Divergent by Veronica Roth

Divergent is a poor man's Hunger Games.



I considered just leaving the post at that but I'll elucidate a little bit...

The themes in Divergent are very similar to those in The Hunger Games. Divergent is not as good as The Hunger Games, but still a page turner. Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed the book, but I would avoid social interaction to read the Hunger Games and I would not do that for Divergent...so it's all relative.

There is a second book, Insurgent, which will be released in May (and immediately delivered to my Kindle). I believe it's meant to be a trilogy.

Basic premise is that there was some sort of war that destroyed the US as we know it currently - this book is set in the future in what is currently Chicago. There's a fence surrounding the city - but who knows what's on the other side of the fence? Is it holding them in or holding something else out? What caused the war that got them to the place they're currently in? Society is divided into five factions - Dauntless (bravery), Abnegation (selflessness), Amity (niceness, for lack of a better word), Erudite (intelligence), and Candor (honesty). You are born into a faction but at age 16 you take an aptitude test that tells you what faction you are most suited to. You don't have to choose the faction that your aptitude test points towards - it's all up to you. If you choose to leave your family, you could potentially be saying goodbye to them forever - kind of a faux pas. Which is stronger - faction or blood? Once you choose your faction, you must undergo an initiation. If you fail to pass, you'll end up factionless, living on the margins of the city and of society itself.

There's unrest among the factions - why are things the way they are? Have they always been this way? Do they have to continue to be so?

Roth is clever and the story is very well written but it's definitely YA fiction. There's a moment you're waiting for almost as soon as the book begins, and in my opinion it takes way too long to get there. I doubt teenagers (the target audience) would agree with me, so probably a good move on Roth's part.

If you enjoyed The Hunger Games, you'll likely enjoy Divergent.

UGH, yeah, I know...

Since I last posted...


Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
yes. read this. amazing book. biography of a WWII vet/olympian named louis zamperini...but his life was (is) so exciting that it reads like a page-turning novel. have gifted this book multiple times since i read it. 

One Day by David Nicholls

meh. read it on the beach in san diego. was a great beach read, but i don't really know that i recommend it otherwise. it was made into a movie this summer - the one with anne hathaway. i never saw the movie, nor do i really intend to. the story was uninspired. the layout of the book (checking in with two characters every year for 40 years on the same date) was quite creative, but the story itself was not. 

The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore

True story of two young men who grew up within miles of each other in Baltimore, both named Wes Moore. One turned out to be a huge success (decorated military vet, White House advisor, author), the other ended up in jail again...and again...and again. They became unlikely friends and this book describes the two paths the young men took and the influences in their lives that caused them to end up where they did. Very interesting but maybe not interesting to those who don't live in Baltimore. 

The Magician King by Lev Grossman

Very good but not as good as the original in my opinion. Still great. Focuses more on Julia than on Quentin. If you're going to read one of the two, read the first. Don't read the second without reading the first. 

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

I decided to read this because I was hearing a lot about it and I needed something to get me back in the swing of reading as passionately as I had been in years past. It's the story of a mysterious traveling circus that shows up in the middle of the night with no warning and disappears in the same manner. There's a love story thrown in there, as well as an ongoing story of rivalry and revenge. There were points in the body of the text that really pulled the reader into the text - but the relative level of creativity in the end of the book versus the body was disappointing. I didn't get the big finish I expected. It was almost as if Morgenstern just said "Well...that'll do." 

Is Everyone Hanging out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling 

I had high hopes for this book after how much I enjoyed Tina Fey's book, but I should have remembered that Mindy Kaling (Kelly on the Office, also a writer on the Office) is not yet Tina Fey. She may never be Tina Fey, in fact. Maybe my expectations were too high. There were many funny moments, but overall I expected more. And it was disappointingly short as well. 

And finally - I reread the Hunger Games trilogy over the last few days. If you haven't read the Hunger Games trilogy yet, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? So. Good. Love. 

Bossypants by Tina Fey

HAHAHAHAHHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

I don't need to say anything else. Just read Bossypants.

The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

Have you heard the song "Beautiful Disaster" by Kelly Clarkson?

That's how I'd describe the relationship between Ernest Hemingway and his first wife, Hadley. This relationship is detailed in a fictionalized account based on true events in the book The Paris Wife by Paula McLain. I don't know that it really mattered to my enjoyment of the story that this was based on true events, or that it was about the Hemingways - I'm not a particular fan of Hemingway's work. Really I just picked it up because I'd heard good things and it was high on the bestsellers list.

I read a quote somewhere that said Ernest had said of Hadley after their marriage ended (sorry, but I don't count that as a spoiler given that it's widely known that Hemingway had 4 wives and Hadley was the first) something along the lines of wishing that he'd not lived long enough to love anyone other than her. I thought that was such a tragically romantic thing to say, so I had to find out what happened in their story. I think that's how I'd describe the whole book - tragically romantic. Melancholy. How else can a love story be when you know it's going to come to an end? I think I just wanted to find out how it happened.

The book is wonderfully written. It really sucks you in. It makes you feel wistful and nostalgic. It would be perfect to read on a rainy Sunday, but there haven't been many of those in Baltimore lately and I enjoyed it just the same :) McLain sketches the characters clearly and powerfully. It's not light reading, but it's not heavy either. It moves quickly, and it's not hard to understand. It's dramatic and engaging.

The thing is, for all the melancholy and the drama and the tragic romance, it's not a sad book per se. Maybe because I believe it's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all - maybe that's the most accurate thing to say about Ernest and Hadley Hemingway as well as this book describing their relationship.

Room by Emma Donohue

Eesh.

Get a glass of wine. Actually, get a bottle of wine, pour some into a glass, and then drink the rest from the bottle. The amount reserved in the glass just allows you to say that you didn't drink an entire bottle of wine yourself.

Smart, no?

Anyway. Room. Dude this book is intense. I definitely would not have picked this book up had it not been a book club selection (yes, I'm in a book club, aren't you proud of me? I say you as if anyone reads this blog. My mom doesn't even read this blog).

Room is a story told from a 5 year old boy's perspective about his and his mother's life in captivity. The thing is - he has no idea they're being held captive. Room - the room they live in - is his whole world.

The book is fascinating - but fascinating in the way the life stories of serial killers are. It doesn't make you feel happy or fulfilled. It just makes you feel...horrified? Well, it made me feel horrified anyway. The rest of my book club really liked it. It's a quick read, but again, not a happy one. It is a story of hope, so there's that, at least.

I dunno, this post is useless so I'll try to wrap it up and be more direct and concise - the book is well written, and it's interesting. I respect the work, but I don't like it. I didn't enjoy it. Take from that what you will.

Keep in mind, I hate children. Would I listen to a 5 year old talk for the period of time it took me to read Room? Hell no. So maybe I was just really annoyed at having to listen to this story from his perspective. Definitely an option.

The Reader by Bernhard Schlink

I attended the Baltimore book thing on Saturday and got a bunch of books - the first I chose to read was The Reader by Bernhard Schlink. I mostly picked it up because it was made into a movie last year and I like to read books then see the movies and compare them - and I figured if the movie was as popular as it was, the story must be good.

It's a quick read - only 218 pages - so if you are looking for a short one, this could be your thing. But typically if you're looking for a short read, you're looking for something light - and this isn't a light story. This is the story of a relationship between a young man and an older woman - so not the typical May/December relationship. I appreciate that fact, the attempt to tell a different story. Maybe you could consider it a serious cougar story. Basically discusses the ramifications, the ripples throughout the young man's life of his relationship with the older woman. More far reaching than I would have thought. Interesting, well written, nostalgic and poetic.

Favorite quotes from the book posted on the other blog.

Oh, and I'm not even going to mention the fact that I haven't blogged in months. Whoops.

Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

Hands down, this should be the next book you read.

Did you know that during the Holocaust, thousands of French Jewish citizens were rounded up by French (not German) authorities, held in a stadium for a few days in inhumane conditions, and then shipped to concentration camps? That the men were separated immediately from the women and children? That the children then were separated from their mothers? They weren't sent to be held until further notice, they were sent to be executed. No work camp...just death.

Me neither.

This book is interesting enough because it educates you about a subject that, in my opinion, has mostly been hidden from public knowledge in the past. Sure, materials about it exist (See Wikipedia page here) but, much like the Armenian Holocaust, it's not something most people learn about in school. Heck, maybe it was just the schools I went to, but no one I've talked to knew anything about this particular event. Just quite interesting to me, the events from the past that get sort of glazed over in favor of exploring other horrors.

Anyway, the book is fiction, so it's definitely not an entirely accurate historical account, but as I understand it it sticks to the facts as much as possible. It's told from two points of view - one of a little girl named Sarah who is part of the roundup in 1942, and one of a female journalist in present day who discovers Sarah's particularly tragic story.

Honestly the best book I've read in a while.

I mean...

I could make excuses but they would take a long time to type so I'll just admit I'm a bad blogger and leave it at this. I'll give you the short and sweet of the books I didn't blog, and honestly, unless they were included in the list on the side of my blog, I've forgotten that I read them and will not be telling you about them...sorry :-(

1. A million miles in a thousand years by Donald Miller - I believe this is the newest book by the author of Blue Like Jazz (he's a pretty famous author of Christian books) but this one is notably not about themes of Christianity, etc. The essential premise of this work of non-fiction is that it should be your mission to make the story of your life one worth telling. It's all about the author's own self-exploration of whether or not his own life meets that criteria. Interesting but not so interesting that I couldn't put it down.
2. To Have and to Hold by Jane Green - Listened to this on tape as I drove from Ohio to Maryland. Definitely kept my attention. About a woman whose husband cheats on her, she knows he cheats on her. Basically the idea of whether a cheating husband who you love is better than no husband at all. Interesting and moderately trashy.
3. Luncheon of the Boating Party by Susan Vreeland - In the vein of The Girl with the Pearl Earring, a book about the story behind a painting. Great book, very interesting read.
4. Born Round by Frank Bruni - LOVE. Love anything about food, honestly, but especially love this as it's the (true) story of Bruni's life from childhood, his lifelong struggle with his weight, his identity, his sexuality, etc. All intertwined, he's a hilarious and introspective author. AND while I was reading it I tweeted at him and he tweeted me back!! Therefore even if I had hated the book in reality I would have loved it from then on. But really, good reading.
5. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins - Conclusion of the Hunger Games series. Awesome. Downloaded exactly at midnight on my Kindle the day it was released, read it very quickly after that. Very good. Have you read the Hunger Games series yet? What are you waiting for?!?
6. Sammy's Hill by Kristin Gore - Meh. Basically trashy gossip-rag literature set on Capitol Hill. Only interesting because it was written by the daughter of former vice prez Al Gore so you have to wonder if it was (way) more accurate than if it were written by anyone else. As a former Congressional intern, it was an interesting read and quite accurate when it talks about the social life of Capitol Hill staffers, but let's be real, the ending could be seen roughly 20 pages into the book.

What else have I read since the above books? I promise that if I could remember, I'd tell you. I re-read Harry Potter books 1, 2, 3 and 7 in anticipation of the release of Deathly Hallows Part 1. Prior to that...you know, I know I was reading something good because I can remember the bookmark I was using while I was reading it, but I can't for the life of me remember what it was. I hopefully will remember soon and then will tell you what it was. Hopefully.

The Associate and The Broker by John Grisham (two separate books)

This is out of order. I read both of these after I read A Million Miles in a Thousand Years but I figured these would be easy to get off my plate and therefore make my list look like I'm more up to date on blogging than I currently am.

Have you read a John Grisham book before?

No? Where the hell have you been in the last 20 years? Read one. Any one of them. But if you choose Playing for Pizza you then have to read another one (one of the courtroom dramas) to really know what he's about.

Yes? Then I'm not going to waste your time writing about these books.

The thing about Grisham is that if you've read one, you've read them all. It's the same thing with Picoult or any other author who has written as many books as either of them. The details change but the general ideas and structure are the same. Is that bad? Some people think so. I don't. It's like knowing what your mom's spaghetti tastes like. Sometimes you'd rather have steak, but when you want spaghetti, you're eating it for the comforting sensation as well as the taste itself. Grisham is your mom's spaghetti :-)

I needed good books to read during the week between my old job and my new job as I laid around by the pool. These were perfect. Every book has a purpose. These served theirs well.

My name is Memory by Ann Brashares

If you want a romance novel that won't make you feel trashy, read this.

My name is Memory by Ann Brashares was, in a way, somewhat of a reinterpretation of Romeo & Juliet, which let's be real, is the greatest love story of all time. A little dramatic? Yes, but sometimes I feel like one can only be affected by other's experiences when those experiences are super dramatic and therefore have the extra emotion to go around.

ANYWAY. In a few words, this is the story of a love as old as time. The premise is that reincarnation exists, and that there are a few people who are gifted enough to recognize that fact and remember their previous lives. Those people find their true mates in some early life and then spend the rest of their lives searching for that person in the rest of THEIR lives. Does it always match up? No, sometimes he comes back as a baby and she's back as an 80 yr old woman (she doesn't just pop into the 80 yr old woman's body, she's actually lived the entire life. It's not always clear how long they spend in between lives before being reincarnated). Their strong connection draws them together life after life even though she's unaware of the connection. The problem is that the strong connection can go both ways - both positive and negative. Meaning that while your partners can follow you throughout your lives, so can your enemies. It wouldn't be as interesting if the sweet didn't come with the sour, right?

So it's a story we've heard before, but told in a completely different way, which I really appreciated. Oh, and one of the characters attends UVA in one of their lives. But the author clearly did not go to UVA, nor did she know anyone who went to UVA because the terms she uses (Jefferson Park Avenue instead of JPA, for example) are not terms a Wahoo would use. The student also appears to live in Hereford which is a little strange. But we'll give her an A for effort. When is it ever NOT great to have a romance and UVA in the same book?

The girl who kicked the hornet's nest by Steig Larsson

I am smiling as I type this because I know what I'm about to do to you.

I think The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest was the best of the three (two that came before already reviewed on this blog). Does that mean that you have to read all three? It means you should. Could you read the second or the third without having read what came before? Yeah, if you wanted to, but why would you do that to yourself? WHY?

I picked this book up a couple of months ago when I was flying around the country interviewing to get a new job. This particular purchase happened as a result of being marooned in Minneapolis due to a tornado. Well, back it up. I guess, really, I hope they serve beer in Hell was the airport purchase. This book was purchased the next day after I had finished I hope they serve beer in Hell (hey, I spent a lot of time sitting around at airports those two days) and needed something to get me through the rest of the weekend.

Something to note about me: I need to have the option to read at all times. I can have a book with me and not WANT to read it, that's fine, but not having the option at all is torture. Another note, I was so excited to buy this book that I sprinted up the stairs at the B&N in Old Orchard (Chicago) and fell down. Smooth.

But this is about the book, not me. Side note, I wonder if I just stopped writing about books on this blog if anyone would actually notice or if I'm seriously just doing this for my own benefit.

So the book. I can't say much unless I know you've read 1 and 2. Basically, in 1, there's a bad person trying to hurt a good person. A good person helps the other good person stop the bad person. In 2, there's a bad person trying to attack the other good person (the one who helped in book 1). So, the first good person helps the second. Also in 2, a bad person tries to help the bad person hurt the good person. Now in 3, the good people are trying to catch the bad person who helped the other bad person in 2. That was extremely confusing and clearly did nothing to describe how good these books are, but it did at least demonstrate one point - these three books are interconnected. You're able to develop complex relationships with and feelings about the characters as you follow them through the three stories (am I the only one who does that?), which I think always makes things more interesting. Oh, and no, I didn't give anything away...because you're never entirely sure who's good and who's bad. Which is kind of awesome.

All three books make you think, but in a "where is this book going?" rather than a "where is my life going?" way, and sometimes that's exactly what you need. They're a great escape.

I hope they serve beer in Hell by Tucker Max

I don't know if I ever would have picked this book up had I not been stuck in the Minneapolis airport during a tornado. I was pretty sure I was going to want to go on a murderous rampage once I finished the book, but then once I started it I realized that the very knowledge of the fact that I was probably going to hate the book made it easier for me to accept it. Low expectations, etc.

So if you haven't heard of Tucker Max - he's basically famous for being a womanizer. He became famous through his website (www.tuckermax.com) where he told the ridiculous (yet apparently true) stories of his sexual and drunken escapades, and eventually put up a date application for women who wanted to go out with him (for whatever reason) - I imagine that maybe these women thought that they could be the ones to tame the beast...yeah, they weren't.

This book is basically just a collection of all the posts from his website. It's disgusting, for sure, and I wouldn't recommend to anyone that they read this book only because I don't want to be responsible for exposing people to the types of things he's done. I read it more as research on the enemy than anything else. I'd say really it's just disheartening. Are there more men out there like Tucker Max? Surely, or he wouldn't be so famous - there are at least thousands of men who WANT to be like Tucker Max. And there are thousands of women who think that's ok.

Which is just kind of sick.

Heart of the Matter by Emily Giffin

Short and sweet: Giffin is a Wahoo (law school). If that's not enough to convince you that her writing is good, then take my word for it. It is. Read her books.

My affinity for Giffin's writing has nothing to do with her status as an alumna (alumnus? whatever) of The University. It doesn't hurt though.

I've read all of her novels. I've liked all of her novels. This one was interesting. It explores one single relationship from the perspective of two people (only one of whom is directly involved) who are affected by its existence -- the wife and the mistress. And get this - you don't hate the mistress. Do you hate the husband? Clearly. I don't know if I could ever find an author talented enough to make me like the cheating husband. But you don't hate the mistress, and I think that's a sign of what a good author Giffin is. Nothing feels contrived. It all feels like something that could really happen to someone you know (although I hope not to any of you...or myself).

It's not funny, it's not lighthearted, but it's not so heavy that you feel like you have to put it down (or in the freezer). It'll make you think.

My Fair Lazy by Jen Lancaster

Short and sweet: if you're looking for funny/sarcastic, this is the book for you.

You've heard of Lancaster before if you've read this blog (or hopefully even if you don't read this blog, but I'd appreciate knowing that you read the blog). Annie I believe was the one who gave me her first book (Bitter is the New Black) as a gift and I've been a fan ever since. I wasn't thrilled with her last book (Pretty in Plaid) mostly because I've come to expect so much from Lancaster - but My Fair Lazy really redeemed her. Keep in mind this is all relative. Lancaster is one of my favorite authors so what I would deem a disappointing effort from her is still better than most other authors.

ANYWAY - My Fair Lazy is about Lancaster's love for all things reality tv related - she watches the shows, talks about them, blogs about them, thinks about them, etc. Eventually she realizes that her addition to reality television may not be doing much to make her cultured. Maybe pop cultured, but not generally cultured. So she sets out on a self-assigned life mission (life steps, as my friend John would say) to step outside her comfort zone and learn more about herself and the world she lives in. The result is funny - and I think sends a really good message. It's always good to step outside your comfort zone, yes, but there's something to be said for examining your comfort zone in the first place and learning what it says about you. Are you ok with it? If you are, you're golden. If you're not, explore a little. And along the way, maybe read one (or more) of Lancaster's books.

Olive Kittridge by Elizabeth Strout

The word that immediately comes to mind when I think of Olive Kittridge is melancholy...but it's a beautiful kind of melancholy. You know how it is when it's a rainy Saturday in the middle of the summer? When everything is silent and all you can here is the pitter-patter of the raindrops on the roof, on the asphalt outside? That's what this book is like. It's cool breezes and raindrops.

Olive Kittridge is the story of a small town...somewhere...Massachusetts? I have no idea. Somewhere on the East Coast, I know that. So essentially it's a collection of short stories about different members of the community but every short story ties back to Olive. She's one of the members that holds everyone else in the community together - even though individual members of the community appear to not like her very much.

I love the way that Strout told the stories. She told 95% of the stories - she got you to a certain point, told you a certain amount about the characters, and let you get the rest of the way on your own, let you form your own assumptions. I loved that. I loved how much she inspired me to feel and think about the characters she introduced me to.

This book has nothing to do, really, with what happens to the characters throughout their lives - it has everything to do with the characters themselves and how they react to the world around them, and that's why I loved it so much - it was a study in personalities, an exercise in human nature. Don't you love stories like that? When it's like you're a fly on the wall and you learn things about people that you normally wouldn't get to hear?

This isn't one of those books with a happy ending or an unhappy ending, because it's not really a story that ends - it's just about people. How fragile people are, how delicate their egos are. Kind of makes you feel small...I like feeling that way every once in a while.

The Hunger Games and Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

I must admit, when I first heard about the premise of The Hunger Games, I was not all that interested in picking it up. It's a story about the North America of the future - when the United States have disbanded and the new government ("The Capitol") has divided North America into 13 districts. There's an uprising in District 13 that leads The Capitol to create an annual tournament called the Hunger Games, to which each district must send one male and one female "tribute." The tributes are locked in an arena specially designed for the games and must remain there, fighting each other and the elements until only one remains, essentially just to show that the government has ultimate control over the lives of all its citizens. Sounded a little bit sick and twisted to me, but so many people recommended it to me that I figured I had to give it a shot.

And I was so happy I did. I devoured The Hunger Games, and then went out and bought the sequel (Catching Fire) within an hour of finishing the first book. Yes, the subject matter is sick, but the story is great. It's YA fiction (like the Twilight Saga) so there's plenty of drama. Lots of twists and turns - and it isn't as gruesome as you might expect. Collins tells the story she wants to tell without relying on blood and guts as much as she could have. I literally found my heart racing during tense moments in the plot, which I think is evidence of great writing. I also always think it's fun to read books set in the future - you've gotta wonder, what's going to happen? Look at how much the country and society have changed in the past 50 years, 100 years - which is such a relatively short amount of time - what's going to happen in the next? Your guess (or Collins') is as good as mine - but let's hope Collins isn't spot on.

I can't tell you much about Catching Fire without giving up information about The Hunger Games, but one criticism I will throw out there is this - I think Collins should have only written two books instead of three. Mockingjay - the final book of the series - is due out in late August. Granted I haven't read Mockingjay, so I can't say whether she could have fit all of the material into two books, but Catching Fire was definitely a transitional text. The first half of Catching Fire was spent wrapping up The Hunger Games, and the second half was spent setting up Mockingjay. Maybe Mockingjay will be able to stand on its own, and the set up needed to be left to another book to cut down on the length - but I felt like Catching Fire should have been divided into an Epilogue and a Prologue for the two other texts. Letting it be a book on its own, giving it that weight of expectation (especially after all the action of The Hunger Games), sort of set it up to fail. I felt like it couldn't carry the amount of story that it needed to. Was it released in that way to build anticipation and set the stage for sales of Mockingjay? Maybe, but I think The Hunger Games really ensured the success of its sequel through its own success.

All that said - don't miss out on Catching Fire. Just because it was used to bridge what I assume are going to be two great books doesn't mean it doesn't tell an important part of the story. Don't miss out on either of them...go get them now (I'll wait for you to come back). Perfect poolside reading for the summer!

Recommendations for all my teacher friends...

Check out this list of memoirs re: the first year of teaching...

The White Queen by Philippa Gregory

During the week or so that I was reading The White Queen by Philippa Gregory, when people asked what I was reading and how I was liking it, I told them the title and then I followed it up with what I usually say about Gregory - she basically writes drugstore smut and disguises it as historical fiction.

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Does it seem like that's a recurring theme? I read books that are basically some varying degree of chick lit, but if you don't look out you could actually learn something in the process - but maybe that's really the point of reading. Food for thought.

ANYWAY, overarching themes aside, Gregory is done with writing about the Tudor dynasty of England and has moved on to the Plantagenets and the House of York (the dynasty that came before the Tudors). This book is the first in a new series - and I'm sure it'll be just as good (and popular) as the series about the Tudors.

This book focuses on Elizabeth Woodville - "The White Queen" - who was rumored to be a witch, or at least have tendencies towards witchcraft, which are explored in the book and add a new element to Gregory's writing. I didn't particularly enjoy that aspect of the book - it felt like Gregory was using it as a crutch to add an additional element of excitement to the story, whereas usually the brilliance her books (as far as I know, let's be real, I'm not any historical expert) is that they just rely on the known facts about the historical figures to build her stories. I kind of thought that her whole point was that there was enough drama in the truth and therefore there was no need to spice it up. Granted, she has to take some liberties in writing her dialogue - it's not like that was recorded anywhere - but this just felt like more than usual. That may be a welcome departure for some people - so don't let me turn you off from reading the book entirely. Just a comment.

As in all good drugstore smut, there is romance and intrigue. There's war, there's royalty, and as stated before there's witchcraft. Pretty good elements that add up to a pretty good story.

Sacred Hearts by Sarah Dunant

So, did I give Sacred Hearts a ringing endorsement by forgetting that I had read it for 5 months?

Should you read it? Yeah, if you're looking for something entertaining that won't make you think too hard. You also might just learn something about history in the meantime.

The basic story is that there's a young woman named Serafina (that's her nun name...I don't recall her "real" name) whose father forces her to enter the convent to avoid her having a scandalous love affair with her voice coach. Serafina has a wonderful singing voice, so the convent is invested in her staying so that they will receive increased donations from the public who come to hear Serafina sing in the choir. There's a lot more politics involved in the running of a convent than I would have previously imagined, but I suppose one has to realize that politics are everywhere. Dunant is a talented author - her use of description and detail really transport you to the historical setting (16th century Italy) - and she manages to make the reader care about a romance between a young woman and a man who we never really meet.

There's suspense, there's romance. It was a great vacation read as I drifted around the lazy river at the resort, but the story is over the second you close the back cover. If you're looking for something that will stay with you, this probably isn't it. I like to think of certain books as rebound books - the kind that you read after a book that greatly impacted you in order to "get over" the previous book - this is one of those.

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert

Listen, Gilbert. I tried. I really did. I tried, and tried, and tried to read your sophomore novel, even while being tempted by all the other great books that are out there.

I couldn't deal with it. I don't mean to typecast you as an author, but you wrote, and we loved Eat, Pray, Love. Why couldn't you just continue in the same vein?

I couldn't finish. It's pretty rare that I leave a book unfinished. Committed (at least as far as I read) was basically a whiny account of the fact that Gilbert's lover (the man she met in EPL) was barred from entering the United States, so they had to get married to get him citizenship, a move that they never saw on their horizon previously. While plotting how they were going to pull off said marriage without being able to get him back into the US, they traveled around the world and studied marriage in different cultures around the world. That's as far as I got.

My bottom line is this -- I feel like she set out to write something when she wrote EPL. When she wrote Committed, though, I think she just set out to write anything. And there's a big difference.