false 30 601 433 true 5655069 read 3 true 4388813 currently-reading 51 true 4388812 to-read 112 true 4878258 to-find 2 true 7482455 did-not-finish 77 false 4389102 lm-book-club 75 false 4419021 mystery 64 false 5035750 audiobook 57 false 5170740 review-copy 56 false 4426520 sf-fantasy 48 false 4389078 mcbook 35 false 4426521 ya 31 false 4904555 fiction 21 false 4426513 non-fiction 19 false 4419014 fluff 19 false 4983560 possible-bc-nominee 19 false 5136166 historical-fiction 17 false 5029501 childrens 17 false 4462291 humor 16 false 5170725 memoir 13 false 5013284 romance 12 false 4991053 chick-lit 11 false 5136167 wwii 6 false 4473931 romantic-suspense 6 false 7432203 readathon 6 false 5429702 thriller 3 false 5100018 lit-prize 3 false 6595952 graphic-novel 3 false 4580416 short-stories 3 false 4483816 classic 2 false 4580415 christmas 1 false 5299717 silicon-valley 1 false 4419020 computer 1 false 4904550 first-reads 1 false 5495432 translation 1 false 5189855 sahm 1 false 7830922 silicon-valley-reads http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/79124676 Graceling (Hardcover) by Kristin Cashore
bookshelves: audiobook, currently-reading, sf-fantasy, ya
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/78286704 to: Silence (Mass Market Paperback) by Thomas Perry
bookshelves: audiobook, thriller
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/66762528 to: Sometimes We're Always Real Same-same (Paperback) by Mattox Roesch
bookshelves: review-copy
This book attracted me mostly due to its name-- somehow, the book description didn't give me an idea of what to expect.

(I much prefer the description on Unbridled Books to the one that is here and on Amazon).

Same-same is as quirky as the name would lead you to expect- quirky without being either cute or light. The focus was on character-- mostly that of Cesar.

Cesar was on a bad path in LA, one likely to end like that of his brother, who is in jail because of his role in a gang shooting. Cesar has already found himself involved in one truly terrible crime.

Moving to Alaska with his mother gives him a new start, just not the one he's looking for. He's got a plan to move back to LA and move in with his dad. Unfortunately, his father is most notable in this story for his absence.

Luckily for all involved, Cesar meets up with his local cousin, Go-boy. The reader as well as the characters in the book wonder whether Go-boy is crazy. Certainly, the letters he writes to Yoko Ono are crazy. The signs he puts up around town are pretty crazy. On the other hand, there seems to be a method to his madness.

My favorite character was Kiana, Cesar's girlfriend and Go-boy's cousin. She's a teenage math genius who doesn't always make good personal choices. I'd love to know what happens to her down the road.

The books looks at issues of character and of responsibility, questions of how one decision (or non-decision) can change a life. It's thought provoking while being funny and readable. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/76244665 Mennonite in a Little Black Dress: A Memoir of Going Home (Hardcover) by Rhoda Janzen
bookshelves: currently-reading, memoir, review-copy
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/78598938 Everyone Is Beautiful: A Novel (Hardcover) by Katherine Center
bookshelves: to-find
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/78469704 The Little Giant of Aberdeen County (Hardcover) by Tiffany Baker
bookshelves: audiobook, to-find
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/77102749 to: Definitely Dead (Sookie Stackhouse, #6) by Charlaine Harris
bookshelves: audiobook, sf-fantasy
Thank goodness, I enjoyed this book much more than the previous one!

Sookie has her love life under control, and is pursuing only one man-- Quinn, a were tiger. She's dealing with feelings from past relationships, and that's fine. We have an explanation for her attractiveness to supernatural men.

I like how her relationship with Eric is playing out-- she's making it clear she isn't falling in line as one of his subjects. Both are dealing with emotional fallout from past events, and are struggling for a grip on what this means to them.

I was interested in the background we get on Bill. I like the new character of Amelia.

Better yet, we have a plot or two! There were actual mystery/adventures that held my interest. There were also details of how vampire society works, and I always like that part of the world-building.

Looking around the net a bit, I found out there is a short story that falls between Dead as a Doornail and this one that fills in some of the details that I was wondering if I'd missed somewhere. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/66881871 to: The Magicians (Hardcover) by Lev Grossman
bookshelves: audiobook, sf-fantasy
I think it may be unfair of me, but I would have liked this book better if I hadn't read Harry Potter.

The problem is that all aspects of the book were fine, but nothing was great.

If the book had been strong in one area-- strong characters, an interesting world, an involving plot, anything that stood out, then all the rest would have been OK to support it. Unfortunately, nothing about the book ever grabbed me.

Harry Potter showed how fun a magical world could be. I understand that this is a grown up book, and that fun isn't necessarily the point. But then give me depth instead-- something to make the magic worthwhile. The details given about how magic worked were interesting, but never felt fully fleshed out.

The characters weren't enough to carry the book for me. I never really liked Quentin. I didn't understand why he was so miserable throughout the book. The book didn't even work for me as a look at the life of a troubled college student because I never really related with Quentin.

None of the other characters were portrayed with any depth to them. I think I might have enjoyed the book more from Alice's point of view.

I really wanted to like the parts relating to Fillory, but all I could do was think about what was and wasn't like Narnia. It never came together as its own magical place for me.

In spite of all this, I didn't dislike the book. I just thought it could (and should) have been better.
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/57886259 to: Vision in White (Bride Quartet, #1) by Nora Roberts
bookshelves: chick-lit, readathon, romance
I enjoyed reading Vision in White.

Nora Roberts always has strong characters, and this book is no exception.

I'm not sure whether to call this chick lit or romance-- Mac's relationships with her friends and with her mother are a significant part of the story, probably as much so as her romance with Carter.

I'll have to come down on the romance side, however, since that is what I read the book for. The rest is what filled it out, and made it a better than average read for me.

I've got the second book in the quartet, and hope to read it soon. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/62164313 to: Everything Hurts: A Novel (Hardcover) by Bill Scheft
bookshelves: fiction, humor, review-copy
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