Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Book Time

Time for some book reviews! As usual, if you're interested in what the book is about, click the link! I'm just going to tell you how I liked it!

First some juvenile and young adult titles:

Knucklehead: Tall Tales and Almost True Stories of Growing Up Scieszka by Jon Scieszka-- At the library, we get a lot of requests from kids for biographies that are at least 100 pages long. This one fits the bill at 106, so I gave it a try. It's interesting and funny, but probably not the best choice if they need to dress up like the subject and give a presentation!

Behind the Curtain by Peter Abrahams-- From the Echo Falls mystery series for kids. I really like this series, and try to recommend it at the library, but the length of the book (400 pages) scares most kids away. (I'm certainly focused on pages today!) Peter Abrahams also writes for adults, and I think it shows in his books for kids.


Looking for Alaska by John Green-- Really loving the John Green books. Well-drawn characters, realistic situations, nothing too over the top, yet still compelling. There are 66 five-star reviews on Amazon if you don't believe me!








Next, some mysteries by Rhys Bowen. Don't worry, I'll soon run out!

Death of Riley by Rhys Bowen-- Next in the Molly Murphy series.

Evan Only Knows by Rhys Bowen-- Next in the Evan Evans series.

And finally, a (very) mixed bag:

My Heart Remembers by Kim V. Sawyer-- Christian fiction has a strong following at the library, so I decided to give some a try, and this book got fabulous reviews on Amazon. It's your typical family-of-orphans-gets-split-up story, but a pleasant read.

Hello, Darkness by Sandra Brown-- From sweetness and light I turned to dark and sordid! A decent thriller, although I felt like something was missing. Maybe a little clumsy?


The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson-- A memoir...kind of. Bryson's embellishing of events from his childhood gives the reader a better idea of how things looked through his eyes. A funny book that made me laugh out loud more than once, with passages worth reading out loud. My husband also enjoyed it.







Testimony by Anita Shreve-- I'd gotten tired of Anita Shreve, but this one landed on my desk one day when I was looking for a book, so I took it home. I actually liked it. Three other people have told me they didn't enjoy it. Go figure.

2 comments:

Bethany said...

Hm! I didn't know about that Bill Bryson book. I'll have to get it for Zach for Valentine's Day. Thanks for the tip!

Anonymous said...

Susan, I happened upon your blog and have been a regular reader for awhile. My daughter and I have both enjoyed some of your recommendations.