What I've read recently

The Thirteenth Tale was a book that I couldn't put down. It was odd in places, but it held me captivated. I must admit that I was so excited because I had heard that the end had a twist "that I would never guess." Well I basically did guess it...not exactly, but enough where it wasn't that great of a climax for me. Still a good read, but probably not a book I'd read again.

Rating: 4/5

The Women of Brewster Place...I read this for the Awards Challenge and it was great. Sad, but great. I had seen the movie years ago and remember liking it. The book was powerful and well written.

Rating: 4.5/5

Literacy and Longing in L.A.

What a surprisingly great book. I picked this up at the library because it was about a woman who loved to read. I wasn't expecting much, but it turned out to be a great story.
Dora is a recently single again living in an ocean side apartment. She goes on book buying and reading binges whenever something in her life isn't going well. What's wrong with that??
She falls for a bookstore employee and gets tangled up in his life and in the end...well I'm not going to tell you what she DOES to her books. It's too awful to mention.
Rating: 4.5/5

In the Company of Cheerful Ladies

This is Book 6 in the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series. I've read the first five, but had started getting bored with them. Now a year later I'm picking up the series again and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Reading these books is like traveling to Africa. Alexander McCall Smith actually paints a vivid picture and you feel as though you can see, hear and smell everything. The characters are painted so vividly I feel as though they are friends of mine, each with a distinctive voice and personality. Picking this up again after a break was like coming home. In this volume Mme Ramotswe lays to rest an upsetting part of her past, Mr. J. L. B. Matekoni gets a new employee who proves very helpful and Mme Makutsi finally meets her man.

Rating: 3.5/5

High Fidelity

I really loved this book, the humor, the wit...it was laugh out loud funny at times. A 30 something London guy who is having (always having) romantic troubles. The main character Rob, own a record store and he and his mates constantly compare life to music and must always list their "top 5" everything. His friends are hillarious and real, as are Rob's thoughts on life and dating. I highly recommend this book.

Rating: 4.5/5

Gods in Alabama

Finished this book last night. I had read reviews that had really raved about it, but I thought it was just ok. It was quite predictable and a pretty simple story. A small town southern girl who now lives up north goes back home to try to keep something from her past hidden and it ends up coming to light anyway. There was some smart humor in the book that I appreciated, but other than that, it just didn't seem original...ho hum.
Rating: 3/5

Summer Reading Challenge 2

Here's my list for the Summer Reading Challenge

1. High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
2. Gods in Alabama by Joshilyn Jackson
3. In the Company of Cheerful Ladies by Alexander McCall Smith
**4. Savannah from Savannah by Denise Hildreth (boooring, will replace with something else)
5. Savannah Blues by Mary Kay Andrews
6. Literacy and Longing in L.A. by Jennifer Kaufman
7. An Innocent, A Broad by Ann Leary
8. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
9. Knitting Under the Influence by Claire LaZebnik
10. The Boy Next Door by Meg Cabot