I Should Never Aim to Post Something Weekly

So. Hmm. I don't think I can call this the WEEKLY Reader Book Update, since, you know, it's been more like a month since I did this. Yeah. Sorry about that.

Before we begin, I wonder - did anyone read The Hunger Games and are you ready to discuss it beginning of next week? The third (and final!) in the series comes out next week and I should have done this before then. Sorry.

It's time for the (kind of, sort of) Weekly Reader Book Update, where I tell you what I've been reading and you tell me what you've enjoyed OR hated. I should maybe do it more often, but, um, I keep forgetting. Sorry about that. If you've read any of these, tell me if you agree with my review. Have a great book you've been unable to put down this week? Lay it on me. I've linked every book to Amazon, but I don't make money off of it or anything. Just as a help to you. (If it is a help. Which maybe it isn't.)

Shut up, already, Carmen.

This is going to be long. I've read a lot of books in the past month. I'll list them in no particular order.

A Perfect Evil/Split Second/The Soul Catcher - the first three books by Alex Kava. I've been on a murder mystery/serial killer rush for quite a while now, and having finished the Lisa Gardner ones, I was recommended these on Amazon. They were pretty good - not quite as good as the Lisa Gardner books that I've been working on all summer.

At The Stroke of Madness Alex Kava mystery number four. Same as above. I enjoyed them, but this author, after a while, got a bit tiring. Time to move on.

Faithful Place - I first read Tana French a year ago and loved her book The Likeness, and so this grabbed me. Set in Ireland, it was a nicely done mystery. I did figure out the twist, but it was still entertaining. Caution: because it's set in Ireland, the author writes with an accent, but it's not obtrusive. If anything, it makes it more believable.

Edge Of Evil - My mom recommended J.A. Jance to me when I complained that I'd finished all of the murder mysteries. She said that the main character was a blogger and it was right up my alley. Only problem was, I didn't like the main character. I never finished the book - I thought it wasn't well written. Sorry, Mom.

Look Me In The Eye The tale of John Robison, a man with Asberger's, Kalisa gave this to me to read while we were at Blogher. I was excited to read it. I thought it would be a great insight into my spectrum kiddo - and I'm beginning to think another of my kids is on the spectrum with Asperger's, so this book should have done it for me. The only problem? i didn't like John. I'm sorry. I know that I should, and I think that this book could have taught me a lot - I just didn't enjoy it and put it down half way through. If you've read it, let me know.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo I've tried, I think, four times to read this book. I keep hearing how great it is, but I've never been able to get into it. I'm trying again, and finally, on about page 250, it's pretty interesting. I'm not certain that the people who wrote the book descriptions on the back were reading the same book that I was reading, but I think I'll be able to finish it. I'm STILL waiting for the two story lines to intersect.

Got a book to recommend to me? I'm anxiously awaiting MockingJay, the final in The Hunger Games set.

Comments

[Headless Mom]

I got nothin'. I've read none of those, and the last book I finished was Plantation by Dot Frank, and it was a re-read since a sequel is coming out this fall. It's one of my South Carolina novels, not a mystery, or particularly deep, but I did enjoy it. FWIW, my mom loved Dragon Tattoo, so hopefully it will come together in a way that you love.

[Nicole]

I'm big on A. S. Byatt, but her writing is pretty literary, so not exactly beach reads. I've read Possession, The Little Black Book of Stories, and The Matisse Stories.

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield is another excellent novel, but also a little "heavy."

[Michele D]

I loved The Thirteenth Tale! I haven't read anything lately that I loved. I read the new Nora Roberts book The Search. It was what I expected. Good, but typical. I've read all the Dragon Tatoo books, but I do admit to everyone that I skipped ALOT of the stuff in the first one, I figured I just didn't care about all the family history, blah blah blah stuff. It went alot faster that way ;-)
I just started The 19th Wife. So far so good. I am floundering on something good to read.

[amie]

Read The Hunger Games,liked it but it scared the heck out of me. I think if the characters had been adults it would not have haunted me so much. Read Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and really got sucked in/wrapped up in it but it took a while to commit to it. Everyone I have talked to says it takes a while to get into the story. Reading Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest, again taking a while to get into. Been reading some non fiction, Change Your Brain Change your Body & something about differing learning styles in boys & girls but can not remember title. Have The Passage downloaded to Nook but have't cracked the cover yet. I hear it is very dark but definite page turner. Btw my Nook died a few weeks ago and have much cussing & lamenting I finally took it to the Nook problem solver desk at B&N. They were great & ended up replacing it for free in spite of fact that I did not have reciept or anything.Enjoyed the Nineteenth Wife earlier n summer- very different type of book. Highly reccommend James McBride.

[amie]

Checked the titles: Color of Water & Song yet Unsung by James McBride are outstanding reads in my opinion. I think Color of water will speak to any mother & the true, selfless love a mother has for her child. I may have said this last month- so if I did I apologize.

[kyooty]

since we last posted (we and lets and so on... there's a whole post I could write about that in my head), I read the rest of that Last Harry Potter book the Deathly Hallows and finished up The Beddle Bard (spin off) book. It was good. I was a bit let down by the end of The Deathly Hallows. It was like it was all just tidied up too fast at the end.
The book I've been reading since I went on my vacation in July is Nicholas Sparks The Guardian. I'm currently too distracted with online FB games to finish it. LOL Slow but Steady.

[girlsmama]

Have you read "The Goose Girl" by shannon Hale? It is book one in the Books of Bayern series. Very good YA books. Another great read was "The Help" and "The Guernesy Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society."

[Brandy]

In the past two weeks I've reread the first four Rizzoli books by Tess Gerritsen. Good thriller/mystery types. I read A LOT. So can't mention everything here. I'm waiting on my library to get in the new Cathy Lamb book, though. *G*

[Karen]

I read the first two in the Hunger Games series and can't wait for the next one. I heard the same thing from a couple other people about the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, so I think I'll be skipping it.

[Mary]

I have a couple of recommendations for you:
Author: J.A. Konrath, the series starts with "Whiskey Sour". I read somewhere (and noted, because I'm a geek that way) that "The books are equal parts humor and suspense, sort of a cross between Janet Evanovich and James Patterson."
Author: John Sandford, the series starts with "Rules of Prey".
Author: Marshall Karp, the series starts with "The Rabbit Factory".

[maggie]

I've read Hunger Game and Catching Fire and I will read Mockingjay but I'm not as big a fan as most. Coincidentally, I am about 16 pages into Look Me In the Eye and not really sure I'll go back to it. Too many other books waiting. My mystery author recommendations would be Joy Fielding and Mary Logue (The Claire Watkins mysteries)

[~ifer @ The Mind of ~Ifer]

I have the Hunger Games on my Kindle, but I haven't read it yet. I love books, and I love that you post this on your site, I will have to check out some of these books.

[Pam]

I read the Hunger Games after you recommended it and for 2-3 days, I could not PUT IT DOWN! It was really, really good!!! I didn't know there were more- I'm off to check the library site!

[Jenn E]

I have read Look Me in the Eye. You have to keep going. He is hard to like at first but I will say that I have met him and he is actually a wonderful human being. He's a huge advocate for our kids and advancing science to help them. I've been reading the Night Huntress Series by Jeanine Frost! LOVE IT

[Luckyduck]

I read "The Mortal Instruments" (City of Bones, City of Ashes, City of Glass) series after my teen daughter begged me to do so this summer. Took me awhile to get into the first one, but they turned out to be an interesting series with a great deal of snappy teenage dialogue. Way better than the Twilight saga. As for grown-up books, I am a big fan of Harlan Coben...great mysteries that I don't figure out until the last chapter. I used to read James Patterson and Dean Koontz, but their stuff has become a bit tiresome. Can't wait for Mockingjay! I promised the kiddo I would let her read it first. I also want to get a big one out there now, I think it's called "Passages" or something like that. Next time I have a spare $20 bill and a bajillion years of free reading time, I think I will pick it up.

[Carolyn]

I ADORED "Look Me In The Eye" (I laughed so hard while reading it in an airport I was crying, and my travel partner was concerned). I have worked with kids on the spectrum for years, so that might have been part of the reason I enjoyed it (I've lived through a lot of his experiences, but as an outsider looking in). I would recommend trying to get through it again, someday. I think the book gets better the farther into it you get.

I read "The Hunger Games" in 3 days and "Catching Fire" in 1 :) I cannot WAIT for the final book to make its rounds through my family members so I can have closure! (Though first I want to get the first two books back from my friend and re-read them in preparation!)

In a similar genre as "The Hunger Games" I just read "Tunnels" and it's sequel (I think it was called "Deeper" . . . ) it's another young adult series that is totally gripping. And my mom says there is a book called "The Maze" that is also similar to "Hunger Games", but since the final book in that trilogy hasn't been released yet, I haven't read it (I learned my lesson about starting a trilogy that hasn't been completely published with "Hunger Games"!)

[nfl jerseys]

I have the Hunger Games on my Kindle, but I haven't read it yet. I love books, and I love that you post this on your site, I will have to check out some of these books.

[Me]

Have you read Jodi Picoult's House Rules? I love her work and this is an excellent view on what it really means to have Aspberger's. After reading this, I could see both why it was suspected at first for M.'s diagnosis and why he doesn't have it at all.