Jennie's comments (member since Sep 17, 2008)

Jennie's comments from the Pick-a-Shelf group.

Laura, I just requested from my local library the first book in the trilogy your book is a part. I am a huge fan of E.L. Konigsberg's "The Days of Scarlet and Miniver" which tells the story of Eleanor of Aquitaine. I'm thrilled to find an adult book on the same subject. Thanks for the review!

THE GLASS OF TIME, by Michael Cox -- 2.5 stars

This summer I read "The Meaning of Night", the book that comes before "The Glass of Time". (Not sure if this will turn into a longer series, or if it will just be these two of the author's books that are related.) While, I enjoyed "The Glass of Time" for the most part, it was a bit of a letdown after "The Meaning of Night". TGOT sucked me in and I really enjoyed the first 300 or so pages, but I had some issues with how the author dramatically presented a lot of the material as the book wore on. First of all, if you read TMON, most of the "revelations" in TGOT are not new to you. It almost makes you wonder if you should read the books in reverse order, thinking of TMON as a prequel. Also, one of the central relationships is not fleshed out well enough, in my opinion, and takes away a lot of the impact that the last 1/3 of the book could have carried. I think this book is worth reading if you've read TMON and really enjoyed it. It is interesting to get a different take on the events of that book. However, I'm not sure I can recommend TGOT on its own.

Angel, I agree about "One for the Money". I thought it was fun, and will keep the Steph Plum books in mind for when I'm in the mood for a "beach read" or something enjoyable and quick. However, I'm not sure that I will end up feeling the mania for the series that others do. We'll see.

Ooh, good to know, Julianne! I have been hearing about that series of books forever and finally got involved while I was at the beach this weekend. It was a perfect vacation read. Am looking forward to #2.

Ooh, glad to hear good things about Ripley. As I said in a previous forum, I wasn't crazy about the movie but felt it had a lot of potential so I might try the book.

I have found that requesting a large-print copy of a really popular book from the library sometimes can get you the book faster than if you request a "regular" copy. Just a tip ...

Anyway, I read "One for the Money", the first Stephanie Plum book, this past weekend so it can't count for my Oct. mystery books. However, I am going to put the second Plum book on my list as well as "The Glass of Time" which is the second book in a series by Michael Cox. The first book was "The Meaning of Night" which is a great mystery set in Victorian London (but written recently.) It was very well-written, as well as moody and atmospheric. I definitely recommend it, if you like that kind of stuff.

I got realistic fiction, which is definitely the majority of what I read. I also have been getting into historical fiction and non-fiction lately.

Dedicated reader. : )

Bookmooch could be my new favorite thing! My sister's mother-in-law works for our local library system and gets tons of advance reader's copies that she gives me. I don't think you're supposed to sell those to used book stores, but I think it would be okay to swap them. Oh, this opens up a whole new world of possibilities for me ... : )

Vicki, "Rebecca" is a great read. I hope you enjoy it. I'm curious to hear how "The Talented Mr. Ripley" is, Andrew. A lot of people loved that movie, but I wasn't crazy about it. However, I felt like it had a lot of potential, so maybe I'd like the book. I think Matt Damon actually ruined that movie for me, which is weird because I normally like him.

Wait, bookmooch? I don't know that site. I'm going to have to check it out. As if goodreads isn't sucking away enough of my reading time as it is... : )

Okay, I'm thinking of this as a desert island situation. If I could only have five ... forever:

The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, Michael Chabon

The Golden Compass, Philip Pullman

Harry Potter and ... I can't pick just one! Got to have 'em all.

Pride and Prejudice

And, for the sake of variety, I'm going to have to go with a short story book for my last pick ... either "The Night in Question" by Tobias Wolf or TC Boyle "Stories"

Ooh, this is fun!

I've decided to read:

"The September Society" by Charles Finch (also fits a requirement of The Next Best Book Club's Fall Challenge that I'm participating in.)

One for the Money by Janet Evanovich

The #1 Ladies' Detective Agency, Book 1

Hi. I'm a 34-year-old woman from Pittsburgh. I mostly read general fiction, but have started to expand into mysteries and historical fiction. I'm also trying to read more non-fiction, but find that I don't always have the focus for it. I've become a real history nerd over the past few years, though so non-fiction is becoming more and more intoxicating to me. I also just started to read romance novels, which is kind of shocking to me because I always thought I was too big a book snob for them! A friend and I started to read them on our beach vacations as a joke, but I've found some that are actually well-written in addition to being a lot of fun.