Adult Summer Reading Raffle Book Reviews
Week 3
Ideal Man by Julie Garwood. “Cute book. It makes me want to be young again.” --
Ruth Schmidt
Defending Jacob by William Landay. 4 stars. “WOW, could not put down!!! Will definitely recommend to friends!!!
Can’t wait to read William Landay’s other two books!”—
Kim Satin
Sacre Bleu by Christopher Moore. 4 Stars. I thoroughly enjoyed
Sacre Bleu.
The Subtitle of this book is “A Comedy D’Art,” and this work certainly
lives up to that description. The action takes place primarily in
Paris during the 19th century and follows the rise of the Impressionist
painters. This is essentially a work of fantasy, and the tale stretches
back to 38,000 BC and forward to October 2012. I found the author’s
writing style to be quite interesting and very witty. I think that a
reader with a decent background in art history (which I sadly lack)
would really derive the most satisfaction from this novel. Although the
book is written from a comic perspective, I found the exploration of
the relationship between artist and muse, really the heart of the story,
to be compelling. All in all, I would say that this is a good,
worthwhile read, especially during these hot summer days.” --
John Buckley
Me the People by Kevin Bleyer. 5 Stars. “Wonderfully funny and at the same time very informative.” – Martin Cohen
The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella. 3 and a
half stars. “This was the first book I read by
Kinsella. I enjoyed it very much because
it never got boring. I was able to relate to the protagonist
too. It may have scared me out of becoming
a lawyer though! It’s an easy read, light, and
happy.” –
Shannon Andrews
Potboiler by Jesse Kellerman. 4 stars. “Jesse Kellerman
usually writes gory murder novels. This
is really different. It’s a
spoof on spy novels and modern adventure books and it’s truly touching.
Some of it is laugh out
loud. The hero is very real. Needing to know what happens to him kept
me reading almost without
stopping. I read it all in a day. Highly recommended.
One of the characters,
incidentally, is Jesus Maria de Lunchbox. What a great name!” –
Judy Cohen
The Rope by Nevada Barr. 5 stars. “I have been a big
fan of author Nevada Barr, especially of her Anna Pigeon
series. The Rope is the
17th installment in this series and serves as a prequel. The story
takes place in the Lake Powell
area in Utah. It
recounts Anna Pigeon’s first experience as a park ranger. At the very
start of the tale, Anna
has vanished, and her
co-workers believe that she has simply quit. Anna, however, finds
herself in quite a
dangerous predicament and
has to overcome huge obstacles to survive. This work is well-written,
and the
narrative is quite
exciting. Fans of Anna Pigeon should be well pleased. Newcomers to the
series should find
their appetites whetted
to explore the 16 stories which were previously published.” –
John Buckley
Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker. 5 Stars.
“LOVED! LOVED! LOVED! Very sweet coming of age novel with a major
twist!! Could not put down, read it in a day!!!” –
Kim Satin
