I finally finished the book Three Strikes You're Dead...and absolutely loved it!

It's a mob mystery set in 1938 Chicago and the book did a fantastic job of really giving the reader the feel of that time period. The books focus was on a murder that happened and a Tribune reporter who was reporting it got more interested than he should have and ended up mixed in with the mob. The author went into great detail about the El trains and street names and things and it was fun while reading to be on those actual trains and streets in the present while reading about their history. The character also spent some time in Oak Park and that was fun since that is my neighboring town!

I would recommend this book. Its really short...but it took me a long time to read because of my iPod! I have finally worked out how to listen and read at the same time!

Now, I will go back to Ordinary Springs and hopefully bang that one out!

Ashley, any word on the romance novels for September???

Finished Virgin of Small Plains last night. It was really good. I have to say that I had most things figured out, but not everything. I was totally thrown off by some major red herrings as to the identity of the murderer. I liked this book a lot and would highly recommend. I have to figure out what to start next. I need to read through and see what is laying around-just a few hundred books.

I have hit a serious slump in my reading...all thanks to my iPod! I have not figured out how to read and listen at the same time yet! I tried to read and then after about two pages, I was like "what the hell did I just read?" and then I have to go back and re-read!

I started the Virgin of Small Plains by Nancy Pickard last night. It was lent to me by Jenny, who highly recommended it. I have to say, the beginning of the novel was shocking and I didn't want to put it down. I have a few theories, but I cannot to wait to see what happens. Did you note the new cover, Jenny? I think I like the other better, but this looks moreso like something you would see on a table at Barnes and Noble.

I have put Ordinary Springs on hold so that I can read the book I got from Don, Three Strikes You're Dead. He picked this one out for me because it's a book that takes place in Chicago and revolves around the mob, Al Capone and other types of mob activity. It's by Robert Goldsborough and the book has his autograph, which is kind of cool. Don got it from Centuries and Sleuths book store and there will be a discussion regarding this book in a few weeks with the author, so I may be tempted to go!

So far it is interesting, and it takes place downtown so the street names that are mentioned are streets I walk on every day, corners that I remember, and theatres that I have been to! It's very cool!

I will start out my blog by letting you all know that I have picked my signature color of orange for the blog. I evidently had stolen Jeanette's color, as was pointed out. No problem. I don't mind. No biggie. I was never informed we had color codes! And for those that know me, it was pretty obvious that it was going to be orange or blue, wasn't it?!

I read The Last Summer (of You & Me) over the weekend. I was totally willing to give this book a shot because I loved the first three Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants books. I know I am an adult, but I still love a good teen book or movie. Let's not even go there. My first impression was that I wasn't sure I would totally bill this as her "first adult novel." Considering the main characters were 21 and 24, it wasn't overly adultish. The story revolved around two sisters, Alice and Riley, and their summer vacation neighbor Paul. Riley and Paul are best friends and Alice and Paul are in love with each other. I liked the characters, but was annoyed by the middle hundred pages where the Alice and Paul were kept apart because of a secret regarding Riley. I get so annoyed in novels and movies when trivial crap is used as a major plot device. It just isn't. Too much exposition leading up to a marginal climax. Should I throw in some more literary terms? The denouement was satisfyling at least. It was a quick read and an okay read, but nothing great. I had the newest Luanne Rice hardback from the library but took it back because I felt like it would be the same as her last half dozen novels and the same as this story. Now I have to decide what to read next. I am also on the hunt for a new bookshelf because I have books lying around everywhere and in every closet and cabinet I own, and I cannot take it anymore.

Book Club was a success! I was a little nervous becuase the first time I hosted book club it did not go so well. I tried to overcompensate with food:

The menu:

Savories:

Cucumber sandwiches, egg salad sandwiches, veggie lavosh, gorgonzola baked potatoes

Fruit:

Fruit salad (to cleanse the palate)

Desserts:

Chocolate covered strawberries, chocolate eclairs and brownie ala mode ice cream pie (thanks Ashley!)

Tea Selections:

Pina Colada, Grape Cranberry, hard tea and cucumber water

Even though it seems the group was not super into Self Help books we did talk about them for a while! One member even came prepared with supplies to help us understand her book. She recommends this book highly!

Another book that sparked interest was about sex, shocking! It was not great and not really recommended by everyone, it got the equivalent of one thumbs up. It required you visualize a lot of sex instead of just doing it!


And last but not least another book that was fine conversation for all was the Strippers Guide. This book taught us throug a series of ten grueling questions, that four of us are Daisy Duke Strippers, and then one classic Betty (I think that was the term) and two who could not count their letters correctly :) I liked this one though, funny pictures like how should you shave yoiur muff and other burning questions answered like how to darken your nipples in the right lighting.
I hope you all enjoyed!

*** I hope you don't mind me adding on Sarah! I thought book club was a riot! We talked about the book a tremendous amont...and looked at my books pictures for a long long time! I really enjoyed all the food, friends and fuck talk...like always! Thanks for making my birthday unforgetable!

For our next book, we are all going to read a romance novel! I am a bit skeptical about the romance genre, as it seems a bit cheesy, but who knows. I would love to read at least one and find out what all the fuss is about!

I finally finished The Stingray Shuffle, and I actually came around and really enjoyed the book. The last 30 pages really make the book good, the first 200+ were a bit long and tedious, but truly worth reading because of the last pages. It wasn't really a mystery book, but more of a cast of completely insane characters that all get intertwined in this fucked up plot. It's a rather enjoyable story, lots of ironic incidences and chance meetings between characters. A book where all the characters play a role in each other's lives whether they know it or not. I would recommend, not highly, but its worth a read!

I just started Ordinary Springs this morning and so far it's fair. This is a book that I picked up at the book sale last week. The story is about a girl and her father who were abandoned by their mother/wife. The girl is really protective of her father and doesn't want to "loose him" to another woman. Some really hot neighbor moves in and her father becomes obsessed with this broad and the daughter gets really jealous of their relationship. It seems interesting, a bit incestuous, but I am looking forward to reading more.

The Stingray Shuffle is dragging!

I want to start reading all the books that I got from the book sale, but I can't just stop and leave this book unfinished. I am almost done, but it's plot...if you can even call it that...is just too wacky that I don't even find it that funny.

I can't wait for BAMF's book club meeting on Friday! Self-help seemed like a dud, but I can guarantee some good ass conversation!

I have just finished the Graphic Novel The Plain Janes and I would absolutley recommend it. It is written for a younger audience but it only takes about 30 minutes to read and is pretty cute. If you have tried to find good literature for young women you know that with things like the gossip girls and the boy crazy romance novels it is not easy. This is a story of a couple of girls who did secret art works in their town under the name People Loving Art In Neighborhoods (P.L.A.I.N) It absolutley got me inspired to get out little book club together and go make some art incognito, any takers??

I finished reading Good In Bed this morning...it took me longer than I would have liked. My goal is one book a week, and this took me a week and a half...but whatever...I will survive!

I liked the book and thought it was a good read. I find Jennifer Weiner to be very witty and funny. I was not at all surprised at the ending and the love affair that blossoms...I knew that about 25 pages into it! This book seemed to drag a bit for me, there were situations in the book that I though could have been written in one page, but instead they dragged on for almost five pages. The main character was a bit loopy towards the end, and I had a hard time relating to her depression and downward spiral. I really liked Little Earthquakes better, but I have been told by several people that the first Jennifer Weiner book they read is the best (no matter which one) and from then on it's a bit of a disappointment.

Up next...The Stingray Shuffle by Tim Dorsey. The book is described as "Carl Hiaasen on meth, Elmore Leonard on acid, Dave Berry on Drano." Well, I thought Carl Hiaasen was crazy, but a good read...and Dave Berry is just fucking hilarious, so a bit of Drano is just unimaginable to me!

I will give it a try!

I finished reading The Secret Life of Bees this morning and was satisfied with the book. I was glad I read it and found it a bit better than The Mermaid Chair. Neither of Sue Monk Kidd's books left me with any kind of lasting impression, so I wouldn't pick up another book of hers. It was a decent read, good moral, and a happy ending...but there's something about her that I don't quite love. I have heard raving reviews about this book, but it didn't live up to all my expectations of it being a fabulous story.

Up next is Good In Bed...a book that I borrowed from Ashley ages ago...and still haven't read!

Not to be outdone, I want to write about all of the books that I read, too, even though they are often crap. I just finished All or Nothing (as featured above). I LIKE TO READ ROMANCE NOVELS AND I AM NOT ASHAMED TO ADMIT THE FACT!!! I am, however, sometimes embarrassed to admit the titles. I picked this book up the other day at the library on the new fiction display. It had a slow start, but became engaging enough, although completely formulaic. Romance themed novels are typically formulaic, but a little variety would be nice. Also, the main character is a survivor of the big C, which is an unpopular literary note for most of the BAMFs. I read The River Knows over the weekend. It was one of the worst romance novels I have read in a while. I typically love a period piece, but this was not the way to go.

I am almost half way through The Secret Life of Bees and it's mediocre. I am not all that impressed by the story, although I do find it enticing to finish. I want to know what happens to Lily and Rosaleen. I am not overly excited about this book, but it is an easy, non-thinking read...at least to me. These bees better have a damn good secret life...cause I will be seriously disappointed if not!

I finally finished Eat, Pray, Love tonight. I had put it down for weeks. Afterward, I googled Elizabeth Gilbert and went on her website www.elizabethgilbert.com. I was curious to see if she and Felipe are still together (they are, by the way). The other interesting thing I learned from her bio is that she worked at Coyote Ugly and wrote about it for GQ. These writings were sold and became the basis for the movie Coyote Ugly. Interesting, huh?

I finished reading Sharp Objects and really enjoyed this twisted murder mystery. The main character was so strong, yet weak and fragile, which I think is hard for an author to get right. The main character, Camille a journalist from Chicago, is a tortured soul who goes back to her small home town in Missouri to report on the murders of two young girls and the possibility of a serial killer on the loose. She encounters characters that are vivid and fucked up. Each person in this book has issues and the way that they deal with these issues is bizarre. After I finished, I thought that maybe the actual town was cursed. The book is violent, not like blood and guts violence, but self-hatred, sexual abuse and psychological violence. It is a great book and I can't wait for Gillian's 2nd book to be published. It is wonderfully descriptive how she makes you "feel" the pain of the main character and her eye-opening journey.

Up next is The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd.

I finished reading Nature Girl and was taken away by how crazy the story got towards the end. Carl Hiaasen is truly insane with his characters. I did enjoy the book, but I wouldn't rush out and buy another one of his books. This is the kind of book that you read in moderation. I don't think that I could read about crazy insane situations over and over again! I did enjoy this quick, crazy read!

I started reading Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn and so far it is a griping page turner. This book was highly acclaimed by Stephen King who said it is, "An admirably nasty piece of work, elevated by sharp writing and sharper insights." The story is about a young woman reporter from Chicago who goes back to her small hometown because of a murder and a missing girl. I am only about 25 pages in and it is really good. It usually takes me more than 25 pages to get into a book so I think that this will be a great read for me!

I have picked out what self-help book I will be reading for BAMF's August book club....I will be reading Sex and the Perfect Lover: Tao, Tantra and the Kama Sutra by Mabel Iam. I am not a fan of self-help, not that I think I don't need any kind of help, but that reading a self-help book is not going to fix me, so to speak. I picked this book because I thought it might be fun and reading about sex is so much more entertainig than reading about self-esteem, how to make money and how to get yourself organized. The other choice that I was highly considering was Self-Help Nation: The Long Overdue, Entirely Justified, Delighfully Hostile Guide to the Snake-Oil Peddlers Who Are Sapping Our Nation's Soul by Tom Tiede. Don thinks that I should read Self-Help Nation because he thinks I will get bored reading Sex and the Perfect Lover...he doesn't want me wasting my time on reading things that I obviously don't need improvement on!!!

I started reading Nature Girl by Carl Hiaasen this morning and the first 10 pages were really kind of slow. I didn't think that I was going to keep reading, but then...it picked up and I am really getting into the different characters and the story, that as of now, I am still unclear about. I know about the characters, but the plot or purpose of the book has not shown itself yet and I am anxious to figure out what the deal is! Will keep you posted!

I finished Vanishing Acts and I totally new the "shocker" before it was introduced! I am so proud of myself that I have finally picked up on Jodi's cues and foreshadowing. The first Picoult book I read was The Tenth Circle and I was totally taken by the surprise. I have picked up on her slippery methods of writing in subtly plot cues and can't wait to challenge myself in the next book I read. I was going to post about the shocker yesterday, but then I doubted myself and thought, well...maybe I am just pulling that out my ass since I am almost finished and it hasn't come up yet. But then I remember how in most of her books the shocker comes way at the end. I am a proud panda! This was a wonderful book! Highly recommend!

The BAMF's did a phone chat with Lorna Landvik and I would love to do the same with Jodi...I may bring that up tonight at book club. Tonight we are discussing Eat, Pray, Love and I am eager to share my opinions with the group. I feel a slight bit guilty because I seem to always hate the books that Judy picks and hosts.

I am 200 pages into Vanishing Acts and I am loving it...not all that shocking since I love Jodi. This book has gone by very fast. Each chapter is written from a different characters perspective and it also has a different font for each character, which I think is very fun. Again, I find myself siding with the father which I have a tendency to do. I find it strange that I can't remember one book that I genuinely liked the mother figure. Is it mandatory that all novels contain a mother that is either a schizo or an alcoholic?