I really liked the cover art of this book. I’m not going to lie – that’s what initially drew me in. Then I realized that it’s by the same gal who wrote The Time Travelor’s Wife, which I very much enjoyed.  Time Travelor’s Wife is a better story than this one, but this one isn’t particularly bad. It’s just weird. Weird in a way that I just kept waiting for something to happen. And it really, just, well, didn’t.  The characters are all a bit strange and I kept thinking while I was reading the book that they were going to surprise me, that something they did was going to make me say, “whoah!”  But it never did. These strange characters were strangely predictable. 

I can’t really give this book a glowing review, but I can’t exactly give it a negative one either. I would suggest you read it. If you liked Time Travelor’s Wife and the fantasy-type world that it painted, then you may enjoy this book. It’s got some of the same elements – things that are unbelieveable but you believe them as the basis for the story.

I must be honest, this book was a tad annoying. It was annoying in the way that it was so very predictable. Not just predictable, but unbelieveable. The story is about how three sisters go across country on a search for a child that was given up for adoption. The main characters of the book were a bit flat and, I’ll use the word again, predictable. The characters go through some pretty heavy stuff, but their stories were shallow. I didn’t feel for them, I wasn’t into them enough to really care. I kept reading the book simply to see how it ended, even though I knew how it ended because it was so predictable. And then I was thrown for a surprise at just how badly it did end. It ended how I thought, but the author threw in this plot point that, I guess, was supposed to tie the story together, from start to finish, but it was just stupid. I sort of feel bad that I don’t have anything nice to say about this book, but I just don’t. I wouldn’t recommend it.

Wow. Alice Sebold can’t write a book that doesn’t make you think, can she?

I know a lot of the ‘real’ book reporters out there (like Publisher’s Weekly) didn’t like ‘The Almost Moon’, but I did. The novel unfolds over the course of one day, which I think is an amazing way of writing a book, and moves very quickly. You know the premise of the story in the first sentence, but what comes after is very thought-provoking and moving.

Without saying too much, what the main character does in that first sentence seems un-understandable at first. To be honest, all of her actions seem crazy. But, all together, told over the course of the day/book, I think I understand. (I don’t condone her actions, but I can sort of understand them.)

Part of me wishes Sebold would have further explained some of the main character’s motives, but another part of me likes that she left some things up to interpretation. I’d love to hear what you thought.

I picked up Keeping the House by Ellen Baker on a whim at the library and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  It was set in the 50s and I can’t get enough of that era. What simpler times!  The story is about Dolly, a newlywed who struggles with her role as a housewife. The story is also about the Mickelson family, who has its share of drama and mystery. Dolly uncovers small pieces of their history, one little nugget of intriguing information at a time. The story has a powerful twist that I didn’t expect at all. I was actually sad when I finished this book, I didn’t want it to end!

Khaled Hosseini’s Kite Runner is magnificent. I started it Sunday night and finished it moments ago. I really couldn’t put it down.

I thought the story was going to be hard to relate to – after all, what do I know about any of the topics in the book – but it was a quick, easy read. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I don’t know what else to say. (Except that I cried at the end.)

I don’t know where I was 13 years ago (oh, yeah I do, drinking, staying up too late – your general carousing), but I just got my hands on Billie Letts‘ Where the Heart Is. And I love it.

In case you too were participating in drunken merrymaking back in the day (which in this case is 1996), Where the Heart Is is the story of 17-year-old Novalee Nation and what happens after her craptastic boyfriend left her stranded 7-months pregnant at a Wal-mart in Oklahoma while on their way to California.

Letts‘ style of writing is easy and enjoyable to read. Her characters and their conversations are quirky. The juxtaposition between Novalee’s story and her baby’s daddy’s story meshes well.

It’s no secret that things are gonna work out for Novalee or that Willy Jack is gonna get his, but that’s OK. I give it an A.