Previous Book Blog Posts

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Books
I just finished reading Milk Glass Moon by Adriana Trigiani. This is the third book in the Big Stone Gap series. It was an interesting and quick read but not very satisfying. The book jumps forward in time months or years at a time with no warning. It's a lot like a photo album in the lives of the characters. You get the highlights but not the real meat of their story.I also read The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd. Kidd is perhaps better known for The Secret Life of Bees (which I have not read). It is a wonderful story of a middle-aged woman trying to re-identify herself after her child has left home. Perhaps, she doesn't cope with these mid-life changes as you or I would but I believe she makes the right choices in the end.I'm still working my way through the Richard Jury Mysteries by Martha Grimes and have just finished The Case has Altered. This book was enjoyable, however, I realized after a few pages I had skipped the previous book. You really must read these in order to understand the evolution of the characters lives.I am averaging about a book a week this year which is a lot slower than last year. I have a lot of books on my shelf to read. Even though I am not blogging much anymore I will try to still do these book updates about once a month or so.Happy St Patrick's DayI enjoyed Clan of the Cave Bear so much last year that I read its sequel Valley of Horses by Jean M Auel. Although, not as good as the first one (it would be difficult to achieve that level of epic again) it was certainly a satisfying read.My one disappointment in the last month was The Collectors by David Baldacci. Baldacci used to be one of the authors I bought new in hardback but no longer. His recent efforts are just not worth that extra money. The Collectors is a sequel of sorts to The Camel Club and it is your typical government conspiracy type novel. The characters are entertaining but not very genuine.


Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Book Update
It looks like I am not reading near as much this year as I did in 2007. I think I read over 80 books last year. Mostly, the change is because of my change in job. I used to spend the better part of an hour each morning before work eating breakfast in my car and reading. I also spent a lot of time reading at my old job. Now I am much busier and do not have that hour in the morning. I miss it and I miss reading as much.I picked up the new John Grisham book, The Appeal last week and read it. You can read my other posts about Grisham books here and here. Because I have read every other book he has written I am glad I read this one, in the interest of completeness. But if you haven't read his other books, or you aren't a big fan, you might as well skip this one. Certainly, low on the list of his efforts. Another legal thriller of sorts which are his genre afterall. But enough is enough. Write something else, please. He has proven he can write other novels and I wish he would.The other books I've read recently do not seem worth commenting on with the exception of Northern Lights by Nora Roberts. Although Nora Roberts is probably best know for her romances she certainly knows how to spin other tales. This one was unique to me because it took place in Alaska. There's a little romance and there is a murder mystery which will keep you guessing until the end. It was very enjoyable.