16 & 17

I do most of my library-ing online. For one thing, it's a lot less overwhelming than wandering book aisles and trying to pick a book based on whether the cover appeals or not. And of course, I almost always go to the library with David and Elisabeth. If I pre-order my books online, all I have to do is pick them up and then I can hang out in the kids' section with them.

I recently signed up to get the library newsletters. They have some that review books every month and you can sign up by genre to receive these. I don't always read the newsletters, but they offer a snippet into a few books and so far they've all been for new-to-me authors.

Which is how I found Book 16. I don't have the newsletter on hand, but Sarah's Key (by Tatiana de Rosnay) was described as a book about World War Two. It sounded interesting.

And it was. Especially the first half. I'd stop reading so many times to exclaim, "this is such a good book!" The first half alternated between Sarah's story (set in Paris and a prison camp in France during World War II) and Julia's story, set in almost present day Paris and New York. I found Sarah's story the more interesting of the two, so when the second half of the book was all told from Julia's point of view I was a bit disappointed. But only a little bit.

The other book I've read recently is The Sad Truth About Happiness by Anne Giardini. And as far as I can remember, I did choose this one because I liked the title and the cover. This one was set almost entirely in Vancouver - and in parts of Vancouver I know and love. And to me, it resembled a Marian Keyes novel, but there were enough literary references and philosophical overtures to make me feel like I wasn't reading brainless fluff. Although, I'm pretty sure it was along the lines of fluffy chick lit. Good thing our next book club read is a classic...