Monday Bookworms: James K. Polk

James K. Polk, John Seigenthaler

156 pages, @2003


Woo-hoo my 11th President I'm flying through this challenge, only 33 more President's to read about!


So I try to read 2 books about Presidents a year. I read about John Tyler in the 1st half of the year and decided to pick up James K. Polk now so I wasn't struggling to read it during the holidays in the 2nd half of the year.


I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed reading about James K. Polk. I thought he was kind of one of those forgotten Presidents and let's face it I'm in President no-mans land with all one term peeps leading up to Lincoln.


James Polk, however, really impressed me. He is consistently ranked behind Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln as a President that wielded the power of the office of the chief magistrate effectively. I was surprised by that. In fact, since Arthur Schlesinger, Sr. began periodically surveying experts in the field, he has consistently been ranked among the great and near-great Presidents in the US. Again, surprised by that fact. He achieved great things as President for our country but it appears his personality as an annal, controlling, blah kind of man has tainted all that he accomplished.

The most amazing thing about Polk's story is that he was on his way out when he was elected President. Basically he had lost the governorship of Tennessee (his home state) two elections in a row. The year he was elected President he was aiming for the Vice Presidency and his party wasn't even in support of that! Then at the same time the two candidates that were pretty much going to win the nomination from their parties (Martin Van Buren and Henry Clay) came out and declared that they were not in favor of bringing Texas into the Union. This was not the way the majority of the country felt. Polk, as a known supporter of bringing Texas into the Union, became the lead candidate for the Democrats, won the party nomination and then beat Henry Clary for the Presidency. I mean talk about coming out of nowhere this guy was politically dead when he was elected President. I found that incredibly interesting.

In order to win his party's nomination he guaranteed them that he would only be President for one term and that he would not seek a 2nd term. He went into his Presidency with 4 goals in mind: 1) He would lower the tariff, 2) He would re-create Van Buren's independent treasury, 3) He would acquire Oregon from the British and 4) He would acquire California from Mexico. He accomplished all 4 of his goals during his Presidency of 4 years, which in my book is pretty amazing.

He was succeeded by his enemy Whig President Taylor (who led the charge in the war against Mexico to acquire Texas and then California). He then died 3 months after leaving office. He had no children.

All in all I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed reading about Polk. I would definitely be interested in reading a larger biography of President Polk...we'll see if that happens one day!!!

Post in Comments:

Who's your favorite President of the first 11? (Washingston, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Adams, Jackson, Van Buren, Harrison, Tyler or Polk?)

Monday Bookworms: Acqua Alta

Acqua Alta, Donna Leon

A couple years ago I read a review of a Donna Leon book in People Magazine while traveling. Always looking for a new mystery I picked up one of her books. Her books in my mind are consistently 3 star books but I keep going back to them because they take place in Venice and with Venice as a "character" in the book how could you not want to read them! My mother in the meantime has become hooked so I always have a fresh stash of Donna Leon that I can borrow.

Acqua Alta was the only one I currently had on my shelf so I decided to pick it up. The book starts with a friend of Guido Brunetti (the main character and detective of these mysteries) being beaten to a pulp. She lives but is threatened not to go to an upcoming meeting that she has. As Brunetti tries to unravel the mystery a death occurs connected to the beating. As he begins to learn more about the world of stolen artificats the mystery begins to unravel.

I didn't enjoy this one as much as I've enjoyed some of her others. It moved slower and I actually didn't like the side story about Acqua Alta very much it distracted me from the mystery. The mystery was too easy to figure out as well which always takes away a little bit from a mystery. It was just OK. Of course that doesn't mean I won't pick her up in the future...

3 stars

Post in Comments:

Do you read Donna Leon mysteries?

Monday Bookworms: Liars & Saints

Liars & Saints, Maile Meloy


This was our August book group book picked by Nicole. I had never heard of Maile Meloy so I was excited to explore a new author.

Liars & Saints is the story of three generations of the Santerre Family. The story begins with Yvonne & Teddy who get married during WWII. Before Teddy ships off for war Yvonne is pregnant with their oldest daughter Margot. Then comes Clarissa. Then the web of lies begins as Margot and Clarissa begin their teenage years. In the end there are so many family secrets that come to light that all lead back to that very first lie.

Essentially the family are Italian Catholic and there are a lot of underlying themes of religion, guilt, conscience, right vs. wrong, when is OK to lie or rather is it OK to lie, what does family mean, etc, etc.

I really enjoyed this book (even though part of the storyline is pretty messed up). I thought Maile Meloy did a great job writing it. She was very concise with her words and packed a lot into less than 300 pages. This is definitely a character driven book. The chapters alternate being narrated by all of the different characters so you really understand the story from every perspective, which we all agreed in my book group that we loved.

It definitely provided great fodder for our book group discussion! Overall, I wouldn't classify this as a must read but it was definitely enjoyable.

4 stars

Post in Comments:

Have you ever read anything by Maile Meloy?

Monday Bookworms: Just Take My Heart

Just Take My Heart, Mary Higgins Clark
322 pages, @ 2009

I have been an avid Mary Higgins Clark fan since I was 13 and on vacation with my parents in Cape Cod. One rainy day I declared I was bored and my mother gave me While My Pretty One Sleeps and I was hooked.

I went on to read every book she'd ever written. My mother obviously is also a huge MHC fan and so every year for Mother's Day part of her gift is that I get her the latest MHC book. Luckily, once she's finished she always passes them on to me!

I realized not too long ago that I had never gotten this year's book, Just Take My Heart, so when we stopped by my parents this weekend to drop off the car I picked it up and promptly started it on the train ride back to NYC.

Just Take My Heart centers around the Bergen County assistant prosecuter, Emily Wallace, who is assigned her biggest case yet, the murder of actress Natalie Raines. The obvious suspect in this murder is Natalie's soon to be ex-husband Gregg Aldrich. Emily's, put-away witness, is an ex-con Jimmy Easton, who claims that Aldrich hired him to murder his wife. While all of this is going on, Emily, unbeknownst to her, has a larger problem on her hands, that of her creepy neighbor, Zach Lanning. Will she realize in time that he isn't who he says he is?

Of course in typical MHC fashion this book flew, I finished it in about two days! I did however, disappointingly, figure out "who done it" about half way through the book. I wouldn't say that MHC mysteries are usually the most difficult to figure out, but she usually narrows it down to two men, one who will end up wooing the main female character, and one who is the murderer and therefore trying to stop the main female character from putting all the pieces together...who can she trust?

In this book however, MHC took the approach of introducing a totally different storyline that had nothing to do with the main part of the mystery. This story line instead of adding to the mystery was just a distraction from the main plot. Therefore, I found it easier to figure out the mystery.

While I didn't think this was MHC's best effort, I did thoroughly enjoy it!

3 stars

Post in Comments:

What is your favorite Mary Higgins Clark book? Mine is definitely Stillwatch!

Monday Bookworms: Angelica

Angelica, Arthur Phillips

331 pages



Jon got me this book for Easter 2008. He found it at Borders and thought it looked right up my alley. In my quest to read the books Jon buys me instead of saving them I decided to pick it up.

The book takes place in the late 19th Century in England. They classify it as a psychological thriller which I'm not sure I agree with. Essentially "something" is occuring in the home of the Barton's. The Barton family includes: Joseph Barton, the father; Constance Barton, the mother; Angelica Barton, their 4 year old daughter and Nora the Irish live in maid. Constance believes that she sees a ghost haunting Angelica and becomes very over protective of the girl, calling in a spiritual advisor. Joseph, sees how distraught his wife is but does not understand the reason for her bizarre behaviour. Angelica sees the division between her parents and is unsure what to do so she plays into both of their weaknesses.

Angelica is a well written book and what I loved most about it was that there were 4 parts. The first part was the story told from Cosntance's point of view, Part 2 was told from Anne Montague's point of view (the spiritual advisor brought in by Constance to assess the situation, Part 3 was told from Joseph's point of view and the final part was told from Angelica's point of view. I thought this was a clever way to tell the story. The reader was able to understand everyone's point of view.

As a psychological thriller I would say it fell short. I knew there was going to be a twist and I was turning the pages waiting and waiting for it to come and when the twist came it was a little rushed and just fell short of my expecations. However, waiting for that twist definitely kept me engaged and turning the pages.

Overall Rating - 3 stars

Post in Comments:

Do you like psycholgoical thrillers?

Monday Bookworms: Voyager

Voyager, Diana Gabaldon
1059 pages, @1994

I recently noticed on Goodreads, one of my favorite websites (thanks Joe for introducing me to it!) that I had rated 299 books. Now I know for a fact that I've read more than 299 books, but since 2007 when I joined Goodreads I have rated (some that I had previously read and every book I've read since) 299 books. In realizing that whatever I read next would be my 300th book rated on Goodreads I decided it had to be good and fun (oh and because I try to read a couple of Amy's book recommendations each book journal period I was looking for a book she had read and recommended as well!)

I've recently reviewed the first two books in Gabaldon's famous series: Outlander and Dragonfly in Amber. Voyager is the 3rd book in this series of 8 books. I do not normally read books in a series so fast, because I like the series to linger and to always have something to look forward to, but since Amy had loaned me the book, and I figured I could return it to her in September when she came to visit, I decided to give the 3rd book a go!

Ahhh....Jamie Frasier and Claire Randall Fraser! In this installment, Claire Randall is in Scotland in 1978 and is searching for Jamie Fraser among the history books to see if the father of her daughter (Brianna) survived the Battle of Culloden. As she gets closer to discovering the outcome of the Battle of Culloden, she begins the big decision of will she return to Scotland circa 1700's and return to Jamie or will she stay in the present with their daughter Brianna. Well, there wouldn't be 8 books in the series if she decided to stay in the present day:) So back to the 1700's she goes and after 4 months of being reunited many adventures ensue: Jamie's smuggling operations are thwarted and he (per usual) is a hunted man, his nephew is kidnapped by pirates, there is a voyage across the Atlantic Ocean to the West Indies, a witch, a serial killer, a hurricane, and all the while Jamie & Claire are discovering the secrets of their twenty years apart.

Now as I've said before this is a romance novel before anything else (historical fiction, mystery, etc), but as far as romance novels go it has it all. I will also add that this installment was not nearly as smutty as say the 1st installment of the series! All in all the 1059 pages flew by - Gabaldon has really succeeded in creating characters you want to root for in Jamie & Claire. I thoroughly look forward to seeing where their adventures take them next but I think I'm going to take a break from the series as their adventures were seeming slightly riduculous for me by the end of the book.

All in all if you are into the Romance Genre this is definitely a series that you should pick up and the 3rd book was very good.

4 stars

Post in Comments:

Do you read romance novels? If so, who's your favorite author?

Monday Bookworms: A Count in the House

The Count of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas

618 pages, c. 1844

Back in 2002 I saw the movie version of this book and Love, Love, Loved it! A couple of years later on an HC Ladies trip my friend Kirsten said she had just read the book and loved it. Not to mention it came highly recommended by my husband Jon. I finally decided it was time for me to open The Count of Monte Cristo.

The Count of Monte Cristo is the story of Edmond Dantes, a sailor who lives in Marsielle, France. He is in love with Mercedes and plans to marry her. His father whom he loves dearly is old and fragile. Upon arriving home from his most recent excusrion, he is determined to marry Mercedes. However, in his absence another has vied for her attentions. The night before their betrothal, Edmond Dantes is arrested for treasonous activities against the crown, and for being a Bonapartist. He is sentenced to Chateau D'If.

His time spent in the Chateau D'If is filled with thoughts of revenge on those who betrayed him. Once he escapes from the Chateau D'If that is all that consumes his mind. He slowly lays his traps to ruin the lives of those who betrayed him.

For a book that was written in the mid 1800's this read really easily. I was captivated by his character description & portrayals. The book is slow and steady but then as it all comes together really takes off. I've heard that the unabridged version is amazing and I'm slightly sad that I chose to read an abridged version. I can always re-visit the unabridged version at a later date.

If you like classic literature, and tales of deceit, love, betrayal and friendship you'll certainly enjoy The Count of Monte Cristo. And when you're done reading the book, check out the movie, it does not disappoint!

Post in Comments:

Have you read The Count of Monte Cristo? Did you enjoy it?

Monday Bookworms: Netherland

Netherland, Joseph O'Neill

Netherland was our July book group book picked by Jen. She said she chose this book because it was recommended and given to her by one of her clients. She said another reason she picked this book was because when she was reading the reviews about half said they loved the book and about half said they didn't love the book and she thought that would provide for good discussion. And a good discussion, we did have!

Netherland is primarily the story of Hans Van Der Broeck. He is originally from Holland, but moved to London for a job in his 20's and ended up marrying a Brit named Rachel. In 1997 or 1999 they decide to move to NYC just for the experience. After 9/11 Rachel becomes fearful, distant and unemotional and eventually says she's leaving, she's going back to London and she doesn't want Hans to go with her and their son.

Hans is left in NYC, living in the iconic Chelsea Hotel with other"misfits", and looking for a place to fit in. He rediscovers his love of cricket and through cricket he meets Chuck. Chuck is a dreamer, always only looking at the big picture, always living "larger than life". Hans and Chuck strike up a bizarre friendship during the rest of his stay in NYC.

This book is a story about a man, a marriage and a friend all tied into one. It deals with the immigrant experience in New York City, love, friendship, sports, family and loyalty.

So where do I stand on the book - I'm kind of teetering on the fence. My biggest problem with the book was that I didn't feel O'Neill painted any of the characters as sympathetic so really I just didn't care what happened to them, which doesn't keep you reaching for a book day after day. And Hans, oh Hans, he was so blah, he had no fight in him, no passion, no anything he was just a lump on a log used as a vehicle to tell the story. It was a shame because he was the narrator and you wanted to root for him but at the same time you just didn't really care!

One of the things I did really like about it was that New York City itself (in all of it's glory and weirdness) was a central character in the book. We all agreed that since we live in NYC that made us like the book a little more, because we could relate to some of the things that were said, or we new some of the places or people mentioned in the book. We were curious during our discussion as to what a non-New Yorker's opinion of this book would be.

All in all it was OK, but as we've discovered in book group, sometimes it's the books that are just OK that provide the best fodder for discussion. In the case of the Netherland that proved true.

As an aside, many have compared Netherland to the greatness that is The Great Gatsby. To this I strongly disagree! I mean his prose is just not as beautiful and his characters are not crafted as well. Fitzgerald has a gift (IMHO) for creating characters that you love so dearly you almost wish you have their life. Then he shows the reader that in all their glamour, they're real people, with real faults, but you love them so much that you still root for them in the end. O'Neill did not in my opinion achieve this.

However, as one of my fellow book group members pointed out, maybe when Fitzgerald wrote The Great Gatsby, his contemporaries didn't feel that way about his writing. Perhaps in 50 years if I was to revisit this book I too might feel different.

Post In Comments:

What books have provided your book group with the best disccusion??

Monday Bookwors: The Novice

The Novice, Trudi Canavan

Back in January of 2008 I read the first book in this trilogy, The Magician's Guild, and really enjoyed it. I was looking for something light and unchallenging to read and so I decided to pick up the 2nd book in this trilogy, The Novice.

In the Novice, Sonea (the magician we met in the first book who was unaware of her magical abilities) joins the Magician's Guild and begins classes as a Novice. It is immediately clear that none of the kids like her or want anything to do with her because she is from the slums. Even having a magician guardian, Rothen, does not seem to help her status.

There is one novice in particular who makes life difficult for Sonea, Regin. As the book progresses he plays many pranks on her and she struggles with what is the proper course to defend herself. Then the High Lord takes an interest in her and the trajectory of her year changes.

On the side, her guardian's friend, Dannyl, has become an ambassador for the guild and while gone he begins to uncover some of the High Lord's secrets. What exactly will he uncover?

Overall, I didn't enjoy this book as much as the first. I don't know if it was because of the timing of when I read it, (being swamped at work with a big event coming up), that I just couldn't get into it. Or, perhaps it had to do with Regin picking on Sonea and that just irritating me after awhile. His character kind of ruined my reading experience. (Remember that teacher in HP 5, ugh, she almost ruined my reading experience of that book, I just hated her so it became painful to continue to read the segments she was in!)

It was still a good read and I look forward to reading the 3rd book in the trilogy and learning exactly what the High Lord is up to!

3 Stars

Post in Comments:

What science fiction have you read recently that has been good?

Monday Bookworms: More Tween Lit & Real Literature

Runner, Carl Deuker
216 pages, @ 2005

Funny story about this book! Jon and I exchange small easter baskets every Easter and we set a small budget to purchase little things (candy, lotto tickets, etc). This year, Jon was in the bargain book section of Borders and saw this book for $2 so he was like "perfect"! He gives it to me in my basket and I'm of course thrilled to get a new book (the little things in life!)

Well, after receiving the book I realized that I haven't read a lot of the books that Jon has gotten me during our relationship, because I've been "saving" them. So I decided I wanted to pick up Runner and looked it up on Amazon to see if it had gotten good reviews. This is when I realized that it was a "tween" book! I called Jon and told him but said it didn't matter (heck I was reading the Twilight books at the time) and I was excited to read it. We had a good laugh about it.

The premise is that Chance Taylor, a senior at Lincoln High School in Seattle, lives with his dad who is an alcoholic who has a hard time keeping a job. They live on his dad's small old sailboat. Since his father is unable to keep a job money is very tight. One day this man at the Marina offers Chance a job that makes easy money. All he has to do is wear a backpack when he goes out on his daily run and pick up a package at his turn around point. What is he picking up? He doesn't want to know. Easy money however always has consequences.

Deuker is a much stronger writer then say Stephanie Meyer. The flow of the story was good, the characters believable, and the problem very relevant to the times. Would I recommend it, that depends on if you read "tween" books? My only complaint with the book was that I felt he rushed the ending a bit. All of a sudden it was upon us and it was suddenly over with a shocking ending.

3 stars



The Remains of the Day, Kazuo Ishiguro
245 pages, @ 1988

This book was Shion's pick for our book group discussion in June. I was excited to pick this up, as I have heard a lot about Ishiguro's other novel "Never Let Me Go".

This book is about Mr. Stevens, a butler in a large home in England. The book takes place in the 50's after Mr. Stevens main employer, Lord Darlington has already passed, and an American, Mr. Farraday has purchased Darlington Hall. Mr. Stevens decides to make a cross country journey as part vacation and part visiting an old colleague from the days of Lord Darlington. During his journey he recalls times during Lord Darlington's life and explores his reasons for working where he did, for whom he did, doing what he did. His recollections take place in the 30's.

My biggest problem with this book was just the pace. It was only 245 pages so I expected to breeze through it, but the pace was much slower and it was a book I really needed to "read" not just read (if you know what I mean). That slowed me up a bit. Once I got into the story though it flowed more smoothly and became more interesting. It was a self examination of himself to see if his life had meaning and if he served the world well by serving Lord Darlington.

I will say that I felt the book group discussion allowed me to look at the book in a way I had not previously. It made me sit back and reflect and appreciate the sublties of this novel. It was a pretty powerful story when I really sit and think about it. I would definitely read Kazuo Ishiguro again.

3 stars

Post in Comments:

Do you ever save books for later?

Monday Bookworms: Devil in the White City

The Devil in the White City, Erik Larson
390 pages, @2003

I have had this book on my shelf forever (at least 5 years) and I've always meant to read it but I've never picked it up. I decided some time ago when setting up what books I was going to read during this current 6 month period of the book journal that I would finally get to it and it did not disappoint.

Devil in the White City is a non-fiction account of the World's Fair in Chicago in 1893. It chronicles the building of the Fair from the very beginning, the year of the Fair, all the marvels that those that attended got to experience and what happened to all the key players after the Fair was over. At the same time, every other chapter is dedicated to telling the story of H.H. Holmes, a serial killer on the loose during the time of the Fair. Larson was attempting to show two sides of the city - the hope & greatness of humanity depicted in the Fair and the pure evil of humanity depicted in the story of H.H. Holmes.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I had never realized what an impact The World's Fair in Chicago had on modern day society. There were so many ideas that originated at The Fair that inspired different people and new ideas. I would wow you with all of the information but then that would take away from the ah-ha moments of the book. The story of H.H. Holmes was interesting and some times it was nice to have a break from the Fair to read about what he was doing in Englewood, Illinois! Pretty scary stuff.

I would definitely recommend this book to the avid reader. It reads like a fiction book most of the time so don't be turned off by it being non-fiction.

4 stars

Post in Comments:

Did you like Devil in the White City? What was your favorite ah-ha moment?

Monday Bookworms: The last 2 books in the Twilight Series!

Eclipse, Stephanie Meyer
629 pages, @2007

Elipse is the 3rd book in the Twilight series:) In Eclipse, Edward is back in town and him and Bella are as inseparable as ever, much to Jacob Black's chagrin. It becomes apparent that a vampire is creating "newborn vampires" in Seattle without monitoring them and they are on the loose killing people. The Cullens realize that the only way the are going to win the upcoming battle is to pair up with Jacob and "his friends". This forces Edward and Jacob to work together to (once again) save Bella. Will they be able to?



Breaking Dawn, Stephanie Meyer
754 pages, @ 2008

In the 4th and final book, Bella has finally made her choice between Edward and Jacob (thank goodness!) Looking forward to her future and joining her new family. On her honeymoon something shocking happens no one ever though possible. Soon the wrath of the Volturri is upon them and Bella and her new family once again have to fight to protect themselves.

Meyer's once again weaves a great story in both books. I will say the whole Edward or Jacob decision in the 3rd book was a little wearing...you can't love them both and have them both you have to choose! I was glad that the decision was made at the end so that in the 4th book the characters could move forward. In addition, I will say that I felt that the 4th book was too long. It was 100+ pages longer than any other book in the series and it felt longer. There were just some "waiting" parts and I wish Meyer had shortened some of those scenes up. However, I thoroughly enjoyed and devoured both books (finished them in 3 days I think!)

I would definitely recommend this series for someone looking for a brain break and to escape to another world via a book! I definitely escaped reality for a couple of days.

The only other comment I have about the whole series was that I thought that Meyer's writing was pretty atrocious. She's lucky she weaves a good story because if these books were at all judged for her writing effort it would not be nearly as positive. I say that only because as a serious reader, you will need to adjust your literary perception and just get over it from the beginning and remember that you're reading the book for the story not for her literary prowess, otherwise you might not get through them!

Storytelling: 4 stars Writing: 2 stars

Post in Comments:

Did you read the Twilight series?

Did you enjoy all 4 books? Which was your favorite?

Monday Bookworms: Dragonfly in Amber & New Moon

Dragonfly in Amber, Diana Gabaldon
961 pages, @ 2001

A couple of months ago I started the Outlander series. Dragonfly in Amber is the second book in the series.

In Dragonfly in Amber, Claire Randall returns to Scotland with her 20 year old daughter, Brianna, who has flaming red hair! She is there to do some research on the Battle of Culloden. She then flashes back and picks the story up from where it left off with her and Jamie Fraser arriving in Paris, trying to thwart the Bonnie Prince Charles from taking the thrown in order to protect Scotland and it's people.

Dragonfly is a good 2nd novel. It dragged a little bit in the beginning because there was not as much "action" more plotting and a lot of characters to get to know! However, once past page 300 it was back to what one expects from Gabaldon - action, romance and suspense! I could not put it down. And I cannot wait to start on Voyager the 3rd book in the series.

If you are into romance, action and light on historical fiction then these books are for you!

4 stars

New Moon, Stephanie Meyer


Ok, I have already warned you in my last Monday Bookworms post that I have become totally addicted to the Twilight Series.

In New Moon, Edward decides that the best thing for Bella would be him leaving. She is upset beyond belief and turns to Jacob Black for comfort. The friendship blossoms until all of a sudden he won't return her calls or see her. Soon she learns his secret. Towards the end of the novel Edward is in danger and Bella has to go rescue him and she has to choose: Jacob or Edward.

Once again, Meyers weaves a great story together. I liked that this book focused on Jacob Black's character. It sets up the 3rd book nicely. I would say that Meyers writing is a little better here or maybe I just thought the story was better and didn't notice the writing as much! I'll review the 3rd and 4th book in the Twilight series next Monday....bet you can't wait.

4 Stars

Monday Bookworms: Vampires & Salinger

Twilight, Stephanie Meyer

498 pages @2005

OK, so I know that I have been MIA from my blog and this book, no this series, is the reason why. IT IS SO ADDICTING!!!

When my new co-worker started 6-8 weeks ago she recommended the series to me and brought the first book in the series in for me, therefore making it more likely I would read it. I had a gazillion books home from the library that I needed to get through before I could pick this up. Finally once I finished all the library books I decided I would just read this real quick so I could return it to Christina.

I had NO IDEA what I was getting myself into. Twilight is the story of Bella Swan. She moves from Phoenix, Arizona to Forks, Washington (?) to live with her dad because her mom is getting remarried. On the first day of school she sees Edward Cullen from afar and is instantly drawn to him. She doesn't understand his hositility to her at first but then as she discovers what he is she begins to understand. But can she help herself from falling in love with him? Even though she knows his secret?

This is totally a PG romance novel for tweens (at least so far...). Meyer's writing is not at all impressive and I found the 1st book a little repititive at times but her storytelling is pretty addicting. She's certainly weaved a good story, one that keeps you turning the pages, and continuing on with the series.

I'm currently on book 3 and hoping to finish the 4th book by this weekend. Then you'll have my take on the entire series (so far I can say that each book is getting better in my opinion.) I would recommend the series, especially as a good summer, brain break.

4 Stars


Franny and Zooey, J.D. Salinger
202 pages, @1961

On to more literary books! Franny and Zooey was Emily's book group pick for May. I was excited to pick it up because I'd read Catcher in the Rye and remember liking it so I was looking forward to getting to read Salinger again.

The book is broken down into two shorter stories. The first story, titled Franny, takes place in a small college town. Franny is meeting her boyfriend Lane Coutell for lunch and a football game. However, over lunch as she listens to him talk on and on about his most recent essay that he's written, she begins to have an unexplained mental breakdown.

In the second story, titled Zooey, Franny is back at home at The Glass Family home in NYC. Zooey, one of her older brothers, and Bessie, her mother, are trying to figure out how they can help Franny. During this part of the book you get a lot of background information on The Glass Family.

This was definitely a piece of literature. One that at times I felt was a bit over my head. I was glad that I was able to make it to book group to discuss the book because I felt it helped me to understand it better. Themes in Salingers's book are: family, defining moments in life, intellectuals, religion and perhaps even the meaning of life.

We all agreed during our discussion that the character of Zooey was probably an accurate portrayl of Salinger himself. And while I didn't love the book, I definitely would be curious to read, The Nine, by Salinger. I've heard that some of the short stories in that book are about The Glass Family and I'd be curious to learn more.

3 Stars


Post in Comments:

Have you read the Twilight Series? If so, what did you think of it?

Have you read Franny & Zooey? Which character did you like best?

Bookworm Monday: Tom Wolfe & Jodi Picoult

The Bonfire of the Vanities, Tom Wolfe

685 Pages, copyright 1987

Ahhh...at long last (and a good 3 months late) I finish the New Classics Reading Challenge. The Bonfire of the Vantities was the 6th (and final) book that I read for my very first Reading Challenge. Even though I finished late, I finished. The New Classics Reading Challenge was the reason I picked up this book, although it has always been on my list of "must read" books.

The Bonfire of the Vanities takes place in New York City in the 1980's. It follows Sherman McCoy, a bond tradesman, at Pierce & Pierce; Peter Fallow, a British ex-patriate, who works for The City Lights, a local tabloid newspaper; Larry Kramer, an assistant district attorney in the Bronx; and Reverand Reginald Bacon an activist.

One incident that occurs in the book will bind all of these characters together. Bonfires of the Vanities tackles the issues of GREED, social class, racism and ambition. The title literally means a huge fire of the vanities/conceits of all the characters in the book. I don't want to say what the incident is because I do not want to give away too much of what happens, so you'll just have to read the book to find out.

I have only read Tom Wolfe one time prior to this, I Am Charlotte Simmons. Wolfe's strength is taking everyday life and filling it with the most despicable, unsympathetic characters. There are few characters I have hated more than Wolfe's. He takes it to excess.

The first half of this book Wolfe works in great details to build these characters, to make you the reader understand each of them and what makes them tick. Then the incident occurs and the book really takes off. While I criticized what I felt was his excessive character development I understood why he did it as I was reading the 2nd half of the book.

I felt that the 2nd half of the book redeemed itself. Wolfe certainly makes you think. When everyone's motives are wrong then who is right? How many of us every given day are motivated by truly selfless motives? What would we have done if we were in the shoes of any of these different characters (well, I hope a lot - because like I said they were pretty despicable!)

Overall, I would say this book is a take it or leave it purely based on the length. It was a long haul and a real commitment to read and I'm not sure at the end I was satisfied. I was certainly happy that I had read Wolfe's most beloved and well known novel but I can't say I would enthusiastically recommend it. If you told me you were reading it though I'd be interested to discuss it with you.

3 Stars


Perfect Match, Jodi Picoult
352 pages, copyright 2002

I decided it was time to pick up another Jodi Picoult book because I hadn't read her in awhile.

The premise of Perfect Match is, Nathaniel Frost, a 5-year old boy, is sexually molested and his parents decide to take justice for their son into their own hands. The book makes you question what makes a good parent and what would you or wouldn't you do to protect your child?

I did not think that this was one of Picoult's stronger novels. I just felt too much happened, once you got over one hurdle something else went wrong and so on and so forth. Most things that went wrong centered around the mother, Nina Frost. She was not a sympathetic character and it was hard for me to get behind some of the decisions she made. I found her incredibly selfish, claiming to do the things she was doing for her son, but it seemed like she was doing them more for herself and what she could and could not live with. Now granted I'm not a mother so maybe I would have felt differently if I had a 5 year old son and I was reading this novel.

In addition, I found child molestation a very difficult topic to read about. It's not very uplifting and you really do not want to know the details. Thankfull Picoult was not too graphic. I will also say that I was displeased with the ending of this book...but I won't say more about that because I do not want to give it away.

With all that said I did not hate the book. I thought her writing was strong and she once again tackled a very timely issue. This book was published in 2002 during the Catholic Church scandal. I would not outright recommend it but if you were to pick it up I wouldn't say it was a bad read, it was just OK.

3 stars

Post in Comments:

Have you read Tom Wolfe? Do you like his writing style?

What's your favorite Jodi Picoult book?

Monday Bookworms: Watchmen

Watchmen, by Alan Moore and David Gibbons

Back in the late fall/early winter when Jon and I were going to the movies pretty much every week before every movie we saw a preview for the movie Watchmen. After seeing like the 5th preview for Watchmen I finally turned to Jon and said, "I think I would like to see this movie...". I mentioned this to both my Uncle Joe and my future brother-in-law Josh and they recommended that I read the book first. I won't lie I was skeptical about a graphic novel but I was also excited about branching out and experiencing a whole new genre of reading! My Uncle Joe lent me the book and thus I began....

Watchmen is the story of costumed/masked super heroes. At the beginning of the book we learn that The Comedian has died and another masked man Rorschak is trying to find out who is behind his murder and why. As the novel unfolds we learn the hisotry of the costumed/masked super heroes and what happened to them. The novel goes between the present and the past to unravel the mystery of who would be behind getting rid of the costumed/masked super heroes and why.

There are 12 chapters in all and each chapter consists of about 25-30 pages of graphic novel and then 4 pages of "regular book writing" which provides the reader with information about the person featured in that chapter or additional "historical" information about the time that was discussed.

I will admit that it definitely took me 2 chapters to really get into a rhythm of reading this book because it's just so different. You have to train your eyes to read the bubbles in each box, take in the pictures in each box (especially because sometimes the writing & the picture do not directly correlate) and process the information to make the story in your head. Once I got into a rhythm though I was turning the pages until the end. I actually ended up finding the graphic part more interesting and easier to read in the end then the journal entries at the end of each chapter.

Overall, I would rate this book 4 stars. I enjoyed it, it was very different from anything I am used to, and I thought the story was interesting. I don't think that I'll become a die-hard graphic novel fan but I could definitely see myself picking one up every now and again for a change.

Post in Comments:

Have you ever read a graphic novel? If so, which one? Did you like it?

Monday Bookworms: chick lit & mystery!

Good In Bed, by Jennifer Weiner

This book has been on my "to read" list for years. Whenever I go to the library to check it out it's never there. I finally just reserved a copy from the mid-town Manhattan library and got it last week. I was exited to see what all the fuss was about (even though I'm about 8 years behind said fuss!)

Good In Bed follows the story of Cannie Shapiro, an over weight, 20-something, newspaper writer living in Philadelphia. When we meet Cannie she has great friends, has a bizarre family situation and has just broken up with her boyfriend of 3 years Bruce. Bruce then proceeds to write about their sex life in very intimate detail in his new column for Moxie Magazine, titled, Good In Bed.

The book weaves between Cannie's present and her past in a very subtle manner as we follow Cannie through registering for "Fat Class" (as she calls it), a surprise pregnancy, an important trip to Hollywood, among other adventures. Weaving through her past helps the reader understand Cannie as she is as a person today, her insecurities, her relationship issues, and of course her self-protecting sense of humor.

While Good In Bed was perhaps a little to racy for me at times (I could have done without the descriptive reading of Bruce's column...) overall I thought it was a really good read. It's about learning to love yourself for who you really are, accepting yourself, realizing your self importance and self worth in the eyes of others, and loving your family for they are regardless of their quirks. There is also some classicly good chick-lit in there as well with an ending that you'll root for. But I don't want to give anything away....

Overall, I enjoyed the writing style, I enjoyed the story, I did however think it was a bit long winded. I would say it was a solid 3.5 star rating. A book you'd enjoy if you picked up but I'm not saying it's a must read.


Fade Away, Harlan Coben

This is the 3rd book in Harlan Coben's Myron Bolitar series. I had read many of Harlan Coben's books but the stand alone ones. A year ago I decided to start ready the Bolitar series because they were his first books.

The gist is that Myron Bolitar, a super-star basketball player out of Duke, was injured early on in his career with the Celtics. Since then he had a stint with the FBI and is currently working as a sports agent. His sidekick Win runs a financial institution of impeccable reputation that all of Bolitar's clients use. Together Myron and Win work cases on the side, disappearances, murders, etc. They are great tag team and in this 3rd book in the series Fade Away they are as fun as ever.

Greg Downing, a guard for the New Jersey Dragons (and Myron's biggest college rival) goes missing just weeks before the playoffs begin. The owner of the Dragons brings Myron and Win onboard to help find Downing. Before long Myron and Win are in deep, gambling, debts owed, murder, blackmail, you name it. Can they solve the mystery and find Greg (hopefully alive) in time....you'll have to read to find out.

One of the things I love about Coben's writing is that it's simple, and it builds and builds until you get to the end. I can very rarely figure out who's done it before he reveals it to me. The only book where I've actually figured out the end was the 2nd book in the Bolitar series. The pagees keep turning and I know when I pick up one of Harlan Coben's books that I'll finish it in a day or two.

This book lived up to my expectations, it kept me turning the pages and kept me guessing until the end. I would give this book a solid 4 stars in the mystery department. I look forward to finishing this series and seeing Coben's writing style continue to develop!

Post in Comments:

Have you read Good in Bed? Did you like it?

Have you read Fade Away? Have you read any books by Harlan Coben?

Which do you prefer: chick-lit or mysteries?

Monday Bookworms: Lucia, Lucia

I picked this book up based on a recommendation from my friend Amy. She read this book a couple of years ago and I was recently perusing her reads looking for something good when I stumbled upon Lucia, Lucia by Adriana Trigiani.

Lucia, Lucia is of course the story of Lucia Sartori, a young woman 25 years of age, who lives in Greenwich Village during the 1950's. Her Dad is from Italy and owns the local Italian Groceria, her mother stays at home, and her 4 older brothers work with her father. She works at B. Altman's creating custom dresses, wedding gowns, suits, etc for the wealthy women of New York City. She is fiercely independent and struggles to find a balance between meeting her families expectations of getting married to an Italian-American man from the neighborhood, keeping house, and raising a family with her dreams for herself of being a career woman.

We follow Lucia as she meets the man she thinks will enable her to "have it all". Then as always life gets complicated!

This was an enjoyable and entertaining read. Of course as someone who lives in New York City reading about life in New York City during the early 1950's up to present is always interesting! The cast of characters in this novel or loveable and you'll feel like you're in the Sartori's kitchen at Christmas eating Tartuffi!

It is a quick, light and easy read although I did feel that the ending was a bit rushed. It's the perfect book inbetween some heavy reading that has your brain working overtime as it will certainly not tax your brain to read this book.

Overall, I'd give it 3-3.5 stars.

Monday Bookworms: A President & A Shopaholic?

For those of you who know me or have been following my blog from the beginning you know that one of the reading challenges I have outlined for myself is to read a book about every President in order. I've been working on this for about 4-5 years now and I usually try to read 2 President books a year.

I just finished a book about John Tyler, the 10th President. I chose a book from the American Presidents Series. These books are good for Presidents that you want to read about but you perhaps do not want to read 600+ pages about. John Tyler was one of those Presidents.

I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by this book. John Tyler was the first Vice President to replace a President who had passed away in office. That in and of itself is interesting. He was a lot of other firsts as well: The first President to lose their spouse in office (his wife passed away in his first year or second year of Presidency); he was the first President to be married in office (to his 2nd wife); he had 15 children total, the most of any President (8 by his first wife and 7 by his second wife); he was the first President to lose his parties support and be ousted from his party during his Presidency (the Whigs were so upset by his numerous vetoes they told him he could no longer be part of the Whig party!); he was the first incumbent President to not run for re-election; and he was the first President to betray his country (after he was out of office when the South voted to secede from the Union, John Tyler voted with the South).

Many say that he was not a great President, unfortunately for him he was up against a lot. Many people didn't feel that he should be President, they called him "The Accidental President". Henry Clay, especially felt very strongly about this. At one point during his term it is said that Clay orchestrated that Tyler's entire cabinet (minus Daniel Webster) resigned in the same day!

While maybe not the most important President, I still found it interesting to read about his life, his Presidency and his family. I'm finding that sometimes it's the Presidents that I do not know much about that are proving to be the most interesting reads!



From President John Tyler to shopaholic Becky Bloomwood, my reading tastes are certainly varied! Shopaholic & Sister is the 4th book in this hilariously fun series. I'm sad that there is only one more to go.... I've thoroughly enjoyed this entire series and it seems to me that each book gets more outrageous and funnier as I get further into the series. I think also having seen the movie that just came out and having a picture of Hugh Dancy & Isla Fisher in my head, had me laughing harder as I imagined them acting some of this stuff out...oh, how I hope they make sequels to that movie!

In this 4th installment of the Shopaholic series, Becky Bloomwood and Luke Brandon are finishing up their around the world honeymoon. After 10 months they decide that it is time to come home to see family and friends and begin working again. However, upon arrival, Becky's parents seem to be keeping a secret, her best friend Suze has a "new" best friend, and Becky worries about how much she actually ended up purchasing and shipping to Luke's flat in London. As she discovers that her parents secret is that she has a half-sister, Becky thinks this is grand, she'll show Suze. She envisions that her and her half-sister Jessica will be best friends forever, that is until she meets Jessica. Jessica is everything that Becky is not, frugal, spend thrift, hates shopping and excesses, and is passionate about the environment and rocks. As Becky tries to form a bond with her new sister, handle stressed out Luke who's trying to close a new deal, and adjust to being back in good ol' England, hilarity ensues.

Once again Kinsella managed to capture my heart. I may not be as crazy and over the top as Becky but how can you not root for her again and again as she gets herself into all sort of funny situations. I thoroughly enjoyed this book (I actually had to put it down a couple of times becuase I was laughing so hard my eyes were shut!) If you haven't read the Shopaholic series I absolutely suggest them as fun, outrageous, light, laugh-out-loud reads - you will not be disappointed! Just make sure to start from the beginning!

Monday Bookworms: Cholera, Homelessness & Love, Oh My

Back in September I signed up for The New Classics Reading Challenge, which I was supposed to finish by the end of January. While, I did not finish in time I have decided that I would still like to finish. To that end, Love in the Time of Cholera was the 5th book of of 6 that I needed to read in order to complete the challenge.

I was excited to pick this book up because I had had it on my shelf for over a year, it had been much hyped, and I read 100 Years of Solitude also by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, which I loved.

Love in the Time of Cholera is the love story of Florentino Ariza and Fermina Daza who as young struck teenagers & twenty-somethings profess their undying love to each other through daily letters. However, after some time Fermina Daza marries a young, wealthy and successful doctor, thus breaking Florentino Ariza heart. Instead of moving on, Florentino decides that while he may have various relationships with other women he will never marry another who is not Fermina Daza. Through out the years he continues to follow the path of her life, he runs into her at many public functions, and he becomes a very successful businessman for the River Company. When Fermina Daza's husband dies, after 50+ years, Florentino sees his opportunity. Even though they are 70+ years old he pursues her friendship so as to ultimately win her hand in marriage.

The premise of this book seemed like it would be an interesting story but it wasn't. The character development was dry and while the reader learned everything there was ever to know about Florentino & Fermina, you just weren't pressed to care enough about either of them, to really root for them in the end. The writing was long winded and very drawn out making this read the opposite of a page turner. Overall, I would say this was just an OK read and I certainly would never recommend it to anyone.


Last year, I attended the celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. One of the guest speakers at this event was Colum McCann. When he was speaking he was so eloquent that I was just drawn to what he was saying (or maybe it was that fabulous Irish accent!) Either way he was hands down my favorite speaker of the night.

It was my pick for our March book group book and I chose This Side of Brightness by Colum McCann. I wanted something different, I wanted a book that took place in NYC, and I just really felt that it was time I picked up one of McCann's books.

This Side of Brightness weaves between two stories, that of Nathan Walker, a sandhog in the early 1900's, who works to build the tunnels, with that of Treefrog, a homeless man in his mid-30's who lives in the tunnels that Nathan Walker built 80+ years ago. As you follow both Walker and Treefrog's stories to the point where they join you look at life from different perspectives: those of the sandhogs, those of the homeless men and women who currently populate NYC, those of the immigrant families in the tenements, those of the families in Harlem and you look at what "family means", what it means "to belong to a community", and how the actions of one person or one misstep can tear a family apart as quickly as one can bring a family together.

I really enjoyed this book, it was gritty and even thought it was an easy read it was one that made me think about the issues and topics that were addressed. Our book group discussion was thoughtful and I appreciated hearing other peoples takes on this book. It's not an uplifting story but it's one that I'm glad I read.

Post in Comments:

Have you read Love in the Time of Cholera? If so, would you recommend it? What did you like and dislike about the book?

Have you read This Side of Brightness? If so, how did you interpret the title of the book?