End of October Book Drop

1. Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter, by Tom Franklin ****

2. What Women Fear, by Angie Smith ****

3. Mini Shopaholic, by Sophie Kinsella ***

4. One for the Money, by Janet Evanovich ***

End of September Book Drop

1. Bossypants, by Tina Fey ***
Some places had me giggling out loud, but toward the middle of the book, I got a bit bogged down in the descriptions of Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock. Also, on an unrelated note, it took me days to realize that Tina's wearing a hat on the cover; I definitely thought that was part of her hair.

2. Blood Promise, by Richelle Mead ***
Another book in the Vampire Academy series. 3 books to go. I've enjoyed this series and can't stop reading before it's through, but I'm also ready to move on and read some adult fiction again.

3. Anthem, by Ayn Rand **
This is the kind of book I love. It's Brave New World, 1984, and The Giver, except written in the 1930s and in more complex language than the aforementioned books. The plot is essentially the same in this 100-pager, though: there is a problem with the direction this world is in, and we can either pretend we don't see it, or fight against it.

End of August Book Drop

With the beginning of the school year comes a whole set of lifestyle changes. Making meals ahead of time, for instance, because there's no way I'll have the energy to make a full-blown Martha Stewart dinner after work. And...evidently...changing how I update my book blog. I'm lucky if I can read an entire chapter at night now, but having to write about each book after I'm finished? I don't think I can keep that up at the moment. So in an effort to still keep track of all I read, I'll do monthly book drops here, and - when I read a really great book - maybe even a real book review every now and then. I'll even rate them with stars and pretend that's not super subjective and relatively unhelpful.

End of August Reads:
1. Shadow Kiss, by Richelle Mead (Vampire Academy book #3) ***

2. Shopaholic & Baby, by Sophie Kinsella (anything Sophie Kinsella is a guilty pleasure of mine) ***

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, by J.K. Rowling

In this fourth book of the series, Harry Potter arrives back at Hogwarts to discover that the Triwizard Tournament - a battle of the wits between three wizarding schools -  will be taking place. Although only students seventeen years old and older are allowed to submit their names into the competition, somehow Harry's is submitted (without his knowledge), and he is chosen as one of the three students that will compete. The remainder of the book relays the three challenges these students must undergo, while Harry is left to wonder who submitted his name into the competition, or - in other words - who wants him dead? One thing is sure: not everyone will survive the Triwizard Tournament. 

My physical therapist is so excited that I'm into this series now. Last week when I was getting a post-physical therapy massage by another employee, my PT read a bit of this book to me (and then spent the rest of the time silently browsing through the rest of the book, remembering how much she loved it). It has become one of our regular topics of conversation. So I think it has served its purpose well already. 

But really, I am into this series. In this second book, the Strigoi (see book one for more background) have been killing royal Moroi families, raising enough concern that St. Vladmir's Academy takes all of its students to a well-guarded ski resort in order to keep the students safe. As always, however, a few choice students (Rose included) find themselves face to face with the enemy. And, yes, Dimitri makes more than one appearance in this book as well, making it impossible not to read book three. 

Women, Food, and God, by Geneen Roth

Women, Food, and God contains many poignant thoughts and insights for those of us who have, at one point or another, had a rocky relationship with food. The caveat of "reading" an audio book is that it's nearly impossible to find a passage you want to return to, so although there were some statements I thought would be great to highlight in this review, now it seems like too much trouble to pinpoint those selections. The absolute pleasure of listening to audio books, however, is hearing the author's voice, and - in Geneen Roth's case - this was one of my favorite things about the book. Roth's voice had such a calming effect on me that at times I felt like I was listening to a yoga instructor. (In contrast, my current audio book author's voice makes me feel like I'm sprinting...but more on that later!)

Before I recommend the book, I do think it's important to note that Geneen Roth's "version" of God is quite a lot different than mine, but honestly, she hardly even alludes to God until the epilogue, so this didn't bother me a whole lot. 

Another plus? While the audio book took me a couple of weeks (off and on) to finish, the actual paper copy is really quite short and would only take a day or two to read from cover to cover. 

Pray for Silence, by Linda Castillo

This was another good thriller, but was so similar to the first book in the series (with just a slightly different plot) that I was a little disappointed. 

This time, Police Chief Kate Burkholder is investigating the murder of an Amish teenager and her family. There are few clues as to who the murderer might be until Kate finds the girl's diary hidden beneath a floor plank in the family's home, at which point the pieces begin to fall together, incriminating more than just one suspect.