New Book

I finished Game and really didn't like it much.  I guess if you really enjoyed basketball, it might appeal to you, but I can't imagine even recommending this book to the basketball players at my school.  They play many games, and specific plays in each game are explained using basketball "lingo."  I love watching basketball, but reading a play-by-play isn't my idea of a good book.  I guess because the main character is an inner-city, disadvantaged black youth who is a very good basketball player, I expected that something dramatic or even tragic might happen, but I was disappointed in this also.  I've read other Walter Dean Myers books and expect more from him.

I'm starting Deadline by Chris Crutcher.  This book has been recommended by one of the teachers at my school, who said she wished she had read it when she was a teenager, and that she recommends it to many of her students.

Game - by Walter Dean Myers

I finished Evermore.  It was a light, chick romance kind of book.  Very predictable, and one of those books where the main character takes FOREVER to figure out what's going on, when it seems so obvious to the reader.  I think students will like it, it is a quick entertaining read, with a  happy ending, and of course its the first in a series!

Now I'm reading Game by Walter Dean Myers.  I'm sure it will be quick, and  I like to keep up the variety in my reading choices.  I need quick, because my reading pace has slowed dramatically since the Olympics have started.

Evermore - A New Novel

I finished The Story of Edgar Sawtelle and I'm very glad it's over.  The book is just not a happy book -- in fact, it's completely tragic -- and it's not like it ever appeared that it might end happily.  I really enjoyed the dog training and the discussion of training for companionship vs. work.  It gave me a new appreciation for my dog --and now I'm always wondering what she's thinking about her life, and what I ask of her.  They are so smart.  Anyway, I'm ready for something different!

And so, I'm going to read Evermore, by Alyson Noel, the first book in The Immortals series.  Looks like a fantasy -- a far cry from dog training and death (I hope.)

Queen's Fool Audiobook

I usually have an audiobook going that I have downloaded onto my iPod.  The problem with this is that the only time I listen is on car trips, which I used to have a lot of, but not so much anymore.  I just finished The Queen's Fool by Philippa Gregory, which I think I started about 9 months ago.  I took such a long break at one point that I got confused about where I was, so I checked the book out of the library to help me get it sorted out.  I've started to try to remember to listen while I am doing housework, but  you know "The Housework Isn't Getting Done!"

I really liked the book.  It's sort of an epic tale, that I might not have stuck out if it wasn't in audiobook form.  I love historical fiction, and this takes place in the middle 1500s, with all the turmoil of wars between France and England, the shaky position of the monarchy and all the subterfuge about who gets the throne, and of course the burnings at the stake.  Seems you had to change your religious beliefs according to who the current monarch was in order to survive.  The story includes lots of infidelity among the court, which I suppose was true, and also contributed to making the successor to the throne somewhat questionable.

The main character in the story is Hannah, whose mother was burned at the stake in France because they were Jewish.  She and her father escaped to London to begin a new life as "Catholics."  Hannah, because she has the ability to "see" certain future events, ends up in service to Queen Mary.  Hannah eventually is betrothed and married, and the story is really of her life, but with much historical detail.

The reader speaks with an English accent, so every time I stopped listening, I was prone to talking with an accent!  It's part of her "Boleyn" series and I think there's 4 books in the series, this one isn't the first, but it didn't really matter.  I may put some others on my audiobook list.

Finished!

I finished Hold Tight, and what a tangled web!  Not like his other books -- not so much suspense but more curiosity about how this is all gonna end. Lots of characters, but I didn't find it difficult to follow.   Loved it.  Recommended, as all of Coben's books are.

I'm back to Edgar . . .

Book Interrupted

I took a break from Edgar Sawtelle.  I'm really enjoying the book, but its "literary" and doesn't have much action.  I felt myself getting antsy for the next book, so I decided to go ahead and read something else -- something quick.  So, to meet the "action" criteria, I'm reading Harlan Coben's Hold Tight.  I've never been disappointed in a Coben book -- if you haven't read him, you should give it a try.  I think part of the reason I get impatient with "adult" books is that the majority of my reading falls into the young adult category.  Coben is an adult writer but has great appeal for young adults.  At least one of his books has been on the "Abe Lincoln" list -- the high school book award for Illinois students. (See my Animoto slide show at the bottom of this page to see this year's nominees.)

I've already read 150 pages, and of course am enthralled, so it won't be long until I'm back to Edgar.