Having gone back to work recently, I haven't had time to update the blog with the new books I've read...but don't you worry, I haven't stopped reading.
Recently, I finished Sophie Kinsella's new novel, "Twenties Girl." Kinsella is probably best known for her Shopaholic series. Being a shopaholic myself, those are some of my most favorite books. Kinsella has a unique voice that carries through all her novels. I have read every book she's published under this pen name (her real name is Madeline Wickham - but the books published under that name aren't nearly as good) and I have enjoyed them all.
"Twenties Girl" is a sort of ghost story. Main character Lara Lington finds herself at the funeral of a great aunt she's never met...only she can see the dead aunt who appears to her as a girl in her 20s. The dead great aunt is searching for a necklace that she can't rest in piece without. What follows is a funny tale about the search for the necklace and Lington's search for herself. I highly recommend it.
I also read recently "The Third Angel" by Alice Hoffman. I know I've mentioned Hoffman before. She's an author whose books I always look forward to reading. This novel was also a bit of a ghost story. A lot of it centers on an old hotel in London that has a ghost who comes back every night at 10:30 p.m. and relives some horrible experience. This ghost and all the characters are connected in a six degrees of separation kind of way.
From a writing perspective, it's pretty amazing she was able to tie all the characters together in such interesting ways and most of the ties are not revealed until near the end of the book. From a reading perspective, you'll be wondering what's going on and what the "horrible" incident was with the ghost. It turns out to not really be THAT horrible...but it's interesting nonetheless.
Earlier this week I finished "The Friday Night Knitting Club" by Kate Jacobs. This is a book that was published in 2007. Every time I was at the bookstore, I would find myself picking it up but never purchasing it. It was only after my friend Amanda read the book and recommended it to me, that I finally bought a copy.
I have to say it wasn't what I expected. First, it was sad...Steel Magnolia's sad. Second, it was good but I found myself skimming through a lot of it, looking to get to the meatier parts of the story. The writing wasn't really tight and I found that she waxed poetic A LOT prompting the skimming. She has since written a sequel to the book, "Knit Two." But I don't think I'll be reading that one. I just wasn't captivated enough with the first one to follow these characters on.
I started the new Nora Roberts book "Black Hills" the other night. Nora Roberts is my guilty pleasure. I'm not a huge fan of romance novels anymore but Roberts' writing is always tight, fresh and captivating. She is the first author who made me laugh out loud at something she had written.
Then it's on to Jane Green's new novel, "Dune Road." After that, who knows what the bookstore will bring me? Well, actually I have a list...it's posted on the left. Take a look at the books I'm looking forward to this year.
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