After a stretch of AWFUL books, the last few books I’ve read have been quite good, so I’m sharing. Of course, now that I’ve announced that I’m on a “good reads” streak, I’m sure the next book I read will be trash.

House of Tomorrow by Peter Bognanni - This was an ARC, and I would have NEVER picked this up on my own. I actually read it one night (mostly because of insomnia). The characters in the book were rather eccentric, but in an endearing way. I really liked the main character’s awkwardness (I would). I don’t know that I would fully recommend buying this, but if you can get it used or borrow from a friend, you should check it out.

Ask Again Later by Jill A. Davis - I’m a sucker for a cute cover, and I am OBSESSED with this cover. The story was okay, although I found the parents to be a bit melodramatic which I know was part of the story, but it was a bit much. I found that the story had a good balance of sadness and laughs. A good book to snag from a bargain bin.

Chasing Harry Winston by Lauren Weisberger - I LOVED this book! It is a perfect beach read (although my dedication to reading it in one pool day did result in a sunburned back, but totally worth it). It’s about three ladies who have crappy love lifes (no wonder I love it), and they make a pact to change it so things stop sucking. Their adventures in making changes are quite entertaining. This was very much “feel-good” chick lit and a fantastic summer (or anytime really) read.

Sarah’s Key by Tatiana De Rosnay - I actually recommended this book for a friend in Book Club way back in December (she loved it), but didn’t get around to reading it myself until last week. The story is about the Vel d’Hiv that happened during the Holocaust in France. Prior to reading this, I had no idea this went down in France, and when I read it, I was just heartbroken. Sarah is a young Jewish girl in France, and the French police come for her, and she locks away her little brother in a cabinet to prevent him from being taken. In the present day, there is Julia who is just learning about the Vel d’Hiv. Along the way, their stories intersect, and it’s quite emotional. It was so sad at some points that I nearly had to stop reading, but I pushed through, and it’s one of the best books I’ve read this year.

Body Surfing by Anita Shreve - I actually picked this up at a grocery store bargain bin. After my first disaster of an experience with Anita (Don’t EVER read The Last Time They Met), I’ve loved the last three of her books I’ve read, and I’m kind of making my way through all of her stuff. This one is about a lady who is once divorced and once widowed who takes on a summer tutoring job. The family has two brothers, and from the moment she meets them, it’s drama-rama. The book ended up having a “HE DID WHAT?” twist that I never saw coming, but really made the story more compelling. Another good summer tale.

Forget About It by Caprice Crane - I first found Caprice Crane last year when I picked one of her books for Book Club on a whim. The rest of my club raved about my pick (Stupid and Contagious), and they still talk about it. This tale is about Jordan. Jordan’s life sucks, so to make things better, when she is hit by a car while on her bike, she decides to fake amnesia. From here, hilarity ensues. And not just “hehe” fake laugh funny, but legit LOL funny. There’s also guy drama that makes this a page-turner. I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED this book.

It’s My F—king Birthday by Merrill Markok - Truth be told, I thought I would like this book a lot more than I actually did. I picked it up at the JoCo Libaries’ annual sale for a dollar, so I didn’t feel too bad when I didn’t. I bought it mostly because the author used to be the headwriter for Letterman, and I LOVE Letterman. The story is all about this lady who is in her forties, and her life is kind of sucky. So, every year on her b-day, she assesses where her life is and where she wants to go. Every year, she also gets flowers from her ex which makes her wonder what the f dot com she is doing with her life. And to top it all off, she has totally neurotic parents, particularly her mother. I’m sure some people would like this book, but I just couldn’t relate. I also couldn’t help but feel, “Oh gawd, I hope I’m not on track to be this miserable,” as I read, and I generally don’t like books that make me feel this way.

 
Shopgirl by Steve Martin - Let me just say that Steve Martin is one of my all-time fave people in the world. And I maybe, kind of, totally have a guilty pleasure crush on him. I actually saw this movie a couple of years back. Seeing a movie before a book is always weird because you are somewhat forced to see the characters a certain way. Shopgirl is a novella (translation: short and doesn’t take up much space in a purse), and this was actually the second of Steve’s that I’d read (the first was The Pleasure of My Company, and it was… interesting. Steve writes like he talks, so his humor is very dry, and it sometimes takes a second or two to digest. Shopgirl is about Mirabelle (played by Claire Danes in the movie) who is a glove saleswoman at Nieman Marcus in LA. Her life is pretty beige, and she really just wants to be in love. She is sort of dating this guy Jeremy (played by Jason Schawartzman), but he’s totally socially awkward, and Mirabelle only really likes him because he likes her, and it means she’s in a relationship. Then, Ray Porter (Steve Martin) shows up. He starts romantically pursuing Mirabelle by buying her some gloves, and things just go from there. Ray is a commitment-phobe, and Mirabelle is an emotional hot mess, so their relationship is a treat. Mirabelle is not exactly rolling in the dough, so Ray buys her all kinds of stuff. The book was well-written, but I’m somewhat indifferent about recommending it.

Sheer Abandon by Penny Vincenzi - I’ve actually had this book on my shelf for about a year, but I’m just now getting around to reading it. I think part of the reason I held off was that it’s length (626 pages) was a bit daunting. However, now that I made it to the other end, I can say that it was worth the time. The premise of this book is that there are three English teenagers in Thailand. One of them has a baby, unbeknownst to the others, and she abandons her in a janitor’s closet in the airport. Sixteen years later, the baby, who was adopted, is now on the verge of a modeling career. The three friends have gone their separate ways, but with the story about the airport about to break, they find their way back to each other. I really liked this book because the character development was so strong. You really get to know the three friends and their lives, particularly when it comes to romance. Although not gonna lie, I figured out who the biological parents were very early on. If you have the time to dedicate to this one, I’d definitely recommend it.

I’ve been a bit slow about blogging what I’ve been reading as of late. Not to mention, I haven’t exactly been reading at my normal rate. However, today when Tumblr was down/I was home sick, I managed to plow through two books, so I thought I should recap those and a few others.

The Dive from Clausen’s Pier by Ann Packer - There are a lot of people I know who adore this book, and I’ve been wanting to read it for awhile. However, I have to be honest, I didn’t really connect with this book as I hoped. I think the best word to describe how I felt about this book is tepid. I liked the first part of the book because of the emotional predicament it presented. To give you a little briefing, Carrie’s high school sweetheart and fiance becomes paralyzed in an ill-fated dive off of Clausen’s Pier. Prior to this, Carrie had been on the outs with him and had contemplated breaking off the engagement. However, this new reality obviously changes things. In the beginning, I really felt Carrie’s pain, but as the story drug on, I kind of got annoyed with her. In the middle of the book, she decides to run away to New York because she can’t handle what’s going down. Obviously, she was under a lot of emotional pressure which I get, but I felt like she just became a really fake person who just had a lot of sex when she left, and it bothered me. At the end, I was just…confused. I actually had to google the ending because I wasn’t quite sure what happened. Turns out, it was supposed to be open-ended, so you could make it ended how you wanted. Um, no. That’s now how I work. Overall, it was just a letdown on so many accounts.

Unbearable Lightness by Portia de Rossi - I got this book as an ARC. Truth be told, I don’t know that I could pick out Portia in a crowd. I know who she is, of course, but I wasn’t an Ally McBeal or Arrested Development watcher. The book is mostly about Portia’s struggles with weight, self-image and her sexuality in her teen years and also while on Ally McBeal. It was a very honest picture about she struggled to accept herself. I really liked how Portia wrote the book. It wasn’t pretentious which some memoirs can be. It was more of a “This is who I was, and it will always be a part of me, and I’m sharing that piece with you.” After reading it, I found myself having a respect for Portia for sharing her story and for overcoming her demons.

Lock and Key - Sarah Dessen - Every once in awhile, I like to change things up and put add a young adult novel to my reading list. I’ve adored all of the Sarah Dessen that I’ve read up to this book. She wrote the two books that inspired How to Deal and This Lullaby. However, this book and I did not connect. I think it felt too young to me. It was the boy next door story that I usually love, but this time around, I was just kind of lukewarm about it. I’m sure fifteen year old me would have loved it, but I guess these days, I live too far into reality to love this one.

One Day by David Nicholls - I got this book from Kristen, and I liked it. A LOT. Even though it was only one day of a year over a twenty year period, I felt connected to Emma and Dexter and their love/friendship/relationship. I appreciated that it wasn’t sugar-coated, and it encompassed the ups and downs of a real relationship, especially how you can grow with and away from someone. If you haven’t read it yet, it neeeeeeeeds to be on your book queue.

Secrets of a Christmas Box by Steven Hornby - I actually got this as an ARC about a year ago. However, I was amidst another book, and once Christmas was over, I didn’t feel like I should read this one. This is definitely a kid’s book, and I read in about ninety minutes today, but I kind of liked it. It kind of reminded me of a Christmas ornament version of Toy Story (Translation: It’s about Christmas ornaments coming to life). Truth be told, I think it would make a really cute animated Christmas special.

(Source: amazon.com)

Through the Heart by Kate Morgenroth - I’ve had this book for for-ev-er, and I finally got through it. I’m not sure why I took so long to read it, and it was mos. def. worth the wait. It’s about this ordinary girl Nora who is from KANSAS (yes, that’s right, MY Kansas) and this New Yorker, Timothy. The story alternates between her story and his. Sounds romantic, right? Well, it’s a actually a thriller, and it involves a murder, a Law & Order style murder with quite the plot twist. This one was a definite page-turner (I finished it in two days), and I would highly recommend it.

Oh, and I just have to share my fave quote in the whole book, “She just shrugged and said, ‘In Kansas, we don’t spend a lot of time talking about our food. We just eat it.’”

The Secret of the Old Clock by Carolyn Keene - I read a lot of Nancy Drew in elementary school. I can still remember exactly where the Nancy books where in my elementary school library. I was feeling nostalgic the other day, and I decided to pick one up at Half-Price Books to see if they were as great as I remembered. And they were! Although there were a few things I didn’t realize. For one, I thought Nancy was a lot younger. In reality, she’s eighteen, and she has a car, and she’s already graduated high school. Also, she does some pretty risky stuff, like she could totally get taken out by criminals stuff. I’m sure in this day and age, Nancy books would probably have to have some disclaimer that kids shouldn’t try her stunts at home. What I was most struck by is how timeless the stories are. This book was first published in 1930 (and then revised in 1959)! Yet when I was reading, I felt like Nancy was just like a teenage girl today. Reading this book totally makes me want to reread the rest of the series.

Also, when I was looking to see when this book was published, I learned something ground-breaking. Carolyn Keene isn’t a real person! It’s a pseudonym. Apparently a number of authors have written Nancy Drew over the years, and they all use the name CK. My mind is absolutely blown.

Eighteen Acres by Nicolle Wallace - One of my guilty pleasures is watching CSPAN. I could watch it for hours because I’m so absolutely fascinated by the world of politics. This book is the story of Charlotte (the 45th President), Melanie (her Chief of Staff), and Dale (a White House correspondent, also she’s a girl, that will help you frame my review). While they each have their own separate story arc, these stories all overlap and interact along the way. Charlotte is in the midst of preparing for her re-election campaign, but then her administration is rocked by two events. For one, there are rumors swirling of an affair, and then one of her cabinet members makes an egregious error. This book was dramatic with plenty of scandal, but it was also about making decisions under pressure. I found the book to be really fascinating, and I felt like I had been given an insider’s look at life in the White House. This is another one I’d highly recommend, especially if you’re a total political nut like me.

Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner - I adored this book, mostly because it was like a Lifetime movie I could read. It’s an older book (well, 2005, but that seems like ages ago), and I’m glad I finally took the time to check it out. This book is about Cannie who is 28 and has just broken up with her boyfriend. She’s wallowing through the typical break-up emotions, and then, her life is rocked. Her ex decides to write an article in a national magazine about what it’s like to be with a larger woman in bed. Cannie is completly and totally devastated. The rest of the story is how she navigates her adventures and misadventures and tries to rebuild her life and figure out who she really is.

I think I liked this book because I saw a lot of myself in Cannie. She’s 28, and she’s just trying to figure out what the eff is going in the world. My fave quote from this one is also worth sharing:

“‘I’ve learned a lot this year,’ I began. I took a deep quavering breath. Don’t cry, I told myself. ‘I’ve learned that things don’t always turn out the way you planned, or the way you think they should. And I’ve learned there are things that go wrong that don’t always get fixed or put back together the way they were before. I’ve learned that some broken things stay broken, and I’ve learned that you can get through bad times and keep looking for better ones, as you long as you have people who love you.’”

My Reading Life by Pat Conroy - Before this book, I’d only read one other Conroy book - South of Broad. It had some of the most amazing characters and was one of the most riveting stories I’d ever read. I truly felt like I was in the story, and I thought about it long after I’d finished reading. This book is essentially Conroy’s love letter to reading. He talks about the books and people who made him the writer and lover of literature he is today. It is truly moving how much he cares for each of the people, places and words that he writes about in each of the chapters. Each chapter is a tribute to each of these, and you feel his passion in each page. I have been a lifelong lover of books and reading and libraries and words, and this book was absolutely beautiful to me.

(Source: amazon.com)