Review: The Imperfectionists (Tom Rachman)

Now, I work in a newsroom, so I have a little bit of a bias coming into this book. But the reviews had all said this book is fantastic, so I gave it a shot.

Will I sing its praises as one of the best books of the year? Yes, I will. Tom Rachman essentially wrote a collection of short stories all held together by the fact these folks work for an English language newspaper in Rome. None of these characters seems to have a completely functional personality. And, lets face it, most offices have its share of strange people. Newsrooms might have a bigger proportion just because of the nature of the job. Most journalists are glorified gossips. You have to lack a certain amount of shame to but into people's business.

You can think what you want about the media. Again, I work for a newspaper so I have my bias on this. The world of journalism could use a good shake up. Never would I refer to all those pundits out there as journalists. But, in the end, people want to make money and the "journalism" that is out there sells. You want something better? Stop watching the crap that's out there.

OK, that was my preachy moment. Back to The Imperfectionists. Racham really put together a collection of short stories with the newspaper serving as the unifying element. There is the hard-nose editor with a fairly decent family life; the copy editor that lives alone and makes her family believe her life is much more glamorous than it actually is (it's not at all); the accountant that feels the news staff doesn't understand the newspaper's situation; the editor in chief, an ambitious woman that chose her career over having a personal life; and a subscriber that reads every word of the paper, to the point that she is still over a decade behind on the news.

There are other characters, but you get the picture. You would think that working as a journalist in Rome would be a dream job. This book made me want to rethink my chosen field of work. It's realistic in that the relationship between journalists and journalism tends to be, shall we say, dramatic. We've all had our hearts broken by an industry that's intensely competitive and that seems to focus less on finding truth than in pushing certain agendas. The characters in this book have plenty of heartbreak to go around, in and outside the paper.

The reader can see what will happen when it comes to light that the paper has no online presence. After all, we've all seen the dismal numbers for most publications even if they have a strong online product. But Rachman makes them all sympathetic, even when you don't want to feel anything remotely like sympathy towards these folks. They are painfully human. But that's what makes this a fantastic read.

Stylistically, these episodes read almost like different sections of a play. Rachman uses quite a lot of dialogue. It's almost as if he doesn't want to interrupt these people's lives with narrative. If you're looking for detailed descriptions of Rome or Paris or other locations in the book, you will be disappointed. But the locales aren't the focus anyway. The characters make you think: could this be you?

Very worth reading. Considering that The Imperfectionists has been on several best of 2010 lists, Rachman's next book will probably find a lot of eagerly anticipating readers.

Next up: The Bad Girl, by Mario Vargas Llosa

Review: The Demon's Parchment (Jeri Westerson)

So it has been too long since I have signed in. I had teased that I would write about Tatiana de Rosnay's latest book, A Secret Kept. I will admit that I got through the beginning of the book, but I couldn't get interested enough to finish it.

It wouldn't be fair to review the book, since I'm not completely sure that it just wasn't the time for me to read it. Since then, I have plowed through a bunch of seriously crappy novels. The Demon's Parchment isn't included in the list of crappy books.

This is the third book in the Crispin Guest series. Author Jeri Westerson calls these "medieval noir." They are mystery stories with the hint of the supernatural. In the first book, Veil of Lies, we meet Crispin Guest, a dishonored knight that barely escaped execution after joining a conspirancy to assassinate King Richard II. Crispin now makes a living as a sort of private investigator. He's gained enough fame to be known around London as "The Tracker." The second book in the series is Serpent in the Thorns. Both of these books have Crispin looking for one relic of another.

Not high literature, but entertaining and quick to read. In this installment, the relic is Jewish, not Christian. Westerson doesn't modernize Crispin completely, which a little annoying but more realistic. In the beginning he's anti-Semitic, just as most Christians were back then I'm sure. He's hired by the Queen's physician, a French Jew brought in to help the Queen conceive, to find a Jewish manuscript which contains information that could doom the doctor and his son. Crispin doesn't readily agree.

The story moves quickly, with a few surprises (and not so surprising surprises) here and there. Although he's incredibly smart, Crispin does manage to get into trouble that he could avoid. He gets beat up several time, as he does in the first two books. He's no superhero. Still, he's likable enough that you want him to succeed.

I'm not particularly good at figuring out who did what, and I have to say I figured it out right away in The Demon's Parchment. Still, I wanted to see how Westerson got the reader to the big reveal. She has given Jack, Crispin's young "valet" if you will, a bigger role with each passing book. I'll enjoy seeing him work his way to becoming Watson to Crispin's Holmes.

Next up: The Imperfectionists, by Tom Rachman.

Review: A Curtain Falls (Stefanie Pintoff)

I picked up this book because I read Pintoff's first mystery, In the Shadow of Gotham, which I really enjoyed (see earlier review below). I didn't realize that it was a sequel to Gotham. Annoyed that I had stumbled upon yet another series, I thought about skipping it. So glad I didn't!

A Curtain Falls picks up four months after Detective Simon Ziele and Professor Alistair Sinclair wrapped up their first case together. They had both thought they wouldn't work together again. Simon starts the story mentioning that he actively avoided seeing Alistair again, as well as Isabella.

The case that brings them back together, of course, tests their intellect and their resolve. Simon still works for the police department in Dobson, but he works back in New York once in a while. His former partner calls him for help on this case. A chorus girl is found on a sofa on a stage, dressed as the lead, eyes open, looking every bit like a star. Except, of course, that she is dead. The murderer left a letter on the scene. Simon starts from there.

If you want to follow a series where there is more romantic development, look elsewhere. Isabella hardly shows up. However, Pintoff maintains her great pacing. His father plays an important role in this story and although it's important, their collaboration doesn't reveal anything about Simon the reader doesn't know. I do hope the his personal story moves along a little more in the next book.

Fun read and I'm looking forward to it.

Next up: A Secret Kept, by Tatiana de Rosnay.

Review: The Scarlet Contessa (Jeanne Kalogridis)

Jeanne Kalogridis has made a name for herself writing fiction based on women during the Renaissance. I've enjoyed her work so far, even if she does do some weird things in her stories once in a while. Her books definitely entertain.

Her latest, although the dust cover and the title make it seem like the story focuses Caterina Sforza, countess and all around super cool female leader who fought against Cesare Borgia. Actually, Caterina's lady, Dea, narrates the story. Indeed, this is more her journey than Caterina's. Dea has a gift for seeing the future, which comes in handy once in while even though she can't control it.

Several famous folks from Renaissance Italy make an appearance in this novel. Lorenzo de Medici visits the Sforza's in Milan early in the novel. And, of course, the Borgias play a pivotal role. Caterina holds her own against all of them. I kind of wish the story had her perspective, but Dea makes a great narrator. She may not be as outwardly exciting as Caterina Sforza, but she still gives the story a lot of drama.

Of course, there are dramatic revelations that have no basis on the historical record, but who cares. It's fiction and it's fun. If you've read anything by Kalogridis before, then you know what to expect. I still like The Borgia Bride better, though.

Next: A Curtain Falls, by Stefanie Pintoff

Review: Major Pettigrew's Last Stand (Helen Simonson)

I loved this book!!! Well written and with a heartwarming story (that's right, I wrote heartwarming) this book made my commute a joy.

It's the story of Major Ernest Pettigrew, retired, and Mrs. Jasmina Ali, grocer. Both have lost their spouses and still feel a little lost. They strike up a friendship after Mrs. Ali helps Major Pettigrew on the day of his brother's death. They discover they share a love of books (they had me at hello!) and an appreciation for long walks.

Major Pettigrew enjoys these simple pleasures and assumes there was a time when everyone did. Of course, times weren't really simpler, and Mrs. Ali shows him this. The story isn't preachy, but it does highlight race relations in a small English town. Simonson manages to do this while writing a witty, and funny book.

Secondary characters highlight the pair's differences, and that adds a bittersweet tone to the story. You cheer for the Major and Mrs. Ali, especially as they maneuver how people in town see them. Neither one is used to the attention or the gossip. Still, I was glad that the story still led to a satisfying conclusion. Usually books that are written this well have tragic endings. It almost seems like those authors do that because they take themselves too seriously. Glad this book didn't do that!

I can't recommend this book enough. A real treat!

Next up: The Scarlett Contessa, by Jeanne Kalogridis.

Review: The Confessions of Catherine De Medici (C.W. Gortner)

Portrayals of Catherine de Medici usually go the way of the evil-witch. I first heard of her during a discussion on religious persecution in Europe. So, of course, the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre came up.


Usually Catherine de Medici is described as a religious fanatic that dabbled in black magic and murdered a whole lot of people. After first hearing about her in high school, I'd forgotten about her, really, until I rented La Reine Margot. The French film, starring a very beautiful Isabelle Adjani and the also quite beautiful Vincent Perez, shows Catherine as evil and as having a borderline incestuous relationship with her favorite son (future Henri III). I later read the book on which this movie is based. Alexander Dumas really, really didn't like Queen Catherine.

Times, they are a-changing. Jeanne Kalogridis' The Devil's Queen, in which the author portrays Catherine in a much more sympathetic light. This book, although taking a different path, also portrays Catherine more positively. C.W. Gortner writes her character as a strong woman, but one whose actions are defined by her circumstances more than her will.


Gortner surprised me when he included an affair between Admiral Coligny and Catherine after her widowhood. He also brought Diane de Poitiers into Catherine and Henry's bedroom, and I'm not talking about it in a metaphorical sense. Granted, the relationship between Catherine and Henry must have been extremely complicated. She had no real power while he lived, but she clearly learned a thing or two before the became regent for her sons. Gortner shows her resilience and intelligence, although he has a lot of ground to  cover. She lived a long time and served as an advisor to three of her sons.


The story moves well, although it could get a little boring at times. I enjoyed The Devil's Queen more, but enjoyed this one anyway.

Next up: Major Pettigrew's Last Stand, by Helen Simonson. Waited for this one for months to come in at the library. Woo!

Review: The Hand That First Held Mine (Maggie O'Farrell)

First off, this book isn't as entertaining at The Vanishing Life of Esme Lennox. Also, it worked as a form of birth control for a few days. One of the main characters, Elina, has a horrible delivery. Absolutely. Horrible. So, if you're looking for a story that makes motherhood sounds romantic, skip this.

It took me a while to get into this book. Not that Maggie O'Farrell presented a poorly written story. Indeed, she wrote something real and startling. She interwove two story lines that converge towards the end of the book. Supposedly, you don't know how until the crucial moment. I knew after a few pages in what was going to happen, more or less. And I don't say this in a snooty way. Really, usually I'm the last person to know what's going on in a story. I'm one of those that would read R.L. Stein and not know who the bad guy was until the author made the reveal. This story just wasn't a mystery.

Ok, so that bothered me a little. Still, Maggie O'Farrell's representations of motherhood made for a beautiful story at times. Her other main character, Lexie, epitomizes the woman of the 60s. She's a free spirit in a way, but ambitious and willing to put in more than hard work to build a name for herself. Lexie starts working as a journalist after leaving her family and moving to London. She hooks up with Innes Kent, the editor of the magazine. Now, it may look like Lexie gets the job just because she's sleeping with Innes. But, that's not why Innes hires her. Has has had many lovers and he hasn't employed them. He knows his connection with Lexie isn't just physical. And he recognizes her talent even before she does.

Elina, on the other hand, works as a successful artist. She lives with Ted, the father of her newborn baby. Save for the gory delivery, they go through all the strains of a couple that has become parents for the first time. Ted, however, starts to go through a major identity crisis. He starts remembering flashes of his past that don't mesh with his image of reality.

You can see where this is going. Not a bad book, but I just didn't get that into it.

Next up: The Confessions of Catherine de Medici, by C.W. Gortner. Hope I can finish this one before it's due back at the library.

Review: The Stormchasers (Jenna Blum)

I read Jenna Blum's first novel, Those Who Save Us, a little while ago. Absolutely fantastic. This doesn't mean I expected the same level of great writing for her sophomore effort. Indeed, I try not to have super high expectations for those. Although it didn't come as a surprise, the fact that this book turned out just as well as her first efforts came as a welcome reprieve during my long commutes this week.


The story centers around Karena, a reporter in her late 30s that hasn't see her twin brother in 20 years. Charles, her twin, is a stormchaser. The incident that marked both of them forever happened during a chase. Karena frequents chaser forums trying to find Charles. She gets her break when she receives a call from a hospital that Charles checked into after having what the doctor diagnosed as a panic attack. Karena knows better. Charles is bipolar, and he hallucinates and had tried to kill himself at least once before.


Karena decides to join a tour group for people that want to chase storms. I'm sure the people in this book got to see a lot more action than most, but it made for a great story. Karena and one of the tour guides, Kevin, hit it off. And they have more in common than they could imagine at first.


Now, everyone has unbalanced people in their families. But having a twin with the kind of disorder Charles has is something I wouldn't wish on anyone. But, in the end, Charles gives Karena the opportunity to help herself as they help each other. You want this story to have a happy ending, even if not a storybook one.


Jenna Blum's descriptions of the Plains, the power and beauty of these storms as well as the immeasurable damage that they cause, really stuck with me. Did I feel the urge to Google my way into a trip on a stormchasing tour? No freaking way. But I have more respect for the people who do it and I feel less cold terror at the thought of being caught in one of these storms.


Great effort from Jenna Blum! Looking forward to reading her next book.


Next up: The Hand That First Held Mine, by Maggie O'Farrell. I'm about 80 pages in and I'm not enjoying it as much as I did her previous book, The Vanishing Life of Esme Lenox. Both books tell the story from a split perspective, but I just found she did it better before. I'll see if I change my mind as the book progresses.


After that, I'm afraid I'm going to have to pick between four books that are all due in 8 days. I'm off for a four-day weekend, which actually means I'll get less reading done. I'll just have to put some books on hold again, which totally sucks because I waited for some of these for months!

Review: The Last Time I Saw You (Elizabeth Berg)

Elizabeth Berg delivers yet again in this story about a group of people that go to their 40th--and last--high schools reunion. A little appropriate, as my ten-year reunion just took place. I didn't go. Indeed, I didn't even consider the possibility. As soon as I saw the tickets would be $50 each, I knew I wouldn't bother. Besides, who wants to go to Houston in July? And, to boot, I hated high school. I loved my friends, and it wasn't like people went out of their way to pick on me. Still, it's just not a time in my life that I remember with nostalgia.

This story made me stop to think about how, in fact, the world turns out to be a big high school and that it may not be as awful as expected. Now, it didn't make me regret skipping the reunion. Still, Elizabeth Berg manages to make even the most basic stories come alive. I love her work. This is the fourth book of hers that I have read and I look forward to picking up more.

So The Last Time I Saw You starts from Dorothy Shauman's perspective. Dorothy is a 58 year-old- woman, but Berg sets the tone for the story by showing that Dorothy hasn't really changed all that much since high school. Indeed, most of us tend to revert to old patterns under pressure. Dorothy exemplifies this. The reader also gets to know Candy Sullivan, the school beauty who hasn't had the charmed life everyone expected for her. Lester Hessenpfeffer, a nerd throughout high school, now a successful vet, finally starts to consider ending his self-imposed solitude. Pete Decker, the jock and prom king that finds out that trying charming your way through life doesn't always work--especially if you've hurt the people you love.

And then there is Mary Alice Mayhew. I loved Mary Alice from the beginning. She is a super sweet woman who has played the hand life gave her to the best of her ability. High school was particularly bad to her, but she never let it tear her up. You end up desprately hoping that she finds someone who really appreciates her. I wanted to give her a hug the entire time.

Berg, like always, creates a wonderful story out of simple things. She specializes in describing everyday sights and smells in a way that makes me stop to look around and acknowledge the wonders around me. Even if it is just inhaling the scent of laundry. And she creates a fantasy that seems quite attainable to the former high school nerds (now just nerds) like myself. All of her characters are painfully human and she makes them sympathetic even when they behave badly.

Next up: The Stormchasers, by Jenna Blum. I read her first book, Those Who Save Us. I really liked it, so I'm hoping this one meets expectations as well.

Review: The Last Rendezvous (Anne Plantagenet)

Ok, so this is another book that took me a little bit to get into. I just wasn't sure I could enjoy the story of a woman that loved two men--her husband and her lover reflections of her own complexities. It can get just a little too complicated.

However, Anne Plantagenet managed to bring Marceline Desbordes-Valmore to life. Shamefully, I had no idea who this poet was. Born just a few years before the French Revolution. She not only wrote, but also acted. Her parents really had no clue how to take care of themselves, much less how to take care of Marceline and her siblings. Her mother eventually leave her drunkard father for another man. That guy doesn't really measure up either, but by now Marceline's mother won't leave him. Her mother is the one that sends her to the theater to act. They live off of Marceline's earnings. One thing leads to another, and Marceline and her mother end up in the French Caribbean. Her mother dies there.

Marceline doesn't have a better time once she manages to get back to France. Her sister popped out babies here and there. Few survive, and no father sticks around anyway. Marceline really has a hard time of it until she meets Prosper Valmore, the man that became her husband. A good man, but she still couldn't help falling in love with Henri Latouche. Quite jarring, since Valmore is handsome and youthful while Latouche is unattractive and moody. It doesn't matter. Marceline never leaves her husband, but she loved Latouche passionately and the feeling never really left her.

This story, told from Marceline's perspective, isn't for an unforgiving person to read. Marceline is complicated to a fault (a huge fault). I couldn't identify with her, but at least at the end, I didn't judge her that harshly. She knows her failings and makes no excuses for them. Her vacillations do get a little tiresome. And though her love for her children redeems her, she manages to be a little annoying with that, too.

Anne Plantagenet doesn't judge her character either. This makes the story palatable. I'm sure the story is much more beautiful in its original French. Still, it's worth picking up if you're looking for drama.

Next up: The Last Time I Saw You, by Elizabeth Berg. I loved, loved, loved Open House, The Year of Pleasures, and Home Safe. Hope it doesn't disappoint! 

Review: By Fire, By Water (Mitchell James Kaplan)

Columbus Before the Queen, by Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze

First off, I had wanted to include an image with this post that wasn't the cover. Not because it wasn't a good cover--it is. But, I figured I'd include something horribly gruesome. It does cover the period of the beginning of the Spanish Inquisition. try doing a Google search for that. You'll get a lot of images, but unless you're terrified of Monty Python, then you are SOL.

Anyway, by luck I found the painting that the cover comes from. It was a total accident, but anyway, it's a cool painting.

So, OK, the whole point is reviewing the book, not the cover art. I can't say I enjoyed it. Not because of the writing. It's good and it moves at a faster pace than I had expected. Actually, during the first 50 pages I wasn't sure I would bother finishing it. I'm glad I did, but I still can't say I enjoyed it.

Our story follows the lives of several characters, but mainly that of Luis de Santangel and Judith Migdal. He is chancellor of Aragon, so he has a close relationship with Fernando V (or one half of the Catholic Monarchs). She is a Jew struggling to make a living in Granada during its last days as a Muslim possession. She takes up the family business as a silversmith after her brother and his wife are murdered. Luis de Santangel is of Jewish decent, although he makes a point of emphasizing that he is a third generation Christian. This doesn't keep his family away from the torments of the Inquisition.

Chapters in the book go from one character to another. Mitchell James Kaplan used the third person perspective quite effectively. It allows him to take the reader through the story using a bunch of different characters. Some chapters focus on Tomas de Torquemada, the dreaded head of the Inquisition in Spain. Kaplan doesn't judge him, which is great, but I still can't stand this historical figure. I really hope he got his comeuppance.

You also get to see the story through what happens to King Fernando, Queen Ysabel (it's old spelling), Luis de Santangel's brother and son, Christopher Columbus and through Judith. It provides a complex tapestry life in Spain during the Reconquista. With this technique, Kaplan made this sad story much easier to endure.

Now, you don't pick up a book about this time period without expecting bad things to happen to the main characters. Unless it's a romance novel, although I can't think of a more inappropriate time period to set a trashy novel in than medieval Spain. Kaplan gives a well written story with minimal glitches. (I can't imagine that Fernando of Aragon knew in the late 1480s that his daughter Juana would be the one to take the throne.)

Worth checking out, but not if you are depressed.

Next up: The Last Rendezvous, by Anne Plantagenet. Started this one this morning. Not sure if I'll finish it, but I'll give it one more commute before I make up my mind. If I can't get into it, I'll start The Last Time I Saw You, by Elizabeth Berg. I've read three of her books and have loved them all, so I have high hopes for this one.

Review: In The Shadow of Gotham (Stefanie Pintoff)

Greetings again! Can't truly express how glad I am that the week is over. I dread having to go back to the grind on Monday, but at least the commute gives me time to read the next book in my TBR file. I'll mention more about that later.

Finished In The Shadow of Gotham yesterday morning. Only took me a few commutes to read. It's really a fantastic book! Stefanie Pintoff totally deserved the awards she received for this mystery story set in turn of the 20th century New York.

Detective Simon Ziele, the protagonist, left New York City after the Slocum ferry disaster claims the life of his fiancee. He moves to Dobson, just north of the city, in the hopes of starting anew. It's a quiet town that finds itself to be the scene of a gruesome murder. Sarah Wingate is found in her bed one November afternoon with her neck cut and her face beaten beyond recognition. (I'm not giving anything away, so remain calm.) As Simon begins to investigate, a Columbia professor, Alistair Sinclair, goes to Dobson to help Simon. Professor Sinclair claims the murdered is Michael Fromley--a psychopath he has studied for three years that hasn't been seen in two weeks.

This begins a partnership that Simon doesn't seem to really want or care for, but Alistair provides the best leads in the case. Ms. Pintoff does a great job of pacing the story and of giving insight into how Simon's mind works. He's definitely a change from Aimee Leduc. She's always hiding information or lying to get people to cooperate and Simon is much more upfront. It makes sense, since he's an actual police officer, but it still felt a little weird to me.

Now, I had no idea when I picked up this book that it was the first in a new series. I really didn't. I used to be totally anti-series. However, reading mystery novels makes it difficult to stay away from series. And, actually, I think I have stopped hating series. That change of heart has come about more because of my own change in attitude towards reading in general than anything else. I used to force myself to read through a book whether I enjoyed it or not. No more! So, I can pick up any series I want now and not have to worry about finishing all the books.

Next up: By Fire, By Water, by Mitchell James Kaplan. I have two holds that have come in at the library and two books from the library, besides By Fire, By Water, sitting on my self waiting to get picked. The books on my shelf are: The Last Rendezvous, by Anne Plantagenet, and The Last Time I Saw You, by Elizabeth
Berg. The books I have to pick up are: The Hand That First Held Mine, by Maggie O'Farrell, and The Stormchasers, by Jenna Blum.

Review: Murder in the Palais Royal (Cara Black)

So first up, a review of the latest in the Aimee Leduc mystery series. I started reading the series about six months ago, but I tried to take breaks in between books to avoid Aimee fatigue. Of course, once I saw the finish line getting tantalizingly close (and with the books I had left to read in the library just calling out for me) I plowed through the last four books.

Murder in the Palais Royal has few surprises for readers that have followed Aimee's adventures throughout the previous nine books. She's still looking for her mother, still has a tense relationship with her godfather, still has her trusty sidekick helping her get out of trouble, and she still runs around Paris in stiletto heels. (Really? In one scene, she stubs her toe and decides to wear peep-toe heels because those were the only shoes her feet could stand. I've never heard of something like that!)

And this is why I've stuck with the series. It never felt like a chore to read these books. Indeed, I kept going to see what would happen to Aimee next time around. She manages to get away with breaking the law on a regular basis. But it's all for the sake of finding the truth, justice, and... the French way? No? Whatever.

This time around she doesn't have Rene, her partner at Leduc Detective, around to help her directly. He's shot at the beginning of the story by an Aimee lookalike. The cop assigned to the investigation, Melac, will hopefully have a more prominent role in the next book. Cara Black, the author of this fun series, has 10 more neighborhoods in Paris to have people murdered in.  Huzzah!

Again, if you have followed the series from the beginning, the resolution to the mystery will hardly surprise you. The villains practically have big red warning signs flashing over their heads. I don't care about that. It's entertaining and I love to live vicariously through this tough, smart, beautiful, and tall heroine. (I want to be tall!) She gets to kick ass while wearing vintage designer clothes. (Always flee market finds. Madmoiselle Leduc may live on Ile St. Louis, have an office on Rue du Louvre, and wear Chanel #5, but she is a girl on a budget.)

A fun read with plenty of action and plenty of Paris. The descriptions of 1990s Paris make this series totally worthwhile, even if you don't find the stories suspenseful. Black goes into the gritty side of Paris and it's totally worth the trip.

I look forward to seeing what Cara Black has Aimee do next.

Next up: In the Shadow of Gotham, by Stefanie Pintoff

Salutations!

Hello and welcome to my first post. Yes, I am late to the blog party, but I figure better late than never. Besides, I'm Latina and we don't believe in always showing up on time
:-)


Reading is a huge part of my life. The library is my second home and I have the great fortune of having access to two library systems in my area. My hubby works for a bookstore, so I also have access to a 30% discount. I try to use it sparingly, and so far have succeeded (with great effort!). I have the fortune/misfortune of living in the DC metro area and using mass transit. That gives me plenty of time to read.

Anyone that lives in the DC metro area knows that commuting here can turn perfectly normal people into a mass of murderous, passive aggressive, heathens. If you take mass transit, you have the oh so lovely fortune of commuting with the cranky, or the overworked and/or underpaid, or the clueless, or the sweaty, or the nasty, or the selfish... I could keep going, but this blog isn't about mass transit woes. Reading has made it possible for me to maintain my sanity during the 1:30+ hours it takes me to get to and from work. Yes, the idiot next to me might have his/her iPod on with the volume way too high, but I can concentrate on my book and pretend I'm elsewhere. And yes, I never get a seat on my commute back home, so I'm usually surrounded by a sea of armpits. But I can stick my nose in the book I have at hand, so there!

Sadly, I haven't participated too much in other book blogs. Hopefully, having this blog will change that. I do, however, frequent the New York Times Sunday Book Review and The Washington Post Book Review. The Book Studio is also one of my favorite sites. Amazon's book recommendations may not be the best, but that feature alerts me whenever there is going to be a book coming out that I would be interested in reading. Please do suggest places to find more books to pick up. I will try to find places to suggest, too.

Unlike the vast majority of people, I enjoy reading fiction more than nonfiction. That's just a heads up to people who don't like reading made up stuff. I do! I love reading stuff people make up! I love, love, love reading stories, especially if they are not true. For me, reading is about escaping. Yes, plenty of people read to learn or stay informed. That doesn't mean that I don't read nonfiction, but those books aren't usually in my urgent TBR pile. I read newspapers and magazines for that. Of course, I don't mind learning something from what I read, but that's not my main goal. I'd rather read something that is beautifully written and made up. Just the way I roll.

Also, I don't consider myself a book snob. I won't read romance novels just because the writing makes me want to get in a fetal position and cry. But I do enjoy popular fiction. I won't lie about that. My choices aren't based on literary merit. If I enjoyed it, I will say so. And if a book bored me, I will say so. And yes, sometimes I will enjoy a story even if the writing leaves plenty to be desired. Kind of why I also enjoy movies like Dirty Dancing. I don't really care that the dialogue could use some revision. So there!

So please leave book suggestions, opinions, where to find good books, and so on. I will give my honest impressions here. Please, be honest but civil! Reading is something to be enjoyed, end of story :-D