April 2011

Great reads this month. And so many! A week of vacation and laying off Frontierville for a while, that'll do it.

1. 13 Rue Therese, Elena Mauli Shapiro. A box of mementos inspired this story.
2. Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, Amy Chua. It's just a memoir, not a parenting manual.
3. Blackout, Connie Willis. One of my favorite SF authors. Time travel to the London Blitz, part one.
4. The Dark and Hollow Places, Carrie Ryan. More than just dystopia, the world is overrun with zombies.
5. Dust City, Robert Paul Weston
6. East of the Sun, Julia Gregson. The Fishing Fleet.
7. Every Last One, Anna Quindlen. How do you survive a tragedy?
8. The House at Riverton, Kate Morton. A movie about the events at Riverton causes a 93 year old woman to relive them, with surprising twists.
9. The Ice Princess, Camilla Lackberg
10. Inkdeath, Cornelia Funke. My favorite fantasy writer.
11. The Keeper's Tattoo, Gill Arbuthnott. Y/A fantasy. What does Nyssa's tattoo mean and why are the Shadowmen after her?
12. Matched, Ally Condy. Y/A dystopia. Cassia's society decides everything.
13. Mr. Darcy Broke My Heart, Beth Patillo. Austen-based chick lit. Meh.
14. The Paris Wife, Paula McLain. Hemingway's starter wife, but he wrote of her, “I wished I had died before I ever loved anyone but her.”
15. The Peach Keeper, Sarah Addison Allen. There's a secret under the peach tree at the Blue Ridge Madam mansion.
16. Private Life, Jane Smiley. Meh
17. Speaking with the Angel, Nick Hornby et al
18. A Tale Dark and Grimm, Adam Gidwitz. Interesting weaving of Hansel and Gretel through other Grimm's fairy tales, but gosh, the Grimms did all the work for him.
19. A Vintage Affair, Isabel Wolff. British chick lit with vintage clothes. Win-win.
20. A Visit from the Goon Squad, Jennifer Egan
21. A Woman in Berlin, anonymous