First, let me apologize for my lateness in posting this one. I'll do better next week, I promise!
On to the book!
Summary:
Meg and Michael are kept running with their two boisterous twin boys, only a few months old now. And of course, because Meg doesn't have nearly enough to do with a set of screaming twins, her father, grandfather, and brother decide to make her house the base of operations for a clandestine clearing of the town animal shelter. Dozens of cats, dogs, and even a bad-mouthed macaw have invaded her living room after the shelter announced euthanizations due to a lack of town funds. The animal rights group, led by the men in Meg's family, couldn't let such a thing stand, and take advantage of Meg's inability to say no YET again. Oh, and someone from the group gets murdered on his way to the pick-up site. Oops. And to top it all off, there's scandal brewing in Town Hall and Meg, the nosy woman she is, has to get to the bottom of it.
Thoughts:
Standard practice in the Meg Langslow book series. Meg's family find something to involve themselves in, they use her space to lead the revolution (not their own, because that would be far too considerate), and then someone gets killed in relation to whatever project this happens to be. The more I read the Langslow books, the more I think that she's a huge pushover. Sure, she gets things done, and they're usually good for a laugh. But Meg's always having people invade her space to do something that she doesn't much care about. I don't like that her family doesn't seem to have any respect for her or her new family, and does whatever it is that they want. But as I said, these are usually good for a laugh and a cringe and a "thank GOD my family isn't like that."
Book 11 of 50
Pages: 320
Genre: mystery
Grade: B
Would I Recommend?: Sure, why not.
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Saturday, April 13, 2013
You Wish (Mandy Hubbard)
Summary:
Social Outcast By Choice Kayla is the type of girl that "doesn't care" what everyone thinks of her, and wears that attitude on her untrendy sleeve. She works so hard at being not-cool that she has one friend in her whole school, and even Nicole is pulling away. Nicole has gotten control of her horrible acne and is dressing more on trend, and even started dating Ben, the boy that Kayla's crazy about (unknowingly, of course, because Kayla can't be bothered to share the fact with her best and only friend). On Kayla's sixteenth birthday, her workaholic event planner mother throws her a bubblegum-and-rainbows style sweet sixteen party (something she'd been begging NOT to have for weeks), only to fill the guest list with clients and people Kayla hardly knows. When in comes time for the cake, Kayla wishes for her birthday wish to come true because "they never freakin' do!" Over the next two weeks, Kayla has to fight off past birthday wishes like a lifetime supply of gumballs, a real-live My Little Pony, and huge boobs, among other things. She realizes quickly that things could go horribly wrong quickly, too, when she remembers that last year her wish was to kiss Ben. She'll do anything she can to stop that from happening, so she doesn't lose her only friend left.
Thoughts:
Kayla has a completely absent father (left them for Italy years ago) and a mother who's never there. But she also has a serious attitude problem, and is so wrapped up in not being a sheep that just goes with the crowd that she's turned herself into a person that no one WANTS to like. She's snide, and she's a little bit rude, and she's entitled. I didn't like the girl for most of the book, and was reveling in her getting what she deserved by having to deal with all the ridiculousness brought on her by the silly wishes. I didn't like antagonistic Janae, the most popular girl in school, any more than I liked Kayla, but when writing a book, I would think the idea should be that your readers root for your protagonist. I simply couldn't care. The book was a mere 284 pages, but it felt like I was slogging through the first two hundred or so. I just didn't care, and nothing that bratty Kayla came out with in pursuit of fixing her imploding life was making me feel anything but annoyance at the girl. She didn't even have more than a five-minute-long conversation with her best friend until the last twenty pages or so and by that point, so much damage had been done that Kayla had to fight to get Nicole to even look at her, let alone speak to her. I'd been looking forward to reading this since the day I spotted it in the bookstore, but it was completely not worth my months-long wait to get it into my hands. Not worth it at all.
Book 10 of 50
Pages: 284
Genre: teenlit, with not much else.
Grade: C-
Would I Recommend?: Only if you're really into stupid teenagers being their entitled selves. Don't bother otherwise.
Social Outcast By Choice Kayla is the type of girl that "doesn't care" what everyone thinks of her, and wears that attitude on her untrendy sleeve. She works so hard at being not-cool that she has one friend in her whole school, and even Nicole is pulling away. Nicole has gotten control of her horrible acne and is dressing more on trend, and even started dating Ben, the boy that Kayla's crazy about (unknowingly, of course, because Kayla can't be bothered to share the fact with her best and only friend). On Kayla's sixteenth birthday, her workaholic event planner mother throws her a bubblegum-and-rainbows style sweet sixteen party (something she'd been begging NOT to have for weeks), only to fill the guest list with clients and people Kayla hardly knows. When in comes time for the cake, Kayla wishes for her birthday wish to come true because "they never freakin' do!" Over the next two weeks, Kayla has to fight off past birthday wishes like a lifetime supply of gumballs, a real-live My Little Pony, and huge boobs, among other things. She realizes quickly that things could go horribly wrong quickly, too, when she remembers that last year her wish was to kiss Ben. She'll do anything she can to stop that from happening, so she doesn't lose her only friend left.
Thoughts:
Kayla has a completely absent father (left them for Italy years ago) and a mother who's never there. But she also has a serious attitude problem, and is so wrapped up in not being a sheep that just goes with the crowd that she's turned herself into a person that no one WANTS to like. She's snide, and she's a little bit rude, and she's entitled. I didn't like the girl for most of the book, and was reveling in her getting what she deserved by having to deal with all the ridiculousness brought on her by the silly wishes. I didn't like antagonistic Janae, the most popular girl in school, any more than I liked Kayla, but when writing a book, I would think the idea should be that your readers root for your protagonist. I simply couldn't care. The book was a mere 284 pages, but it felt like I was slogging through the first two hundred or so. I just didn't care, and nothing that bratty Kayla came out with in pursuit of fixing her imploding life was making me feel anything but annoyance at the girl. She didn't even have more than a five-minute-long conversation with her best friend until the last twenty pages or so and by that point, so much damage had been done that Kayla had to fight to get Nicole to even look at her, let alone speak to her. I'd been looking forward to reading this since the day I spotted it in the bookstore, but it was completely not worth my months-long wait to get it into my hands. Not worth it at all.
Book 10 of 50
Pages: 284
Genre: teenlit, with not much else.
Grade: C-
Would I Recommend?: Only if you're really into stupid teenagers being their entitled selves. Don't bother otherwise.
Saturday, April 6, 2013
The Quick and the Thread (Amanda Lee)
Summary:
Marcy is a former accountant whose best friend and college roommate convinces her to move to the quaint little town of Tullulah Falls, Oregan to open an embroidery store, something she's always wanted to do. The evening of her grand opening party, the former renter of the space where her store now stands drunkenly confronts her and tries to tell her something. Marcy avoids the man, and he winds up dead in her storeroom. The book follows as she learns just how small town politics work, and uncovers more than just a murder. Oh, and there's a couple good looking men trying to catch her eye, of course.
Thoughts:
Pretty standard for a murder mystery, complete with hunky cop. The book's fairly well-written, though I did guess correctly who was involved in the plot midway through. A few times I wanted to thump the main character in the head for letting herself get wrapped up in the situation, but there's just about always things like that. Oh, but the most bothersome bit for me was all the classic 50's and 60's movie references. I get that the character is into the classics, but you don't have to imagine yourself in Casablana or Breakfast at Tiffany's every single chapter. A few references are fine. Tons and tons are overkill. But I'm not the author, so what do I know. I'm thinking I'll give the series a try, though. The characters, for the most part, were believable and interesting enough that I'll give the next book in the series a try, and determine from there.
Book 9 of 50
Pages: 313
Genre: mystery
Grade: B
Would I Recommend?: Sure, why not? It was pretty solid.
Marcy is a former accountant whose best friend and college roommate convinces her to move to the quaint little town of Tullulah Falls, Oregan to open an embroidery store, something she's always wanted to do. The evening of her grand opening party, the former renter of the space where her store now stands drunkenly confronts her and tries to tell her something. Marcy avoids the man, and he winds up dead in her storeroom. The book follows as she learns just how small town politics work, and uncovers more than just a murder. Oh, and there's a couple good looking men trying to catch her eye, of course.
Thoughts:
Pretty standard for a murder mystery, complete with hunky cop. The book's fairly well-written, though I did guess correctly who was involved in the plot midway through. A few times I wanted to thump the main character in the head for letting herself get wrapped up in the situation, but there's just about always things like that. Oh, but the most bothersome bit for me was all the classic 50's and 60's movie references. I get that the character is into the classics, but you don't have to imagine yourself in Casablana or Breakfast at Tiffany's every single chapter. A few references are fine. Tons and tons are overkill. But I'm not the author, so what do I know. I'm thinking I'll give the series a try, though. The characters, for the most part, were believable and interesting enough that I'll give the next book in the series a try, and determine from there.
Book 9 of 50
Pages: 313
Genre: mystery
Grade: B
Would I Recommend?: Sure, why not? It was pretty solid.
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