August 1, 2011

july reading review

A once-a-month review of the books I read. I'll share quotes when I remember to copy them down.

The rating is the same as Goodreads--5 stars means "it was amazing," 4 is "really liked it," 3 is "liked it," 2 is "it was okay," and 1 is "didn't like it."

Jackaroo by Cynthia Vogit (5 stars)

I first read this book in jr. high and loved it. I re-read it every year or two and still find it wonderful every time.

The story of a young woman who decides to make a difference in her community by taking on the persona of a folk hero. That decision changes her future in more ways than she could imagine. We read this as a group discussion book on CleanPlace.

On Fortune's Wheel by Cynthia Voigt (5 stars)

I first read this in jr. high and re-read it every year or two. The story of a young girl who flees her home to get out of a marriage, this story follow the adventures of a girl becoming a woman and a boy becoming a lord.

Elske by Chynthia Voigt (4 stars)

After years of thinking I couldn't get a hold of this book, I finally got it. I love the other two Kingdom stories by Voigt and greatly anticipated this one. While the feel of this book is a bit different from the other stories, it was still well written and engaging. Voigt begins with a rather disturbing ritual of a barbaric society and then jumps into the story of the girl who the ritual centers around. This was my second read on this one.

Anne of the Island by Lucy Maud Montgomery (3 stars)

The third in the Anne series, this one finds Anne going off to Redmond College. If I read this as a child I have forgotten almost all of it, so this was like reading it for the first time. A fun and charming story.


The Love Goddess' Cooking School by Melissa Senate (4 stars)

Holly McGuire thinks she won't ever find her true love, because according to her Italian grandmother, her true love with love lamb intestines. And she's just had her heart broken, then her beloved grandmother dies, leaving her the small school that grandma founded, along with all her recipes. Holly decides to take a chance on the school, despite not having much in the way of cooking skills. Full of food talk and a bit of romantic intrigue, this was a fun read.

I've started a few others (some re-reads, including one I already read this year :P ) but I'm not done reading them, so it wasn't as slow a month as it might look.