#22: The HIstory of Love

I really loved The History of Love by Nicole Krauss.  The main character in the book is Leo Gursky, who feels all alone in the world.  He does very odd things just to get noticed each day so that somebody will see him the day he dies.  At first we learn about Leo's present and some facts about his life.  We also learn that he loves to write. 

We are then introduced to a teenage girl named Alma, who was named after the girl in The History of Love novel.  Her mother begins translating this book from Spanish and Alma decides she wants to learn more about the character she was named after.  She hopes this will give her more clues about her life and what kind of man her father was.

We also learn the story of Zvi Litvinoff, who was the author of The History of Love in Spanish.  We learn that he has carried with him a deep secret and needs to finally have it known on his death bed.

It's really hard to summarize such a beautifully written book.  I love books that have several different stories inside that all come together at the end.  If I could rename this book, I would call it "The History of the History of Love".  Just because we learn so much about how the book inside this book was written.

Up Next:  Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight

#21: The Antelope in the Living Room

The Antelope in the Living Room by Melanie Shankle was recommended by some of my friends who work in childwatch with me.  It's a story of finding all the humor in the differences between husbands and wives in marriage. 

I found some parts of the book funny, but overall I found the wife, Melanie, funny in a very annoying way.  I did like some of the things suggested in the book.  I really liked the explanation of young love verses old love.  I can really see this in my own marriage.  I guess I can't really relate as much to this story as some people can since I don't really have a shopping addiction and my husband doesn't have a hunting addiction.  I think this book would be interesting for a newly wed wife to read.  And there were some funny parts.

Up Next:  The History of Love by Nicole Krauss

#20: Life As We Knew It

I just finished Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer.  I'm glad to finally read a good book after several not so good ones.

This story is written by a 16 yr old girl named Miranda.  It is done in journal entry form.  At the beginning of the book, there is talk of a meteroid and the moom being visible.  What happens instead, is the meteroid hits the moon.  This starts causing tsunamis, earthquakes, flooding, etc because the moon is too close to Earth and the gravitational pull is too strong.

The story goes on the follow the lives of Miranda's family and friends.  It is interesting to see how this "natural disaster" can completely change everyone's lives in a minute. 

The story is scary, but really interesting.  I think I learned a lot for it.  Time to start stockpiling non-perishable food....

Up Next:  The Antelope in the Living Room

#19: Smashed

I just finished Smashed:  Story of Drunken Girlhood by Koren Zailckas.  Let's just say I'm on a role for crappy books.

 I thought this book might be entertaining or have some eye opening story about drinking, but it was just boring and whiny.  Her main reason for drinking was boredom.  At the end of the book, I don't feel like she was very sorry for her alcohol abuse.  It's almost like she was proud of having this drunk bond with so many underage drinking teenagers.  I felt she was full of self pity, but I didn't really feel sorry for her.

Maybe it's the author, or the fact that I've never been drunk, or some other reason, but I just didn't like this book at all.

Up Next:  Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer

#18: The Cherry Cola Book Club

I saw this book on the display table at the library.  I have been really interested in books about book clubs lately.  I think it's because I really miss my book club and because I love to get suggestions of other books based on what the club is reading.  I have to say I was throughly disappointed in this book.

In the book, a young librarian is supposed to find a way to keep the library open while the city council is threatening to cut funding.  Someone suggests a book club and this is her idea of how to get more people into the library.  This book was filled with horrible cliques and even more horrible dialog.  So many of the things in the book just seemed forced and the ideas seemed so predictable and cheesy.  For example, how can you be a librarian in the town for 7yrs and not have your best friend get a library card until the library is threatened to be closed?  And how is making a bouquet of balloons the most brilliant idea anyone has ever heard?

This book could have been so much more, but it was quite possibly one of the worst books I have ever read.  Another bummer, in the 5 month time frame of the book club, only 2 books were read and discussed. So I didn't even get any new book suggestions.  Not recommended, unless you are interested in seeing how bad it is....

#17: The Sleep Room

I just finished The Sleep Room by F.R. Tallis.  I had never heard of this book, but it could my eye twice on the "new arrivals" shelf at the library.  It is the story of a house turned into a hospital specializing in sleep therapy, sedatives, etc.  There is also some paranormal activity and other weird occurances.  It is classified as horror, but I didn't think it was horror at all.  Maybe a little unusual suspence.

At first I was really intrigued by this book.  I like learning about psychology/psychiatrists and the way things were done in the past.  A little while in I started getting bored and didn't understand why a "ghost" was introduced.  Then I started liking the story again.  There was a little suspence, but when Dr. Richardson said something like "I should have paid more attention to that at the time", the problem was never really answered.  At the end there was a twist, which made me feel really confused. 

If you are looking for something different to read, I would recommend this book.  It was an unusual story and very interesting at times.

#16: The Professor and the Madman

The Professor and the Madman is a very interesting story.  It is the true story of how the Oxford English Dictionary was made.  It covers the history of the OED, but the main character in this story is the "madman" Dr. W C Minor.

The story opens with Minor committing a crime and after being arrested, being taken to an insane asylum.  It then goes on the tell the story of Minor's life.  We learn that he had a lot of problems in his childhood and during his time in the war.  The story continues on with the making of the OED and the continually "crazy" behaviors of Minor.

At times the book was really boring, but the story of Minor's life and his friendship with Murray the professor, was so intriguing that I had to keep really.  A really unique story behind the making of a dictionary.

Up Next:  The Sleep Room by F. R. Tallis