City of Thieves

This is the first book since Kurt Vonnegut that my husband all out adored. It was one I had picked up at a bookstore and told him I was going to read. Most of "my" books don't warrant much of his attention but this one caught his eye because it's by the guy who wrote 25th Hour (a movie he likes that I can't stand). I read it after him and it was nice to be able to talk about a book together. It's a journey story: two men are given the assignment to find a dozens eggs for a general during World War II in Leningrad (St. Petersburg). Funny and gruesome and full of interesting characters: it was a grand adventure.

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

"My particular passion is poison."

An 11 year old girl in England who loves chemistry and libraries? Sign me up! I thoroughly enjoyed this book--especially the chemistry parts. I know that may be a turn off to normal people but I only masquerade as one. And I must say that Flavia impressed me with her knowledge (she specializes in poisons)--and I have a Chemistry minor. Beyond all of that Flavia's adventures as she sleuths for the person who murdered the man she found in her family's cucumber garden are entertaining, and make for a great read.

Shadow of the Wind

Barbara told me about this one, and I had to check it out. Apparently it was a NP book discussion book but that must have been BS (as in, Before Savannah). A boy finds a mysterious book and tries to find more about the author (set in 1950s Barcelona). Quite enjoyable--I've got his next book that comes out next month anxiously waiting in the wings.

The King's Rifle

Rebecca bought this one hoping it'd be good. I helped out by reading it. It involves a group of Nigerians (along with other Africans who speak different languages) who fight for the British during World War II in Burma (after training in India). So it's very multicultural, to say the least. A lot of it is hard to follow especially since it took me about half the book to realize "Janar" means "General." Some other instances include "Samanja" ( Sergeant--I didn't figure that one out until the enf of the book), "Soja" (soldier) and "Kingi Joji" (King George). Those would have been good to know ahead of time. Beyond that it was a typical disturbing war novel--not exactly my favorite genre. It's amazing to think about what the main character witnesses before he even turns 15...

Galway Bay

Galway Bay is based on the author's ancestor, Honora Kelly's life from the Great Starvation to immigration to America to the Civil War. The story is similar to Angela's Ashes--except a lot easier to stomach. The husband isn't a good-for-nothing drunk, and eventually they don't starve anymore. As with all Irish books, I love hearing about the folklore of the old Irish and this one's no exception.

Stardust

I had to venture into the Sci Fi section of Borders in order to obtain a copy of this for myself. It was a bit scary, but I overcame. Stardust the movie is one of my favorite movies. And, to be honest, I liked the movie better. But it was still a wondeful, whimsical, entertaining read. Way worth the trip into sci fi land for.

The Forgotten Legion

This book really made me want to watch Gladiator again, and later 300 (Greek, Roman close enough). True to Roman style, this book is very violent. It's the story of 3 men and a woman--all slaves or at least not in control of their own lives. Two are gladiators--one was a warrior taken captive from Gaul (present-day France). Despite the description of him being blonde with pigtails (I know) I can't help but picturing Little John from BBC's Robin Hood series (AgentPaper knows who I'm talking about). My one complaint is that no one bothered to mention the fact that it's part of series! That explains why the ending wasn't a real ending! It was Fellowship of the Ring all over for me. Yet despite that, it was quite a journey.

City of Glory

War, pirates, jewels in Old Manhattan. Can't get much more exciting than that! Apparently part of series about Old Manhattan I didn't know about. I still enjoy hearing characters in the book scoff at the idea of the entire island being inhabited. And about lesser known historical events like the push for secession among the New Englanders during the War of 1812 era. What a difference 50 years makes...

Dewey

I must admit, I didn't read this on my own free will. It was a gift from a well intentioned friend ("she likes cats and works in a library so this will be perfect!"). Not my first choice of book purchases but I would collapse with guilt the next time I saw her if I hadn't read it (note: I got this for Christmas and only now getting around to it). Not too impressed. It didn't help that the author gave Dewey human emotions and narrated for him (yes, I'll narrate for an animal, but not in a book--it just sounds so pathetic written down). And it seemed that she was trying to sell me Iowa at the same time. She notes in the introduction, "Let them have the oceans and mountains, their beaches and their ski resorts. I'll take Iowa." Honey, you can keep it.

Look Me in the Eye

This is the first book my husband had me read that I actually liked. Sorry, but KV is just too weird for me. He reads stuff by the author's brother, Augusten Burroughs (Running with Scissors) and was interested that the older brother wrote a book. John Elder has Asperger's but wasn't diagnosed until he was in his 40s. He went around naming the people in his life his own unique names (Augusten was Snort as a baby and Varmint later on), building the most complex machines anyone had seen and being a terrific prankster. The book gives special insight into how people "on the spectrum" think. Good choice, my man.

How the States Got Their Shapes

This book was very interesting. I remember asking my mom how states' shapes were formed (I got some blow-off answer, I'm sure). This book also contains lots of maps (thankfully), including some with captions like "Connecticut according to Connecticut" and "Connecticut according to New York." Obviously, they disagreed immensely. From reading this I've realized that states as a whole act strikingly similar to the people in their states. Case and point: California. Congress attempted to keep all incoming states the same relative size but with California they were concerned about it becoming its own nation (due to its size and resources). California didn't feel like going through the standard procedure of becoming a territory first (territories can have their borders changed) so they just applied for statehood. They didn't want their nice resources given to some other state (who cares about Nevada, anyway?). So Congress allowed it to come into the Union despite its smugness. Thus officially beginning California's craziness as a state.

Blonde Roots

I love the concept of this book: what if Africans had enslaved Europeans instead of vice versa? Oddly enough the author decided to rearrange the world, which I didn't think was necessary (luckily they provide a map or I'd have no idea what was going on). Throughout the book I caught myself picturing the slaves as Africans out of habit. The story goes through the standard slave life events: capture, middle passage, escape, recapture, whippings, field work. It was brutal and hard to read, but quite well worth it.

Little Bee

I must admit, the book flap was what got me to read this book. It basically says This isn't going to tell you what happens, but since you need to know something in order to buy it, we'll just say this...

Little Bee has good ole quirky humor in it (which I love). It did get real serious though. And started to venture too close to the "why am I not happy when I have everything?" whining. I have a low tolerance for that stuff. But despite that, it was good, and I enjoyed it.

Shannon

I just finished reading Shannon by Frank Delaney. A shell shocked American chaplain takes a trip to Ireland to find his roots in the 1920s. He meets many interesting Irish people along the way. I especially enjoyed the translations from Irish English to English such as:

"Loby, what's wrong with your hand?" said yet another to the barman. Meaning, You, barman, nicknamed Loby on account of your one earlobe, why aren't you pouring a drink for this visitor?