February Book List

Sorry it's late, but better late than never. :)

Case Histories by Kate Atkinson
Sarah Dessen recommended this in her LJ, so I had to get it. It's about the unrelated cold cases of a missing sister, a murdered daughter, and a crazed housewife, and the jaded detective who tries to solve them. It was very absorbing, but not quite as good as I expected.

Jane Austen in Scarsdale: or Love, Death and the SATs by Paula Marantz Cohen
I LOVED this book. I haven't read Persuasion (I know), but this is supposed to be a modern retelling. Anne, a high school guidance counselor, tries to help students, take care of her grandmother, and get over the man who got away ten years ago, whose nephew is now one of her students. I really liked these characters. They were so real. To me that's what good writing is about.

Shopgirl by Steve Martin
This book was a little explicit for my taste, but it's very well-written (who knew Steve Martin could write?). If you haven't seen the movie, it's about Mirabelle, a depressed glove salesgirl in LA, and the two men in her life: Roy, the suave older man, and Jeremy, the young slacker. For some reason I liked the ending much better in book form.

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
This is the love story of Bella, a misfit, and Edward, a vampire. But it's so much more than that. Bella unhappily moves to her father's house in the rainiest place in America, for the sake of her mother, who's getting remarried. Resigned to a dull, depressing life, she instead meets Edward and gets swept into his life and his unusual family. It's a fantastic and very intense story - I read the whole thing in one afternoon because I couldn't put it down. Last night I found out there's a sequel. I can't wait to read it.

Senator's Bride, Daring Bride, Courageous Bride, and A Montclair Homecoming by Jane Peart
The last books of the Brides of Montclair series. These books take the Montrose and Cameron families (and their zillion descendants) through suffragism, both world wars, and finally, the '80s. They were decent, but I just don't love them like I do the earlier books. Maybe because the earlier books are happier. I like escapism in my historical fiction. :)

Peeps by Scott Westerfeld
Another teenage vampire book - I'm not developing an unhealthy fascination, it was just coincidence. :) This story is about Cal, a guy who has the "disease" of vampirism but not the symptoms, so he's specially qualified to hunt down full vampires and send them to some sort of rehab. In the process of hunting the girl who infected him, he discovers that nothing he's been taught is what it seems. The subject matter isn't too pleasant, and there are a few icky sections about parasites (which almost made me give up on the book, though I really like Scott Westerfeld). But the twisty ending redeemed the whole thing for me.

Total for February: 9
2007 year to date: 24

February Book List

Sorry it's late, but better late than never. :)

Case Histories by Kate Atkinson
Sarah Dessen recommended this in her LJ, so I had to get it. It's about the unrelated cold cases of a missing sister, a murdered daughter, and a crazed housewife, and the jaded detective who tries to solve them. It was very absorbing, but not quite as good as I expected.

Jane Austen in Scarsdale: or Love, Death and the SATs by Paula Marantz Cohen
I LOVED this book. I haven't read Persuasion (I know), but this is supposed to be a modern retelling. Anne, a high school guidance counselor, tries to help students, take care of her grandmother, and get over the man who got away ten years ago, whose nephew is now one of her students. I really liked these characters. They were so real. To me that's what good writing is about.

Shopgirl by Steve Martin
This book was a little explicit for my taste, but it's very well-written (who knew Steve Martin could write?). If you haven't seen the movie, it's about Mirabelle, a depressed glove salesgirl in LA, and the two men in her life: Roy, the suave older man, and Jeremy, the young slacker. For some reason I liked the ending much better in book form.

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
This is the love story of Bella, a misfit, and Edward, a vampire. But it's so much more than that. Bella unhappily moves to her father's house in the rainiest place in America, for the sake of her mother, who's getting remarried. Resigned to a dull, depressing life, she instead meets Edward and gets swept into his life and his unusual family. It's a fantastic and very intense story - I read the whole thing in one afternoon because I couldn't put it down. Last night I found out there's a sequel. I can't wait to read it.

Senator's Bride, Daring Bride, Courageous Bride, and A Montclair Homecoming by Jane Peart
The last books of the Brides of Montclair series. These books take the Montrose and Cameron families (and their zillion descendants) through suffragism, both world wars, and finally, the '80s. They were decent, but I just don't love them like I do the earlier books. Maybe because the earlier books are happier. I like escapism in my historical fiction. :)

Peeps by Scott Westerfeld
Another teenage vampire book - I'm not developing an unhealthy fascination, it was just coincidence. :) This story is about Cal, a guy who has the "disease" of vampirism but not the symptoms, so he's specially qualified to hunt down full vampires and send them to some sort of rehab. In the process of hunting the girl who infected him, he discovers that nothing he's been taught is what it seems. The subject matter isn't too pleasant, and there are a few icky sections about parasites (which almost made me give up on the book, though I really like Scott Westerfeld). But the twisty ending redeemed the whole thing for me.

Total for February: 9
2007 year to date: 24