Summer Island by Kristen Hannah

Summer Island had a good story, although I have to say I didn't love it as much as Firefly Lane. I just have a problem, I think with characters who say they hate their mothers. Maybe its just that I can't relate...I have always had a good relationship with mine. I had a hard time believing that what Nora did was so bad that her daughter would not speak to her for 11 years...and use that as an excuse to run away from the love of her life. Like I said, not a bad story, but not my favorite. Still, it's a quick read...worth checking out.

I'll admit I slacked off - I should have posted this a week ago. I have been thoroughly wrapped up in the life of Sookie Stackhouse. Sara loaned me 9 Sookie books and I stayed up late last night finishing the last one. I am enchanted with these books! I also watched 2 seasons of True Blood on HBO on demand...and am anxiously awaiting season 3 next month!

Back to my book a week project though...this week I'm reading "Lulu Meets God and Doubts Him" by Danielle Ganek.

The Heroines by Eileen Favorite

I was disappointed with The Heroines. When I picked up the book, I thought it sounded like a great story line - a young girl living at her family's B&B where famous Heroines from novels dropped in - Scarlett O'Hara, Madame Bovary, etc. Honestly, though, I didn't feel like it delivered.
There is no real explanation of why or how the heroines arrive. There is no rhyme or reason to their visits. The book is more about thirteen-year-old Penny's teenage issues with her mother,and her discovery that her father is not who she has been led to believe.
Not one I'd recommend...I'm relisting it on Paperbackswap.com tonight.

Next up: Summer Island by Kristin Hannah.

Children's Hospital Boston - NSTAR's Walk for Children's Hospital Boston 10 - 's Page

Not book related...but I am walking for Children's Hospital Boston on June 13...see page below for more info!

Children's Hospital Boston - NSTAR's Walk for Children's Hospital Boston 10 - 's Page

Living Dead in Dallas

Finished Living Dead in Dallas, the second Sookie Stackhouse book by Charlaine Harris. I am loving this series, and can't wait to get to the library to pick up the next one...Club Dead.

In the meantime, I'm also watching True Blood on demand from HBO...and loving that too. Twilight may have hot teenage vampires...but True Blood has hot grown-up vampires!

This week...The Heroines by Eileen Favorite

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

The Historian turned into a two-week book...for a couple of reasons. For one thing, at the beginning, I was so creeped out that I had a hard time reading it near bedtime. Secondly, it was a really long book. As I neared the end of the book, I found myself wishing two things:
1) That I had read Bram Stoker's "Dracula" before reading this
2) That the book had ended much sooner than it did. At 79 chapters plus an epilogue, I felt that it took far longer to tell the story than it could have.

At first, I was intrigued by this varied group of historians hunting Dracula through the years. I was disturbed and completely creeped out by the librarian vampire who appears early on. But by the end, I was no longer surprised or scared by anything. The various encounters seemed to take on a formulaic pattern, and I was disappointed.

Still on vampires, but much lighter reading - this week I'm reading "Living Dead in Dallas" the second book in the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris...

Dandelion Wine

I had forgotten just how much I loved Dandelion Wine. I remember now why I read it so often as a kid. For me, it was like I could have summer any time of the year. The way Douglas sees the world is so typical twelve-year-old...its a great book.

One thing I was interested to discover is that people actually did smoke corn silk. So, I have to take back everything I said about Grampy being a fibber when he talked about doing that. Guess he wasn't just making it up!

This week...The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova...don't know much about it except that its got vampires...

Dandelion Wine

My pick this week is Ray Bradbury's "Dandelion Wine". It's an old favorite, one I took out of the library a hundred times as a pre-teen. Set in the summer of 1928, it is the story of twelve-year-old Douglas Spaulding - and also of Ray Bradbury's childhood as well.

I've been looking for this book for years and just acquired it with credits from Paperbackswap.com - I'm excited to get reacquainted with it.