I have what is known as book backup, because of yoga school, so I was excited/dismayed to see that many of my books at the library are ready. I am still plowing through the most recent book in The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series. If you haven't checked that out, you might want to. It seems to be one of the few series that everyone likes. For example:

my mother
D
D's mother
and I

all like it.

Harry Potter does not fare so well. Out of the above group:

my mother read one Harry Potter book, and didn't read any others
D has read them all
D's mother doesn't read them
I don't read them

Anyway, so the following books are ready for me at the library: The Au Pairs sequel by Melissa de la Cruz (this is a YA series about 3 au pairs in the Hamptons); Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire; Birds of America by Lorrie Moore; and Goodnight Nobody by Jennifer Weiner.

The word-of-mouth on Goodnight Nobody is all over the place. Lisa doesn't really care for it. I read the reviews at Amazon and they seemed to be evenly divided between:

This book is awesome! It is just as good as Jennifer Weiner's other 3 books. She is so funny, etc.

and

This book @%#&! Jennifer Weiner should not write mysteries. She should return to chick lit.

I guess it'll be interesting to see.

Comments

Michelle said…
HA HA HA. Yeah, I read Goodnight too, and I finished it thinking it wasn't the same as Good in Bed or In her Shoes. (I looked at the reviews too, seeing if it was just me) It was a little to domestic for me I suppose. Entertaining enough though. But I'm not one to not finish a book, I just have to know how it ends.
Bearette said…
So...it sounds like you liked it, just not as much as her other books.
Caro said…
Who's the author on the detective books? (You probably already told us. If so, forgive me.)
bdogg_mcgee said…
I have Son of a Witch out as well--just got it from the library yesterday! The only problem is I read Wicked so long ago I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to follow it and all of the copies of Wicked had like a 15-person waiting list!

Oh well....
Lisa said…
Goodnight Nobody---I'm just extremely persnickety about details. I've been driving a couple of coworkers nuts because their faux chalk outlines weren't strictly accurate. I also thought she was phoning it in.

Lorrie Moore---Skip GN and read this! I love Lorrie Moore. Short fiction is so much harder to write than full novels, and she does it better than just about anyone.

If you like Lorrie Moore, try David Benioff (When the Nines Roll Over and Other Stories).
Bearette said…
Grooviness! I love comments.

Carolyn - the detective series author is Alexander McCall Smith. They're not really mysteries, they're just sweet and heartwarming. (In a non-nauseating way ;)

Bdogg - I know what you mean. I remember the main characters of Wicked, but that's about it. I started reading Son of a Witch and I'm a little like, Wha? but I think everything will be explained soon.

Lisa - I actually started Goodnight Nobody and it's working its usual Weiner magic for me (well, maybe not as much as Little Earthquakes, which i thought was incredibly awesome). However, I did read 2 of the Lorrie Moore stories too. I like her a lot and have all her other books on hold at the library. I read her book "Like Life" on my Boston-NYC train ride.

And, everybody - I'm doing a weird experiment where I'm reading all my library books at once. Well, except for 2 that I couldn't get into - one by Charles Baxter (recommended by a friend) and one by T.C. Boyle (whom I usually like). We'll see which one I finish first ;)
Caro said…
Sometimes it's fun to have more than one book going. That way you can read according to the mood you are in.
Bearette said…
Hehe...hopefully it will work out that way. I think I'll gravitate toward the Jennifer Weiner book and the Lorrie Moore book.
Lish said…
I read the No. 1 Ladies Dtetective Series and liked it. I also love all the Harry Potter books. I have only read two of Jennifer Weiner's novels, Good In Bed and In Her Shoes, but I really liked both of them. BTW, the book is way better than the movie.
Bearette said…
I guess the book was better. I did like the movie, though. She's one of my favorite authors. I even met her at a Barnes & Noble reading!

;)

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