Autobiography of a Face
Read Truth and Beauty by Ann Patchett after this. It will give you both sides of the friendship. I read this book first so I was more sympathetic towards Lucy. It would be interesting if people are biased towards the first book read.
The Eight
Great story, overblown writing. But the story is so much fun that it makes up for the slightly hackneyed writing. I first read this in 1988 and have re-visited it several times, but not in the last 10 years or so. It's always great to have smart and strong female protagonists instead of the Bella ones.
Truth & Beauty: A Friendship
Should be read with Autobiography of a Face. I read AOF first and had a hard time with this book. It's only bc I love this author is how I finished it.
The Sound of Broken Glass: A Novel (James and Kincaid)
Love this series and the characters. Unfortunately, I'm always a bit hazy I details from past books when I read the latest.
Pale Horses (Jade De Jong)
I received this ARC from a Goodreads contest. I was excited to read the book as I just finished her three earlier books within the last couple of months. Jassy Mackenzie has interesting characters and the South African society/culture is fascinating from a political and crime solving perspective.The author isn't without faults though. In Pale Horses and her earlier books, she spends a bit of time building the story. Most of the chapters are from the protagonist's perspective, Private Investigator Jade de Jong. The rest are from a variety of perspectives, including Jade's former love, Detective David Patel. Many of the viewpoints are from seemingly minor players in the book who later have more important roles. The view point changes don't bother me, however, many times, they seem completely random. But, the biggest flaw in these books is that the endings are very abrupt and wrapped up within the last 30 pages or so.Pale Horses is the author's best book so far. The pacing of the story is significantly improved then her earlier works and the ending was very satisfying. The whole story had fascinating ethical issues regarding food production. One of the characters liked to cook and her descriptions of recipes and food preparation were also fun to read. The relationship between Jade and David also was advanced and it will be interesting to see what happens with the two in the later books.I rated the author's other books as three stars because I enjoyed the characters and setting. This book was better but not to the four star level. I would say 3.5 star.
The Rook: A Novel
I found the shift in pov from first to third a bit distracting. Overall, I really enjoyed this especially the historical and pop cultural references. My favorite reference was when Myfanwy could figure out why a large two door wardrobe in a spare room in a country house was a national security threat. I also want to check out some of the author's recommendations for other books.
News from Heaven: The Bakerton Stories
I really liked this but wish I had reread Baker Towers first. Many of the stories are continued here and the earlier book is a bit hazy in my head.
Here I Go Again: A Novel
I'm not a fan of this author. She is too much of a narcissist and mean girl for my taste. The good thing is that this book is devoid of all the annoying footnotes she had in her earlier piece of fiction. But she overused the exclamation mark and parentheses which is almost as irritating.
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The Racketeer
Haven't read Grisham in over 10 years. Not a fan of his writing style but he can spin a story.
The Beauty Experiment: How I Skipped Lipstick, Ditched Fashion, Faced the World without Concealer, and Learned to Love the Real Me
Ugh. The author is a narcissist with low self esteem and bad taste. She is constantly seeking validation and spends a lot of time just obsessed with herself. If I didn't have tom read this for book group, I would have dumped it.
The End of Your Life Book Club
The author and his mom have much more highbrow reading tastes then me. It was interesting to read their perspectives on books and life. There were a few spoilers on some books though.
The Betrayal
Excellent sequel to The Siege. I have vague memories of that book but the hints in this one were enough to jog my memory.
