Women of Courage

Women of Courage
By Katherine Martin
1577310934 362p

A few good stories, but many more that I disliked. For example, courageous for going through with an abortion because your child might have Down Syndrome? What about all the women who have the child- they're the heroes. Very liberal.
6/10

Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Can You Ever Forgive Me? Memoirs of a Literary Forger
By Lee Israel
9781416588672 129p

Thought it would be better, more interesting. Basically, her cat gets sick and to pay the medical bills she forges a letter. You know, instead of waitressing or working in a bookstore or as a bartender or any of the other multitude of second jobs available in the city. So, she forges a letter, sells it, the cat gets better without treatment. And she decides to start forging more letters, tons in the next few years, making her living at this. Steals letters from libraries and replaces them with fakes. She's suspected, hires an accomplice, they're both caught, she's let off with probation. Umm, huh? #1- she's still saying it was the poor cat that led her to it in the first place, having to get him care. Yet she didn't, because he got better! She just liked the money. #2- why not get a real job? #3- spent all that energy and imagination on other people's letters, she could have even found a writing job with that effort. #4- she barely brings any other people into it, she's pretty egotistical. #5- barely thinks she did anything wrong, actually only seems to give lipservice to that and doesn't think she did any wrong. (ie when she talks at the end about the dealers coming out ahead money-wise. She doesn't seem to realize that people lost money on her antics, whether it was the dealers or someone else doesn't matter, the money came from somewhere.)
Okay, fed up with her, I'm done.
6/10

eat pray love

eat pray love
By Elizabeth Gilbert
1415926700 12 hrs, 40 mins (book on CD)

I really tried to like her. I grasped at every good thing- especially the house for her friend- and yet I couldn't like her. All I could see was self-centerdness. Which is usually fine in these books, since it is a memoir after all! But she seems to think she's found the secret to everyone's world. Even buying the house- it was for her friend. And her celibacy vow lasted about as long as it took for someone to want to sleep with her. No, wait, it lasted 24 more hours after he told her he wanted her. Wow, such self-restraint. And, as an aside, every time she said "Richard from Texas", I wanted to yell "He's the only Richard in the book, stop qualifying it!" Actually, it's possible I did yell that once or twice. I thought I'd get descriptions of the countries, too, unfortunately I got to learn about her inner mind more than anything- not a place I'm that interested in. And we leave her at the end of her year of learning and growth pretty much where she started: ignoring almost everything else in her life to follow a man around, fitting her life around his and her viewpoints around his. What was this year supposed to teach her?
6/10

The Jesus Chronicles: John's Story

The Jesus Chronicles: John's Story, The Last Eyewitness
By Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins
0399153896 215p

Eh, wasn't too impressed. Short, since 100 pages is from the Bible (which makes the whole book 310p). I don't know how much was historically accurate. And the writing was juvenile, which I should have expected after the writing of the Left Behind series. Good idea, poor execution.
6/10

Dreams from My Father

Dreams from My Father
By Barack Obama
442p

He's crazy. Wow. I'm speechless but I'll try. You can tell a racist very easily, apparently- they're white. That's handy, so you don't have to actually get to know them. Like his grandparents. Who raised him, with his single mother. All racists. Thank goodness he met his father that one time, so he can idolize the deadbeat. Oh, harsh? Deadbeat dad, walks out on his family and doesn't take an interest in his kids. Yeah, that about covers it. Obama idolizes the wrong members of his family, he should be looking up to his amazing single mother and grandparents.
6/10

The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Bible

The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Bible
By Edward P. Moser
0517707896 50p (well, that's all I read before stopping)

Didn't like it at all. I guess the "pc" wars aren't very relevant anymore. Years ago, I read the PC fairy tales and loved them. This book just wasn't funny, I stopped reading 50 pages in.
6/10

Purpose Driven Life

Purpose Driven Life
By Rick Warren

Ok, it took me less than 40 days to read this book. But I want to start the One Year Bible again on January 1st, so tough luck. That's okay, since I didn't think this was a very good book anyway. Read it though, ripping it apart slightly in my journal! But ah well, as a friend said, now my life is "full of purpose" (yes, he was being as sarcastic as I am right now).
6/10

HRH

HRH
By Danielle Steel
0385338295

I remember now why I can't stand Danielle Steel books! Ugh, if I had to read the word "archaic" or "grace" one more time... I think this book could have been finished in half the time if things were repeated so much.
6/10

Looking Back

Looking Back
By Belva Plain
1402520689 (book on CD)

This was supposed to be a book about a group of three girls who graduate college together and go off into the world, their friendship as the years pass and their lives inevitably change. Instead, it is a book about one of the girls, the others are just supporting characters. We never know enough about anyone other than Amanda for the last few chapters to 1) make sense or 2) be cared about. Once the main character is gone, the rest just seems empty. Not that the story was wonderful when Amanda was there. Her motivations made no sense and her incessant internal ramblings were, quite frankly, boring. I'll spoil the story, although most people will see the plot coming around page 50. I never understood how her affair could consume all her thoughts. Didn't she have a life? Yes, love is all-encompassing and all that, but it seemed that she did nothing but obsess over her feelings. Were we supposed to feel sorry for her? I wasn't ever sure, because I didn't. I'll try another book by this author, since she's highly respected, but this one fell very short of the mark.

6/10

Angels and Demons

Angels and Demons
By Dan Brown
(book on CD)

Wow. What a convoluted story. Now, after Da Vinci Code I wasn't expecting great literature. But I was at least expecting it to make sense! The times never seemed to line up (and I'm sure they did line up, because Dan Brown is a meticulous writer and wouldn't leave something like that to chance or whim) but the point is that it *seemed* like it was off. Some of the stunts were downright ridiculous (the bookcases crashing into the glass? What?) and there were way too many instances where a character would think something like "and he knew he was seeing the sun for the last time" only to NOT DIE! Which means he didn't "know" it, he simply "believed" or "thought" it and then was proved wrong. Once or twice is fine, but that sort of thing happened at least once a chapter. And then the poor girl, whose name I can't even remember, has no time to mourn her loss, even at the end! I won't say too much, wouldn't want to spoil the ending.

6/10

The Horse Whisperer

The Horse Whisperer
By Nicholas Evans

Ick. So many things I disliked about this ending, but the biggest was the ending! And somehow I ended up with two copies of this book, how unlucky is that?
6/10

Suddenly Southern

Suddenly Southern
By Maureen Duffin-Ward
0743254953

This was an okay book, although the acknowledgements at the end of it are funnier than a lot of the rest of the book! I’m not exactly the target audience for this book, having no desire to move South. But it was vaguely amusing sometimes… 6/10

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

Julie and Romeo

Julie and Romeo
By Jeanne Ray

Another shortened version of a story. This one was good, the characters were real. I liked Nora, who started off so nasty and ended up… well, nasty but at least on her mother’s side! I didn’t like that it didn’t end with a wedding between Julie and Romeo. Oh, they’re so “modern” they don’t need that kind of stuff. Stupid, in my opinion. They have a little apartment, they go there to sleep together but they live separately. Greeeeat, perfect. Morons. Because of that ending:
6/10

Frank Lloyd Wright's Houses

Frank Lloyd Wright's Houses
By Thomas A. Heinz
0517219689 (15)

Gorgeous pictures. Lovely views of this great artists works. The captions are informative and interesting. But the prose in the rest of the book, ugh! The information sounds like it was written for fifth graders, which maybe it was. There is no indication that the book is for a young audience, however, so I'm going to have to go with- Bad writing. Luckily, that ends about half-way through and you're left to savor the pictures for the rest of your time with the book.
6/10

Claw Your Way to the Top

Claw Your Way to the Top
By Dave Barry
0878576525 (28)

Well, that was odd. But so is Dave Barry, so that makes sense. I'm not going into the business world, so a lot of the jokes were just amusing. I'm sure if I was going into the business world, I would have found some of the jokes hysterical. Short book, just 86 pages, and cute.
6/10

Women Who Run With the Wolves

Women Who Run With the Wolves
By Clarissa Pinkola Estes, PhD

I have to start by saying this book was not aimed at people like me. I found it pretentious and redundant. About 100 pages in, I started to skip whole sections- not the best way to read a book I loved one line, from about page 111: “Ignorance is not knowing anything and being attracted to the good. Innocence is knowing everything, and still being attracted to the good.” It is supposedly an old proverb from Dr. Estes’ country, although I have no idea what country that is.

6/10