I finished Water for Elephants on Wednesday night. I am so ready for book club! I did like the book. I think I was expecting more of an epiphany or spectacular event toward the end, but it was pleasing. I really liked the main character, Jacob. Granted I have never lived or traveled with the circus, but the book seemed really plausible. What do I know, though? I am excited to talk about this one at book club next Friday.
I started reading this holiday romance trilogy that my mom bought after WFE. I have read one of the three stories thus far and it was horrifically weak.
I also realized that I am not on track to make my annual goal of 52 books per year. I just finished number 42. I am a bit disappointed in myself. I might still aim for 48. but that is still a lofty goal.
I haven't posted on BAMFs in a while, so I am super excited. I have read a few romance novels lately and they were so crappy that I didn't even care to write about them. Last night, I started Water for Elephants. I am about fifty pages in and am digging it so far. I was a little worried about the circus aspects being boring or irritating, but so far it is all really palatable. I am trying to finish this weekend so I can give the book to Jenny!. Also, I want to be done well before the 30th because I always wait until far too close to bookclub and then cannot get the book done.
I was thinking recently that I would like my job so much more if I actually took my lunch break every day and read for thirty minutes to an hour. Haven't done it yet, though. Maybe someday soon.
What? Huh? No one blogged book club? Come on, Jenny!, you are slacking. Book club was held this past Friday at Jenny!'s house. Jeanette was our lovely co-host. We read two different mystery books and did a murder mystery activity. Dinner was delicious. Jeanette made meatloaf and Jenny! took care of the brie with apricot, mashed potatoes, and corn. What a fantastically delicious Midwestern meal! Everyone by me dressed up in costume. This should surprise no one. My character was supposed to wear a black suit and sunglasses. It was 85 degrees and that was so not happening. We barely talked about the books because only a few people finished and we had two different books. A good time was had by all, but some of us party poopers had to leave early because we were too tired and had to wolrk at the JOB on Saturday at 8:30am.
I am reading The Starter Wife by Gigi Levangie Grazer and so far it's decent. It has some pretty entertaining passages about men shaving their balls. I am not all that excited about the fact that it's being made into a movie because I don't like Debra Messing and her sickly looking ass. I do think that she will play Gracie's part well though. And Joan and Cricket have been casted very well too. I will want to see the movie after if comes out, but not sure that it will adapt well to the screen. We shall see! 
I just finished reading Up Close and Personal. It was a decent and quick read. I started last night and finished this morning. You totally knew where the book was going the entire time, but the characters were really likable. Fern Michaels is a huge animal fan and includes lots of pets in all of her books. I will just say that this can get terribly old. I like cats and dogs, too, but enough already. Please stop devoting so much print to them. Maybe that was her creative way to fluff the text and make the book longer. I have to start looking for something like that.
Next up is The Zookeeper's Wife. It is based on a true story of a couple who smuggled Jews into the Warsaw Zoo during World War II. Should be interesting.
I finished I Love You, Beth Cooper the other night. It was really entertaining and I would highly recommend it. If there is any part of a geek in you-and face it, most of us blogging for sure have that-you would enjoy this one. It is really a quick read and is pretty funny. On to the next book now. I got two at the library. I think I will go with the romance novel next because I will be too embarrassed to read that on a plane.
I am loving I Love You, Beth Cooper. My old roommate Laura had recommended the book to me. She said it was funny and entertaining. It was also featured in the University of Illinois Alumni magazine this summer as Larry Doyle is a U of I alumnus. So, I finally put it on reserve at the library and decided to read it. It has literally made me laugh out loud more times than I can count. The book revolves around Denis Cooverman, valedictorian of Buffalo Grove High School, and his ambiguously gay best friend, Rich Munsch. It starts out with Denis' speech at high school graduation and then the rest transpires on graduation night while hanging out with Beth Cooper and her two friends Cammy and Treece. It has a Can't Hardly Wait or Dazed and Confused feel to it. This book is really funny. There were two quotes I wanted to share, but I cannot find them now.
The BAMFs met for another round of bookclub this past weekend. There were six of us in attendance. Jeanette was not able to attend, unfortunately, because of work. We went to Wishbone in Berwyn for some Southern cooking. The food was fine. Our service was mediocre. I was really surprised by how busy it was. We did actually get to talk about our book, Montana Sky by Nora Roberts. Of the six of us, three were completely finished with the book and three had about 150 pages left. Thus, we didn't get to discuss it all. I think everyone was pleasantly surprised that they were totally digging a romance novel after having looked down on them with disdain. Our next book club will be at Jenny!'s and then the holiday bookclub will be at my house. Jenny and Jeanette have yet to reveal what the October book is, so we are all anxiously awaiting this information.
I have to decided to proudly embrace my romance novels and include most of the novels I read on this blog. I am sure there will be a few with covers or titles that embarrass me far too much to include. I saw this book at Target, but didn't buy it because I guessed, as did occur, that my mom would buy it. My mom always buys books by Carly Phillips. They are usually "Bookmarked" at Target when they are new on paperback. I took it from my parents and asked my mom how it was. Her review was so-so. By the way, my favorite thing in the world is when my mom hands me a book and says "You might want to read this. It wasn't very good." Oh, that's right, I have so much time on my hand that I want your crappy books. Seriously! Back to the topic. I actually liked the book. The characters came together fairly quickly and there wasn't all this drama involving contrived, barely existent conflict. They knew they would end up together and so did the reader. They just had to solve a mystery and stay alive to do so. The author also did one of my other non-favorite things which was introduce other characters who one will then have to buy her next book in the fall to find out what happens to. Oh, those clever romance writers. What to read next, that is the question. I will most likely start I Love You, Beth Cooper by Larry Doyle. It was recommended to me by my friend Laura.
I finished our book club book, Montana Sky by Nora Roberts. This book was my suggestion since I am an avid romance novel reader. I know they are considered to be crappy, but I love them. Some of them are extremely crappy quite truthfully, but others I just love. This seemed like a good choice since this was one of my favorites and a good book for those who aren't super into the genre. I am not saying much about it since I am probably the one one finished so far (I know this because two of you bookclubbers are borrowing it). 
The overall plot summary is that three half-sisters-Willa, Tess, and Lily-are forced to live together on a ranch for a year in order to receive their inheritance. In addition to the romantic and sisterly relationships, there is quite a bit of intrigue as someone is killing humans and slaughtering animals. I am really curious to see how people will feel about this one.
Last night, I watched the movie version of the book. I think it was originally shown on Lifetime. I found out about the movie inadvertently on iTunes and then got the movie from Netflix. I would not recommend the movie. I tend to create really strong visuals and ideas of how people look, act, and talk while reading. For me, very few movies made from books can live up to the book. It is also tough to condense a 500-page novel into under two hours. I also thought that some of the changes were dumb and unnecessary. Changing one character from a lawyer to a cop did not help the plot. There was also little room for character development. Again, take a pass.
Last night, I finished Forever in Blue: The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. I am a little embarrassed to say, but I really liked it. It was my favorite book in the series so far. I am honestly not sure that I would want my teenage daughter to read this. Three of the four characters have sex and there is a pregnancy scare. I want my hypothetical daughters reading Babysitter's Club until the day they marry. There was a quote at the beggining of each chapter. I know you would have skipped these, Jenny! I was pretty pleased with how Lena, Carmen, Bridget, and Tibby grew up and that the pants continued to keep them together. I even think I cried. I know this isn't a mass appeal book for adults, but it was better than the adult book that Ann Brashares wrote. Her themes of friendship, abandonment, loss, love, and more resonate at any age.
