(A bit of fluff in this review since I spent a week on the beach last month. )
1. The Affair of the Mutilated Mink - James Anderson
I read my first James Anderson book about two months ago and loved it. I took this one to Cuba with me because it's a perfect read for the beach. I was dismayed when I got into it to realize the murder takes places in the same house with the same characters as the other book. Still, it's a great 'classic' mystery but I wish he had switched up his settings from book to book!
2. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie - Alan Bradley
Another book recommendation from my boss - this one is great. The 'sleuth' is an 11 year old girl who digs chemistry - love it! The plot is great, it's actually really well written with interesting characters all around. I would read another of his books for sure....my boss tells me there is another coming out soon.
3. Europe 101 - Rick Steves & Gene Openshaw
Brad has been begging me to read this book for years and now that we're going to Italy this summer, I thought the time was right to dig in. It's a great introductory book for the history, art and architecture of Europe. I wish the graphics were better quality but the content was there for what I was looking for.
4. Five Quarters of the Orange - Joanne Harris
I prefer this book to Chocolat - it has a much darker story line but still has the lovely writing about food that makes me crave French pastries. It was a great story and kept me turning pages. The one thing that stuck out for me the most was the massive parallels with the oranges/migraines/daughters that happen in A Cure for Death by Lightning.....??
5. Mara and Dann - Doris Lessing
Ummm - Novel Prize for Literature? Really? This book has a really interesting Dystopian feel to it (the world in thousands of years when the ice caps descend and there isn't enough water) but the writing is awful. Maybe she was intending for it to be read as being written by a 9 year old, but it's not just that.
It's disconcerting to be reading about traipsing across the barren landscape in one paragraph and the next paragraph describes a kidnapping - with nothing in between. I'm about 70 pages from the end......it's a big question whether I'll finish this one or not.
I have to also mention that we had a Secret Santa at work at Christmas and my work buddy D. drew my name. Which was a great thing - since she has access to my Favourites list on Etsy. I got these fabulous bookmarks - 6 of them.
Aren't they great?! It's one of the most honest statements ever. Plus, when I use them as bookmarks (as with Mara and Dann for example) I can think "I'd rather be reading about Pemberley" too.
5 comments:
I love those bookmarks... even though I had to look up what Pemberley was. I'm not a huge Austen fan (I know, I know).
I've actually had "The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie" out of our school library for a year and a half. (They're not strict about returns). Anyway, after your review I think I really need to read it. Also I'm scared to return it 'cuz it's damaged. I dumped a bottle of water on it. Anyway, I really should read it, huh?
#4 sounds really great too. Ahhh, France.
And you're going to Italy this summer?? Awesome! I was there for five hours last March. I visited my friend who lives in Nice, and we took the train to a little town over the border and walked around the market and the old part of the city and ate pizza and gelato. It was very nice. Obviously I must go back.
Oh, that's cool that you are working on science labs. Please make sure they have lots of sinks! Two of our science rooms were re-done a few years ago and they don't have enough sinks. It's horrible. As kids wait in line to wash glassware, they often start to annoy each other and it makes my job more difficult!
To be fair to Doris, in her Nobel acceptance speech she told everyone that this wasn't her best work and they were basically giving it to her for her previous stuff (i.e. The Golden Notebook).
I haven't read Mara and Dann. I stick to her early stuff.
Oh, and P.S. Those bookmarks are AMAZING. And so true.
Book review, book review, ITALY OMG!!!, book review, book review... :) Where in Italy will you be traveling, and when? I have the travel bug like nothing else, but we'll be sticking to small outings for at least another year, methinks. *JEALOUS*
Those book marks sure are nice. Thanks for making my secret santa shopping super easy!
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