Ooh the no strings attached sounds good! I love a cute mystery! hehe
About Books
This is where I’m going to keep track of the books I’ve read/reviews on them, since it’s obviously becoming more common . . .
**********************************************************************
1) The Magician’s Nephew - C.S. Lewis
This is the first book in the Narnia series. I loved it. It gave a lot of background info on Narnia itself, the professor, and form reading this book in the beginning you will see the obvious references to religion which will continue throughout the series. It’s very prominent in this book though with the creation of Narnia.
2) The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis
I will always love this book. This is the chronicle I think Narnia is best known for, and is my favorite of the series. You really get to know the main characters, and some wonderful Narnian creatures. It’s a great little adventure. My grade 2 teacher read this book to us in class, and I have loved it ever since.
3) The Horse and his Boy - C.S. Lewis
I found it boring, and from not having a the same characters as the previous Narnia books, just mention of them, it just didn’t tie in as well.
4) Prince Caspian - C.S. Lewis
This brought the original characters back which was nice, but still didn’t hold up to the wardrobe for me.
5) The Voyage of the Dawn Treader - C.S. Lewis
A nice little adventure, and it has Reepicheep, so obviously it was worth reading! 
6) 20 Something, 20 Everything, A Quarter-Life Woman’s Guide to Balance and Direction - Christine Hassler
This was a good book, recommended to me by Erin, but it wasn’t to book “for me”. I could identify and relate to it, but for the issue I was having at the time, this book wasn’t the right fit. I have since recommended it to a few other friends though, and it’s an interesting read. It goes through your past, your present, and what you’re thinking for the future. It analyzes your thoughts, makes you create connections as to why your life is the way it is, your thought processes, etc, and tries to teach you to separate the “shoulds” in your life from the “wants”.
7) My Horizontal Life - Chelsea Handler
I absolutely loved this book and think everyone needs to read it. I can easily see myself reading this book over and over. Chelsea Handler, you’ve got my vote! This is a biography, a collection of one night stands Chelsea has had, or has almost had, and as the book progresses you kind of see how she’s growing and how her attitude is changing. It was hilarious, and left me struggling to not spit coffee all over myself several times. I can’t wait to get her new book!
8.) Every Secret Thing - Emma Cole
Katelyn - not the book for you. This was loaned to me by a colleague this past week. It was a good read, but predictable, and I have to wonder about books that are published with three pages of praise-filled quotes. Was the book feeling a little small in the pants? Basic story - two little girls in Baltimore see a baby left in the stroller on the front step of a house. They take it, thinking the baby is abandoned. The baby is found days later, dead. The girls go away for 7 years in kind of juvenile detention/prison, and when they are released there is a string of baby disappearances. There were a lot of different character stories in the book, which made it hard to follow at times, but like I said, it was a good read. Not one I would brag about though.
9) Scaredy Squirrel Makes a Friend - Melanie Watt
Yes, it’s a children’s book, but it was excellent! Very fresh and modern humor, great graphics to go with it . . . I keep this book in my office and several colleagues have come to borrow it when they need a giggle and a break from the number game.
10) The Romanov Prophecy - Steve Berry
I had picked this up at a yard sale a few years ago when I *thought* I might start reading again. It caught my eye from the large print “Romanov” I saw in the pile of dusty books. For some reason I decided to pick it up this week. I’ve always found the story of the Romanov family interesting (even with as tragic as it is), and this book was no exception, I had a hard time putting it down. It is based in modern day Russia, where they have decided to restore the power of the tsar. An American lawyer is there rummaging through the archives, trying to ensure there are no skeletons in one of the candidiate’s closets. He stumbles upon several articles which bring him into an adventure of trying to find the living descendants of Nicholas II, the true Romanov bloodline. Although it’s been publicised lately that the bodies of the last two Romanov children have been found and identified, it was a gripping read all the same, and I had to keep reminding myself it was a work of fiction. If you don’t know of, or care about the history of the Romanov executions, you may not care for this book. Even if you don’t know of the history though, there is enough factual writing in the novel to fill you in. Also, it’s very similar to the DaVinci Code, an old world story brough to life with a great chase.
11) No Strings Attached - Clare Dowling
I picked this up in a second hand store because of it’s pretty pink cover and bright green writing. After reading the synopsis I thought it might be a little humorous. Well, it’s wasn’t, but it was a pretty decent read. A serial monogamy couple is getting married in their 30’s after knowing each other most of their lives and dating for around 8 years. After the best man, an old school friend, arrives a week before the wedding, the groom starts to wonder about the carefree, one night stand, designer brand wearing kind of life the best man lives. The night before the wedding, the groom disappears with few belongings, and his credit card is traced to France. The bride is left behind to pick up her pieces, and deal with the best man. I found it slow at first, the first half of the book leading up to the wedding. After the groom disappeared it got increasingly more interesting though, and left me with a warm and fuzzy feeling at the end. It was predictable, but still a good read. I would give another of her books a try.
12) The Silver Chair - C.S. Lewis
This is the 6th book in the Chronicles of Narnia. Still disappointing that the Pevensie kids are no longer in the book, and it’s a little disengaged from the other chronicles, but I’m interested to see how it ties into the final book. It seemed less climactic than the others too, the adventure seemed very downplayed, until all of a sudden it climaxed and was over. Definitely not my favorite Narnia book.
13) Can You Keep a Secret? - Sophie Kinsella
I bought this book for my trip to TO, wanting something “light and fluffy” to read on the train. It was another warm and fuzzy book. A marketing assistant, while returning home from a meeting, thinks the plane is going to crash and spills all her naughty and silly secrets to the man next to her. Days later, she finds out it was her multi-millionaire boss. A good read for when you want something light.
14) Everyone Worth Knowing - Lauren Weisberger
LOVE LOVE LOVED it! This is by the woman who wrote The Devil Wears Prada. I picked it up in a second hand store and wasn’t sure I would be overly into it, but I really did love it. Bette, a 20 something who works for a large banking corporation in NY, one day has enough and quits her job. After a month of unemployment, she takes help from her uncle and accepts a job at a PR firm. She excels at her job, starts dating the guy everyone wants, starts buying the fabulous clothes, and living the life you would think she would want. But she’s losing her friends, being plastered all over tabloids, and then there’s the Bouncer at Bungalow 8. In the end, I stayed up late to finish it, because I HAD to know what was going to happen! I would definitely read books from Lauren again.
15) How to Lose Your Ass and Regain Your Life - Kirstie Alley
I was really excited to read this book. I thought it might rival My Undercover Life, but unfortunately, it did not. It is not about how to lose your ass, or regain your life. I knew it was a biography, but that’s basically all it is. Kirstie does not lose her ass in the course of this book, and it doesn’t even seem like she really lost her life, other than her acting career (which sounds like it was choice, so she could be a better mom). There are some good spots in it, and I’ve learned some things I didn’t know about her before, but it was unfortunately a disappointment 
16) Tellings - Marion Winik
After reading the jacket on this one, I thought again, it might be one to rival My Undercover Life, but on a more life basis. I was wrong. It was erratic, with stories I didn’t care about, and it all seemed to have a moody and bitchy undertone to it. I quit it half way through.
17) Girls Poker Night - Jill A. Davis
This sounded like another cutesy romantic comedy type book. It wasn’t bad, some pretty entertaining bits, but it was hard to read. It doesn’t really follow a chapter format, more headings. One heading could have one paragraph, or three pages. Also, the main character is a columnist, and some of the headings are I think, columns she’s writing. The issue, they don’t tell you this, there is no differentiation, so it just seems like the book is all over the place. I wouldn’t recommend it just because it is so jumbled, and such a mess to read.
Responses
By: nancyvienneau on July 25, 2008
at 12:24 pm
