The Library Card Chronicles

Confessions of a bookworm

Thursday, July 26, 2007

This is a pretty cool site.

Check it out! I love being a bzzagent. Ask me about it.

Frogpond Badge

Monday, February 28, 2005

oopsie

I've had these drafted since..ohh... February? With moving and all that entails and then being offline for a few months since getting wireless out here was FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS (ARGGHHH), I've been doing a lot of reading but haven't been posting. But, thankfully, everything is pretty much settled down now and I can get back into the swing of things. Even if no one reads this, I've found it a handy reference for myself. I'm always saying to myself "Self, who wrote that really good book that you read a while back and do they have any new books out?". With a log of them, I can answer that question. From now on, I am going to try to link to the author's website, rather than amazon or barnes and noble or some other corporate giant. Have I mentioned how much I love the library and resale shops? I spent $15 on a book today at booksamillion. Eek! It so better be worth it! I'm also only going to get back into posting whether I enjoyed the book or not. The ones I've posted in the last few posts were only good ones, I didn't mention the baddies. And there have been some really bad ones. I should have written them down just to serve as a warning. I've been reading a lot of paperback romances lately because, hey, my dad gets them by the sack or box full, they're free and they don't take up a lot of time. If I get into a longer, really good book I don't want to put it down and do what I am supposed to be doing. heh Yeah, many a sleepless night, unwashed dish and other neglected things due to my literary addiction. Can ya relate?


Texas Cooking - Lisa Wingate
Lone Star Cafe - Lisa Wingate
Mouth to Mouth - Erin McCarthy
The Same Sweet Girls - Cassandra King
The Truth About Forever - Sarah Dessen
Lay That Trumpet In Our Hands - Susan Carol McCarthy
prep - Curtis Sittenfeld
Wedding Ring - Emilie Richards

Wednesday, February 02, 2005

So many books, so little time

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime - Mark Haddon

Light on Snow - Anita Shreve

The Three Miss Margarets - Louise Shaffer

A Piece of Heaven - Barbara Samuel
This woman has fantastic style.

Blue Plate Special - Frances Norris

St. Dale - Sharyn McCrumb
This book is so unlike her usual type of novel that I didn't know if I would like it or not. I LOVED it.

The Second Coming of Lucy Hatch - Marsha Moyer

Rosie Dunne - Cecelia Ahern

I still find it hard to believe this girl is only 23! She's a highly intuitive writer with a firm grasp of life, humor and her craft.

The Rock Orchard - Paula Wall
This is a must read!

The Dead of Midnight - Catherine Hunter
I felt that this book moved a little too slow, at times I was like just come on already! But the ending will surprise you.

Daughter's Keeper - Ayelet Waldman
Excellent, one of the best I've read lately.

Running with the Reservoir Pups - Colin Bateman
Really well-written, funny adolescent book that adults can enjoy as well.

Keeping the Moon - Sarah Dessen

Saturday, December 04, 2004

Oops, I did it again

What with the holidays, moving and just general stress, I've had little time to read, much less to blog about it. These are some books that I put here and then saved as a draft for the last month or two. The ones to the bottom are more recently read. I didn't bother to put the crap ones here, so if it is on this list suffice it to say I recommend reading it. The great ones are *'d.


Any Place I Hang My Hat - Susan Isaacs

Key of Light, Key of Valor, Key of Knowledge - Nora Roberts

Haunted Ground and Lake of Sorrows - Erin Hart
***

Olive, My Love - Vivian Walsh and J. Otto Seibold
**

English as a Second Language - Megan Crane
**

An Unfinished Life - Mark Spragg ****

Hunting Fear - Kay Hooper

The Spiderwick Chronicles - Tony di Terlizzi and Holly Black
****

The Dirty Cowboy - Amy Timberlake and Adam Rex ***

Horseplay - Judy Reene Singer
***

Hissy Fit - Mary Kay Andrews ***

Sunshine - Robin McKinley

A Dry Spell - Susie Moloney


Citizen Girl - Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus

Lu and the Swamp Ghost - James Carville, Patricia C. McKissack, David Catrow ***

Whispering to Witches - Anna Dale ****

sMothering - Wendy French ****

Come Summer - Sandra Steffen
***

Pale as The Dead - Fiona Mountain ****

The Garden Angel - Mindy Friddle *****

Sunday, November 14, 2004

Some I forgot, some new ones

Northern Lights - Nora Roberts
I don't know how she does it, but it's another page turner.

On Thin Ice - Cherry Adair
Great action and a good plot. There were a couple of scenes that could have been written better, but overall a great read.

Metro Girl - Janet Evanovich
Ohmigosh, this is the best one yet! This book is hilarious. I have to say I think it's even better than the Stephanie Plum series (and while I lurve me some Steph, she's been getting a bit stale in the last few books). I hope she comes up with more adventures for Barney and NASCAR Guy!

Incubus Dreams - Laurell K. Hamilton
Ok, I still love these books, but I think she's spreading herself a bit too thin with all the different characters and two different series going on. And Anita is getting a little bit annoying, with all this "I can't do this" and "I'm blank, I'm a killer and I feel bad that I don't feel bad about it blah blah blah" crap. She's acting like Richard. Regardless, still good reading.

Wednesday, October 27, 2004

Another books are due back update

The Secret Life of Bryan - Lori Foster
Another good enough for fluff.

Cassandra French's Finishing School for Boys - Eric Garcia
This book was hysterical. Very satirical and witty.

Summer People - Elin Hilderbrand
Good book, somewhat depressing and annoying at times due to subject matter.

Farmer Brown Goes Round and Round and The Thing That Bothered Farmer Brown - Teri Sloat, illustrated by Nadine Bernard Westcott
The Lady with the Alligator Purse - Nadine Bernard Westcott
If you have kids (and even if you don't) go get these books ASAP.

Dead to the World - Charlaine Harris
Although I wasn't able to read the first books in this series, I really enjoyed this one. It isn't necessary to have read the others to be able to follow along. And she left the ending set up for another one. I look forward to it coming out. Really playful, yet also full of action and intrigue.

The Sunday Philosophy Club - Alexander McCall Smith
This is a good book, I just can't seem to get into it. It is well-written and has a good plot, it's just... dreadfully dull.

Confessions of a Shopaholic, Shopaholic Takes Manhattan, Shopaholic Ties the Knot, and Shopaholic & Sister - Sophie Kinsella
I read Confessions some time ago and have not been able to lay my hands on the rest of the series until my library finally got them in recently. I love Sophie Kinsella (who also wrote Can You Keep a Secret?). Becky Bloomwood Brandon just can't stay out of the shops and just can't stay out of trouble. Her wacky schemes and utter irresponsiblity should be off-putting but instead she is certainly endearing. I can't wait until the next one comes out. Who knows what she will get up to with a baby!

Wednesday, October 20, 2004

Wow, I didn't realize it had been so long since I've updated. Come to find out I've been drafting posts and forgetting about them. So, this one's gonna be fairly long.

A Taint in the Blood - Dana Stabenow
This series is fantastic, although she has changed the way the main character acts in this book and it just isn't the same.

Little Earthquakes - Jennifer Weiner
Was so glad this was finally out! It was worth the wait. Funny, heartwarming, charming as usual.

Under Cover - MaryJanice Davidson
Good enough fluff.

Hot Pink - Susan Johnson
More good enough fluff.

Beach Girls – Luanne Rice
I always enjoy her novels. This one was no exception.

Shem Creek: A Lowcountry tale - Dorothea Benton Frank
I haven'’t been able to finish any of her books since Sullivan's Island. This one was great, I think she is growing as an author and has refined her craft.

August Frost – Monique Roffey
Go get this book now! This was such a fantastic, almost fairy-tale like novel.

Mrs. Hollingsworth’s Men – Padgett Powell
I loved the style of this novel. A must read.

Falling for April – Lisa Plumley
Good enough for fluff.

Big City Junk; Garden Junk; American Junk – Mary Randolph Carter
These are so cool. If you'’re into junk, which I obviously am. I'’ve checked these out several times just to admire the stuff. She is coming out with a new one soon.

The Snow Bride - Debbie Macomber
This is a Christmas romance novel but it is still cute.

Shop till You Drop - Elaine Viets
Very witty.

Here Kitty Kitty - Jardine Libaire
The writing style in this book really appealed to me, I loved the way she put words together.

The Rivals - Joan Johnston
Sometimes I wanted to slap people in this book. Or the author.

Maggie Without a Clue - Kasey Michaels
This is a cute, fun series.

What to Keep - Rachel Cline
This book was rather stiff until the end.

Star - Pamela Anderson
Ok, I got this one for the curiosity factor. I knew it would be crap, and a so-called "thinly veiled autobiography". It's not so thin, that veil. It wasn't horribly bad, mostly due to the ghost writer, I'm sure. It ended rather abruptly, so I am sure they have a sequel in the works. I'll probably skip that one.

Books I couldn’t finish for one reason or another:

Miss Julia Meets Her Match – Ann B. Ross
I’'ve read all of these, but the tone in this one was just too annoyingly goody-goody.

I’d Kill for That: a serial novel – Marcia Talley et al
While this novel had many of my favorite authors, I just couldn'’t get into it as it was far too phony.

Murder List – Julie Garwood
Again, the tone of this book was off. Her writing seems to be declining instead of improving.

The Jasmine Moon Murder – Laura Childs
Just wasn'’t in the mood. Good novel though.

In the Gloaming: stories – Alice Elliott Dark
It is rare that I find a book of short stories that I like all of. I liked most of these, especially the first one.