.
A Matter of Class
Author: Mary Balogh
A regency romance novel - excellent bathtub companion and escape. Guaranteed happy ending. What's not to like? It doesn't hurt that this writer creates round characters and mixes up the plot with a series of unexpected flashbacks.
A regency romance novel - excellent bathtub companion and escape. Guaranteed happy ending. What's not to like? It doesn't hurt that this writer creates round characters and mixes up the plot with a series of unexpected flashbacks.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Stumbling on Happiness
Author: Daniel Gilbert
Non-fiction always reads more slowly than fiction for me - probably because it makes me stop and think. There's a lot to digest in this book, but it is very readable and the author interjects a quirky sense of humour that helps. The lies we tell ourselves (without knowing it) are quite amazing.
The book is broken down into sections on:
Non-fiction always reads more slowly than fiction for me - probably because it makes me stop and think. There's a lot to digest in this book, but it is very readable and the author interjects a quirky sense of humour that helps. The lies we tell ourselves (without knowing it) are quite amazing.
The book is broken down into sections on:
- prospection(looking forward in time or considering the future)
- subjectivity(experience unobservable to all but the person experiencing it)
- realism(believing that things are as they seem in the mind)
- presentism(current experience influences views of the past and future)
- rationalization(causing something to be or seem reasonable)
- corrigibility(capable of being corrected, reformed or improved)
The Minstrel's Daughter
Author: Linda Smith
A fifteen year old girl seeks a wizard's help in finding her father, but his apprentice turns her into a cat. Together, they uncover a plot that could bring their land to war.
Great world building. I hope that the sequels will take place in the two other lands touched on in this story.
A fifteen year old girl seeks a wizard's help in finding her father, but his apprentice turns her into a cat. Together, they uncover a plot that could bring their land to war.
Great world building. I hope that the sequels will take place in the two other lands touched on in this story.
Monday, January 10, 2011
The Broken Thread
Author: Linda Smith
There was a lot to love in this story - a tapestry that tells the tale of the world and its people, a distant kingdom, a spoiled prince, a feisty teenage girl who changes him.
Was saddened to learn that this was published posthumously. Will definitely seek out her other titles.
There was a lot to love in this story - a tapestry that tells the tale of the world and its people, a distant kingdom, a spoiled prince, a feisty teenage girl who changes him.
Was saddened to learn that this was published posthumously. Will definitely seek out her other titles.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
The Monsters of Templeton
Author: Lauren Groff
A dead monster surfaces in the lake the day Willie comes home pregnant and broken. She searches for her father (a distant relative) by scouring the family tree, revealing all kinds of messy secrets.
The writer said that this book was a love letter to Cooperstown, NY. I want to go there now. I might even read some James Fennimore Cooper (a character was based on him, and many others on characters he created in his work).
Multiple POV's, including a group mind - the running buds, six men who run daily around t he town.
A dead monster surfaces in the lake the day Willie comes home pregnant and broken. She searches for her father (a distant relative) by scouring the family tree, revealing all kinds of messy secrets.
The writer said that this book was a love letter to Cooperstown, NY. I want to go there now. I might even read some James Fennimore Cooper (a character was based on him, and many others on characters he created in his work).
Multiple POV's, including a group mind - the running buds, six men who run daily around t he town.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
The Hindi-Bindi Club
Author: Monica Pradhan
Expected a light read, found a lot of information about India and its areas and customs / conventions all wrapped in a story. The recipes have me wanting to cook. 6 main characters makes for a lot of viewpoints, but they bounced off each other and illuminated each other.
Now wanting to read more historic fiction about Partition.
Expected a light read, found a lot of information about India and its areas and customs / conventions all wrapped in a story. The recipes have me wanting to cook. 6 main characters makes for a lot of viewpoints, but they bounced off each other and illuminated each other.
Now wanting to read more historic fiction about Partition.
House of Java Vol. 2
Author / Illustrator: Mark Murphy
Collection of stories. Some gripping, others a bit confusing. Well-drawn, clean black & white, with good use of black (dramatic). Some comix much simpler and wordier, but interesting.
Collection of stories. Some gripping, others a bit confusing. Well-drawn, clean black & white, with good use of black (dramatic). Some comix much simpler and wordier, but interesting.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
The Mistress of the Art of Death
Author: Ariana Franklin
Favorite time period - thanks to Cadfael, the 1170's in Cambridge. A Jew, a Saracen eunuch and a female doctor who specializes in forensics are sent from Salerno to find a child killer.
Loved it.
Favorite time period - thanks to Cadfael, the 1170's in Cambridge. A Jew, a Saracen eunuch and a female doctor who specializes in forensics are sent from Salerno to find a child killer.
Loved it.
The Squirrel Machine
Author / Illustrator: Hans Rickheit
Twisted, dark and incredibly drawn (reminded me of a lino cut) with great foreground layering. Story was surreal and disturbing.
Twisted, dark and incredibly drawn (reminded me of a lino cut) with great foreground layering. Story was surreal and disturbing.
The Silver Blade
Author: Sally Gardiner
Already a fan of hers for I, Coriander (a beautifully unfolding tale), this book had the french revolution, smuggling aristocrats to safety, magic, catacombs and the devil. Oh, and love.
Already a fan of hers for I, Coriander (a beautifully unfolding tale), this book had the french revolution, smuggling aristocrats to safety, magic, catacombs and the devil. Oh, and love.
Monday, January 3, 2011
The Little Giant of Aberdeen County
Author: Tiffany Baker
Small town story of a large woman, a lost herbal record and a few deaths.
enjoyed
Small town story of a large woman, a lost herbal record and a few deaths.
enjoyed
New Year's Resolution
This is the year that I find out exactly how many books I read in 365 days.
It's only the 3rd and I've already been through four books. This doesn't bode well for my postage-stamp sized library around the corner nor for my book budget.
I will post each title as an entry, with a few brief comments to remind myself whether I liked the book or its author.
Wish me luck.
It's only the 3rd and I've already been through four books. This doesn't bode well for my postage-stamp sized library around the corner nor for my book budget.
I will post each title as an entry, with a few brief comments to remind myself whether I liked the book or its author.
Wish me luck.
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