Jen on the Edge

I love to read. Love it. Could do it for hours and hours every single day. I’ll try to list books here, but since I started (and later dismantled) a book blog and then tried (and gave up on) GoodReads, I can’t promise I’ll be any better at this. Just because I love books doesn’t mean I like to write about them.

June 2008 books

• Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver. This is the second time I’ve read this book and I enjoyed it every bit as much as i did the first time around. An excellent read.
• Princess Academy by Shannon Hale. A Newberry Honor Book and with good reason. An excellent book for girls, the central theme in Princess Academy is about finding one’s inner strength.
• The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo. A Newberry Medal winner — no surprise at all. A wonderful tale of love and loyalty. Definitely worth your time.
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling — This was my second go with this book and I liked even more than the first time.
• Green Darkness by Anya Seton — Published in the early 1970s, I first read this book at least 20 years ago. It’s a bit Gothic and dramatic, but definitely a good summer read.
• Dragonwyck by Anya Seton — Recommended to me as a diverting summer read. I agree it was a nice diversion, but definitely not great literature. More of fluffy book to fill a rainy afternoon. As with Green Darkness, this one is also Gothic and high on drama.
• The Gold Coast by Nelson DeMille — Also recommended as an entertaining summer read. Not very fast paced, but Demille’s humor and frequent snark keep things lively.
• The Tale of Emily Windsnap by Liz Kessler — For children ages 8-12.  A wonderful book about a girl who discovers she’s a mermaid and all the amazing adventures that follow.

May 2008 books

• Fairest by Gail Carson Levine — “Snow White” retold. Pretty good. Not as good as Ella Enchanted, but still worth your time.
• How Starbucks Saved My Life by Michael Gates Gill — The story of how a son of privilege lost it all and ended up as a barista at Starbucks. Meh. Didn’t thrill me.
• Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen — Gripping. I couldn’t put it down. So I didn’t.
• ADHD & Me: What I Learned from Lighting Fires at the Dinner Table by Blake E.S. Taylor. ADHD from the perspective of a 17 y.o. boy. Very good. Perfect if you have ADHD or live with someone who does.
• The Appeal by John Grisham — Gripping, but the ending pissed me off greatly. So glad it’s a library book and not something I spent money on.
• Playing with the Grown-ups by Sophie Dahl — With a cast of unconventional characters and unexpected plot twists, this is exactly the kind of book one expects from a granddaughter of Roald Dahl.
• Living Like Ed: A Guide to the Eco-Friendly Life by Ed Begley Jr. An easy-to read book by one of Hollywood’s greenest actors, this book is chock-full of good advice and tips.
• The Broker by John Grisham — I re-read this one to remind myself about why I read Grisham in the first place. While not as good as his first few books, this one definitely entertains me and makes up for the time I wasted on another one of his books (see above).
• The Penderwicks on Gardam Street by Jeanne Birdsall. The sequel to the The Penderwicks, which won the National Book Award, this book is every bit and charming and well-written as the first.
• Such a Pretty Fat by Jen Lancaster. The third memoir from this author; Pretty Fat gives conclusive evidence why Jen Lancaster has been repeatedly published. She’s funny, intelligent, so full of snark as to make me look pathetic in comparison.