End-of-Summer Reading and a Teaser

I’ve got three more book reviews for you.  I’m taking part in a Swap-bot Reading Log swap, so one of the reasons I’ve been tracking my books on the blog (beyond my love of chatting them up with you) is to make it simple for me to put together my log at the end of the month.

Blog-free Kim loaned me The Book Thief by Mark Zusak.  (My Goodreads review follows) Death
narrates the story of a young German orphan, Liesel, during World War
II. While at times the foreshadowing was a bit heavyhanded, overall
this is an excellent novel. Holocaust literature is so powerful by its
very nature, and Zusak heightens this by sharing the stories of
ordinary people who do their best to be good in bad circumstances. The
Book Thief is a YA book that shouldn’t be limited to a YA audience.

I moved on from heart-wrenching, profound, serious matter to bubble gum with my next two books.  I loved Water for Elephants when Scout loaned it to me.  When I saw Sara Gruen’s first novel, Riding Lessons at the library, I grabbed it.  What a change in her writing!  I’m glad I read her second book first; I read Riding Lessons knowing that Gruen has since learned how to write more complicated plot and finer sentences.   That’s not to say that the writing of the first novel is bad by any means, just clearly a first novel (as mine will be, no doubt!).  I enjoyed the plights of the protagonist, and as it is an intergenerational mother-daughter story, I was even more interested in the book.  Annemarie is 38, and her life is falling apart.  Everything she touches–from her marriage, to her daughter, to her family’s business–is in jeopardy because of her inability to think straight.  The novel tracks her struggle to get her life back together, and I think that’s the charm of the book–if, like me, your life has fallen apart at least once, it’s a book to which you’ll relate.  While it lacks complexity, it is an enjoyable read, especially if you can manage to do it all in a day or two spent in the sun!

Finally, I dipped into Muriel Sparks’s The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie as part of my 1% Well-Read Challenge.  The writing is sharp, witty, and engaging.  I enjoyed the interplay of the girls with Miss Brodie and each other, but I never quite "got" the motivation for the betrayal around which the novel centers.  I thought the novella did a great job in commenting on the power relationship between teacher and student, with great wit, of course!  I think I may need to read this one again to appreciate it more fully.  As amusing as it was, it left me a little cold; I never grew to care deeply about any of the characters.

As a thank you for reading all this way, I’ve got a fantastic link for those of you who embroider.  Enjoy!

ETA: The dogs were making such a fuss to have their walk that I totally forgot the teaser!  Guess what is nearly done?  Only a year later than I wanted it, but I should be able to post pictures next week!!