It’s Wednesday — In the Drink, Hot Stuff, Sweet Revenge, The Color of Water, Where Heaven Begins, The Wednesday Letters, Good Dog Stay
By Kristen on Jan 16, 2008 in Book Club Favorites, Future Classics...?, Reviews
Photo by Gallebee
In addition to my new look (and, yes, it did change again last week — the first template wasn’t playing well with others…and then I experienced my first complete technological meltdown on Sunday — more on that in a later post), I would like to start a new series inspired by Rick S.’s goal of reading 50 books this year. Feel free to check out my Gather profile, join the discussion or just check out what others are reading.
So, every Wednesday I will be reviewing what I’ve read over the past week — duds as well as winners — and I would love to hear what you are reading, too! Last Friday I discussed a couple of novels that I attempted to read over break, but couldn’t finish. I had actually started my break with a couple of delightful works of eye candy: Hot Stuff by Janet Evanovich and Sweet Revenge by Nora Roberts. I love starting a vacation with engaging, light page-turners and both fit this desire beautifully. Evanovich is better known for her Stephanie Plum bounty-hunter series, but this foray into romance was quite cute and is a great example of a novel that will get you from Chicago to Dallas comfortably and then remain behind on the plane without regrets. (My suitcase was 4 pounds over the free limit of $50, so I appreciated the brief, ephemeral existence both paperbacks had in my life and thank you to American Airlines for letting me slip by…). Sweet Revenge was Nora Roberts at her best — terrific character development, a rollicking plot, a happy, satisfying ending. It started w/ a variation on the Grace Kelly/Prince Ranier romance, veered into Not Without My Daughter, embraced Entrapment, and could easily turn into a great blockbuster movie. By the way, apparently Catherine Zeta Jones had agreed to star in Marian Keyes’ Rachel’s Holiday!).
After those two, I needed to come down from my sugar high, and The Color of Water was the perfect anecdote. The story of a bi-racial man’s search for identity — actually his search for his mother’s identity — was compelling and thought-provoking. The writing wasn’t necessarily a strength — at times it felt a bit like a journal or transcribed notes, even — but the questions raised about identity were presented in a fresh and thought-provoking manner.
Next I enjoyed two recommendations from my grandmother: Where Heaven Begins by Rosanne Bittner and The Wednesday Letters by Jason Wright. She will be leading her book club in May and would like me to create a kit. My grandmother is a fan of nonfiction, especially biography, but has been searching for a work of fiction that would encourage discussion and satisfy not only her own tastes, but those of the other members as well. As highlighted in my recent series on Effective Book Clubs, the right choice can make all the difference when leading a book club. Both of her novels were character-driven (my favorite!), but neither would encourage much of a discussion beyond how much the members enjoyed them. So, the search continues for the perfect choice…
Since break, my literary consumption has slowed considerably, but a weekend at the cabin allowed me to read Good Dog. Stay, Anna Quindlen’s lovely little eulogy to her dog (warning: read with kleenix!) and Kate Christensen’s quirky first novel In the Drink. At first, I thought I knew what to expect (”underemployed twenty-something seeks to find meaning and possibly romance in New York City), but the last 50 or so pages are startling and, therefore, refreshing. If you try this one, think about your expectations based on the title before and after reading it. Maud Newton recently wrote a nice review of Christensen’s latest novel The Great Man. I’m already looking forward to reading it…
So, that’s my Wednesday update!! Obviously, each week will not be this lengthy… unless I get lucky or start sleeping only 3 hours a night… So, What Are You Reading?
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