What I Read This Month

I read a lot of books and each month I choose a few of them to spotlight here on my blog. If you have any suggestions for books I should read, send me an email and I’ll take a look.

The Memoirs of Cleopatra by Margaret George

I have read this book over and over again since I was a teenager. It is my go-to book when I have nothing to read. Sometimes I start in the middle and go from there. Margaret George is heavy on the descriptions and that can be tiresome sometimes. But this is an amazing story and well written. I’d recommend it to anyone with an interest in Egypt, Cleopatra, or on a very, very long trip.

And maybe I’ll read it on a very long trip to Egypt someday. Stay tuned for that one.

Chasing the Sun by Natalia Sylvester

I just finished this book and I am very angry with the characters. Like I wish they had phone numbers so that I could call them up and tell them off for their behavior and choices. For me, this is the sign of a good read.

When you are angry with the author, you feel the story was lacking or the book written poorly. But when you are angry with the characters they have become fully realized people who you love, hate, root for, or can’t wait to see fail. Basically, the fact that I am so mad at these characters means the author has done her job beautifully. Life isn’t black and white and neither is the world these characters live in.

Please note that this book is set in Lima, Peru during a turbulent time that I like to call “Oh somebody blew something up and we’re kinda mad but it happens too often for us to be too mad about it.” This is the extent of my knowledge of Peruvian history and/or current events. What I’m saying here is that even though Peru is such a big part of this story, you don’t have to be familiar to get sucked into it.

Overall, I thought the writing was tight and the story unique. There were a lot of surprises and it did not end the way I thought it would. I’d recommend it to almost anyone.

(Full disclosure: Natalia Sylvester is a friend of mine. But that did not guarantee I would like her book and the fact that I did has only made me like her more.)

Most Talkative: Stories from the Front Lines of Pop Culture by Andy Cohen

I’m not gonna lie about being a Real Housewives fan. Deal with it.

So that’s the reason I picked up this book. I always kinda wondered who exactly Andy is and this book answered that question. It’s a typical celebrity memoir. There was some funny stuff about his childhood and adolescence. He gave some interesting stuff about how he got where he is today. I had no idea about his decade long career as a producer with the morning show at CBS and that was good to read. He gave some tidbits about our favorite reality TV stars.

Overall, it wasn’t anything life changing or more than I thought it would be: a nice easy beach read for those of us who love our NeNes and Bethennys.

The Heist by Janet Evanovich

I absolutely can’t knock Janet Evanovich’s hustle. She knows exactly what her brand is and keeps giving it to us every single book. But it’s hard to enjoy reading about a not quite Stephanie Plum clone. O’Hare is enough like Plum for me to notice and be annoyed about it. But she’s not enough like Plum to play on the familiarity of that character to make me care what happens to her.

(Also, I’m kinda tired of reading about all these chick lit and romance heroines who eat terribly, don’t exercise, and are super skim. Why is that everywhere? What’s that about?)

That said, I love a heist story. For me, the story dragged until about 30% into it. (Sorry but I don’t know the pages. I was using the Kindle app.) I will admit to skipping some of the story that boring. . . like any prolonged supposed banter between Fox and O’Hare.

I’m a glutton for punishment so I might read The Chase. But I’m not expecting much from it.

These are just a few of the books I read this month.

I’m also an active member of the Goodreads community and I’d love to connect with you there.

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