Bookity Book Book

A while ago I posted about my need for some book recommendations and you all came through with tons of ideas. I took a trip to the library that very day and got what I could...I had about 15 minutes to track stuff down because I was expecting a phone call and the librarians look at you like your mooning the mayor if your phone happens to go off in the library. I got several....some of which are long over-due because I also happened to hit a nice sale on a book-splurge day over at More Than Words. (I also lost a knitting bag that day, so my sale-high got killed a little by the loss of sock yarn, bamboo needles, and the awesome bag that Jodi made me for the KMKS. Boo-hoo!) Anywho, here's a little reading update....


Jemima J, by Jane Green



Hmm. What to say about this book? This was one of the two disappointments that led me to ask you all for recommendations in the first place. I just really didn't like it at all and I actually don't know how it came to be in my pile of books. The only thing that made it all tolerable was that it was such a quick read that I didn't waste too much of my life on it. It was really trite and I felt like I was reading the fantasies of the most boring 14-year old in the entire world. Not to mention all the diet talk just made me want to nosh on things endlessly!


Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire



Before I tell you how this one also disappointed me, I have to tell you that I love Gregory Maguire. I really do. I think he's re-tellings of fairy tales are usually unique and engaging and I have to confess that I love fairy tales. Before even reading this book, I wondered if he had written this 352 pages for the sole reason that he wanted to name a book "Son of a Witch" because well, that's funny. By the end of the book, I was still sort of wondering the same thing. It was a little pointless for me. The way in which a teenage boy finding himself sort of story might be pointless to a 30-something year old woman. It wasn't a total waste and I can see how a....teenage boy might like it...but it was just predictable and less creative that I typically find him. (At one point I wondered if he had just completely run out of creativity mid-book when he named these long-necked animals DRAFES. Ack!) But I really do love his writing and have Mirror, Mirror in my line-up. Let's hope the return to a female main character helps because this book made me feel as if the male part of his voice is still a boy, while the feminine part of his voice is much more developed and intense.


Hunting Unicorns by Bella Pollen



This was the first off my library stack, and it was lovely. A nice tense love story that doesn't get tied up in a neat little bow and doesn't end up in disaster (Oprah Book club anyone? Damn, does she love some tragedy) either. I've thought a lot about this book, and really I just found it comforting. The setting, the tension, the crazies...I just found them wholly comforting.




Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling


I successfully avoided almost all spoilers this time and really enjoyed this last Harry Potter. Like many, I find myself wanting to re-read the whole series. I wasn't too hip on the final chapter (though I hear this isn't a unique viewpoint) since you may have noticed that neat little bows don't exactly thrill me, but it was about 6 pages of "eh" plopped onto several hundred pages of a really great end to the story. Since there may still be three of you out there that haven't read it, I won't say too much more, but I was very happy with a lot of the twists, which were largely evening out those who were appearing both purely good or evil.


Right now, I'm currently reading:


American Gods by Neil Gaiman, which, so far, I love, love, love and wish I could just make this book go on forever.











The Reader by Bernhard Schlink, which, so far, is doing absolutely nothing for me expect for keeping me moderately distracted for part of the flight back from Disney.











Oh, by the way....the lunch containers. A couple of you asked about them. For many, many different kinds, you can just search for "bento" on ebay. Another that I really like can be found here, cheap, and free shipping if you work on filling that Amazon cart. Little A especially likes these ones because they are so well compartmentalized. She does not appreciate her food running together.