Princess Academy by Shannon Hale
People have been recommending Shannon Hale to me for quite some time, so when I was at the library and spotted this book on the shelf I thought sure, why not, and picked it up. I'm glad I did so. I read it in about two days and really enjoyed it. She's a YA author and lives in Salt Lake City--I'm guessing she's LDS too, but I'm not positive on that one. Anyway, the book really emphasizes the importance of education and how it can bless not only your life but the lives of family members and even your community. This book really felt like a breath of fresh air filled with people who love one another and their homes. I'd definitely recommend it.
The Spare-Time Gardner by Barbara Freeman
I don't usually read gardening books from cover to cover, but that is exactly what I did with this one. This is a book that I actually want to buy, I like it that much and think it is that useful to have around. Freeman's writing style is casual and friendly, but her advice and counsel are rock solid. She explains costs and watering and kinds of plants that are easy to maintain among tons of other things (there's even a chapter on the latin names of plants and why it's important and time-saving to learn them). And she's funny. If you are looking for a good gardening book to get you started then this is the one for you.
Nights on Rodanthe by Nicholas Sparks
This one was for my book club. I'm not a Nicholas Sparks fan at all and this book did not change my mind. I just don't like his writing style and he's always killing his main characters (usually the women, this time it was the man). I just think his writing style is overly sentimental and cheesy. Also, the storyline was sort of stupid in my opinion. Anyway, our meeting is tonight and I have a feeling I'll be in the minority for not liking this book. For some reason, Nicholas Sparks is really popular. Can somebody please explain to me why that is? In short, I do not recommend this book.
The Great Train Robbery by Michael Crichton
I got about a third of the way into this book and it just wasn't grabbing my attention, so I've shelved it for later. A friend of mine totally loved it and her recommendation is why I started reading it in the first place. We own it (Tim is a big Crichton fan) so I'll just try it again later.
4 comments:
I agree with the Nicholas Sparks thing, he is very cheesy. I read his book, I think it was called "The Wedding" and I just kept thinking, "Why am I still reading this?"
I went to a lecture and the author said that Nicholas Sparks and other crappy authors stick the right ingredients in a book to get emotional responses from the reader, only they don't earn them through good writing. He said a good author can evoke feelings and emotions through the writing whereas these crap authors cheat them out of you through the events etc. Does that make sense? It was a good point, I though.
So people read these books because they had the correct formula to tug at their heart or make them cry or whatever even though the writing sucked hard.
you should read Shannon Hale's goose girl and Enna Burning next. I liked them.
I was also going to say you should read Goose Girl next- i think that was my favorite of Hale's so far.
I haven't read Nicholas Sparks and I don't think I will. I don't like cheesy books.
Mmmmm. I like cheese. Maybe I will read it... eventually.
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