Aleutian Sparrow, Karen Hesse

Here's an interesting YA book written in free verse. It took me probably one hour total to read this book about an historical period in the 1940's in Alaska, where a group of people from the Aleutian Islands are taken to relocation centers by US soldiers after a Japanese attack.

The narrator is a young girl who talks about the unfamiliar scenes, her friends, and her mom--who abandons her in the camp. It goes full circle from the time they are relocated to when they are able to return home.

A good, quick read.

Prisoneer of Trebeikistan, Bob Harris

I read this on my road trip to Colorado. It's a fun, easy, and entertaining read. This is my book club's book of this month and I was very reluctant to pick it up--this isn't typically my type of book. From page 1, I thought my dad should read it. I ended up really enjoying it and learned a lot about the show's history.

Bob Harris took the Jeopardy! test many times before actually passing. He knew that people said you can't study for Jeopardy! but he was determined. He won 5 games in a row and many of the questions he was asked were things that he'd studied. A lot of what the book is about is how to improve memory and skills you can use to have a better memory (something I should try!). He went on to play in Tournament of Champions and other tournaments with varying degrees of success.

Harris also goes into his personal family life and talks about his relationships. Turns out he writes for CSI: and is a comedian. Even if you don't think you'd enjoy this book (like me!), you should pick it up; I was hooked within the first 5 pages.

Breakfast at Tiffany's, Truman Capote

Keeping with my current obsession with Truman Capote, I checked out his short novella, Breakfast at Tiffany's, from the library. It took a day (maybe 2 hours) to finish and it was a fun summer read! Holly Golightly was a fun character to read about. I love Capote's description!

The Complete Works of Truman Capote, Truman Capote

I received this book from my dad for my birthday. It is a grand collection of Capote's short stories. I breezed through them and enjoyed each one. He's a genius. That's pretty much all I can say.

The Host, Stephenie Meyer

Definitely NOT on the same level as the Twilight series, Meyer's new scifi book was really challenging for me to read and finish. I started at the beginning of July and just finished it this morning at 1am.

My problems with the book--it takes way too long to really understand what's going on (at least for me!), the whole premise is confusing and I wish there were a clear explanation at the beginning, I hated when the host character and the soul character were referred to as "we," instead of "she/her," and "I," and lastly, I most definitely didn't like the ending too well.

What I enjoyed--Meyer is a good storyteller, very creative, and creates awesome characters, I admire her writing style , the story (like all scifi is far-fetched) is about these little "parasites" who take over Earth and take over the humans by being inserted in host bodies....very clever satire about the future.

I want my husband to read this, I think he'd enjoy it. My mom bought me the book for my birthday, I can't say that I'll re-read, but like all books, it's great to add a new one to the shelf.

Eve's Apple, Jonathan Rosen

I read this book with the recommendation from my good friend, Tara, who is a fellow bibliophile and book club chum. She read this book in college in a Women's Lit class and let me borrow it when I let her borrow In Cold Blood.

Rosen is gifted writer (he also wrote The Talmud and The Internet, which is also very thought provoking). The story is about Joseph, who is an English teacher at a school for Russian immigrants in New York. He lives with his long-time girlfriend, Ruth. Ruth struggles with anorexia and Joseph secretly tries to learn more about the disease by reading books (and Ruth's journal). In the process, he learns more about himself and his strength.

It's been a while since I finished this book, but I definitely remember that I enjoyed it. Again, Rosen has a talent for words and I loved, loved, loved the use of awesome similes and metaphors.

The Name of the Wind

I read this 660 page fantasy novel for a book club. It was a stretch for me, sine I really don't consider myself a fan of fantasy. It took longer to read because life is so busy, but I finished the last 200 pages just about 10 minutes before book club tonight at 7. After discussing the book with the other girls, I decided I kind of actually liked it, just because it was different.

The story is actually two (or more) stories in one, where we learn about Kvothe, the main character. It begins with him hiding out from some unknown something. He is an innkeeper. Chronicler, the record keeper, travels to the inn where Kvothe works and asks him to tell his story "from the beginning," thus starting the second story where the point of view shifts from a narrator to Kvothe telling the story.

He leads a very interesting life beginning with meeting Abenthy, an arcantist (a sort of magician) and the murder of his family and 'troupe' that he travels with. He is the only survivor and becomes a wanderer going from place to place just trying to survive. He continues to practice some of the magic that he learned and eventually gets himself into the University to study. He goes through all sorts of adventures, including a fun relationship with a girl named Denna. The story ends with Chronicler getting in a bit of a confrontation with one of Kvothe's friends, which interrupts Kvothe's story telling.

We decided the book definitely needs a sequel because Rothfuss left way too much open at the end. As I am one who really likes all of the loose ends to be tied up, I suppose I'll have to read the sequal when it comes out just find out how it all ends.

Definitely not my most favorite book ever, but it was something way different for me. If you like fantasy, give this one a try. If you don't, try it anyway. It's entertaining and gives an experience of a new world in a creative way.