Wild Women in the White House

Wild Women in the White House
By Autumn Stephens
1567316301

Cute! I had hoped for a more in-depth look. Instead, this book is a series of short segments about each woman profiled. Ideally, this book would have touched on stories about each woman, instead of giving an extremely short biography of each one. But that’s just me, what I was expecting. The cover has the subtitle: The Formidable Females Behind the Throne, On the Phone, and (Sometimes) Under the Bed. So I thought this would be stories of those incidences and others. Still, it was a good book, and if I was inclined to know more about any story I could certainly find other books that would go into more detail.
7/10

A 3rd Serving of Chicken Soup for the Soul

A 3rd Serving of Chicken Soup for the Soul
By Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen
1558743790

I’ve read most of these in the emails I’m sent from Chicken Soup. Good stories, of course and mostly good writing! This is one of those series where there isn’t much to say. I recommend going out and buying a few, they’re good reads. But otherwise, I have nothing to say about them!
7/10

The House of a Thousand Lanterns

The House of a Thousand Lanterns
By Victoria Holt
0385008171

Hong Kong, a new place! I’m so used to Australia at this point, I seem to have read so many Victoria Holt’s books that wind up in Australia. There were a few things I didn’t like about this book. One was her relationship with her husband, uneasy and secret-keeping as it was. She thought him capable of murder, but really he was just lying to her. Ummm… That doesn’t make any sense. Oh, as long as he was only lying and keeping things from her, he’s a good husband? And her relationship with her “marriage of convenience” husband. She could never see past his wheelchair to think he may have been the right one for her? She was so blinded by the playboy to even consider the “cripple” right in front of her. After he dies, she realizes how much he meant to her. By then it’s too late, but she uses his death to stall for time anyway, invoking her one year rule. I think she’s an idiot who didn’t see the great guy staring her in the face. Sitting across from her at dinner every night. Giving her son a name and a place to live, love and acceptance. Instead, she pines for what she can’t have. I hope I’m not that stupid if I ever fall in love, not noticing deep flaws like lying and conniving!
7/10

Home for the Holidays

Home for the Holidays
By Debbie Macomber
0778322394

Two books in one again… The Forgetful Bride: Cute. The little kids part in the beginning was adorable, like the movie Sweet Home Alabama. And Joe is hysterical! I saw the thing with the boss coming a mile away, but that’s okay. I didn’t mind the clueless heroine, even when I was silently begging her to talk to her friend. 8/10; When Christmas Comes: If we could have gotten rid of the daughter, this would have been a much better book. Dang she’s obnoxious! And rude, and annoying too. I spent most of the book wondering how a good person like Emily could have raised such a spoiled brat and it never added up. She’s never redeemed, especially with her busting into the Professors apartment without asking the guy who answers the door where her mom is! Why anyone would fly across the country to spend Christmas with this brat is beyond me.
8/10

Echoes

Echoes
By Danielle Steel
03853364349

Amazing story. The first half of the story was beautiful and moving. The second half was well-told and confusing. We never finds out what happens to the mother. She’s not important anymore, apparently, even though the first half of the book is her story. In a way, to a certain extent, the whole book is her story. Instead we move onto the daughter. Great name, very pretty. But no idea where she’s coming from! First she’s a nun, then she has to leave the convent but is faithful to her vows. But then she meets a guy, gets distracted, even sleeps with the guy! Once he’s out of the picture, she realizes she really does want to go back to the convent, she really is a nun, etc. Until another guy comes along! Then she changes her mind. Wow, great nun, swayed by the first man to catch her eye. And the second too! It wasn’t believable how she flipped back and forth. And her sleeping with the guy was too much of a shock. These things went against everything we had been told about her character up to that point and even things we were told after! I’m all for shocking the reader, but it can’t come out of left field like that. First half: 9/10, second half: 6/10... So I’ll go with: 8/10

The Judas Kiss

The Judas Kiss
By Victoria Holt

What is this??? I’m going to spoil the book. One of Victoria Holt’s funny, heroic, impressive characters has sex outside of marriage? What is the world coming to! And with a guy whose last name she doesn’t even know (or real name, although she doesn’t know that). And not just once. And this even after she finds out he’s engaged to her friend! I’m disappointed, I’ve always liked that Victoria Holt’s heroines were better than that, they had a higher morality and decency than the crappy novels that are churned out today. It was Victoria Holt, though, so it was well-written and entertaining. And I learned new things, as always, with her journeys though different countries. This time was Germany, I believe. (Yeah, I was a little preoccupied with the sex thing, outrageous!) Taking out that stuff would have raised this score: 6/10

Gertrude and Claudius

Gertrude and Claudius
By John Updike
0375409084

Rewriting Shakespeare. Hmmm, that’s a tricky business. Hamlet as a spoiled, obnoxious prince is a new take on it. I guess there are two sides to every story, so why not the adulterous couple’s side? Well, because they’re just not very likable! Even here, where I suppose we’re supposed to think theirs is a big love story. I just don’t buy it, I don’t feel sorry for them. They’re pathetic in some ways and delusional in others. A new spin on Shakespeare means a high standard to live up to. In my opinion, this falls far short. Rewriting Shakespeare is daunting, however, so: 6/10