Toss Me That Book

Happy 2020!  Whelp, I think it's safe to say that my 2019 Book Review Blog fell apart in August, and I think it was for a few reasons. 1) Reviewing Books is Limiting - After awhile, it wasn't as fun for me to post a review of every book.  I began feeling like it was something that I had to do rather than something that I wanted to do. 2)  Books I Didn't Like - I haven't quite figured out how to talk about books that I didn't like.  Just because a book wasn't for me doesn't mean that it isn't someone else's favorite book, and I am struggling to find a good way to acknowledge that. 3)  No One is Reading This Blog -  This actually isn't a huge problem for me because I'm a pretty private person.  But, I would like to connect with other book people, so I need to find a way to expand.  I'm terrible at self-promotion, so I'm taking applications for a Hype Person. So, what am I going to do about it? 1)  Get over myself and write. ...

Format: Hardback Date Started:  July 21, 2019 Date Finished:  August 2, 2019 I picked this book up on a trip to the library with my little dudes.  It's August and over 100 degrees outside, which means that there is no such thing until outside until mid-to-late September, so we do a lot of indoor based activities where people won't judge you for being super excited and/or being loud and/or running around and/or announcing that you have to go potty.   Our local library is really great at enticing you into opening books that you might not have ever noticed.  For example, I am always a sucker for the display shelf called "While You're Waiting."  I appreciate this little set-up because 1) I like that the library acknowledges that there are "hot" books that everyone* wants to read so you will be waiting a long-ace time for the book you really want.  (#sorrynotsorry) and 2) some wonderful kindred soul has spent time actively thinking about what ...

Date Started:  July 14, 2019 Date I Gave Up:  July 21, 2019 I slogged through a quarter of this book before I stumbled upon a review that compared the protagonist, Perveen Mistry, to Agatha Christie's Miss Marple.  I wish I had seen that exactly seven days earlier so I wouldn't have had to read this book.

Format:  Kindle Date Started:  July 9, 2019 Date Finished:  July 14, 2019 My book club picked this literally one day before Jenna Bush Hagar announced it as her book club pick.  Ugh.  I have thoughts about Jenna Bush dating as far back as the year 2000 at The University of Texas.  But, I'm happy to say that both of our book clubs chose well. Getting off on the right foot because the author is part of NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour (heart), I loved how fresh and witty the dialogue was because it sounded like the way I talk with my husband and my friends.  I've also heard good things about the audio book version because the narrator really rocks it out with the distinct Mainer accent.  The plot wasn't overly dramatic or even far from real life, but I liked the way it explored complex feelings and the way we handle (or don't handle) things that go really, really wrong. 

Format:  Kindle Date Started:  June 26, 2019 Date Finished:  July 7, 2019 What I liked about this book was that it gave us a little more insight into Constance's personality.  As she travels throughout the NJ/NY area, her actions and thoughts show us what she wants to become - a modern, independent woman.  Cue Destiny's Child. What I didn't like about this book was that it seemed like we all spent a lot of time traveling and thinking and not having any action.   The antagonist was absolutely a bad dude, but I feel like he wasn't as fleshed out and real as the bad guys in Book 1. I also missed Norma & Fleurette.

Format:  Kindle Date Started:  June 23, 2019 Date Finished:  June 24, 2019 It had all the right pieces -- an unreliable narrator, an atmospheric location, and disappearances -- but it didn't come together for me.  The narrator, who had lost a daughter, was justifiably distraught and probably not paying attention to anything but her loss, but she must have been some special kind of dumb not to figure out what was really going on and who was the actual perpetrator.  This was not a good one for me.

Format:  Kindle Date Started:  June 21, 2019 Date Finished:  June 23, 2019 Guts and grit - two modern day words that get thrown around a lot.  Two qualities that my favorite real-life heroines - including both of my grandmothers - and my fictional favorite ladies - now including Constance, Norma, and Fleurette Kopp - have in spades! I'm thrilled and delighted to have met the Kopp sisters, and I'm even happier that they have a series, so I don't have to leave them behind after only one adventures.  What I especially like is that even though the series is set in 1914, all of these women feel incredibly modern to me in their attitudes and their opinions.