false11298151true5646321read1true4442197currently-reading146true4442196to-read97false4442514ya-reads56false4469008blog-recommendation37false6780268wish-list31false4941448library-hold-list13false4442259book-club-reads11false4442271book-a-day-calendar-recommendations
<![CDATA[Heather added 'Dairy Queen']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/75227858
to: Dairy Queen (Audio CD)byCatherine Gilbert Murdock bookshelves: ya-reads
The storyline was good and characters were interesting enough. I'll read the next book in the series.
In regard to the audio (I listened to the un-abridged version on 5 CD's): the reader had a good Wisconsin accent (as far as I could tell), but the male voices didn't have much emotional range. Because of her linguistic limitations, Brian Nelson always sounded stoned--even when he was mad. I'll probably do the next book in the series as a print version.
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<![CDATA[Heather added 'Pride and Prejudice and Zombies']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/75106297
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (Paperback)
bySeth Grahame-Smith bookshelves: currently-reading
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<![CDATA[Heather added 'Freshman']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/73562719
to: Freshman (Hardcover)byMichael Gerber Rating B-
Review This book was a humorous and irreverent look at college life amongst the elite from an outsider's perspective. (The author went to an Ivy League school, so I'm not sure how much of this is his revisionist's history.)
The characters in this book were over-the-top, but they were meant to be. (Hello? One is a vampire. Obvious farce.) And it worked. The caricatures all played off each other--the motivated one, the jaded one, the "President," etc.--and created a campus full of life and color.
The pacing of the book kept you reading consistently with plenty of hijinks spattered throughout to ensure that you didn't have to read too much anti-elitism without a laugh or too along the way.
Hart was a good narrator, he was never whiny, even when any normal person would have been. (Hello? He was dragged behind a hearse in an attempt to kill him. Let the complaining begin.) But he wasn't Mary Sunshine either. He saw the crap that was going on around him, but he knew that griping never really did anybody any good. He had a good (fictitious) upbringing in that regard.
All those things said, an enjoyable book that includes laughs, some thoughts on society's classes, melancholy, and friendships. Nothing ground-breaking, but still a fun read.
Recommendation This book is a mix of Looking for Alaska and Carter Finally Gets It. So if you enjoyed either of those books (like me), then you'll probably like this one as well.
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<![CDATA[Heather added 'How to Talk to a Widower']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/55358133
to: How to Talk to a Widower (Kindle Edition)byJonathan Tropper bookshelves: blog-recommendation Rating A+
Review I cannot review this book. I can simply say that this book made me laugh and cry copiously. And, immediately after finishing, I wanted to start it all over again. Also, I've bought one of Tropper's other novels (just the first of many).
Read. This. Book.
Here's one of the sections that made me laugh:
[Backstory: He's waiting for a first date to return from running one of her two sons to the ER for a stomach virus and is looking for a bathroom]
"The hall bathroom is full of bath toys, and there's a strange, donut-shaped contraption on the toilet seat, ostensibly to keep the boys from falling in when they're crapping, and it doesn't look terribly sanitary so I decide to use [the date's:] bathroom, which could be construed as an invasion of privacy, but I've mopped the puke off her floors and I'm baby-sitting her [other:] son, so we've got to be past all of that, right? Besides, she specifically told me to make myself at home, and at home I don't crap on a plastic piss-stained hemorrhoid donut with Cookie Monster smiling creepily up at me like a puppet with a bathroom fettish," (p. 226).
Even if that didn't seem funny, Read. This. Book.
Recommendation Fans of smartly-written novels by other beautifully-sarcastic guys such as Jonathan Franzen and Joshua Ferris.
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<![CDATA[Heather added 'Love']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/72920498
to: Love (and Other Uses for Duct Tape)byCarrie Jones bookshelves: ya-reads Rating C+
Review Warning: If you're the kind of person who hates to read a book, and not read any really great stuff until page 256 (of 284), then don't read this book. Let me give you a little break-down of how this book goes, for reference:
Pages 1-42: Introductory scenes to remind us of characters and relationships and events that ocurred in Tips... and set up the scenario/scene/timeline for Love...
Pages 43-82: Set up of the "big hook"/problem of this book
Pages 83-256: Belle thinks a lot about the problem(s) in this book, thinks some more, some interesting kissing, etc.
Pages 256-275: Climax
Pages 276-280: Resolution-ish
The book doesn't sound that great, right? Well, here's why I gave the book this rating: I am somebody who can fall in love with characters and can stand to read about them doing not too much of anything.
Granted, I think that Belle was way too whiny in this book (instead of just being honest about stuff, she whined and complained and internalized and freaked out about stuff), and I think that this book was a vanity piece because Jones loved these characters, she saw an idea for a climax via a country music video (which she admits on her website) and she filled the bulk of the book (the "rising action") with whining.
But I really, really like Tom. And the hook of the book could have been so awesome--and I wanted to read that. Sure, I wanted way more in the way of resolution--I wanted to know what Shawn thought about "the problem" and how it worked out, etc., but that's probably why I sent an email to Carrie Jones asking, "Can you please write another book so I know how things turn out?" That's how much I like these characters.
Also, she does a better job of making Dylan less of a gay charicature. (Plus, I gave her a decent score because she did the repetitive writing thing, thing, thing a lot less in this book.)
Recommendation Fans of Tips on Having a Gay (ex) Boyfriend could probably enjoy reading more about these characters. Otherwise, don't bother.
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<![CDATA[Heather added 'Hate List']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/72450132
Hate List (Hardcover)
byJennifer Brown bookshelves: blog-recommendation,
to-read,
wish-list,
ya-reads
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<![CDATA[Heather added 'An Off Year']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/72440926
An Off Year (Hardcover)
byClaire Zulkey bookshelves: blog-recommendation,
to-read,
wish-list,
ya-reads
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<![CDATA[Heather added 'Tips on Having a Gay (ex) Boyfriend']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/72250559
to: Tips on Having a Gay (ex) BoyfriendbyCarrie Jones bookshelves: ya-reads Rating C
Review My thoughts on this book could not possibly be more mixed. No siree. That would not be feasible.
On the plus side: I am so hard-core loving the relationship between Belle and her rebound guy (Tom) that I'm going to rush to the library tonight and get the second book in this little saga (Love (And Other Uses for Duct Tape)). And I'll probably read it tonight. Other pluses are that I totally think that Dylan's angst is semi-believeable (in so much as I know what it's like to come out as a gay guy in a small town at the age of 17); I like a lot of the other supporting characters and the narrator doesn't completely get on my nerves. Several of her lists are well-balanced (whiny, depressed, etc., without being too whiny, depressed, etc.).
On the hugely negatively side: I cannot stand the author's writing. I read the back flap which says this lovely lady used to edit poetry magazines and it comes through in her writing (I think). And not in a good way. In a way that she tried to make this prose sound like poetry and was repetitive. I was over, over, over it. (Because she did that thing I just did where she uses the same word three times.) She does this over, over, over again in the book. It drove me batty!
Also, I was thoroughly annoyed that we got fantastic "remembrances" of romantic and/or hot scenes between Dylan and Belle and I can't get a second base with Tom? C'mon. That's why I'm reading the second book. I need to see if this girl can do her business with a straight guy. (Plus, have I ever mentioned that I have a very weird interest in reading books about sexually-confused young adults? Please do not speculate in the comments regarding what you think that may or may not mean about me.)
Recommendation I'm holding off on this until after I've read the next book. Check back later for edits.
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<![CDATA[Heather added 'Crossing Washington Square']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/71649020
Crossing Washington Square (Paperback)
byJoanne Rendell bookshelves: blog-recommendation,
library-hold-list,
to-read
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