The View from Mount Joy--#53 finished

For the most part I liked this book.  I liked the characters and following them through their lives.  At times seemed too clear cut in just knowing things would work out but still kind of nice to know that too.  Joe after high school struggles badly it seems but then almost lucks into a great life.  Kristi was the star in high school and while college seems okay, disappears for big periods after college--jumping back in for a trist with Joe here & there.  She eventually becomes a sellout to religion and becomes a kind of Laura Schlesinger(?) type with tough talk but more religion.  Joe who sees & has seen her other side and others like her brother & parents just think she is fake.  I thought they all got way too snarky after Kristi's mom's funeral.  It was those kind of moments along with the everything working out almost perfectly for the "good" people, made this book a little tough at times.  Still a good overall read, I enjoy this author and have a few more of her books that I will need to get too as well.

I have posted this book on PBS but there are 19 copies a head of it, so it is not going anywhere anytime soon.  I still reading Going Rogue and just started The King's Deception.  Not sure if a 3rd book will get started or not.

Bronx Noir--#52 finished

I actually finished this book on Monday but forgot to log it in.  Probably because I posted it & was able to mail it off within an hour.  Oops.  I did like the book, like the other short story Noirs that I have read.  Lots of good stuff here and good details about some of the tougher parts of the Bronx.  I liked the book & I was glad that I was able to pass it along to the next reader.

Nothing to Envy--#51 finished

This is a book about North Korea.  The writer interviewed defectors from there & also did fairly extensive research to give the reader an idea about what North Korea is like.  It is not a pretty picture & is actually downright scary to think this exists today.  How the various Kim's have endured as leaders of this country is just amazing in itself.  For the last 20 years I have thought that at some point a general or someone higher up in the government would have put a bullet in the head of the leader & basically let chaos reign.  I can't imagine it getting worse than it is and whoever does it would probably die but eventually be hailed as a hero I would think.  This is a very good book and it also goes outside of North Korea to also talk about the problems the defectors have in establishing lives in South Korea.  It is really both amazing & shocking that a North Korea can exist in today's world.  What an evil final end to Communism, what an example that hopefully will endure long enough so the experiment will not be tried again.

I am not sure if I will post this or not.  I would like to pass along but it does have a stain on side that probably makes it unpostable but it is very rare a copy gets posted too.  I also might save it to see if my oldest would read it--I think it would be a very good eye opener for her.

I am still reading Bronx Noir and Sarah Palin's Going Rogue.  I also started The View from Mt Joy, good so far.

I'm Not Really Here--#50 finished

This is Tim Allen's 2nd book he wrote.  The first one, Don't Stand Too Close to the Naked Guy or something like that was kind of good.  I remember it being funny and somewhat insightful about himself.  This one is not good.  He gets into the meaning of life in a quantum physics kind of way that he also tries to be funny about and none of it works.  I guess I don't want my science from a celebrity even if it seems he tried really hard to understand it.  Not entertaining, not insightful and overall just didn't like this book.  Oh well, I read enough that there will be some duds and this is one of them.

I won't be posting it on PBS even though I got it from there.  Early on in the book there is like a food stain, which is a no no for PBS books.  No big deal, there are probably enough copies that it wasn't going anywhere anyway.  I will probably donate it to the library or the local used bookstore nearly.

I am reading Bronx Noir and also a book on North Korea.  I have also just barely started Sarah Palin's first book, Going Rogue, I think or something like that.  Those 3 will probably do for now.

The Twelve--#49 finished

This is the 2nd of the trilogy by Justin Cronin's vampire series.  I think I liked it better than the first book, The Passage.  That book seemed to get bogged down in laying the foundation & then jumping into the wholesale slaughter once the vampires got free.  This book gives hope for humanity, people are starting to rebuild.  The Twelve were killed off, or at least most of them--not sure about Carter & Amy and Zero is still around for the 3rd book.  Some interesting plot turns and some just kind of crazy stuff, but overall I would say good, if the like the end of the earth vampire/zombie thing.  Lots of characters to keep straight and kind of epic setting and story with some jumping around stuff so some confusion at times too.  I liked this book more than one so I will look to finish the series once the 3rd book is out.

I picked up this copy at a library sale, so I will post it on PBS at some point.  My credits have worked their way back up so I am in no hurry to post it.  There are plenty of WL for it, maybe 244 or something last I looked--or more, just not sure but plenty.  Still reading the Tim Allen book and Bronx Noir.  Not sure yet if I will start another tonight or not.

The Judas Field--#48 finished

This is a very good book on the Civil War in a mico sense.  It is about a group of men, mostly focusing on 3, from a small town in Mississippi that were in the Civil War and then about their life 20 years later.  A daughter of an officer that died wants to go to the battlefield and bring home her dad & brother's bodies to be buried in her family plot.  She is dying of cancer and wants to reunite the family in a sense.    The book is written about Cass, Roger and Lucien and bounces between their present time and the Civil War and at several times it takes the reader a paragraph or two to determine which time it is.  It is like the individuals have a hard time separating the times as well, especially when they return to the battlefield, the memories and their present self seem to intermingle.  The author does a good job of really putting the reader into the situation of a person in the Civil War--the time leading up to a battle and then the battle itself and also how the individual finds a way to cope with what they just went through.  A really good read.

I will be posting it on PBS, there was 1 WL for it.  I am also reading still The Twelve and Tim Allen's 2nd book, I'm Not Really Here.  I have also just started a short story book, Bronx Noir.

Post Grad--#47 finished

This is a novel that was written off a screenplay for a movie by the same name.  Girl graduate's college & doesn't get the job she wanted & has to move back in with her crazy family in LA area.  Her best friend a guy, has been secretly in love with her but she is so self obsessed and has been using him to just prop her own self esteem up she doesn't realize it.  It is really pretty bad, bad characters, bad story and just a bad book that from what wiki said also a bad movie.  It was a quick read though, but part of that is that I just wanted to get it over.  Could zoom through the pages and nice to know it is in my rear view mirror now.

I have posted it on PBS but there are 4 copies ahead of this one.  I don't think it is going anywhere but at this point can just sit on my book shelf.  I will probably look to start another book later tonight.