Million Little Mistakes by Heather McElhatton

“You win $22 Million. Now What?”

Did you know there were choose your own adventure books written for adults?

I had no idea until this was chosen for our book club this month.

The writing is not great.

The story lines are random and totally wacky.

The book was a blast to read and completely addictive.

I’d say this would be a perfect book for traveling, in just a few minutes you’ll probably be dead and be ready to try again.

I had no idea the lottery was so hazardous to your health but between, money grubbing men, pirates, drug runners, malaria, Clydesdales and the undead it’s a treacherous journey!

Would I recommend it? Yes I really would. It’s quick, it’s fun, it’s totally crazy (rancher, stripper, voodoo priestess, violin maker, the book is under 500 pages but the options in careers seem endless!) but careful it’s hard to put down. When your remote lodge on Lake Superior doesn’t turn out you just might need to know what would have happened if you had you taken the trip to Sex Island instead!

FYI choosing good moral choices will in no way increase your chances of survival or happiness.

Polly’s Ghost by Abby Frucht

Dec13

Can something be beautifully written and completely un-captivating all at the same time? If so this is it. I don’t know why I was so uninterested. The book looked good and the writing was the kind that wants to roll around in your mouth before it flows off your tongue, but it was a book I could put down, and did…a lot.

Would I recommend it? No. But I’d be curious to know if anyone has read her other books, or liked this one better.

Fancy Nancy Splendiferous Christmas by Jane O’Conner and Robin Preiss Glasser

Dec8

Oh, Fancy Nancy…

I can’t decide if I despise you and your obnoxious, high falutin, fancy ways…

or if I think your slightly charming and humorous.

I do know that Ivy loves you.

And I loved this page. Would I recommend it? Only every other Friday.

I really am still reading books myself though it’s been almost three weeks since I finished a book! That must be some sort of slow reading record for me, you’d think I was traveling all over the place the last few weeks or something!

How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World by Marjorie Priceman

Dec2

Making an apple pie is easy, unless the market is closed…

Then it’s off around the world to gather wheat from Italy, a chicken from France (“French chickens lay elegant eggs-and you want only the finest ingredients for your pie.”), kurundu bark from Sri Lanka, a cow from England, (“You’ll know she’s an English cow from her good manners and charming accent.”) seawater, on your way to Jamaica for sugar cane and then to Vermont for the apples.

After that all you have to do is:

This is a book that I suspect would appeal to slightly older kids but since my testers max out at the age of three years and ten months I can’t say for certain. What I can say is that Ivy does currently enjoy it, though I suspect it may be the parachuting cow and chicken more than the world travel that gets her attention.

Would I recommend it? Yes. In a world where a surprising number of kids (and adults I had no idea about the cinnamon) are a bit clueless as to how the food makes it onto the shelf at the market I think it’s a great book.

My only issue with it is that I’m certain my chickens lay just as good of eggs as any French chicken!

Watermelon by Marian Keyes

Nov24

Once you get through the first two chapters of the main characters cringe worthy views on childbirth and nursing, you can settle into a “fluffy” yet enjoyable book. That is as long as you don’t mind the adultery, drinking, drugs, depression, a baby thrown in the mix when convenient and lots of soap operas.

Would I recommend it? It’s all about expectations. If all you are looking for is a mindless yet enjoyable read in the romantic comedy style that may make you laugh out loud and if you can ignore any of the items mentioned above that may offend you, then yes. Otherwise you’d better skip it!

Obama Zombies by Jason Mattera

Nov20

Well, it’s not much of a secret what my political views are if I read a book subtitled “How the Liberal Machine Brainwashed My Generation.”

So, if you are already offended by the title no pressure to read the rest.

Of course it may make you feel slightly better to know I don’t recommend it.

On second thought I agreed with all the content, just not the delivery, so perhaps that’s not a positive for you after all.

Oh well, strike me from the Christmas card list if you must but here goes my little review…

This was book full of interesting comments and facts delivered in a completely obnoxious way. It had information on how the Obama campaign was run and the excellent job they did at attracting the youth vote, stuff that I was only vaguely aware of from this rock I live under. Unfortunately the author presents it in a yelly (yes I know this isn’t a word but I like it anyway), sarcastic, rude sort of way. It’s one thing to read a quote or a comment and hear Mattera’s rebuttal of it, in fact much of that was well done and even amusing. Unfortunately then he would start “yelling” in the book as if he were talking to that person. I’m not a big fan of being yelled at as if I agree with the “Obama Zombies,” it was a complete turn off. For instance a section titled “Piss Off a Liberal: Get a Job, Make Money, and Be Happy” had me laughing out loud until I read: “We need rick folks, idiots! Who the hell do you think cuts your paycheck?” That pretty much sealed the deal for me, thanks Jason, have a nice day, and next time you write a book try not to yell at the people reading it who agree with you!

Would I recommend it? No, there’s got to be better sources for the same information.

The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner

Nov12

The cover of the book says “One Grump’s Search for the Happiest Places in the World.”

Good thing too, it was the grumpiness that made the book. This grumpy author travels to ten countries and shares what he learns in chapters with titles like:

“Switzerland – Happiness Is Boredom”

“Iceland – Happiness Is Failure”

and

“Moldova – Happiness Is Somewhere Else”

Had this book been written by some positive thinking, sickly sweet personality, the world is a wonderful place and I’m a wonderful person, ( yes Eat, Pray Love, I’m thinking of you) it would have been a total failure. Fortunately Eric Weiner is an unhappy grump, (his words not mine) and so what could have been a nauseating topic turns out to be amusing and informative.

Would I recommend it? Yes. It’s also full of interesting facts. Did you know the smiley face was invented in 1963 to cheer up workers at an insurance company? 🙂

Trout, Trout, Trout! (A Fish Chant) by April Pulley Sayre

Nov7

This week I checked this book out from the library just so I could write about it…

.. and read it to Ivy 20 million times, becuase she likes it…

…which is fine by me, I sort of love it.

The key to this book is the little comment in parenthesis it is “A Fish Chant.” When you go find this book and bring it home, you can’t just read it. Nope, it won’t work, you won’t love it, your kid will think it’s lame. You have to find the rhythm of the words and chant it. If that sounds ridiculous please keep in mind that I can’t clap along with a beat, but I can read this book with a bit of a rhythm to it, so therefore, you can too. Then when you do chant it, you’ll also love it, accidentally memorize it, and then have fish names like “Sockeye Salmon, Arctic Char, Mooneye, Walleye, Gar, Gar, Gar!” rolling around in your head too. Which will turn out to be a good thing, becuase you’ll be able to “read” the book while cooking, cleaning, changing diapers or driving. Then your kid will also start to memorize it and help with the “Gar, Gar, Gar!’s. And then if you’d like to know what exactly these crazy fish are that you have been chanting about all day, you can look it up in the back of the book where they have a little blurb on each fish.

Or at least that’s how it happened here!

Would I recommend it? It’s a must!

Tippeary by Frank Delaney

Nov4

Recently I said that I loved historical fiction because it’s, “a painless form of accidental learning ” which I think is true. Except for when it isn’t.

Set during the time of the Irish war for independence Tippeary had so much promise, the first page was totally intriguing…

…187 pages later I thought to myself ooohhhh, now it’s getting good.

Three Signs You May Be Reading A Boring Book:

1) You lose it under your bed for a few days because you forgot you were reading it.

2) You put the book down when the main character is being held at gun point and forgot what was happening before you pick it back up.

3) You put the book down when arsonists are lighting their fires.

Really to be fair, it wasn’t boring, there was a guerrilla war going on after all, it was just that I hated all the characters.

Would I recommend it? No, the last third of the book was good, but not good enough to make up for the first two thirds!

The Unusual Suspects & The Problem Child by Michael Buckley

Oct27

The next two books in the Sisters Grimm series were much like the first. They were fun, playful quirky sort of books, and now that I’ve read three of them I feel my “research” is finished.