Title: Shotgun Lovesongs
Author: Nickolas Butler
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Summary: Henry, Lee, Ronny, Kip and Beth grew up in Little Wing, Wisconsin and have known each other their whole lives. Their lives have each taken their own trajectories but various life events keep bringing them back together.
Review: I listened to this book on CD, so that may be influencing this review. As with any book on CD, the readers can make or break the book. In this case, they made it (except for whoever did Ronny's voice. His voice rubbed me the wrong way for some reason, but not enough to get me take off a star). I think I would have still liked this book even if I'd read it myself. But because the book was so well performed, I loved it. I loved how the book rotated characters, I liked how their lives evolved, I loved it all. There was one event in it that involved a recovering alcoholic falling off the wagon that was rather glossed over, but everything else overwhelmingly made that worth looking over. Highly recommended.
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
Thursday, June 19, 2014
Book review: Caught
Title: Caught
Author: Lisa Moore
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
Summary: David Slaney is 25 years old and has escaped from jail (he was in for marijuana possession). He's looking to reconnect with his former partner Hearn. But before he does that, he needs to stay one step ahead of the authorities who are looking for him. Slaney connects with Hearn and plans to make one last big deal before giving up the drug business for good. Is he successful? Or do the cops catch up with him?
Review: I thought this was a suspense novel but it wasn't very...suspenseful. It wasn't even that eventful. The book wasn't terrible, it just wasn't terribly interesting. He's being chased by an undercover cop but there isn't a lot of character development. Slaney is the main focus and you think you'll get more background on other characters but that doesn't really happen, at least not beyond a superficial level. I liked the epilogue, but by then it was too little too late.
Author: Lisa Moore
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
Summary: David Slaney is 25 years old and has escaped from jail (he was in for marijuana possession). He's looking to reconnect with his former partner Hearn. But before he does that, he needs to stay one step ahead of the authorities who are looking for him. Slaney connects with Hearn and plans to make one last big deal before giving up the drug business for good. Is he successful? Or do the cops catch up with him?
Review: I thought this was a suspense novel but it wasn't very...suspenseful. It wasn't even that eventful. The book wasn't terrible, it just wasn't terribly interesting. He's being chased by an undercover cop but there isn't a lot of character development. Slaney is the main focus and you think you'll get more background on other characters but that doesn't really happen, at least not beyond a superficial level. I liked the epilogue, but by then it was too little too late.
Friday, June 13, 2014
Book review: The Rosie Project
Title: The Rosie Project
Author: Graeme Simsion
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Summary: Don Tillman is a Genetics Professor. While he's brilliant, his social skills are a bit lacking. Example: He's created a questionnaire that he's titled The Wife Project. The questionnaire is designed to help him identify his perfect mate and weed out women with undesirable qualities. Enter Rosie. She's looking for her father and seeks Don's help to help her identify him. Rosie doesn't fit Don's profile of the perfect mate at all, yet he can't get her off of his mind. Maybe love isn't as simple as answering all the questions correctly on a survey?
Review: This is a great beach read, especially for rom com lovers. I waffled between three and four stars and finally landed on the four. It was amusing more than funny (at least to me, maybe I don't get Australian humor?), but it's still cute. It's obvious where the story is going and at times it feels like the author dragged out the ending a bit, but still a light easy read for the summer and it's fun to see Graeme's transformation. He tries really hard to be aware of social cues, but it's hard for him.
Author: Graeme Simsion
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Summary: Don Tillman is a Genetics Professor. While he's brilliant, his social skills are a bit lacking. Example: He's created a questionnaire that he's titled The Wife Project. The questionnaire is designed to help him identify his perfect mate and weed out women with undesirable qualities. Enter Rosie. She's looking for her father and seeks Don's help to help her identify him. Rosie doesn't fit Don's profile of the perfect mate at all, yet he can't get her off of his mind. Maybe love isn't as simple as answering all the questions correctly on a survey?
Review: This is a great beach read, especially for rom com lovers. I waffled between three and four stars and finally landed on the four. It was amusing more than funny (at least to me, maybe I don't get Australian humor?), but it's still cute. It's obvious where the story is going and at times it feels like the author dragged out the ending a bit, but still a light easy read for the summer and it's fun to see Graeme's transformation. He tries really hard to be aware of social cues, but it's hard for him.
Friday, June 6, 2014
Book review: The Lowland
Title: The Lowland
Author: Jhumpa Lahiri
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Summary: Subhash and Udayan are brothers born 15 months apart. Throughout their childhood growing up in Calcutta, they're inseparable. Despite being so close, they're very different, and their lives take very different paths. Subhash ends up moving to the United States, but when tragedy occurs, he goes home. The events that happen while he's home change Subhash's and his brother's wife, Gauri's, life forever.
Review: The only reason I didn't give this book five out of five stars is it took me a while to get into it--I thought it had a bit of a slow start. But once the pace picked up, I loved it. I didn't give a lot away in the Summary, but this book's point of view shifts between Subhash, Gauri, and Gauri and Udayan's daughter Bela. It spans decades, from when Subhash and Udayan are little boys to when Bela's in her forties. It gives closure but also leaves a lot to the imagination.
Author: Jhumpa Lahiri
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Summary: Subhash and Udayan are brothers born 15 months apart. Throughout their childhood growing up in Calcutta, they're inseparable. Despite being so close, they're very different, and their lives take very different paths. Subhash ends up moving to the United States, but when tragedy occurs, he goes home. The events that happen while he's home change Subhash's and his brother's wife, Gauri's, life forever.
Review: The only reason I didn't give this book five out of five stars is it took me a while to get into it--I thought it had a bit of a slow start. But once the pace picked up, I loved it. I didn't give a lot away in the Summary, but this book's point of view shifts between Subhash, Gauri, and Gauri and Udayan's daughter Bela. It spans decades, from when Subhash and Udayan are little boys to when Bela's in her forties. It gives closure but also leaves a lot to the imagination.
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