I Need More to Read!

Artemis Fowl Series

Have you tried Artemis Fowl? I figure you probably have but if not they are so much fun. It is actually a young adult fiction by EOM Colfer, an Irish author. The first is just called Artemis Fowl. And then there is The Artic Incident, The Eternity Code, and The Opal Deception. Kind of along a Harry Potter type book with a lot more sci fi and mystery. An excerpt: "I suppose Mulch Diggums deserves mention. Until recently, Mulch was imprisoned, but he had once again managed to wriggle his way out. This kleptomaniac, flatulent dwarf has played a reluctant part in many of the Fowl adventures. But Holly was glad to have his help on this mission. If not for Mulch and his bodily functions, things could have turned out a lot worse than they did. And they turned out badly enough."

Blue Blood

I liked this one. It's fluff but I liked it and I'm not ashamed! For a "chick lit" novel it was surprisingly (in a good way) un-mushy. It was not so much about the romance (maybe saving it for later in the series?) and more about the mystery which was good. The mystery still wasn't the main focus of this book for me, it was the crazy mom. I loved her. She's a horrible snob. Here's one of my favorite quotes from her:
"No, honey, it's gelato," Cissy corrected, "That's Italian for 'better than ice cream'."

An Embarrassment of Mangoes

So, I hesitated to get this book at the library this weekend. The premise was a bit dangerous - a couple Canadians quit their jobs to sail off to the Caribbean for a couple years. It could be REALLY BAD, but it's not. It's actually quite good.

I'm not done yet, but there is only one continually irritating theme: she includes recipe's for things like papaya salad (for when you have too much left over papaya), mango salsa, curried lobster, conch of every variety, shrimp that were caught that morning, etc. ad nauseum.

I don't have any shrimp that were caught this morning! I don't have any left over papaya! ARG!

The other surprise at the library had to do with the Hitchhiker's Guide. I tried to get it in book form, but it was all checked out. I did find it on tape/CD... as read by STEPHEN FRY! I'm beginning tonight!

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Max in Swansea

Ok, this has nothing to do with books, but you can see Max's pics online now.
And they are super cool.

Driving Over Lemons

OK, this is my first go at putting up a picture.

This book is great. Chris Stewart moves from southern England to Andalusia with his wife and together they run a farm in southern Spain. A couple of reasons I like this book are that he and his wife speak Spanish and he lived/worked on farms before. So, they are a bit less idealistic than some of the other travel writers. They are also genuinely interested in their neighbors.

I own this one and since mom and I discussed it recently, I pulled it off the shelf and read it again.

Apparently, there is a sequel, which I haven't read, and I'm planning to get it from the library soon.

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Love Monkey

Jeremy got this for me last night. Did anyone else see the TV show that was based on this book? I loved it so of course it got cancelled after just a few episodes. It was all about this A&R rep for a music label who was going to turn around pop music single handedly and make quality music take over the charts. Ok, so maybe it failed for more reasons than just me loving it, but it was great! Anyway, at first I was pretty disappointed that he is no longer an A&R rep but a tabloid reporter. However, the writing isn't bad. It is kinda a mix between Nick Hornby and every chick lit book I've ever read. Except it's in America and it's main character is a boy. Part of the opening description:
"I have a one-bedroom apartment, a refrigerator containing (solely) beverages and condiments, a Manhattan-sized mini-microwave deployed only for popping corn, a supply of Cheez-It crumbs that I store under my sofa cushions, stacks of dusty black stereo equipment, and an increasingly avalanchalbe Matterhorn of Cds."
I'll let you know if it bombs.

Amelia Peabody Series

I also really like the Amelia Peabody series by Elizabeth Peters. She is sort of like Ms. Pollifax but she is an Egyptologist. My mom said that Elizabeth Peters had real archeology creditials so that is probably why they are so good. It is good silly mystery/fiction with solid Egyptology thrown in.

A quick list...

Here is a quick list of some of my recent favs:

Persepolis - a grafic novel (I gave it to BJ for xmas) of the author's childhood in Iran, this is REALLY GOOD and a fast read (of course it's mostly pictures)

Catfish & Mandala - non-fiction, written by a Vietnamese-American guy who bicycles through Vietnam

Almost French - also non-fiction, the story of an Australian woman who moves to Paris to live with her boyfriend, it was maybe the best 'outsider living in France' book I've read

Any of the Jasper Fforde books - did you read these? You should get The Eyre Affair first. But I think Amanda didn't like them. I read them all.

Enjoy!

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Stones from the River

Weird. I do seem to be on some sort of WWII kick. How very out of character for me. This is a book I read a couple of weeks ago from the perspective of a dwarf who lives in Germany during WWII. Not as fantastical as it sounds. Joel gave it to me for Christmas, and it was pretty good. For a war book that is. My favorite part is the town has an "unknown benefactor" who leaves the perfect gifts at the perfect times.

Amanda's earlier e-mail

Amanda sent this to Mom and I this morning:

"Look at your local libraries for a book called 'French Impressions' by John S. Littell, or get it online: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0451200985/sr=8-1/qid=1140192927/ref=sr_1_1/103-1403975-1452636?%5Fencoding=UTF8. It seems to be going quite cheap, used. 350 pages and I couldn't put it down, had to stay up til 1am reading the silly thing."

I read it (I think Mom owns it) and really liked it. And, it takes place in Montpellier just after WWII - so you can continue your WWII theme!

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Captain Corelli's Mandolin

This is a book that I have been trying to read for months. I read the begining several times, but had a hard time getting started. It turned out to be a pretty good read. The reason I had trouble to begin with is that it is a WWII book, which makes me very wary. Anyway, it turned out to be a fairly light-hearted book, for so many people dying in it. The main reason I ended up liking it though was all the music references.

Welcome!

Disaster. I am nearing the end of my "books to read" list and I need more! I live so far away from everybody that I am out of the book sharing loop. So I started this blog so that we could all share what we are reading and what we thought about it. So I guess I'll start. You can add comments to a post if you have read the same book, or add a new post if you want to list another book. Also, let me know if there is anyone you think would like to post that I haven't already invited.