38

I'm rapidly running out of books by my favorite authors so last time we were at the library I started hunting for new British mystery writers to read. I tend to like British mysteries because for one, they're often less gory than some of the American mysteries I've read. I also love the back stories and sticking with the same detectives.

Mark Billingham was recommended to me so I picked up Bloodline. And it was a good read, but once again, I had everything figured out before the cops did. I like when there are a few twists and turns that keep you guessing - as long as they're believeable. Still, I think I'm going to try to find some more of Billingham...the back story got me!

35 - 37

Past Reason Hated by Peter Robinson: Thank goodness for mysteries! How else would I while away the summertime hours spent on the beach?

The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton: This book was recommended to me by so many people...and it was a good story. Hard to put down. The only thing I didn't like was how dumb the characters were. Or at least, I was constantly frustrated that they were jumping to the wrong conclusions about the mystery. I guess if they hadn't done that, the author wouldn't have been able to spin out the story the way she did. And even though I was completely irritated, I still thoroughly enjoyed it. I know. Weird.

The Things We Do for Love by Kristin Hannah: Not as good as the first Kristin Hannah book I read, but still completely readable.

33 & 34

Oy! I just finished reading my very first non finance or weight loss related non fiction book EVER! I know, this is tres exciting!!

The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman is about the couple who owned/ran the Warsaw zoo just before and during World War 2. You should have heard be trying to tell my book club about this book. I had them thinking the Nazis were herding Jews into cages at the zoo and putting them on display. Not so. But maybe you should read the description here just to be safe!

Now, I could just be really dumb (this is my first non fiction after all) but I found the non linear way she told the story quite confusing. If I had been organizing the book I would have done it a lot differently. Even so, I would recommend this book. A very good read and very interesting (also, not too heart wrenching - I shed no tears).

Next I read The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley. LOVED IT! I would love for my ten year old niece to read and love it as much as I did. I think it's kind of a universal appeal type o book and a great beach read.

31 & 32

The Best Man to Die by Ruth Rendell: Unbelievably, this is one of the books that I had to return before I was finished. It was heartbreaking - but then it came back to the library pretty quick so not so heartbreaking. Oh, and the novel...

It was one of Rendell's earlier books and set in the 60s. I didn't realise that at first so it was weird reading something so...antiquated? But the story was good. Of course.

Next, I read The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin. I got a notion that I'd like to read the book. And it was very good. I'm glad I've never seen the movie so I had no idea what was supposed to happen. Though, it was pretty easy to figure out. I think I might order something else by him.

29 & 30

The other day Andrew and I were in Chapters. I never know what to do with myself in there anymore. I have a hard time window shopping. But eventually I went and grabbed Andrew's blackberry and started looking at books. I made a list of all the ones that looked interesting to me.

First, I remembered Lawrence Hill, author of Book of Negroes. I looked him up and saw that he had two books I hadn't read yet. I finished Any Known Blood this week. Unfortunately, I didn't find this story as gripping as Book of Negroes (well, actually, the last 200 or so pages were good, but that might be because there was finally some action in that part of the story). Mostly this was the story of someone trying to uncover his family history.

Which is kind of funny because the next book I read, also a Chapters find, was Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah. Wow, I loved this book! I can never decide whether books would be good for my book club. This is just a love story. But I devoured it, and cried almost the entire time I was reading it. Does that make it book club worthy?

Here's how the dust jacket describes the book:

Meredith and Nina Whitson are as different as sisters can be. One stayed at home to raise her children and manage the family apple orchard; the other followed a dream and traveled the world to become a famous photojournalist. But when their beloved father falls ill, Meredith and Nina find themselves together again, standing alongside their cold, disapproving mother, Anya, who even now, offers no comfort to her daughters. As children, the only connection between them was the Russian fairy tale Anya sometimes told the girls at night. On his deathbed, their father extracts a promise from the women in his life: the fairy tale will be told one last time—and all the way to the end. Thus begins an unexpected journey into the truth of Anya’s life in war-torn Leningrad, more than five decades ago. Alternating between the past and present, Meredith and Nina will finally hear the singular, harrowing story of their mother’s life, and what they learn is a secret so terrible and terrifying that it will shake the very foundation of their family and change who they believe they are.

28: The last of the Chick-Lit

At least for a while.

When I order books from the library, I always seem to get a whole bunch from one author at once. So this time it was a group of Jennifer Weiner books.

This one was a bit of a mystery book (Goodnight Nobody), but with lots of mommy stuff thrown in. The mystery part was good, but the chick lit stuff was a bit unsatisfying. Or maybe I've just read to many of this sort of book at once?

The good news is, I have four books waiting for me at the library and I don't think any of them are chick lit.

26 & 27 Lots and lots of chicklit

I didn't even realise that I'd missed one of Sophie Kinsella's books until Bec commented on one of my previous postings. At which point I rushed to my computer and ordered a copy of Undomestic Goddess. Which was just what I needed to get over the war book I'd just finished.

And when I picked up my copy of Goddess, I found a copy of Jennifer Weiner's Best Friends Forever.

Now, when I read my first Weiner book, I thougth she wrote chick lit for moms. But the entire time I was reading this book, I just kept thinking how much it was like a Douglas Coupland book. Girlfriend in a Coma or Life After God. Not really chick lit at all. But good.