Just after I read The Divide, I picked up "The Smoke Jumper" by Nicholas Evans. I has been sitting on my bookshelf for almost 5 years after I started to read The Loop and just couldn't get into it. The Smoke Jumper was excellent. The setting was basically the same as the other books and centered around the western United States horse country, but the depth of the characters was tremendous and the story pulled you in so that you did not want to put the book down. I liked this one so much, I put it back up on the bookshelf as a "keeper".
Another book club book, "10 Big Ones" by Janet Evanovich. I can't remember what the 10 had to do with the book, but it is part of the Stephanie Plum series and was set in Philadelphia. Now I have read several of Janet's books but I don't particularly remember reading any in this series. They start out at "One for the Money" and now the 12th book will be out in June '06. The book was a very quick read and a good escape for a few hours. Set in Philadelphia, it interested more than it probably would normally since I have just visited the city a few weeks earlier.
I picked up a book my daughter checked out of the library, as I was sitting in the car for several hours watching a softball game during cold weather. It was "Girl, 15, charming but insane" by Sue Limb. It reminded me of a mini "Shopaholic" or "Bridget Jones Diary" book so you really need to like and appreciate the British humor. It was absolutely delightful to read (it only took me a few hours), but it centered around a 15 year-old-girl whose parents were divorced but on friendly terms and the mess she gets herself into and out of.
"The Bonesetter's Daughter" by Amy Tan was just as wonderful as all her other books. Of course, it has the typical Chinese daughter for a traditional Chinese mother. This mother lives in the US but how she got there is an intricate tale of living in a small village and how she finally arrived in the states. Highly recommended on my list and I passed this one on to my mother to read.
"Good in Bed" by Jennifer Weiner was a book that had the playful feel of the british "Shopaholic" books and was a very enjoyable read (except I felt like I couldn't read it in public as I didn't want people to think I was reading a sex therapy book!). This novel follows the life of a slightly overweight woman who cannot get over the fact that she weighs too much and lets it permeate every aspect of her thinking.
Most recently I read "The Mermaid Chair" by Sue Monk Kidd. She is somewhat of a local author, really just in the same state as I am, but it was rich in low country/barrier island setting that makes you want to go back and read Pat Conroy's "The Water is Wide". The character development was rich also, but to make it believable you have to believe in love at first site.
The book at the moment is "girlology" by Melisa Holmes, MD and Trish Hutchison, MD. Melisa's daughter attends school with my daughter, so she was asked to speak to the parents of the 4th through 8th graders about the changes their children were going through at this time in their lives, both physically, emotionally and sexually. She brought a few of the books along and I bought one, thinking they were for parents of preteens. No, this book is for eleven year old girls and older but I decided to read it first so that if my daughter has any questions, she can ask me.
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