Crud.

I hate it when I keep putting off writing these until it's been so long I only half-remember the books.

So, yeah. I read these two since my last post, and I loved them both.

The Murderer's Daughters follows two girls from the death of their mother by their father's hand to when they both FINALLY come to terms with it. Like 40 years later. I got tired of both girl's neuroses, but so did they. I felt like it was a realistic way these girls would have reacted, given their circumstances. I enjoyed the oldest girl's little "screw you" to her aunt in the end. That was well-deserved to that old bitch.

20th Century Ghosts has been on my WANT list for a long time. Ever since I read Heart-Shaped Box years ago. Joe Hill is a wonderful, wonderful writer! I can't put it into words how much I enjoyed these stories!!!
 However...I kept comparing him to Stephen King, and each time I felt a kinda bad about it. But I know that they're related, and since I first discovered King by his books of short stories, I couldn't help it! Also, there are some elements in these stories that TOTALLY remind you of King's work. I don't have the book on me right now or I'd go  in more detail. I totally plan to do that when I have it, in the next post.

OMG

It is very, very late, but I've been putting this off for too long. This will be a very short, ill-written, rambling blog post, but aren't they all?


Ahab's Wife, by Sena Jeter Naslung

LOTS of words. Lots of tiny, tiny words crammed onto many, many pages. What I managed to read, I liked. I liked A LOT. But alas, a month wasn't long enough to swim through this epic. Bottom line: good. I'd recommend it. I intend to finish it one day, as well.






The Gardener, by S. A. Bodeen

This took me a whole day to read. Sometimes I need a book like this: engaging, entertaining, interesting, but EASY. I love books that are easy. Your mind just wanders within the story. It's so relaxing. As you can tell by the cover: science-y. Also, it's young adult, but don't hold that against it. In The Gardener we learn of Mason, a 15 y/o kid in a small town who accidentally discovers an experiment being performed on humans. On children. He steps in, saves the day, gets the girl. Slightly distracting to the plot are the elements of the story, such as Mason's rich best friend, that seem to be there only because the author needed a "quick fix".






The Shop on Blossom Street, by Debbie Macomber

I would never read this book. Macomber is not my kind of author. However, I crave audiobooks, and I can listen to almost anything if it's being read to me, so I'll pick up books on CD that I wouldn't ordinarily be interested in.

Lydia opens a yarn store and starts hosting knitting classes. Her first class is Jacqueline, a rich old bitch, Alix, a delinquent with a GIANT chip on her shoulder, and Carole, the way-too-sweet IVF-er. By the end everyone comes to some realization and ends up happier for it. It's a nice story.

OH HEY GUESS WHAT? Macomber has written a shit-ton of Blossom Street books. I was just nosing around on Amazon and now I know that Lydia eventually tries to adopt a baby and Alix becomes a baker. SPOILERS BACK THERE, YOU WERE WARNED, BUT I GUESS TOO LATE.

I should not blog at midnight.