Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


funnier and cuter than i expected! Great little read.
What i kept noticing, was that this book was written in 1999! Crazy! A few internet and cell phone references- as well as the news about Charles and Camilla getting together- made it kind of fun to remember... I could not stop imagining Colin Firth, and that made it even easier to read. love him.



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Interview With the Vampire by Anne Rice

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


I don't really have anything to say about this except I am recording that I read it on my blog and goodreads. I felt generally creeped out by this book and uninterested in vampires as a result. I think I thought for a second that I should read it because it was pretty popular when it came out, and now you can't turn around without seeing a vampire TV show or new book series. Maybe it was the vampire mothership?

Then I decided to watch the movie afterwards in case it would make me feel better about myself for reading this, since it was a pretty big movie in 1994? I must have been a busy 3rd grader to have missed it. Stephanie Meyer was 100% an Anne Rice fan though. She had to have been, because the descriptions in Twilight and this are too close for comfort.

That's all. Don't read it unless you are a total vampire lover and want to time travel for the movie premier to be undisturbed by the special effects and a blonde Tom Cruise. I want my weekend back.



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Bastard Out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I just wanted to give this book a review really fast, even though I finished it a little while ago...
I read Bastard because it's been sitting on my shelf for about 3 years.  My cousin Amelia was reading it for her AP High School english class, so I thought I'd tag along.  First of all, I can't believe they read this book in high school.  It was such a horrible story. Horrible.  Greg would ask me what was wrong when he caught me reading because my face was always contorted with worry or angst.  It was so well written though, and Allison really conveyed Bone's, (our narrator) fear and that awful feeling of being stuck due to circumstance.  My anger with her mother was palpable.  It reminded me of reading The Glass Castle, and how frustrating it was for these children, born to poor families, who did not really understand there were options beyond the life they were living.  Bone's strength was incredible.  Makes you think, doesn't it?  Makes me feel lucky, that's for sure.


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Room by Emma Donoghue

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


What a trip. Told entirely in the perspective of a five year old, Room grabbed hold of me for two days and I couldn't get out.
Jack and his mother are locked inside an 11x11 room by a man, 'Old Nick' and the story unravels from there. The story of Jack and Ma's plight was gripping, but the things that kept me reading were all the discoveries and explanations Jack came up with to cope with his living conditions. A story of survival, escape, family and how we call things home.... Great summer read. Or spring read if you are already pretending it's summer vacation.



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Peony in Love by Lisa See

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Well the first thing you should know about reading this book is that it’s a ghost story. You have to really suspend disbelief considering it’s also historical fiction. what?



The scenery was beautiful, and the descriptions of chinese customs, especially marriage and burial ceremonies were so intricate and specific, that I’m glad i’m not a chinese girl back in the 1600s.

1700s?

I don’t know.



I’ll always appreciate some feminist lit though, and you get a little of that as Peony takes you along for the ride as women find their voices and begin to be published as poets and critics... The entire middle was ugly, like insecure jealous-ugly, and you’d think a ghost would be able to have some more perspective instead of ruining some mortal peoples’ lives. spoiler alert.



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