A Confederacy of Dunces JK Toole

audiobook-very silly

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

I had a lot of expectations for this book. It is apparently a popular read; When I checked it out at the library the librarian even commented on it. However, I found it did not quite live up to its expectations. It definitely wasn't a bad book, but I didn't think it was great either. It's about a guy who is studying to be a vet at Cornell in the early 192os, during Prohibition. His parents tragically die so he packs up all of his things, leaves his exit exams and joins the circus as their vet. He inevitably falls in love with a woman, who is of course married. The book tells the story from Jacob's (the main character) point-of-view as a young man and as a 93 year old. I didn't really feel that the book had a strong plot or driving force to finish. Throughout the book there is a lot of animal abuse which was hard for me to handle. My overall rating of this book on a scale from 1 to 5 would be a 2.

Bee Season by Myla Goldberg

I really disliked this audio book. I have learned that books that are read by the author are usually not very good. Not only did I not like the book, but the author's portrayal was horrible. Sheee taalked like thiiis. Bee Season is about little Eliza who basically has nothing going for her except hat she is good at spelling. Then her entire family falls apart. What a lot to put on a little girl who needs something for her own. Her brother converts from Judaism to Hare Krishna and his relationship with his father is ruined. Her mother has spent the past 10 years posing as a lawyer, but instead has been stealing and using her trust fund as he salary. Who does this and wouldn't her husband realize that she didn't have pay stubs? Don't you call your spouse at work sometimes? So, to fix everything Eliza sacrifices all that she has worked for a throws the spelling bee thinking that it will return her family to normal. Poor kid.

The Last Town on Earth byThomas Mullen

The Last Town on Earth is a novel about the Spanish influenza during World War I. A town quarantines themselves to protect against the flu, but inevitably it invades the town. I really enjoyed this book. I like books with a historical backgrounds. This book shows how people react during a crisis and what they will do to protect their loved ones. It is about the challenges of love and friendship. I felt that this book was a realistic portrayal of human personalities.

The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory

I just finished this on audiobook and really enjoyed it. The use of multiple narrators for each character makes it all the better. It is the sequel to The Other Boleyn Girl and tells the story of Anne of Cleves and Katherine Howard along with Jane Boleyn. I have always found the Tudor family interesting and Gregory does a good job of bringing these characters to life. Sometimes Gregory's style can be a little over dramatized and repetitive, however of the books I have read by her I liked this book the best.

Before Women Had Wings by Connie May Fowler

1-12-06

Before Women Had Wings was a quick easy read, but definitely not light. I like books that use imagery and similes and metaphors, so this book was a nice change from Picoult's which is so bland and straightforward. Since the book centered around a child who was abused and had an alcoholic mother it was difficult to read at time, but I really admired this child's courage and perseverance. The mother, too, although she was not a good mother and made many mistakes, you could tell that she wanted more for her children, but didn't know how to give it to them. I think this book was a realistic portrayal of what many children in this world have to endure everyday.

I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb

1/7/06

This book took forever to read. Well, i read a couple of books in between, but the time was well worth it. It started out a little bit slowly, but about a quarter of the way through the book picked up. I found the portrayal of Thomas's schizophrenia and his relationship with his twin Dominick to be touching and real.

The Thirteenth Tale By Diane Setterfield

1/2/07

I really enjoyed this book. It was a quick read, but very entertaining. I found the story about the twins Adelne and Emmaline to be very eerie and suspenseful.