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In a slump

Julie — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 20:49:40 +0000

I am in the midst of a terrible reading slump right now. There was a point where I had nearly 40 reviews queued up for this blog because I was finishing books faster than I was posting. But those days are long gone. I have maybe two reviews queued up and two that I haven’t written yet, but that’s it.

I don’t know what my problem is, but these days I’d rather do anything — such as clean the house, watch TV, rent DVDs, take acoustic guitar lessons, go to the gym — other than sit and read. I’m still trying to read, but find that I give up on books after just a few pages and move on to something else. ADD, anyone??

I need to get back on track soon. I just don’t feel right if I’m not reading a lot!

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Best and Worst of 2010

Julie — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 01:40:03 +0000

What would a December 31st post be without a Best/Worst list of some sort? I already posted a list for the first half of the year, which you can find right here. These are the Best and Worst titles that I read from July to December of 2010. As usual, these aren’t necessarily books that were published in 2010; just ones that I got around to reading this year.

Best of 2010 (Jul-Dec):

Tears of the Giraffe by Alexander McCall Smith
Decision Points by George W. Bush
Spoken from the Heart by Laura Bush
The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
Alaska by James Michener

Worst of 2010 (Jul-Dec):

Last Night in Twisted River by John Irving
Stupid Christmas by Leland Gregory
The Cruelest Cut by Rick Reed
The Confession by John Grisham
The Capitol Game by Brian Haig
The Cheater by Nancy Taylor Rosenberg
The Disappearance by Efrem Sigel
The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson

Holiday Wish List ’10

Julie — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 12:57:10 +0000

Can you guess what I want for Christmas this year? If you said books, then you’re right on the money! I am always in need of books, books, and more books to read, not only to keep this blog going but also just because I feel lost if I’m not in the middle of two or three different novels at once. I haven’t made a list of specific titles that I want yet, but I’ll do that soon and trust my husband, parents, and friends to take care of me!

Need a page-turner!

Julie — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 20:58:58 +0000

I’m looking for a page-turner to read this summer. I’m thinking something along the lines of The Da Vinci Code, where I simply couldn’t bear to put the book down and just had to keep reading to find out what happened next. It’s been a long time since I’ve read something that left me needing eye cream for dark circles the next morning. Yes, I know The Da Vinci Code has very little literary merit, and there are lots of snobby folks who dismiss Dan Brown out of hand because of his writing style, religious views, or faulty research. But come on, you have to admit that was an entertaining book, regardless of how (in)accurate it was!

So, anyone got any suggestions for me? I do not read sci-fi/fantasy at all, and prefer mystery/crime/suspense/thrillers. Do you have any titles in those genres that are worth checking out?

Now Reading

Julie — Thu, 27 May 2010 10:09:33 +0000

I’m currently in the middle of several books because none of them has grabbed my attention to a sufficient degree that I want to stick with it until the end. Don’t get me wrong; these still represent a far more interesting option than reading a bunch of acnepril reviews, which I spent almost all of yesterday doing, but they’re not that great. I really need a page-turner, and wish I had a go-to author whose works could provide me with that kind of read. I think Harlan Coben is probably the closest to that, so I might grab something of his soon.

At any rate, here are the books I’m trying to get through right now:

Hush by Kate White
Conservative Victory by Sean Hannity
The Mental Floss History of the World
Innocent by Scott Turow
Drood by Dan Simmons

I’m hoping the Mental Floss title picks up soon. I actually just started this one recently, so the book is still going over ancient civilizations. I think I’ll enjoy it a lot more once the authors get up to the 18th century or so!

Best and Worst of 2009

Julie — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 10:57:38 +0000

Well, since everyone else is doing year-end lists, I might as well get in on the fun! I’ll start off by listing the best books I read this year and then get into the ones I hated. Bear in mind that these aren’t necessarily books that were published in 2009, so you might not find them sitting on cardboard displays at the bookstore right now; they’re just ones that I got around to reading this year. Also, I’m not going to limit myself to an arbitrary number like Top 5 or Top 10. I don’t have a ton of titles on either list, so I might as well just put them all here (in no particular order). Oh, and I might not have published reviews for all of these yet, as I have a queue of about 30 reviews pending!

Best Books Read in 2009:

Going Rogue by Sarah Palin
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
1st To Die by James Patterson
The Scarecrow by Michael Connelly
When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris
A Bold Fresh Piece of Humanity by Bill O’Reilly
Columbine by Dave Cullen
Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor
Push by Sapphire
A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Resilience by Elizabeth Edwards

Worst Books Read in 2009:

Tell No One by Harlan Coben
The Trial by Franz Kafka
The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne
American Pastoral by Philip Roth
The Shack by William P. Young
Serena by Ron Rash
First Family by David Baldacci
The Likeness by Tana French
Dave Barry Does Japan by Dave Barry
The Killing Floor by Lee Child
Against Medical Advice by James Patterson and Hal Friedman
The Executioner’s Song by Norman Mailer

“To Read” List — Nov. ’09

Julie — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:09:38 +0000

I’m kind of stuck in no-man’s land in terms of my reading right now. I am in the middle of a bunch of different titles because I can’t seem to find anything to sustain my interest all the way through. As such, I want to make a quick list of the books I’m working on so I don’t inadvertently leave something unfinished.

9 Dragons by Michael Connelly (just bought this yesterday and have already started it)
True Detectives by Jonathan Kellerman (the author comes highly recommended, but I’m on the fence about this title after a quarter of the way through)
Dead Man’s Folly by Agatha Christie (this was kind of boring, so I put it aside for TD. I do want to finish it though!)
A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore (having read 60 percent thus far, I really have no idea if I’m going to continue. It feels as though the plot and characters have been stuck in neutral since page 30.)
American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House (not really sure why I decided to read about Andrew Jackson, but at least this biography covers the White House years and doesn’t go through a bunch of irrelevant fluff first)

Well, obviously that’s a lot of reading to get through — and a lot of reviews to write! Hope you’ll check back to see how much I liked (or disliked) these titles.

Rating change?

Julie — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 06:54:39 +0000

I absolutely hate giving up on books. I don’t know why, but I’ll almost always read a book to the end, no matter how disastrously dull or boring it is. I guess as long as there are pages left, there’s hope that the story could suddenly get interesting. So even if reading a page of insurance quotes seems like it would be a lot more fun than the latest “thriller” in my Kindle, I plod on.

Because of this, I might have to make a change to my rating system. I currently reserve a 0-star rating only for books that I do not finish. But I have read some truly atrocious books from cover to cover, and feel that they should rate zero stars. Just because I was able to force myself to finish it doesn’t mean the author should be rewarded with a star.

I’m going to have to mull this over and then make a decision. One reason I wouldn’t want to do this is that books I can’t finish do deserve some special distinction since I’m usually so anal about turning the pages until I get to the end….

Need more nonfiction

Julie — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 20:43:41 +0000

There used to be a time when I read a good deal of nonfiction books along with all the novels I speed through, but it’s been a while since I’ve done that. I should really try to strike a bit more of a balance, though, so I decided to compile a list of nonfiction books that I want to get through in the near future. I’m thinking a 3:1 ratio of fiction to nonfiction would be good enough. That’s what I’ll aim for for now.

Liberty and Tyranny by Mark R. Levin — I’ve heard so many good things about this book, and it’s been the No.1 bestseller in the Hardcover Nonfiction category for 11 weeks now. It’s available for Kindle, too, which is a bonus.
Quiet Strength by Tony Dungy — This is another book that has received rave reviews. This one was written after Dungy lost his son to suicide, and has been on my radar for a long, long time. Unfortunately, I just keep forgetting to actually order it. I’ll do it soon, though.
The Girls from Ames by Jeffry Zaslow — I used to love Zaslow’s column “All that Zazz” in the Tribune, and think he’s a wonderful writer. This book is about a group of Iowa women whose friendship endures for years and years, despite real life intervening.
Some fitness book — I recently started Kettlebell training, but am not really doing any focused workouts. I need a book that will get me going in the right direction so I can lose weight and tone my muscles.
A Bold Fresh Piece of Humanity by Bill O’Reilly — Say what you want about O’Reilly’s politics, I happen to like his writing style. He is actually a very good storyteller, and his memoirs are often instructive as well.

“To Read” Queue — June ’09

Julie — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 12:46:55 +0000

I’ve read lots of books already this year, and am on track to crack 100 for the year. That would be a record for me for sure! So to keep things moving along, I’ve got a bunch of e-books for my Kindle stored on a couple different memory sticks. Here are the next 10 in my lineup:

Dombey & Son by Charles Dickens — I’ve been reading this for a couple months now. It is looong!
Postmortem by Patricia Cornwell — Many of my blog readers have recommend her, given my penchant for crime novels.
The Scarecrow by Michael Connelly — I’ve actually started reading this already. It’s not quite the page-turner I expected.
3rd Degree by James Patterson — What can I say? I love the Women’s Murder Club!
Pocket Full of Rye by Agatha Christie — It’s still one of my personal goals to read all of her mystery novels in chronological order. This has been going on for three years now!
How to Talk to a Liberal (If You Must) by Ann Coulter — I enjoy her writing, though her viewpoints are rather extreme, even for me.
Heartsick by Chelsea Cain — I’m not even sure what this book is about. Someone recommended it to me and gave me the file.
Wise Blood by Flannery O’Connor — I really want to read this book, but there’s no digital version available. So even though I have the paperback sitting right here, I keep putting it off. Yes, I love my Kindle that much!
The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington — I need to get back to some real literature at some point!
First Family by David Baldacci — I just love all these authors who release new titles simultaneously for Kindle. Yay!!

Well, obviously these books should keep me busy for the next couple of months. I hope to get through them sooner, but honestly, I’ve been spending a lot of time on my PSP lately!