Looking back at the blog lately, I realized it's been a while since I've talked about books.
Last night, I finished a book. Which is something that happens on a regular basis with me, every day or every other day I finish a book.
The one I finished last night (which I picked up from the library and started the night before) was not my usual fare. Not romance, not paranormal, not mystery, but an actual novel. It was written by a woman, so it might end up in Chick-Lit land, but if I were in charge of shelving, I'd have put it in literary novels. But anyway.
The book is The Girls by Lori Lansens and appears to be only be available in HC; which is too bad, because that means it probably didn't sell enough for a PB run, and more people won't have the opportunity to read it. It's a dual-perspective first-person account of conjoined twins, the world's oldest surviving craniopagus (joined at the head) twins. A couple of reviews I read this morning (after finishing; I like to read reviews of books that I've just read rather than those I might want to read) favorably compared it to The Lovely Bones and The Time Traveler's Wife both of which I read, loved, and own. I have to agree, if you liked either of those books, then this one might appeal. I also recognized some echoes of Lorna Landvik, which is weird because I found Oh My Stars to be unreadable (I certainly didn't finish it) but there are elements of similarity. Not every reader I know will love this book as I did, but I imagine that some of you reading this entry will, so if you have time to read for pleasure, take a trip to the library for this one (frankly I'm not sure if it's still in print in HC, although it came out in 2005 in Canada and 2006 in the US.
Saturday, I finished Love the One You're With by Emily Giffin. I had a hard time in the middle of this one, I cheated and read the last chapter and even put the book down for a full 36 hours. I might not have picked it back up that soon if my internet (and thus my ability to work) had not gone out on Saturday afternoon. I'm glad, though, that I stuck with it because it really was worth the rough time I had with the middle. When it's available in trade PB, I'll buy it to match the rest of my Giffin collection.
On Saturday, also due to the internet being out, I read The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom. What can I say about this one? It was well-enough written for me to finish, but a little overly sentimental for my tastes. Not to mention that as a person with polytheistic beliefs, I had a difficult time accepting the premise. Which is weird, because I'll read a vampire book and accept it no problem, as if I were reading nonfiction. I'll give Albom props for his ability to turn a phrase or evoke an emotion, and I'll stop short of calling his works mawkish, but I probably won't pick up anymore of his works (unless they're a little meatier length wise), and this one is going back out on PBS.
Next up is Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner. Another library book because I only buy Nora Roberts writing as JD Robb in HC these days, and I've been looking forward to this one for a while. Can't wait to find out how things turn out for Cannie and Joy (to whom we were introduced in Good in Bed which I loved).
4 comments:
The Girls is available in PB over at PBS.
Thought you'd want to know.
Ooh, thank you. I just ordered it.
if you haven't already, give author jim butcher a try.
its promoted as a hard boiled wizard detective in modern day chicago, but it is waaaay better than it sounds. awesome story line and characters you fall in love with.
if you don't have time to read Jim butcher's STORMFRONT try it in mp3 format.
Thanks for the recommendations. I never listen to books; never liked being read to and I read faster than most people speak anyway, but I'll consider giving Butcher a try (don't read a lot of men these days).
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