Book Nook Cafe discussion

Donna is a bit busy so I thought I would start this thread for her. Since it is the weekend I thought more people would have the time to post so I thought it would be a good idea to get a head start on this thread.

When you post your October reads it would be helpful to post a GoodReads link for the book and tell us in a few words your feeling about the book and how you would rate it.

~ My October 2010 reads

I didn't read a lot of books because two of the books were big books. I may not have had quantity but I did have quality. The writing and the stories were wonderful. So it was a good reading month for me. :)

You can click on the links to get a synopsis of the book.

Taking the Leap: Freeing Ourselves from Old Habits and Fears~~Pema Chödrön
Non fiction
Rate: 3/5
Pema is a Buddhist nun. The title of the book pretty much tell you what it is about. I enjoyed reading her take on this topic and found it to be useful.

Freedom~~Jonathan Franzen
Fiction
Rate: 4/5
I enjoyed Franzen's latest novel. I think he is an author you love or hate. I love his books. The guy sure can write ! I enjoyed his other book The Corrections too. In fact, if you enjoyed The Corrections you will enjoy Freedom.

I Know This Much Is True~~Wally Lamb
Fiction
Rate 5 +
This book was a re-read for me. I read it back in 1999 when Oprah selected it and I re-read it now for my f2f book club. The novel is simply excellent !

The Known World - Edward P. Jones
Rate2
I found it difficult to read. There were so many characters, it was hard to keep track.

Here's the Deal
Here's the Deal: Don't Touch Me - Howie Mandel
Rate 4
It was interesting to read about the author's OCD and how it affected him and his relationships.

Pinheads and Patriots
Pinheads and Patriots - Bill O'Reilly
Rate 4
Interesting.

Little Bee
Little Bee - Chris Cleave
Rate - 3
I thoroughly enjoyed this book at the beginning but was disappointed as it went on. Too much of the plot seemed unrealistic to me.

Everything Is Illuminated
Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Saffran Foer
Rate (For me) - 1
Although I find that this is a very popular book, I couldn't seem to adjust to the author's writing style.

I was very busy reading this month, so here they are:

Freedom 5/5
As much as I didn't want myself to like this book, it was impossible for me not to. The writing, the characters, the setting all were presented in a flow of words that were enticing and mesmerizing. The story builds itself around a family of four. It delves into the parents's backgrounds, their relationship to one another, oftentimes torturous and the way they relate to their children. It investigates the see saw relationship we often have with our children as they grow into adulthood. We see the children stumble through becoming adults with parents who themselves are stumbling to be grown up. The reader sees them all go through a catharsis of body,mind, and spirit.

The Wayward Bus 4/5
John Steinbeck was a master when it comes to his presentation of character and setting. He had the innate ability to mix the two and produce writing that is compelling in its simplicity, but ever so enriching in its focus.

The Wives of Henry Oades 3/5
What would you do if your loving husband thought you and your children were dead. Would you think that he should live a normal life with another woman after seven years of thinking you were not alive? These are the issues covered in this interesting book. All the three main characters are explored well and in the telling they are all admirable, likable people. People, who fate has dealt an unusual blow, act ever so nobly in this tale. The book, an historical fiction, keeps the reader interested as you learn of the poor treatment of Henry who only tried to do the right thing for both the women in his life.

Room 2/5
While I did like this book, I found it very disturbing and sorry to say sometimes annoying. Told through the eyes, voice, and mind of a five year old boy, the language is babyish but the story is powerful. Jack's mother is kidnapped and forced to live in a room for seven years. Her captor, rapist is the father of her child, Jack, who she tries to allow to grow and learn confined in a 7 by 11 foot room. Jack becomes an intelligent boy, but of course lacks any kind of social interactions that enhance the learning process. He receives his education through his mother, the TV, and a very limited amount of books. His mother enlists their small environment to teach Jack what is important for him to know within their confined space. Jack is totally unprepared for what he knows as the outside. He thinks of the things he sees as planets where things happen and the room being where his earth is.


The Strain 2/5
I have read worse. It had some new ideas concerning vampires. IMO, this was a lot better than The Passage. At least it didn't take itself seriously!

Felicia's Journey YA 4/5
True to the very end! A very strong series

Gilead 5/5
I think this is probably the most beautifully worded book (letter) that I have ever read. The messages it imparts and the joy it engenders is phenomenal. How could you not love a book written by a father to his son telling of his life, his hopes, his dreams? Is there any wonder why this book won a Pulitzer?


Bury Your Dead 3/5
I do enjoy the books abut Inspector Gamache. Louise Penny writes her novels so that they are interesting and full of little twists and turns. She is able to keep the reader engrossed from the onset and does not disappoint in this book as we continue to watch the Inspector maneuver through the tangled web of another murder. ...and where are the remains of Samuel Champlain?

Tinkers 3/5
For some reason while reading this book I could not help but think of Faulkner's As I Lay Dying. While the language and details were eloquent, the story became mangled by all the selections of the relationships of clocks to life and death. The insertion of clips of journals, writings etc. seem to divert one from the topic of death and reflection of one's life. I felt Harding worked too hard at trying to work the stream of consciousness handled so well in other novels. Perhaps, it is because this is his first novel, but I felt that things were very disjointed and the context of a man dying who had epilepsy during his life left one with too many unresolved questions.

Lady Susan 3/5
I did like this character study of a conniving woman done through letters. Jane Austen at her very earliest was pretty darn good!

Juliet 3/5
I thought the book was adorable. I particularly liked the banter between the sisters and thought the ending to be obvious from the beginning. I had heard this book was the female answer to The Lost Symbol.

As I Lay Dying 4/5
Wow! I feel mentally beat up after reading this book. The imagery, the story told through so many voices, captures the reader like no other. The abject poverty of mind and spirit expressed in this book leaves a bitter impression on the mind that will sure continue for a good long time. Who are these people? Could they really have existed? Was life really like that? It is certainly not book to read when one is looking for an uplift. I guess all that can be said is that Faulkner again looks to man's deepest, basest instincts and writes of them.


Fall of Giants 5/5
I truly enjoyed this amazingly written novel. It followed the exploits of five families of various socioeconomic backgrounds through the beginning and end of World War 1. Taking historical fact and combining it with fictitious characters made for an exciting and informative read. Particularly enlightening about an era that was filled with tension and carnage, Follett was able to make the reader aware of the human toll wartime takes on families and nations. Follett continues to be a masterful storyteller and I particularly admired his portrayal of strong women in this novel. From Russia to France, England, Scotland, America, and Germany, Mr. Follett allows us to capture the feeling of the times in these location as well as the ineptness of the leaders. Did countries want war or were they coerced into it by inept leadership remains the question?

Someone Knows My Name 4/5
So eye opening, so inspiring! It was amazing reading of the way in which the slaves were treated. From their capture to their lives, this book showed the many atrocities that were fostered on these people. It is a must read for those who want to learn of a very ignoble piece of history.

The Scent of Rain and Lightning 3/5
A young girl's father killed, her mother missing and the man convicted of killing them in jail: the one problem is did they convict the right man?

Wuthering Heights 5/5
Love, love love.....the reason for living and dying, and so this books ends. It was and is a story of how much love effects the human spirit for the good as well as the bad. Heathcliff and Catherine's story will go on to the end of time. What a fantastic way to see what love can do to men and women and what a kind heart can do when used properly! Emily Bronte wrote a tale of heartbreak, of pathos, and finally of triumph.

The sadness so enhanced by the scenery and wildness makes this book a treasure for generations. Makes one want to reread it immediately to be once more back on the moors with Catherine and Heathcliff

Marialyce wrote: "I was very busy reading this month, so here they are:.."

What a great monthly summary, Marialyce!

My October Reads


Water for ElephantsSara Gruen Rating 4/5

Monica Ferris Rating 3/5

Jacqueline Winspear rating 3/5

Meredith

Jan wrote:
Here's the Deal
Here's the Deal: Don't Touch Me - Howie Mandel
Rate 4
It was interesting to read about the author's OCD and how it affected him and his relationships.
---------------

I saw Mandel being interviewed on Joy Behar's show. I never really heard of him before the interview, but I found his talk on OCD fascinating. I'm glad you like the book as I have it on my To Read list.

Marialyce wrote: "I was very busy reading this month, so here they are:"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wow ! I'll say you had a great reading month, Marialyce. I really enjoyed reading your post.
Thank you.

Meredith wrote:
Water for Elephants Sara Gruen Rating 4/5 "
------------

I enjoyed Water for Elephants, too. I have her new book Ape House on my tbr list.

Do you plan on reading it?

Thank you JoAnn and Alias! I did have a wonderful month full of wonderful readings. I LOVE being retired. (of course the housework has suffered immensely!)

One of the books I read is newly published, so I was lucky to get one of the first books circulated. Here is the link to the book. My review is there.
Van Gogh, Encore

Jaye wrote: "One of the books I read is newly published, so I was lucky to get one of the first books circulated. Here is the link to the book. My review is there.
Van Gogh, Encore"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If anyone is looking for a non-fiction book on Van Gogh, I can recommend a YA book that I read in 2008 that I thought was terrific. His life was so sad the book actually brought tears to my eyes. The book was very well done.

Vincent Van Gogh: Portrait of an Artist~ Jan Greenberg

Come on guys ! I know you must have read something last month. Share.

Well, I was busy with lots of other things this month -- so all I read was

East of Eden

and The Spectator Bird

Read bits and pieces of other things and have a few things that are in process now so hopefully my report from November will be better.

Alias Reader wrote: "Come on guys ! I know you must have read something last month. Share."

OOPS, I thought I posted the link to my list!

Here it is. Not great literature, but quantity:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/...

I added On the Line by Eric Ripert but it did not show up on the list

5 of 5 stars

What a GREAT BOOK! I love reading about restaurants and this had it all...everything that happens behind the scenes of a great place, the jobs, the people, the trivia, how it is organized. Just wonderful.

@ JoAnn ----If I am reading your link correctly, you read 9 books in October, JoAnn. Congratulations on the great month ! Now that baseball season is over, I hope I can watch less TV and read more. That's the plan anyway.


@ barbara---- That's not a bad month, Barbara. East of Eden is a serious read. And it's not a tiny book. And anyone who joins in the group read is A OK in my book. :)

Any other lurkers out there that would like to share?

Chin Up, Honey Curtiss Ann Matlock
Waking up in Dixie Haywood Smith
Love Letters from Ladybug Farm Donna Ball
The Three Weissmans of Westport Cathlene Schine
Saving Max Antoinette van Heugten
The Snow Globe Sheila Roberts
A Chesapeake Shores Christmas Sheryl Woods

These are my books for October. I am also glad baseball is over, but now on to college basketball

My favorite was Saving Max and the 3rd Ladybug Farn book.

Yes, Richiesheff, now the the World Series is over, I hope to be doing more reading and less watching TV.

Haunted - Kelley Armstrong
Shanghai Girls - Lisa See
In the woods- Tana French
The Wayward Bus - Steinbeck
Heart Shaped box - Joe Hill
A Simple Habana Melody- Oscar Hijuelos

Good reading, month, Jorge. Thanks for sharing !

Did you have a favorite or one that you really didn't like this month?

I really liked Shanghai Girls except for....... 1 thing, don't want to spoil it for anyone since it is next months read.
I also really liked Heart Shaped Box, Hill's writing style reminds me a lot of his dad (my favorite author.) The story had me on edge from the 1st chapter. I was disapointed a little with Simple Habana Melody. I liked the story, and the authors writing style , but there was an issue with one of the characters which I found painfully repetetive.

In Oct. I finished:
Blindness
The Bell Jar
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Richiesheff wrote: "My favorite was Saving Max and the 3rd Ladybug Farn book. ..."

I cannot believe this was released last month and I did not know it!!! I am going to order it this afternoon. Thanks!

Julie, the GoodReads board Classics and the Western Canon starting on the 8th will be having a Group Read of Hunk Finn.

Thanks for the recap of your reading month, Jorge. I have to remember to request Shanghai Girls from the library soon.

-- just a fyi-- I am having issues with the GR board. I think it is with the new FireFox upgrade, but I don't know what to do about it. Every time I post it takes me off the board and to the main groups page. It also won't let me edit or delete.
:(

Alias Reader wrote: "Thanks for the recap of your reading month, Jorge. I have to remember to request Shanghai Girls from the library soon.

-- just a fyi-- I am having issues with the GR board. I think it is wit..."

Alias, did you do the upgrade or did Firefox do it automatically?

It asked me to upgrade and like an idiot I did. :(
When will I ever learn.

It seems to be working a bit better now. About 85% of the time it works normally. That's better than zero this morning.

JoAnn, you have got me hooked on Firefox. I would be lost without the ability to adjust the font size on GR and also the easy add-on for Bold, Italics, etc.

Alias Reader wrote: "Thanks for the recap of your reading month, Jorge. I have to remember to request Shanghai Girls from the library soon.

-- just a fyi-- I am having issues with the GR board. I think it is wit..."

I use Firefox also and have not encountered that issue as of yet. You can always go into your control panel uninstall the upgrade and then re-install it. To see if it works better.

Why is it that upgrading software always seems to cause more problems than it fixes?

Wow! I'm humbled by Marialyce's reading list! Can I please retire too? October was a good month. I read 'The Hours', 'The Bell Jar'....of course, these both were so beautiful but had me ready to hit the beach with rocks in my pockets....and Harry Potters #s 2,3 and 4. My daughter has re-read HP many times, so I told her to just start handing them over! Great books!

Julie wrote: "Why is it that upgrading software always seems to cause more problems than it fixes?"

Usually because they do not do enought testing and we the users end up being the final testers or guinea pigs.

Linda wrote: I read 'The Hours', 'The Bell Jar'....of course, these both were so beautiful but had me ready to hit the beach with rocks in my pockets..

--------------

Hi, Linda ! Thanks for sharing your reads. You are too funny (rocks in your pockets). I've read those two books, and I know what you mean. :)

It's weird, I haven't done anything to fix the problem and it seems to have fixed itself.

Thank you Computer Gods !!

Alias Reader wrote: "Julie, the GoodReads board Classics and the Western Canon starting on the 8th will be having a Group Read of Hunk Finn."

Oh why did you have to tell me this? Like I really need ANOTHER group to join! :-)
Thanks though. I didn't know that group existed.

The Irresistible Henry House - Lisa Grunwald. Henry was raised as a "practice baby" in a university home economics department, giving young women of the 1950s a chance to learn what it's like to have a child Typically such babies were returned to the orphanages they came from after a year or so, but Henry stayed on at the college, dealing with dozens of mothers over the years but cared for primarily by the head of the home ec. department. He moves from that stifling atmosphere through the 1960s and 70s, propelled by his desire to find the real place he belongs. I didn't exactly find Henry to be "irresistible" but I did enjoy reading about his journey. B+

Half Broke Horses - Jeannette Walls. This is the true story of Walls' maternal grandmother, a take-charge, go-get-'em woman who tackled life with a can-do attitude that met every challenge head on. I couldn't stand her! Walls wrote of her so admiringly but all I wanted to do was punch her in the face. She did accomplish a lot in her life, but I found her so annoying that I would not have finished this book if it hadn't been a selection for my book group. C-

Father of the Rain - Lily King. I really enjoyed this one, even though I definitely did not enjoy the choices that the main character made. A young woman, the product of a broken marriage, has a troubled relationship with her alcoholic father and despite a serious relationship and a job offer on the west coast, she moves back east to take care of him. (That's the choice I didn't agree with.) But there's much good storytelling here, good writing and true emotions, making it a very worthwhile read. Lots of what happens in the book is set against the backdrop of what was going on in the world of US politics, and I didn't feel like that enhanced the story very much, but I still recommend it highly. A

Della - Chuck Barris. This is Barris' memoir of his daughter Della's short and tragic life. He and his wife separated when Della was young and she lived the rest of her years as the child of privilege but without any stability in her life. And when she died in her mid 30's of an overdose of cocaine and vodka, Barris blamed himself. Rightfully. Heartbreaking and riveting. A-

Connie wrote:Half Broke Horses - Jeannette Walls. This is the true story of Walls' maternal grandmother, a take-charge, go-get-'em woman who tackled life with a can-do attitude that met every challenge head on. I couldn't stand her! Walls wrote of her so admiringly but all I wanted to do was punch her in the face. She did accomplish a lot in her life, but I found her so annoying that I would not have finished this book if it hadn't been a selection for my book group. C-
-----------------------

:( Sorry to hear her new book is disappointing. I enjoyed her other book The Glass Castle

Was your book group's consensus also negative ?

What I could never understand is why the grandmother never took those children and raised them. She knew what was going on.

I think both of Walls's books should be taken with many grains of salt.

Was your book group's consensus also negative ?

A few of the people in the group liked it, but our leader began the discussion with the words, "Mea culpa!" She'd chosen Half Broke Horses without reading it, and based on the NYTimes choosing it as one of the best books of 2009.

Mostly we talked about Glass Castle and how HBH related to it.

Alias Reader wrote: "Connie wrote:Half Broke Horses - Jeannette Walls. This is the true story of Walls' maternal grandmother, a take-charge, go-get-'em woman who tackled life with a can-do attitude that met every chall..."

Sorry to hear that Connie. I did find the character a little annoying , maybe a bit pushy but I had no violent thoughts towards her : ) I enjoyed the book and the story.
I'm adding Father of the rain to my to read list, but Della.... I have a 2 daughters (still small 6,8) and just reading the your summary and my eyes are getting teary.

I totally wreaked my challenge list. I've decided to read anything on a whim as it strikes me the rest of year. I'll start in January with the one I'm preparing now.  

Here's what I got went through in October...

Collected Poems of Wilfred Owen by Wilfred Owen
I have read this on and off for the last ten years. This time I read read it cover to cover in order. 
5 stars

Special Forces Volume 1 by Kyle Baker
A graphic novel. I wouldn't recommend this except for to a few people I know.
4 stars 

Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne
This is automatically included with iBooks. It is wonderfully illustrated in color exactly the same as the dead tree ;-) edition. I cannot remember if I ever read this as I child.
5 stars

To the Last Man by Zane Grey
Two stars but I stuck with it 'To the Last Page' anyway.

I think there was one and a half more but I didn't keep my GoodReads shelves or my journals up very well and can't remember. I need to buckle down on that.   

My usual short list...

I rated it 3.5/5. It was just "ok"...in fact, it was pretty unmemorable as I don't remember much about it anymore! Then again, that could just be my age. Honestly, I sometimes think I could read the same 2 or 3 books over and over again and they'd be new to me each time. ;-)



4/5. A Christian suspense/thriller, I guess you'd categorize it. I really enjoyed this book, with it's "what if..." premise that a mysterious "pulse" knocks out all electricity, batteries, etc leaving a world where people have to live off the land and "make do" and what happens.

4/5 Mandisa was my favorite from Season 5 of American Idol. I saw/heard her at the Women of Faith conference I attended in Milwaukee the end of September, so wanted to read her book. Inspirational.

Connie wrote: "The Irresistible Henry House - Lisa Grunwald. Henry was raised as a "practice baby" in a university home economics department, giving young women of the 1950s a chance to learn what it's like to ..."

This sounds very intriguing. I put it on my Wish List on PBS. Thanks Connie!

I post my books on my books read area and don't know how to transfer them over here, but I read the following in October:

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo - Stieg Larsson
The Girl Who Played With Fire - Stieg Larsson
The Wise Woman - Phillipa Gregory

How would you rate them, RNocean ? Did you love / hate them ? Would you read more by these authors ?

Thanks for sharing your titles. I feel I am the last person on the earth who hasn't read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo !

Alias Reader wrote: "How would you rate them, RNocean ? Did you love / hate them ? Would you read more by these authors ?

Thanks for sharing your titles. I feel I am the last person on the earth who hasn't read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo..."

Then I am the second-from-last! I tried reading it - twice - but never progressed beyond 50 pages. That is my outer limit. I am not one of those people who say "well, it took me 200 pages to get into the book, but it was worth it."

I haven't read the "Tattoo" books for three reasons.
One, I don't care for murder books. Two, the original Swedish title is oft putting to me. "Men Who Hate Women" Three, I can't read books with a zillion character in them. I can't even imagine one with a zillion characters with Swedish names ! Yikes, I would be totally lost.

Alias Reader wrote: "How would you rate them, RNocean ? Did you love / hate them ? Would you read more by these authors ?

Thanks for sharing your titles. I feel I am the last person on the earth who hasn't read Th..."

Nope Alias, I too am in the group who has not read it as of yet.

I felt the same way, but do read them! I was hooked after say 25 pages into the first one. I was very skeptical but I am so glad that I read them. I read each of the series in 2 days! I am now waiting for the 3rd book.
I rated both of the Larsson series as a strong 5/5
I love Phillipa Gregory so read her book even though it was one of her first and enjoyed it, rated it a 5/5

I've not read any of "The Girl" trilogy yet but I think I might somewhere down the road. It's not the kind of story I'll usually choose to read but the first two movies they made of it drew me in. They have both of those movies on Netflix 'WI' (Watch Instantly).

While I was trying to post this earlier, dutifully creating book and author links, the great Cybergods in the sky decided to play a little joke on me and erased my half-completed post. So I'm going to type it out in a document, cut and paste, and add links at the end. My full reviews are on the books' pages and in my reviews under my profile.

The Last Lie by Stephen White
One of the Alan Gregory mystery series, this was entertaining but nothing to write home about.

Running the Books by Avi Steinberg
Pimps make the best librarians. Psycho killers, the worst. Ditto con men. Gangsters, gunrunners, bank robbers – adept at crowd control, at collaborating with a small staff, at planning with deliberation and executing with contained fury, all possess the librarian's
basic skill set.

This memoir by a prison librarian was probably my favorite book for October – I loved it.

How to be an American Housewife by Margaret Dilloway
A young Japanese girl living not far from Nagasaki during the bombing at the end of WWII later marries an Irish-American stationed in Japan. Not out of love but because this is her best choice, the person her father chose for her from a stack of photos.

This was a sweet novel about trying to fit into a new culture, beautifully written.

Star Island by Carl Hiaasen
I've enjoyed this author's books in the past, like his quirky sense of humor, his writing about Florida, his very unreal, strange characters. This one didn't work for me. It seemed like just a rehash of his old books and like the author was just going through the motions, not writing something new.

Red Wolf by Liza Marklund
In this book, part of a mystery series, Swedish journalist Annika Bengtzon is looking into a terrorist attack that happened decades earlier, in 1969. Along the way, there are a few fresh murders, but everything is tied up cleanly by the end of the book. The last 50 or so pages were fast-paced and interesting. I wish I could say as much for the rest of the story. I ended up skimming much of this, found it somewhat boring and too drawn out.

Bitter in the Mouth by Monique Truong
This lovely book is literary Southern Lit with a bit of a twist. Linda is a child who can taste certain spoken words, is sometimes bombarded with tastes. Her mother is distant. Her acerbic grandmother, on her death bed, tells Linda, “What I know about you, little girl, would break you in two.” Friendship, family, betrayal, love, and too many secrets – they are all here. Action – not so much. I very much enjoyed this soft, lyrical story.

Snakewoman of Little Egypt by Robert Hellenga
The snake woman, aka Willa Fern aka Sunny, shot her husband and served time. And when she got out of prison, it was to an entirely new life with an anthropologist who used to live in Africa. The trouble is that Sunny's old life, married to the abusive preacher of the snake-handling and strychnine-drinking Church of the Burning Bush with Signs Following, kept interrupting her new life.

As far as action, there wasn't a lot of it. For detail, there was often too much for my taste. The snake-handling and the scientific bits about snakes were interesting. There were a couple of places that made me really, really glad I'm a vegetarian. Occasionally, I was bored. In the end, I enjoyed and liked the story, but didn't love it.

My Reading Life by Pat Conroy
Mr. Conroy loves words. He loves their flow, their tumble and play. And he isn't afraid to use them. I learned this when I first start reading his fiction with its exultant, flowery phrases, with its parallels to his own life. This nonfiction book tells me why he writes as he does.

I grew up a word-haunted boy. I felt words inside me and stored them wondrous as pearls. I mouthed them and fingered them and rolled them around my tongue. My mother filled my bedtime hour with poetry that rang like Sanctus bells as she praised the ineffable loveliness of the English language with her Georgia-scented voice. I found that hive of words beautiful beyond all conveyance.

The next time I read Conroy's fiction, I will appreciate it all the more for understanding a bit of the man who wrote it.

The Year of Pleasures by Elizabeth Berg
I read this for a F2F book club, and probably would not have chosen it otherwise. Betta Nolan loses her much beloved husband to cancer when she is too old to be a young woman and too young to be an old woman, when she doesn't know quite who she is. She has isolated herself and had no real friends except for her husband. Alone, adrift, she takes a road trip to find a new place to live, a small town where she can begin again.

I loved the descriptions of the small town she found. I loved the different personalities of the friends who entered her life. What I didn't like quite so much was her total self-absorption, completely understandable for this character, but it became a little boring to read. Her husband became almost a saint in her eyes, and that got old.

The Year of Pleasures is a sweet, pleasant read, but not one that I will remember a year from now.

The Last Lie by Stephen White
Running the Books: The Adventures of an Accidental Prison Librarian by Avi Steinberg
How to Be an American Housewife by Margaret Dilloway
Star Island by Carl Hiaasen
Red Wolf by Liza Marklund
Bitter in the Mouth: A Novel by Monique Truong
Snakewoman of Little Egypt by Robert Hellenga
The Year of Pleasures by Elizabeth Berg
My Reading Life by Pat ConroyPat Conroy

Happy November reading, everyone!
{Edit: I forgot the link to My Reading Life.}