False Memory

False Memory by Dan Krokos

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


False Memory is an ok book. My experience with YA books is limited. But with as with everything else, I know what I like and what I don't.



Good: The characters are good. There seems to be limited emotional interaction between characters, but each one gets fleshed out through the book. There is enough of a cliffhanger at the end to make me think about reading the next book. I would recommend this to my students.



Bad: I just don't feel the writing was very good. It seemed choppy throughout. Just as good development started on a character or scene, it seemed to stop. I've talked to some English teachers about the style. We came to the conclusion that the writing is an attempt to draw the YA audience. It does seem to be very similar to the way they write.



I won't be going out to search for the next book, but if it shows up I'd read it.



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The Philosophical Practitioner

The Philosophical Practitioner by Larry Abrams

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I received a copy of this book from netgally to review. Lucky for me, I was drawn to the cover and title. I didn't even read the synopsis.



Such a quick read! It was cute, funny, quick, deep, and engaging. With the first sentence, I got the image of an old detective movie stuck in my head. It carried me throughout the book especially since his "girl" is a famous actress. I enjoyed taking time to think on some of the philosophical questions brought up in the book.



The only disappointment I had with this book is the length. The characters could have definitely been opened up and examined more. The back story with the "gun lady" could have taken a little more development. Part of me is left wanting a little more. But since most of the characters were trying to find the same thing, that may be what the author intended.



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Lola, California

Lola, California by Edie Meidav

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I won this book through a Goodreads giveaway.



I tried. I really tried to read this book. I don't know if I'm just not in the mood for this or if it is poorly written. I'm not sure that I know who the characters are or where this takes place. The writing seems overly complex for the story being told. Forty pages into a book, I should at least know what I'm reading. If I was a lesser woman, I'd think I was just too stupid to keep up with it. Glad I have a little bit of self esteem.



I'm putting this back on the bookshelf to try again later.



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Eden Lake

Eden Lake by Jane Roper

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I won this book in a blog giveaway late last summer.



Eden Lake is a dramatic book about siblings Abe, Jude, and Eric who come back to run their family's summer camp after the untimely death of their father. Each adult child is at different points in their life, but all seem to be stuck in their own rut going nowhere. The interactions at the camp help them all to eventually find their way to something new.



What I liked- The setting. I've never been to summer camp myself. I enjoyed the descriptions of camp and the way students and camp councilors interacted. A few of the character relationships were interesting. Abe's relationship with Aura was unexpected as was his mother's relationship with a long lost beau.



What I didn't like- I put this book down after reading about 100 pages because I couldn't get into it. The build up of each character and the setting took too long. I recently picked the book back up. It took another 100 pages for the characters to really develop. Under normal circumstances, I would not give a book 200 pages to get my attention. I'm still left feeling as if there was something missing. Just as I started to feel a small connection to the characters the book ended. I personally enjoy strong women characters. I didn't feel any of the women in this book fit that description.



Overall, I felt the book was ok. I'm glad I finished. Just not enough that I will be recommending this book to others or rereading it.



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Club Dead

Club Dead by Charlaine Harris

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Just like the ones before it, this little book was an easy little escape read. Fun, but not very filling. The characters are likable, the lead woman is strong enough, and there is plenty of action (sex) in every book. I'll be starting the next one soon.



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The Sea of Monsters

The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I think we enjoyed reading the second book in the series because there was no movie to compare the book to. Josh really liked it. He loved telling me about the parts of the book that he thought would make the best parts in a movie. We have only been reading this occasionally and it seemed to take forever. I think with the third book we will be starting a reading time each week.



Overall, cute book. Good for kids, but only ok for adults.



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Stiff: The Curious Lives of Cadavers by Mary Roach

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Stiff is a journalist's take on how the dead are treated after they pass. I picked this book to read with my Biology II class for two reasons: 1. Teenagers think anything weird is cool. and 2. This book is listed for AR quizzes for 16 points. Valuable to them and at the time it seemed could be valuable to discussion in our class.



Unfortunately, it didn't work that way. This book tends to focus more on the weird little antidotes about death than discussion. A few of my better students (A students who like to read) were disappointed by what they felt was more her opinion than fact about the processes used. Before going into this I knew animal use would come into the discussion, but it seemed to make up two or three large parts of this book. This was disturbing to a few of my young ladies.



For what it is- a sensational book on death- it is a good book. I wouldn't call it exceptionally well written, but for interests sake good to read. For use in a classroom, I don't even know that I would have college kids read this book. Since I'm not an english teacher, I had been relying on our student's need for AR points to drive my choices for reading in the classroom. Silly me, I won't do that again. If I had not made the kids complete the book for class, I would have stopped about halfway through and not finished the book.



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