New book . . .

What the Dead Know is an excellent crime novel.  It really is a CRIME novel, not a suspense, thriller, or who-done-it.  Lippman is a great story-teller.  She gives wonderful descriptions of characters and settings.  I like the way her novels jump from the present to the past, slowly filling in the blanks.  It was just a very satisfying read.

Now I am going to read Little Bee, which I am really excited about.  I've heard lots of good things about this book-- it's been on the best-seller list, and I had to wait a couple of weeks to get it through inter-library loan.  Must be good . . .

I have to stop!

I have read 61 pages of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and I've had enough.  I get it.  It's exactly the same story as the original, but a desirable trait in the women is the defensive arts.  Every journey they make, they have to stop and avoid or kill some of the "undead."  They are also very flippant about the many deaths of friends and acquaintances at the hands of the zombies.  There doesn't seem to be any concern or mourning.  It is just weird.  Maybe, if I read farther something significant would HAPPEN involving the zombies, but I felt like I was reading Pride and Prejudice again, and although it's been a long time, I'm just not up for that right now.  Not with my reading list as long as it is.  So  . . . next on the list is What the Dead Know, by Laura Lippman, a classic crime thriller.  I'm hoping I get to finish it. 

Already finished . .

I finished The Smile yesterday.  Loved it.  Just a really nice historical romance, with some true historical events.  Also, the main character's family are silk worm farmers, so found out a lot of how labor intensive that is!  Very interesting to hear all the artists names before they were famous and about how the people felt about their work.  Of course, the true story of the Mona Lisa isn't known, but Napoli comes up with a very plausible, interesting story.

Now I'm going to read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.  I don't know if this qualifies as adult, but it was on the top 10 list of books that college students are reading.  It's been very popular in my library too.  I read Pride and Prejudice a long time ago, so I hope I can remember enough of the original to fully appreciate this book.  The cover is very catchy too, isn't it?

Can't Resist Historical Fiction

Finished Born to Rock and it was a light-hearted, enjoyable read.  Very far-fetched, but lots of fun.  It reminded me of Korman's Son of the Mob books, which have the same tone, and are easy to recommend to boys, especially.

I know, I said I was going to read an adult book -- but I found this book, The Smile, by Donna Jo Napoli, and it had the Mona Lisa on the front, and I just had to find out what it was about!  (Isn't that cover irresistible!)

A rock 'n roll book

I finished Perfect Chemistry and thought it was a really good teenage romance book.  Has everything you could want -- guy from the "wrong side of the tracks" falls for the prom queen.  Fairly predictable, but still keeps you reading.  The guy is in a gang and doesn't want to be, so that is an element that could educate some teens about a world they aren't familiar with.  A good message about being who you really are, as opposed to who people think you should be.

Now I'm reading something lighter called Born to Rock by Gordon Korman.  It's a quick read, too.  I'm getting the urge to read something "adult" so I think that will be next on the list.  I'll let you know how it goes.

Time for a Teen Romance

I finished Deadline. At first, I really didn't think I was going to like it, but then I told myself, "Get over it.  Suspend disbelief!"  Because I really couldn't believe that a senior in high school could find out he was going to die and not tell anyone about it.  So, after I suspended disbelief, I thought the book was pretty good.  Definitely a message in there.  Something about not judging people by what you THINK they are -- giving people a chance, taking time to learn about them, and care about them, and things like that.  Good book for promoting some good discussions among teens.

Now I'm reading Perfect Chemistry, by Simone Elkeles.  I've read her book Leaving Paradise and enjoyed it, so I'm looking forward to this one.  It's been very popular, and hard to get at the library.  As a matter of fact, I need to hurry and finish this one becuase there's a hold on it (someone else is waiting for it.)