Okay, I know I'm totally ripping off Sunnflower's Suburban Bookshelf but I just love the idea.
Tepper Isn't Going Out - Calvin Trillin (12/31/04-1/06/05) I really liked this book. I've been having a hard time getting into reading for the past several weeks, so I think I will always be grateful to Mr Trillin (a Yale grad, I found out - Chel met him at some alumni function).
Ralph's Party - Lisa Jewell (1/07/05-1/14/05) Chick lit makes a triumphant return to my reading!! I was afraid that maybe my reading slump was caused by an OD on chick lit so I was pleased to see that I was wrong. I found myself laughing out loud in several places, once on the treadmill at the gym. At other points (like during the scene with all the chilies) I was grinning like a loon. I wasn't thrilled with the way one of the storylines wrapped up, but ah well...such is life.
The Sex Lives of Cannibals: Adrift on the Equatorial Pacific - Maarten J Troost (1/16/05-2/1/05)
Okay, this is definitely not my normal type of read. An anthropological look at life on a Pacific atoll? Okay, yes, with a humorous slant, but still....I'm a chick lit kinda girl. So why did I choose this book? Curiosity. You know how Amazon, when you look up one book, will suggest another book to go along with it? You know, buy 'em both and get a deal? Well, when I looked up the last Dark Tower book (Stephen King) this book is what they suggested to go with it. I simply could not find the connection, so I had to read the book. Sadly, I still don't know the connection, but the book itself was very good. Interesting, informative and entertaining. The author writes in a way that I can picture both the squalor and the beauty of living on this tiny little atoll and he paints a picture of a whole 'nother world that I had never really thought of.
ttyl - Lauren Myracle (2/2/05-2/3/05)
First off, I absolutely love YA chick lit. Some of those books are written with more depth than the grown up versions. (Example - This Lullaby by Sarah Diessen). And I love the internet. So, I thought I would really like this book, which is epistolary in nature, told entirely via IMs between three teenage girls, as they discuss love, school, friendship, parents, etc etc etc. But, as soon as I started this book I realized I had overlooked something very important. I HATE the language of IMs. I mean, a few "LOL"s are okay, but this book was told almost entirely in shorthand and it just infuriated me. I didn't like feeling like I needed my secret decoder ring to follow along. Ugh.
Sam's Letters to Jennifer - James Patterson (2/4/05-2/6/05)
Not bad - but nowhere near as good as Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas. It's amazing, everytime I read a James Patterson book I start off by marveling at what a awful writer he is. His writing just seems so clunky and immature. (The word "jejune" comes to mind, but I hesitate to use it because it seems very pretentious to throw out a huge fifty cent word like that...but that's honestly the first word I thought of when I tried to describe his writing) I mean, yeah, I like books written FOR teenagers, but not books that seems as if they're written BY teenagers. BUT - and this is his unique talent, I believe, and why he is so popular - he is just so totally readable. If I want a no effort read, something where I can just turn my mind off and fly through the pages, then I turn to Patterson. ::shrugs::
