Fated Genes

by Harry Kraus, M.D.
public library, 300ish pages, paperback

This took me two or three months to get through. I missed the book club discussion obviously.

Dislikes:
too many characters
too blatant with the evil, liberal, rampant health care ideas
lack of a central character to care about
too ambitious

Likes:
prayer warriors
Belle's faith (though why doesn't she TALK SOME SENSE into her grandson???)
good defeats evil (duh)

I thought about just giving up on this one many, many times. I should blog more about the ideas and themes, but that will have to wait.

Harry Potter

I've spent the last week re-reading HP #6, #5, #1, and #7 (yes, in that order). Kind of a long story why, but it was enjoyable. The books are so much better than the movies! I especially like when Fred & George get revenge on Umbridge. Nice. Louie's planning on reading #7 (for the first time!) while we're on vacation. I asked him if he even remembered what happened in book six . . . it's a bit vague for him.

Emma

by Jane Austen
home copy, hard cover

This is definitely my LEAST favorite Austen story. (so far) It took me four months to slog through it. Yuk! How inane and irritating! It reminded me of "A Room with a View." If I hadn't seen a movie version of it that I liked a little, I don't think I could have finished it. I don't anticipate ever reading this again, but I am now re-reading Pride and Prejudice, one of my faves.

Welcome to the Nerd Farm!

by Garry B. Trudeau
Hennepin County, paperback, 152 pages

Clever, Timely, Thought-provoking. I like this collection. It's especially profound to read the strips in support of soldiers. Too many people have black & white ideas about liberals and conservatives. Trudeau strikes a nerve regarding what it means to truly support the troops.

Animal Friendly

by Patrick McDonnell
Hennepin County, paperback, 208 pages

Cute comics, but not in my top ten list. Some really heart-warming sketches.

Pierced

by Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman
Hennepin County, paperback, 127 pages

I love comic books and Zits is one of my absolute favorites. Good stuff. Some of it made me laugh out loud. These guys capture adolescence perfectly.

Till Next We Meet

by Karen Ranney
Hennepin County Library, paperback, 374 pages

Historical romance (aka "bodice ripper") with minimal plot and not much character development. Not sure why I read it when I have so many other books on my nightstand. Summer vapidity, I guess.

Quilting Books!

I didn't exactly read these, but I want to be able to find them again!

Batiks and Beyond by Laurie J. Shifrin (Hennepin County Library)
- Mixed Up But Not Crazy
- Red Sky @ Night
- Terra Cotta Dreams
- Spice Market

Coffee Time Quilts by Cathy Wierzbicki (HCL)
- caramel latte (colors)
- recipes
- Hearty Blend

Mrs. Pollifax on the China Station

by Dorothy Gilman
Scott County Library, hardcover, 184 pages

A comfort re-read. I really enjoy the Mrs. Pollifax books, for the most part. I love her sweet nature which triumphs over evil. This is one that takes place before she marries Cyrus, so it still has that swashbuckling capacity. Delightful.

The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth

by Jonny Bowden
Scott County, paperback

I've already renewed this book once and really need to get it back to the library. I think I should buy my own copy! It's very interesting and has a balance of ideas. I like how the author points out different perspectives and has his own pov so entertainingly presented. I love this book!

But I'm really, really time-management challenged right now. (For example, I ought to be halfway to work by now.)

ISBN 978-1-59233-228-1 (with CD)

Forsaken

by James David Jordan
Hennepin County Library
paperback 387 pages

I neither loved nor hated this one, but the SOLC book club had an incredible discussion! Terrorism, martyrdom, grace. We had a good time finding fault with some implausible scenarios, but found many characters and situations to praise as well.

The Reader

by Bernhard Schlink
multiple libraries & formats

Book club selection at CMSW. An Oprah pick. No one loved it. Many hated it.

First half = teenage boy in post-WWII Germany having passionate sex with an older woman.
Second half = he watches her trial for war crimes as a college law student.

Sad story. The point? I'm not sure. I missed discussion because of track.

Dragon Rider

by Cornelia Funke
Scott County Library, audioCDs, 11 hours, 36 minutes
read by Brendan Fraser

Nice story. Not in my top ten or anything. Firedrake the dragon and Sorrel the brownie go to seek the Rim of Heaven. They befriend orphan Ben (a human) and their dread enemy's servant Twigleg (a humunculous ?). Full of adventure and fantasy. Predictable but heart-warming ending.

Fraser is one of my favorite actors, but I prefer Jim Dale for reading. Fraser made noises for everything - swallowing, chewing, etc. It got kind of irritating. He also modulated his volume so much that I had to keep turning it up and down to hear everything.

What I liked about it most was the way Sorrel warmed up to beings that she initially distrusted or even despised.

The Year of the Dog

by Grace Lin
Scott County Library, audioCDs, 3 hours
read by Nancy Wu

The reader was fantastic, but the story was hard for me to enjoy. I'm not sure if it's because the target audience is so much younger than the kids I work with, or if it's just a slow story . . . Anyhow, I read it because I had bought a bunch of them at the Scholastic Warehouse sale last year for lit circles. Ugh. Guess I didn't look at it carefully enough. There are some sixth grade girls this might appeal to, especially with the friend element. But this is a really slow story.

Hanging on to Max

by Margaret Bechard
CMSW, paperback, 204 pages

Interesting. This is one of the 8th grade lit circle choices. Most of the kids I talked to really enjoyed it. In fact, one highly recommended it to me. I'm not sure, though, what about it exactly appeals to kids. Now that I've read it, I'm going to have to ask some of them.

Sam is a father at age seventeen. When his former girlfriend decides to give the baby up for adoption, Sam says he'll raise the boy (and rename him Max). Sam's father is supportive (letting them live in his home, helping Sam find a job for after graduation, etc.) but is emotionally distant and critical of Sam. Sam's mother died when he was only nine, so there are definite challenges in this family.

My favorite character was Sam's Aunt Jean, who knew how to help out and how to "be there" for Sam. The ending felt abrupt (a comment I heard from kids), but it made me cry anyhow. No spoiler here. It's a quick read, so you can find out for yourself.

Double Minds

by Terri Blackstock
Carver County Library, hard cover, 309 pages

For most of this book, I didn't really enjoy the story. But by the end, I liked it better. I think the afterword was actually my favorite part!

Parker James is a talented song-writer who would love to become a successful singer. When her best friend Serene asks her to re-write some songs so they're more acceptable for a secular audience, Parker really struggles. Worshiping God is the whole reason she wrote the songs in the first place, but a wider audience might be drawn to Serene's Christian songs if she starts getting more air time. This is not the only "double-mindedness" in the story.

The murder mystery angle was interesting, but a bit too drawn out.

100 Cupboards

by N.D. Wilson
Read by Russell Horton
Scott County Library, audiobook on CDs (6 hrs, 23 min.)

Interesting story. This is one I think I would've enjoyed more reading the text instead of listening, though Horton has a wonderful voice. The girl characters drove me batty! They were such brats. I just wanted Henry to knock his cousins down. The tone of the story was a little dark - kind of like Coraline in its creepiness, especially with the cupboard that led to Endor. Richard was a delightful character and Zeke provided a nice surprise at the end. I don't think I'll bother with the sequel, though. And I'm not sure about buying this title for school. Not sure if it would appeal to a very wide range of readers.

Schooled

By Gordon Korman
CMSW, paperback, 208 pages

I really enjoyed this! Nothing complex or deep, but a lovely little story. It's a lot like Stargirl, but much more lighthearted.

Capricorn Anderson has grown up on a commune with his grandma, Rain. When Rain falls and breaks her hip, Cap ends up staying with a social worker and her gorgeous but angry daughter. Cap has no clue how to function in a normal middle school and the results are both funny and endearing.

Waiting for Daybreak

by Kathryn Cushman
paperback, Carver County library, 315 pages

I liked this one! It was about two female pharmacists - Paige and Clarissa. Book Club discussed it last night, and Jodi called the characters "Whiney and Witchey" - pretty accurate, but I still liked it. Dawn was an interesting character - it would have been nice to see her story played out. Ora was my absolute favorite! What a saucy old gal. I liked the romance, too. I read this about three weeks ago and am just blogging now . . . Hard to stay on top of this!

The Master Quilter

by Jenifer Chiaverini
Carver County Library, hard cover, 327 pages

I did not enjoy this one. Too many problems, too little communication among friends (until the very end), too much repetition. The story is told from multiple characters' points of view and tends to cover the same info from a different perspective. All in all, the story got old fast. It did make me appreciate my husband, my job, my friends, etc. in contrast to these women's issues. Probably my least favorite Elm Creek book so far, and it didn't even make me want to work on a quilt at all.