La Vie en Curlsz Part One

... but they have to let me read what I want to read!

Well Stephenie Meyer has thoroughly taken over this country - at least the Twilight series is better than some of those other book fads like The Secret (so glad I refused to read that one!). And what's even better the all mighty O did NOT tell the world to read this book - the world did it somewhat on their own!!! Ohhhhh happy day, ohhh happy dayyyyy!

You may recall my recommending these books this past summer - though if you chose to wait till the last one was out to jump on the bandwagon you were smart, waiting between book 3 and 4 was brutal.

But I must remind you that she has also written an amazing book that I also recommended called The Host - I actually read that one first and then discovered Twilight series, backwards girl aile one. (little secret, if you want to read the unfinished version of Edward's take on Twilight go here, ps this may be all we ever get of it too.)

At the moment I have just read book 5 of an 8 book series called The Outlander series. These have taken over my life!!!! Worst part - only SIX of the books have been written. And she is not a speed writer, she started these in 1991 - people, that's when I was in high school for crimeny!!!

So I am taking a break to read The Story of Edgar Sawtelle - suck it O - I picked this up months before you commanded the world to read it!! It's similar to Leif Enger's Peace Like a River which I devoured, it's a great story, but it's more about the story telling than anything else.

Next up - The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. And then #6 of the Outlander Series; Breath of Snow and Ashes, I'm holding out since I have no idea when #7 will be finished! Maybe if I stalk her she'll hurry up....

To clarify, Breaking Dawn is the fourth and sadly the final installment to the Twilight Series. I and half of the female nation are highly addicted.

Would I recommend? Absolutely - Stephenie Meyer is a master author in my opinion, she knows how to suck her readers in and leave us shamelessly begging for more. I have also recommended The Host - which is her first adult novel.

The Twilight Series is categorized as young adult...but as Meyer says "categories should never keep you from reading a good book." And I agree.

However, it is about vampires - but just like The Host which is about alien invasion...it is really more about the relationships between the characters. The vampire idea is really more of a prop, a setting. But if you can't get passed that then I guess I don't recommend.

So, the summer reading list so far, some of been good, some great, some not so great...

The Great

I ended up devouring Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series and now have to wait till stinkin August 2nd to get the 4th and last of the series!!! I picked up the first with much trepidation thinking if I liked it I'd get the other two - I was about 2 chapters in before I high tailed it to Borders to buy the rest! (Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn comes out Aug 2)

Leif Enger's Peace Like a River - this book is amazing, the writing is so poignant and I connected with the characters within the first chapter! I can't wait to read another one of his books.

Thomas H. Cook's Places in the Dark - not so much a who done it but how did it happen type of murder mystery. The mystery unfolds to the reader as well as the characters involved so you feel like you are apart of the mystery rather than watching it from a distance.

The Good

Water for Elephants, Sara Gruen - Peta lovers do not read, a bit dark in places but overall a very good book with a great story (this I would put between great and good)

Secret of Lost Things, Sheridan Hay - characters ranging from the odd to pathetic, of course that makes for an interesting story

The People's Act of Love, James Meek - challenging but really a good story, could possibly be classified as historical fiction...great learning tool.


The Not So Good

The Year of the Fog, Michelle Richmond - I will never read another child kidnapping story again, it's just too much!!

And New to the List

1. The Other by David Guterson
2. Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri


Original list and recommendations

Ok here are some recommendations for those needing some great beach reads and what not. Items marked with an * are actually on my list to read but have come so highly recommended by so many people I feel safe putting it on the list. Also, you'll notice these are all contemporary books, classics are a whole other story I could list those for days - and honestly there are a lot more recommendations than this list but it would be a bit overwhelming, so these are the more recent discoveries.

1. Time Traveler's Wife, Audrey Niffeneger (amazing book I literally finished and flipped to page one to read it again immediately)
2. The Host, Stephenie Meyer (see comments on previous post)
3. Love Walked In, Marisa de los Santos
4. Belong to Me, Marisa de los Santos (not really a sequel to Love Walked In, but the same characters and I think is more fun to read after you read Love Walked In)
5. The Memory Keeper's Daughter, Kim Edwards
6. The Turquoise Mask, Phyllis K Whitney
7. Same Kind of Different as Me*, Ron Hall etc.
8. Water for Elephants *, Sara Gruen
9. The Osterman Weekend, Robert Ludlam (author of Bourne Identity etc)
10. The Book Thief *, Markus Zusak
11. Sundays at Tiffany's, James Patterson (I read this in one day, easy read, perfect for the plane or a day at the beach)

My personal reading list for the summer (not recommendations, this is my list if you are interested in picking up some extra books)

1. The People's Act of Love, James Meek (currently reading)
2. Water for Elephants, Sara Gruen
3. Same Kind of Different as Me, Ron Hall etc.
4. Twilight, Stephenie Meyer (and if I like that one I'll read the series, #'s5-7. It's Young Adult so surely it will be a fast read)
5. Eclipse, Stephenie Meyer
6. New Moon, Stephenie Meyer
7. Breaking Dawn, Stephenie Meyer
8. Cat's Cradle, Kurt Vonnegut
9. Man in the High Castle, Phillip K Dick
10. The Year of the Fog, Michelle Richmond
11. The Book Thief, Markus Zusak
12. Sheer Abandon, Penny Vincenzi
13. It's Only Temporary: the Good News & Bad News of Being Alive, Evan Handler (Harry from Sex in the City)
14. Death in Venice, Thomas Mann
15. The Secret of Lost Things, Sheridan Hay
16. The Stolen Child, Keith Donohue
17. Silas Marner, George Eliot
18. Peace Like a River, Lief Enger
19. Ivanhoe, Sir Walter Scott
20. Places in the Dark, Thomas H. Cook


PS if you have a Border's Bookstore take advantage of the FREE membership and get 40% off most new books - and they have a table for buy one get next half price - then when you check out you get 20% off next purchase. Barnes N Noble makes you pay for their membership and sadly shipping costs can really add up at Amazon!

This book is incredible, I was devastated when it was over, I could read it again in a heartbeat.

Disclaimer - it IS science fiction - but as the author's website states, it's science fiction for those that don't like science fiction. In other words, you can get past the sci fi pretty easily because really it focuses more on the relationships in the book more than anything else.

Some people have asked me for a summer reading list - I guess just recommendations. I'll get to that soon, I'm on my way to the bookstore now to pick up a new one because sadly I finished The Host last night.

Read the summary here.