Fizz Boom Read! Summer 2014

[LB]

Our annual Summer Library Program is 2 weeks old and so far it has been busy and fun! And it's not only for kids...
Come in and register if you haven't already. There will be a drawing for a great prize at the end of the summer and by registering you are giving your public library support and we appreciate it so much.

I just finished Midnight Crossroad which is Charlaine Harris's new novel. I really enjoyed it. There was a bit of paranormal thrown in which is to be expected. I thought the characters were all really fun.
My weekend will be spent tearing through Stephen King's latest Mr. Mercedes. I read the first chapter last night and I have been thinking about it all day.

Have a great weekend!

[Shannon]

I signed up for the Summer Library Program on Thursday. Hopefully this year I will remember to turn in my log...

I just finished Southern League: A True Story of Baseball, Civil Rights, and the Deep South's Most Compelling Pennant Race. I really liked it. I'm a sucker for baseball books and for signed books so a signed baseball book? Here's my credit card. It's the story of what the Birmingham Barons endured before, during, and after the Civil Rights movement. I got so wrapped up in the characters, I had to remind myself that this isn't fiction - these things really happened. That is how well this book is written.

My next book is So Much Pretty. I recently finished another book by Cara Hoffman so I thought I'd read this one on my upcoming flight to Cleveland. The other book I'm taking with me is I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. I admit it - I haven't read this yet. I know, I know...

[LB]

So what did you think of Caged Bird, Shannon? I must admit that I haven't read it in years, but I do remember that it moved me deeply.
I finished Mr. Mercedes and Stephen King never disappoints me. I was enthralled from page 1.
This past weekend, I tore through The Fever by Megan Abbott. Oh such teen angst! I adored it. And I can't wait to see her back in Oxford again tomorrow night at Square Books.
Next up for me is Flying Shoes: A Novel.

[Shannon]

I loved it. Loved. It. It is definitely now one of my faves.

I finished So Much Pretty and really liked it. It was slow to start but once you get the rhythm, it's hard to put down. Now I'm reading Le Divorce, which made my husband nervous when he saw it. He'll be ok. Next for me will probably be The Valley of Amazement.

[LB]

Flying Shoes: A Novel was really great. I had fun trying to assign the characters to people I know. Great job, Lisa Howorth!
I also finished Living with a Wild God: A Nonbeliever's Search for the Truth about Everything (great but it may have been a little over my head), Invisible City, and Closed Doors.
I'm tempted re-read Deenie by Judy Blume right now, but I did pick up two books at work today for the long weekend.
The Quick and The Girl Who Was Saturday Night.

Happy 4th everyone!

[LB]

It's still summer!
I read a book that I have been wanting to read for months. The Mockingbird Next Door: Life with Harper Lee. I have been slightly obsessed with To Kill a Mockingbird since I was a kid. Marja Mills lived next door to Nelle Harper and her sister Alice for months in Monroeville, AL. They both spoke with her for the book. There is some controversy about whether or not Nelle Harper gave Mills permission to write the book, but I have to say that I loved it.
I also really enjoyed My Salinger Year.
I am now in the middle of Landline and am completely hooked on the story.

[``Laurie]

LB wrote: "It's still summer!
I read a book that I have been wanting to read for months. The Mockingbird Next Door: Life with Harper Lee. I have been slightly obsessed with To Kill a Mockingbi..."


LB, was the new Mockingbird tell all slanted favorably toward Harper Lee?

[LB]

Hi Laurie,
I wouldn't say slanted favorably. Mills, Alice, and Harper herself were all very honest. Flaws and all.

[Shannon]

The new Mockingbird book is on my to-read list as well. I heard about it on NPR.

Like last year, I signed up for the summer reading program and then forgot to turn in my list when I read five books. My memory is as short as I am...

Since my last post, I finished Le Divorce. It was ok. My friend who recommended it has a French background so maybe that's why she enjoyed it so much. I don't recommend it. I've also read When You Are Engulfed in Flames (funny), Three Nights in August: Strategy, Heartbreak, and Joy Inside the Mind of a Manager (you have to be a really big Cardinals fan to enjoy it), The Fever (loved it), Pride and Prejudice (took me months to finish but I loved it), The Gospel According To Peanuts (the only reason I didn't break up with it is because that felt like I would be breaking up with Snoopy), Diary of a Mad Diva (funny if you aren't easily offended), Dare Me (loved it), The Forsaken (loved it), National Velvet (liked it), and just finished Wicked City (loved it). You see how exciting my night life is, yes?

I'm listening to The Valley of Amazement as I work out and I am really enjoying it. It sort of reminds me of Memoirs of a Geisha but that might just be the Asian tone of the book. And I'm Asian so I can say that. :)

Seriously, that's a joke.

Not sure what my next book will be yet. My daughter just gave me several Robert B. Parker, Lee Child, and Michael Connelly books so perhaps one of those.

[``Laurie]

LB wrote: "Hi Laurie,
I wouldn't say slanted favorably. Mills, Alice, and Harper herself were all very honest. Flaws and all."

Thanks LB, I definitely want to read this now!

[Corey]

I spent all last week on vacation at the beach, so I got a lot of reading done. I mostly read Man on the Run: Paul McCartney in the 1970s. I can't say I learned a lot I didn't already know (which at this point is a tall order when it comes to any Beatle), but it was well written and engaging and good beach reading. I also finally got around to reading Saga, Volume 3. Saga is simply amazing. Just one of the best comics/graphic novels currently being published.

Speaking of graphic novels, I also reread Ghost World and The Complete Persepolis for the library's Inbetweeners book club. I hadn't read them in years and was surprised by how much I loved both of them.

Shannon, the next book the Inbetweeners book club is reading is Dare Me! We're meeting Sunday Aug. 17 at 2:00 pm at the library. You're more than welcome to attend and share your thoughts on the book!

[LB]

I finished 3 books this weekend. And managed to see Steve Martin play banjo. But I digress...
Landline-this was fun. I might have to read some of Rainbow Rowell's YA novels.
Diary of a Mad Diva-Joan does not disappoint. If you are easily offended, skip this one.
Cartwheel-if you are as obsessed by the Amanda Knox story as I am, this is the novel for you. It is based loosely on that case and I could not put it down.

[Corey]

Dare Me is so good! I couldn't put it down. I don't know if I've mentioned it in this group, but I've been on over a decade long streak of not reading fiction anymore..just one of those things. Megan Abbott has officially cured me of my no-fiction habit. I'm starting The Fevernow.

[LB]

I Like You Just the Way I Am: Stories About Me and Some Other People by Jenny Mollen was divine. She is raunchy and hilarious. I have decided that she should be my friend.
Ruin Falls by Jenny Milchman was also really great. I seem to have a thing for people named Jenny these days.
I am now reading The Girl with All the Gifts and I have to say that so far it is breaking my heart. And I'm actually not sure I can finish it. That pains me to admit. I'm going to continue with it over the weekend and see if I can manage. Wish me luck!

[Corey]

Now that my no-fiction habit is officially broken, I've decided to go back and read some novels that I should have been reading all along. I've just started The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay and I can tell I'm going to *really* like it.

[LB]

So I finally finished The Girl with All the Gifts. It is not a happy book, but I did end up enjoying it. Next I read The Vacationers and thought it was really great. But also not very happy.
I'm not sure what I'm going to read next.

[LB]

I'm in the middle of Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery and reading about these poor girls is making me sad. I may break up with this book soon. I want to read a novel.

[Corey]

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay was incredible. At times I found the prose too dense and some of the plot preposterous, but I loved the characters and dialogue so much that none of that mattered. The ending left me more emotional than a book has in a very long time.

On the opposite end, I just finished Gone Girl for our book club. Holy moly, did I not like this book. I'm really at a loss re. its popularity and rave reviews. I thought it was one of the most ridiculous things I've ever read.

[Katie]

I've read Lost Girls, too. It's a great book. Really, makes you wonder what really happened to those girls.

I also just finished reading Gone Girl for our book club. Corey, I have very mixed feelings about Gone Girl. It was well written but holy crap, I've never hated two characters more in my life! I don't see how ANYONE could love that book.