So far, in the first four months of 2012, I have read 13 books. That is pitiful compared to some (like my son Coryn, who could read that in a week, easy), but not bad compared to the national average of 16 per YEAR. I tend to "grade" them and if they rate less than C+, I QUIT reading them. That is a huge improvement from the old Tami who would just KEEP READING in the hopes the book would get better. It never did, so why I persisted when there are so many books and so little time is beyond me. So, anyway, here are a few of the reviews:
Worth Fighting For by Lisa Neimi Swayze. I have been a HUGE Patrick Swayze fan since I first saw "Dirty Dancing" (we will not discuss how many times I have watched it again) and "Ghost" (still makes me cry like an idiot every time). He is one of the few celebrities whose death made me cry. Reading his wife's story of his last few years from diagnosis to his death, was sobering and sweet and raw. If you're a Swayze fan, I recommend it.
The Pack by Jason Starr: an entirely different take on the whole werewolf theme (and hey, at least it isn't zombies this time). I enjoyed this one--light reading that made you re-think single dads and a bottle of beer.
Cemetery Girl by David Bell. Hmmmmm. I wanted to love this one, but I didn't. I think that someone with a different family dynamic might, but I found the relationship between the father and daughter implausible. It disturbed me enough that it made it hard for me to accept the rest of the story. It does have an intriguing plot line though.
Trail of the Spellmans by Lisa Lutz. I realized, while looking through the journal where I write down what I have read, that I have read a Spellman Files book every March/April for the past four years. I think that's amusing. I LOVE these books. In fact, if I am giving someone a gift, I tend to choose the first one in the series as a gift because I like them so much. They are funny enough that I am quoting them out loud all the time. They have FOOTNOTES, which tickles me no end. If you haven't read them, let me know your birthday and I will make sure you get the first one too. :)
The Thirteen by Susie Moloney. I just finished this one last night. On the down side, there was nothing surprising in it--no last minute twists that made my eyebrows go up. On the plus side, I really, really enjoyed the book. Predictability aside, it was a good story with strong female characters (some of them a little to strong since they were also evil) and I enjoyed every page. A spooky tale about witches and their control on a small town.
Blockade Billy by Stephen King. Yeah, yeah, this one has been out for ages and I am just now reading it. I had to wait for my husband while he went in search of an auto part, so I sat in the car and read this (so short, you can easily do in one sitting). It was quick and fun and surprised me, which I like. I'm a long time King fan and I am sure I would have enjoyed this much better if I liked and understood baseball.
Last night was Saturday night and we couldn't do our former tradition of hanging out at Border's and listening to live music because, tragically, Border's is a part of the past. Barnes and Noble doesn't have music. The usual Saturday night B-movie on sci-fi had been abandoned for an Indiana Jones marathon, so we did something different. We all went to Fred Meyers department store (it has a decent sized book area) and since paperbacks were buy two, get one free, I told Nicole, Coryn and Joseph to each pick three. It was fun! We shared books back and forth, made recommendations and just enjoyed looking for almost an hour.
Then when we paid, they forgot to give us our free books . . . so we had to stand in line at customer service. Finally, we got our money back and left. The kids had a really, really good time, which made me smile. We came home and instead of watching a movie or TV show, we turned on music and all curled up on couches and read for three hours. It was fun and peaceful and just . . .. nice. We missed Caspian, of course, (and NO, he didn't call this weekend like he was supposed to) but I am so glad we did it. I forsee more reading evenings like this to come. And when they do, I will write up some more reviews for you.
What have you read this year that you loved/hated?
2 comments:
hey Tami its Melissa, I love ghost to its one of my favorite movies also:)
Patrick Swayze would pass the "cracker" test every time!!! :)
Also, Tami, thank you so much for the address book. What a lovely surprise. I haven't been keeping up on reading your blog because I have been so busy lately but then this lovely gift arrived in the mail. You are very kind!!
Peace,
Vicki
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