Overdue Book Review

As you will recall, before my resumption of stitching, I was reading heavily. I finished two books and never posted about them. Before I forget them completely, here are my thoughts.

Little Earthquakes by Jennifer Weiner. It was recommended by Chinaberry as a must read for any woman. I usually like Chinaberry's reviews; I found Love in the Driest Season, The Mercy of Thin Air and numerous books for Angie and friends through my Chinaberry Catalogue.

I didn't like it.

It isn't that it is a horrible book. It's just not my kind of book. It's about four women who meet during pregnancy (sort of) and their various trials and tribulations. The characters are okay--likeable enough. There's the marital affair, the unpleasant in-law, the woman hiding her insecurity through brand names and then the person who has dealt with a real tragedy. It contains the completely unnecessary sex scenes apparently designed to show that it's for an adult audience that I complained about earlier. The character I liked the most, we "see" the least. And then there was the obligatory happy ending. For everyone. Sort of. It's well done for it's genre. I just didn't enjoy it.

My reaction: Meh.

Mossflower by Brian Jacques.

Loved it. Loved it more than Redwall. It's just great action/adventure. I was struck by the genius of developing these stories using animals. The author can give them human characteristics, but also tap into their useful animal traits. I wish I had purchased more in this series.

So there is the difference in my tastes: I'm not terribly girly. I like escapism in my literature and my entertainment. It can have romance, but I really need to believe in the romance. For a television example--Crichton and Aeryn took my breath away, the debacle that was the most recent episode of Battlestar Galactica with Starbuck and Apollo made me gag and want to reach through the screen and smack them both. Maybe smack a few other characters for good measure. I'm just finicky.

Next up on my reading list is either another book in the Redwall series, or The Expected One by Kathleen McGowan. Chinaberry says it will change my life. I'm not sure I'm braced to have a book change my life. Maybe that is why I'm stitching so much.