The Adventures of a Constant Reader

I have been looking for ways to get out of the house every so often.  Being a stay at home mom to a four-month-old during cold and flu season is the worst.  I've been living like a hermit since she was born in an attempt to avoid the flu.  I have the WORST case of cabin fever right now.  I discovered that my local library has a book club and I decided to take a look at the books they had read in the past to get an idea of whether I'd like to join.  Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney was their read from last month. The book follows Lillian Boxfish, an 85-year-old ex ad woman, as she walks around New York city on New Years Eve 1984.  The book alternates between the "present day" 1984 and the past as Lillian walks around New York reminiscing about her rise as a female ad writer in the 1930's.  Lillian ultimately becomes the most famous female ad writer and we see how that affects her and her family as the book goes along....

One of the books I've read outside of book club was Emma in the Night by Wendy Walker.  This was one of the books I got when I tried the Book of the Month club.  I'll admit the cover drew me in.  I'm a sucker for a good book cover.  I've even been known to re-purchase a book if it's released later with a cover I like better than the one I have.  Superficial, I know. In my defense, the premise of the book sounded interesting too.  In this book two sisters disappear and, three years later, one returns.  When Cass returns without her sister, the titular Emma, she weaves a story of the events that transpired that is full of holes and leaves her family and investigators with more questions than answers.  This is a book that I regret buying, pretty cover or no.  The ending is pretty obvious from the beginning, I didn't like the writing, and the whole plot would have been tied up easier if Cass had just told the truth from the beginn...

Hello there!  I seem to have fallen behind again.  On a good note, my baby is now four months old and growing like a weed!  I'm so very proud of her. A couple of months ago my book club read American Gods by Neil Gaiman.  This was my pick.  I loved Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch and have been looking to read more Gaiman and Pratchett.  I had also just started watching the Starz TV series so I figured it'd be a good way to read the book before I continued with the series.  I love the concept of this book.  When people immigrate to the United States they bring all sorts of things with them, why wouldn't they also bring their gods?  It's interesting to think about the different versions of each god living all around the world and how they would all be different due to the influence of the different areas they've been living in.  I also love the conflict between the old gods and the new gods....

This month's read for book club was In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware.  Ware is a mystery/suspense writer and she's also known for the novel The Woman in Cabin 10, and The Lying Game .  I was looking forward to this one.  I tend to like suspense novels and I needed something fun and easy to read since my brain is mush from lack of sleep.  My adorable daughter seems to have gotten her days and nights confused recently.  I had also read some reviews that described this book as scary, something that needs to be read with the light on.  I do love a scary book.  This proved to be exactly what I needed and I finished it so quickly that I immediately checked out The Lying Game from the library.  I cannot stress enough what a wonderful resource your local library can be.  I've made a resolution this year to not buy as many books as I typically do.  My goal is to only purchase books that I know I'm going to read multiple times, or are written by ...

Let me tell you, life as a first time mom is rough!  Learning to take care of my daughter, round the clock feedings, and trying to get some sleep have taken up a lot of my time lately.  I have been reading, I just haven't been able to make it to my computer to type up my reviews for a while.  Now I'm back! First up in my to be reviewed queue is Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie.  I read this book in high school, but I didn't remember very much about it so I was looking forward to a re-read.  The movie was just about to come out when we decided to read this for book club.  Once we were finished reading we went to see the movie together so I'll be reviewing that too. The Book The book finds Christie's famous detective, Hercule Poirot, embarking on a trip via train.  In leu of a leasurely vacation he ends up with a new case when one his fellow passengers is found murdered in his room.  Hercule reluctantly takes the case and beg...

In September I received a notification in my email from the Book of the Month Club that said I could get Stephen King and Owen King’s new Book Sleeping Beauties for free if I resigned up for the monthly subscription.  I had been planning to pick up this book anyway so I figured, why not?  Their usual box is $14.99 per month.  I got a “credit” for one book and had to pay the $9.99 they typically charge for an additional book for the second book.  So for $9.99 (shipping is free!) I got Sleeping Beauties and Emma in the Night by Wendy Walker.     When you first sign up for the Book of the Month Club ( https://www.bookofthemonth.com/enroll ) they’ll ask you some questions about the types of books you like, and how many books you read per month so they can get a feel for what to recommend for you.  You’ll fill in all your billing information and it’ll give you a few books to pick from for your first box.  You can either pick jus...

     I'm back!  I've been MIA for a little while because I was preparing for my daughter to arrive.  She was born last Saturday!  We're in good health and now that we're starting to get a routine down I can work on my blog again.      I was really excited when one of the book club members requested that we read The Wars of the Roses:  The Fall of the Plantagenets and the Rise of the Tudors by Dan Jones.  Not only am I an avid attendee of both the Renaissance fairs in my area, but I've always been interested in the history behind the British throne.  I recently found out through ancestry.com that one of my ancestors, William Duke of Hastings, was pretty heavily involved in the events that occurred under the rule of King Edward V so I was interested to see what this book would have to say about him.      I was initially worried that this book would be dry, since it's a history book, but I was pleasan...