false 7 378 332 true 5628093 read 1 true 1056758 currently-reading 45 true 1056757 to-read 102 false 2258593 1001-books 39 false 2700998 star-wars 34 false 2898211 to-read-1001-books 8 false 4273317 bibliobabes 5 false 4788581 on-my-kindle 3 false 3875516 1001-books-2008 3 false 1381574 to-read--borrow-from-beth 2 false 4624093 short-stories 2 false 4503156 sci-fi 1 false 1381589 to-read--i-own-it 1 false 4273244 child-young-adult 1 false 4503142 mind--body--soul 1 false 7266115 fantasy 0 false 4503135 self-help http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/24916286 to: The Hobbit: Or There and Back Again (Paperback) by J.R.R. Tolkien
bookshelves: 1001-books
Wonderful and fantastic. Funny and touching. Exciting adventure with a protagonist you can relate to. Okay, I'm not male, nor short of stature, nor 50 years old, but I am both terrified of, and thrilled at the prospect of, adventure. I need a little coaxing to get out there and try my hand. And of course, as Bilbo succeeds, it is uplifting.

Also, on a personal note, I was reading this at a time when I needed personal forgiveness from someone, and the scene at the end with Bilbo and Thorin was especially touching. Sometimes an author doesn't need a lot of fancy philosophical discussion on the page to create worthwhile meaning.

I've been reading this book regularly for most of life, and I don't plan to stop anytime soon. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/74922197 to: The Book of Atrix Wolfe (Paperback) by Patricia A. McKillip
bookshelves: fantasy
Not much to say. Okay fantasy. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/68629127 to: Lady Audley's Secret (Penguin Classics) by Mary Elizabeth Braddon
bookshelves: bibliobabes, on-my-kindle
The interesting thing to me about this book was that it didnt seem destined to become a classic. It felt like reading the equivalent of a run of the mill NY Times Bestseller. Something by a popular author who churns out good reads that tend to follow a (loose or tight) formula.

That is not to say I didn't enjoy it. In fact I did enjoy it. Felt like I was someone from long ago enjoying a book the same way I do know, but perhaps in a genteel drawing room while sipping a cup of tea. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/70903535 to: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (Paperback) by Seth Grahame-Smith
Loved it!! This is like a Reese's - the combination of peanut butter and chocolate is a great "accident" - thoroughly enjoyable. The first of the modern batch of Pride & Prejudice knock-offs actually worth reading. The serious contemplation of P&P combines with the ridiculous fun of zombies to delight the reader. Maintains the tone of P&P at a somewhat faster pace, and is faithful while adding a light-heartedness that keeps you speeding along. Recommended to all who can appreciate both of those worlds! ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/68368718 to: MIDDLE OF NOWHERE (Mass Market Paperback) by Ridley Pearson
Picked this crime/suspense/mystery novel out of a book giveaway due to my positive experience with the author's kids' books (Peter and the Starcatchers series w/Dave Barry). Unfortunately, this didn't do much for me. I'm not inclined to say it wasn't good, I haven't been too interested in this particular genre for a while. I'll just say it seemed very "pulp" fiction to me - and didn't offer a lot. More likely to be me - it hasn't been a good "reading year" for me. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/30346292 to: Hard Times (Dover Thrift Editions) by Charles Dickens
bookshelves: 1001-books, bibliobabes, on-my-kindle
This was my 4th Dickens, after Xmas Carol, Oliver Twist and David Copperfield. It seemed less dense than the others, and more humourous. Supposed to be a critique of utiliatarianism, and the realities of the industrial age, I didn't find it to be effective in those areas. It felt more just like a good story, in which those issues play a large part. Liked it, glad to have experienced it.

Fairly short and quick read. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/62337793 to: How Nancy Drew Saved My Life (Paperback) by Lauren Baratz-Logsted
bookshelves: bibliobabes, on-my-kindle
That I have the ability to totally disengage from what I am reading. I was "eh" about it while reading - didn't care about it in the positive, didn't care about it in the negative. It was while discussing in book club that I determined this was really a pretty crappy book, and wondered why I hadn't noticed at the time.

Anyway, I would NOT recommend. And I realize this doesn't have any thoughtful reasons to explain my problems, and I hate to say - this book doesn't deserve the time it would take to enumerate the reasons. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/60447845 to: The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story (Hardcover) by Diane Ackerman
Okay, so this book, about a Polish couple during WWII and how they help Jews escape the holocaust, was recommended to me by my sister-in-law who was VERY enthusiastic about it, and eventually loaned me her copy. The style of this is a dramatized non-fiction. The author leans heavily towards the non-fiction, keeping her embellishments to a minimum, and telling the story in a third person journalistic style that I found droned on and on and on (somewhat like this sentence) and became tired of pretty rapidly. Thus took me a long time to get through this. The author tries to organize the "action" into smaller stories (chapters), but none of them really take off - they do not pull the reader inexorably into their web, they just kind of lay there. A lot of work went behind this, and I wish I would have felt more involved in the story of these lovely individuals. The author could take a lesson from Laura(?) Hillenbrand [Seabiscuit was SO engrossing:]. So, nice topic, excellently thorough research, not a great style. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/47499808 Resurrecting Sex: Solving Sexual Problems and Revolutionizing Your Relationship (Paperback) by David Schnarch
bookshelves: mind--body--soul
Okay, I did NOT finish this book. It had a suggestion that people in a crisis stage start kind of in the middle-ish, so I did that, and then after I covered the "crisis" part (not labeled as such), I went back to the beginning. I liked some of the concepts from what I DID manage to get finished, but the approach here is presented fairly technically. I'm pretty bright, and you don't just grasp what the author is getting at right away. I switched to more "easy" material that I could get through quicker. The important thing to me was to start helping my marriage quickly.

One thing I DID like though was the whole concept of self-soothing, and not expecting your partner to make things better. That we run into trouble in conversations because our goal is not always clear communication, but we want to feel comfortable and not rock the boat. (Note - chaos may feel comfortable for some..., this is about the patterns in a relationship.) Anyway, I still think this would be great for someone who is feeling patient enough to get through it. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/62111362 Maureen's review of Dead Until Dark (Sookie Stackhouse, #1)
by Charlaine Harris

Whoa, True Blood is inspired by a series of books? Awesome. I watch the show. I had a sample of Book 1 sent to my Kindle. (I use that as a kind of TBR list, at Beth's suggestion.) Thanks, Maureen. I love how Goodreads keeps me on top of the book world. Yay! :o) ]]>