Talking about books, food, and life in general…
Here’s my end of the month wrap-up:
Here are some statistics in regards to my reading:
Capital Offense
by Kathleen Antrim
Copyright: 2001
Pages: 385
Rating: 4/5
Read: April 22-30, 2009
Challenge: 2009 100+ Reading Challenge; RYOB 2009
Yearly Count: 21
First Line: “What’s deadlier to a country than war?” a low, gravelly voice slurred.
A successful woman in her own right, Carolyn Alden Lane, wife of Senator Warner Lane from Missouri, Carolyn will do seemingly anything to put her husband in the White House – it’s her goal as well. But after a shocking confession to her husband, he becomes cold and distant. Their marriage is essentially over. But they can’t divorce. If they divorce Warner’s career is over. So Carolyn decides to take matters into her own hands and really manipulates everyone she comes into contact with just so she can be in the White House. But her real motive? Not only does she want to be First Lady – she also wants to be Vice President!
I enjoyed this book. I liked the writing. I thought that it was really good actually! Carolyn came across as a really heartless woman at times, but her original intentions were good. I thought that Antrim did a good job showing the kind of power that most people in Washington have (as well as outside of Washington) and what people will really do to become President or Vice President.
Grave Sight
by Charlaine Harris
Copyright: 2005
Pages: 293
Rating: 4/5
Read: April 19-21, 2009
Challenge: 2009 100+ Reading Challenge; Countdown Challenge; RYOB 2009
Yearly Count: 20
First Line: The silent witnesses lie everywhere, passing from one form of matter to another, gradually becoming unrecognizable to their nearest and dearest.
Harper Connelly has an interesting job. She finds dead people. After being struck by lightning as a teenager Harper has had this uncanny ability to “hear” the dead. She is able to find people who have gone missing and bring closure to the family. She can even tell what the person died of. So she travels the country with her stepbrother Tolliver helping families find their loved ones – for a price of course. This time Harper finds herself in the small town of Sarne. She is there to look for a teenage girl. But in a small town, some secrets aren’t meant to be brought out in the open. So when Harper begins to uncover the truth behind the girl’s disapperance it becomes very clear that some people want Harper out of town at the very least.
Okay, so I was unsure about this book, but the description definitely sounded interesting. However I was pleasantly surprised by this book!! It was a quick and enjoyable read. I really took to Harper as a character and I’m definitely looking forward to getting to the second book in the series soon! Highly recommend this book.
Heart of Ice
by Gregg Olsen
Copyright: 2009
Pages: 460
Rating: 5/5
Read: April 11-15, 2009
Challenge: 2009 100+ Reading Challenge; Countdown Challenge; RYOB 2009
Yearly Count: 19
First Line: Hauling a dead body around isn’t easy.
Three bodies. Three differrent towns. What do they have in common? They’re all sorority girls. Their murderer is very precise … but he’s not done. He has a specific sorority girl in mind and he won’t stop until she’s suffered the same fate.
Okay, I simply love Gregg Olsen!! Very rarely do I buy a book new anymore, but Olsen is definitely an author that I buy new!! His books are always full of twists and turns and this one is no exception. It features Emily Kenyon once again, a few years after the last time we met her. It was definitely nice to see how her and her daughter Jenna came out after facing the madman the first time we saw them in A Cold Dark Place. I really recommend everyone to give Gregg Olsen a try if given the opportunity.
Okay, I thought I would post on here to show everyone why my reading sucks right now! I read 3 books in the month of March. OUCH! My goal of 100 books in 2009 is starting to become an impossibility. I don’t even want to admit to how many books I’ve really read in 2009 (it’s under 20). However, I have good reasons.
He’s a Westie. His name is Buster. He’s a sweetie – but he’s taking up all our patience, lol! But we love him all the same. Once we get through the potty training issues he’s going to be a great dog. I take him to work with me everyday, he loves it. On the days that I have to work at the other office (Mondays & Fridays) my mom dog sits for me. So there’s the reason why I’ve been MIA on my blog, why I’ve not been reading a whole lot – but he’s my pride and joy 🙂
The Broken Parachute Man
by Robert B. Bolin
Copyright: 2008
Pages: 292
Rating: 4/5
Read: April 3-10, 2009
Challenge: 2009 100+ Reading Challenge
Yearly Count: 18
First Line: I’ve always wanted to be what I am not.
Pharmaceutical companye executive Clyde Young boards an airplane to go to a meeting. The flight should have been routine. It ended up being anything but routine. His plane has been hijacked by terrorists. And what’s worse is that Clyde is thrown from the plane with a barely operable parachute because he wouldn’t listen to the terrorists. Surviving the wilderness that he is stuck in when he finally gets back to civilization no one seems to believe his story. People assume that he was one of the terrorists. On the run to Las Vegas he is on the hunt for who really was behind the hijacking and why it seems that he was targeted. He lives on the street and the only people that will believe his story are a sociopath, a prostitute, an alcoholic doctor, and a pickpocket. But these four people travel with him in order to fight for him. As Clyde continues to investigate what was really going on he realizes that the pharmaceutical company that he worked for is doing unimaginable things that are endangering the lives of numerous innocent people. So Clyde must act quickly to get to the bottom of things and stop what is really going on before someone stops him first.
As a general rule, medical-ish books are not my cup of tea. However, I liked this one. This is definitely a book that I would recommend to others to give it a try. I would like to thank Elizabeth McCurry with Phenix & Phenix Publicists as well as Mr. Bolin for allowing me to receive a copy of this book for review.
The Reader
by Bernhard Schlink
Copyright: 1995
Pages: 215
Rating: 3.5/5
Read: April 1-5, 2009
Challenge: 2009 100+ Reading Challenge
Yearly Count: 17
First Line: When I was fifteen, I got hepatitis.
Michael Berg was 15 years old when he became ill on his way home from school one day. A woman takes care of him. After he recovers somewhat, he goes back to her house with flowers in order to thank her for her help. And he keeps going back. Hanna is the first woman who has caught his interest. She’s also quite older than him. She’s msyterious and avoids many questions that Michael has for her. The affair goes on until one day Hanna disappears. Michael is distraught and confused but life eventually goes on. However, years later as a law student observing a trial in Germany, Michael is shocked to see Hanna at the defendant’s table. Confused to see her and unable to comprehend the crimes that she is accused of committing, Michael becomes obsessed with trying to figure out why Hanna would admit to such crimes …. until he finally realizes that she’s actually trying to hide something by admitting guilt.
I haven’t seen the movie. But the previews really had me interested. Unfortunately the book didn’t do much for me. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t what I had in mind. However, I am kind of curious to see the movie in order to see what all the to-do was really about.
Tales of a Book Addict 