Want some book recommendations? Here you go. Plus, I hated Twilight. There, I said it.

I was supposed to be at book club tonight. But Andy succumbed to the germs that got Henry, Eleanor and I last week, so I stayed home to be on kid duty while he got some rest. (He took a half-day sick day last week so I could recuperate, so I wanted to repay the favor.)

In lieu of book club, let me tell you about what I’ve read lately. I’ve wanted to start posting about books, because a) I love getting book recommendations, and if you like them, too, well then, here’s my opinion of some of them and b) I tend to forget about books after I read them (I’m bad about movies, too) and this will help me keep track of what I read.

What I’ve Read Lately:

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
Eh, it was okay. I enjoyed reading it, but it’s basically The DaVinci Code set in Washington, D.C. The main character finds a clue, spends four pages describing the symbolism of it, races across town with bad guys hot on his heels to find the next clue, spends four pages describing the symbolism of it, repeat, repeat, etc. The symbolism stuff is definitely cool, but after JESUS HAD A WIFE! (DaVinci Code) and OMG THE VATICAN’S GOING TO EXPLODE! (Angels & Demons), I found the Big Plot Point in this one a little on the “so what?” side. I should have saved it for next summer—a good pool read.

Official Book Club Selection by Kathy Griffin
I find Kathy Griffin hilarious, so I liked this book. Yeah, she can be kind of an asshole, but she put a lot of work into being successful. If you read it, keep reading at the end—her book club discussion questions are pretty funny, and I even chuckled at the index.

Genesis by Bernard Beckett
When Martha Stewart tells you to read a book, you do it. I follow Martha on Twitter (and you should, too, she’s awesome and posted a photo of a burning car once), and she tweeted about liking Genesis. It’s science fiction, and probably contained symbolism that went over my head, and I can’t think of a way to tell you about the plot without giving it away, so just go read it. The minute I finished I knew the story was exactly along Andy’s tastes, so I made him read it, too.

One Shot by Lee Child
I randomly picked up one of Lee Child’s Jack Reacher novels at the library this summer, liked it, and have been making my way through the entire series. Yeah, each book is kinda the same—Jack Reacher shows up in a new place, crime is committed, Reacher gets involved in investigation, gives some lovin’ to a random chick, solves crime, heads out of town. But for some reason I really enjoy them. I love how Reacher knows all about guns and can get pretty violent in fights, which is probably a strange compliment to give, especially coming from me, a former Miss Congeniality. This book was entertaining but somewhat of a strange read since it was set in Indiana, and I live in Indiana, and it was obvious that the British author might have never been to Indiana.

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
A great young adult novel; any book that references A Wrinkle in Time and The $20,000 Pyramid throughout the plot gets a thumbs up from me. This book also reminds me why I want to keep writing posts like this. I could not remember the title and had to do some internet digging, even Googling “young adult novel time travel sandwich shop.” Told you I forget books after I read them.



And now we come to the part—because I was just talking about this on Saturday, and because the new movie comes out on Friday—where I tell you I hated Twilight and you vow in protest to never read my blog again. That whole series is such a phenomenon, and people I love have gotten sucked into it (ha ha, it’s about vampires and I said sucked), so I devoted a day at the lake this summer to reading it. And I hated hated HATED it. Seriously, you guys, I’m still pissed off that there’s five or six hours (at the lake, no less) that I’ll never get back. If you haven’t read it yet, let me just save you the time. My synopsis, because I read all 544 pages so you don’t have to:
I love you.
But we shouldn’t be together.
I love you.
But we shouldn’t be together.
SPARKLES!
VAMPIRE FIGHT!
The End