Exceedingly Mundane

I finished the book “The Guardian” by Nicholas Sparks earlier tonight. I put a review of it Here on Hambones.org

I really enjoyed this book! It started out fairly quickly, and then really picked up the pace, to where it was hard to put down. I have read most all of Nicholas Sparks books, from the very first, his incredible love story “The Notebook”. While I have enjoyed all of them, this one was a nice change of pace, with the added element of mystery & intrigue. A good love story/thriller combination!

Up next: Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas, by James Patterson. My last of 3 books I checked out a couple of weeks ago from the library. They have one on hold for me that should be in this week, the next Stephanie Plum one, called “Three to get Deadly”. I better get busy and read this one! I have never read any of James Patterson’s books. But Amanda gave this one a good review on Hambones (check it out Here). And thanks Amanda, for the warning, I’m off to find some Kleenex before I get started! 😀

I finished another book last night, Two for the Dough, by Janet Evanovich. Another really good book! I won’t enter reviews for any of these other books in this series (nine so far, I hope she’s working on more!!) on the Hambones website, since they are all part of the same series and all along the same lines. Same style of writing, just different plots and new “bad guys” each time for our bounty hunter heroine Stephanie Plum to hunt down, in a most hysterical fashion. I am going to start me a Word document though, and track all the books I read this year. This makes number 6, and I’m very pleased with that.

Up next: The Guardian by Nicholas Sparks.

I did finish this one the other day, and I really enjoyed it. I didn’t quite like part of the end, but overall it was a good book, interesting characters, great exotic locales, and a good plot. I like a different kind of legal thriller from time to time, some of Grisham’s really seem to run together for me. Anyway, I still have 4 or 5 to go in our library of his, but I’m ready for a change, having read two of his lately (Street Lawyer was as good, maybe better).

I just went and wrote a little review on Hambones… click here to go read it.

I went to the library in Madison today. I love the library. I always have, since I was young. I can remember going to the Jackson library over in Broadmoor, on Northside Drive. I could stay in there for hours. I also remember spending tons of time in the library in Belhaven. Not just studying, but reading other books, looking at magazines, and just daydreaming. I had a spot picked out, a chair by the window that faced the street… I could (and often did) sit there for ages.

I digress. I went today when it was just starting to sprinkle and when I came out, it was raining cats, dogs and small children. I got soaked trying to get back to the car – and yes, that was with an umbrella! I spent a glorious hour or so in there, browing around, looking at books and checking the computer to see where books were, and when they were due back in. I put one on hold for when it comes back in, in about 2 weeks.

I got 3 new books to read. I got the next one in the Janet Evanovich numbered series, the Stephanie Plum books. I finished “One for the Money” a few weeks ago, and got the next one, “Two for the Dough”. I think I will read that one first. Very light, quick reading. A little off-color, but highly entertaining. Then, I think I will read “The Guardian” by Nicholas Sparks. I only have that one, and the one he wrote with his brother, left to read. I have read all of the others. I also checked out “Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas” by James Patterson, based on a review that Amanda entered on Hambones. I have never read anything by Patterson, but am willing to give it a try. Thanks Amanda!

I finished another book this weekend, The Mulberry Tree. Fourth one I have read this year, well, really since late January. I am so happy to be back in a reading mood. I really enjoy reading. I have all my life. I can remember getting in trouble when I was younger, for reading after my bedtime. I had a handy-dandy flashlight I would use, lift up the sheets on my bed to make a tent, and shine the flashlight on my book, to read past my bedtime. Dodie would yell at me, telling me I was going to put my eyes out and I would go blind doing that. Sorry, Dodie, I still have pretty good eyesight!

Anyway, you can click Here to read the quick review of The Mulberry Tree.

I started reading another Grisham last night – The Testament.

After that, it will either be another Grisham from our collection, or time to head to the library.

So – the question of the day is – do you have a good book to recommend to me? I don’t like reading self-help or informational kind of books. I want to read to be entertained, for escapism. So, if you have a good book to recommend, please add a comment and let me know!

I finished this older Grisham legal thriller a few days ago, and have been meaning to write a review on the Hambones website. I just finished it, and you can read it Here.

Good book, I enjoyed it. I am so far behind on Grisham books. We own all but one or two in hardback, and this one is about 6 or 7 back in the stack. We have one whole shelf in our bookcase in the den full of Grisham books. I need to get serious and catch up on them!

I decided that, although I like Grisham and legal thrillers, since I had so many of his to read, that I better switch things around. And not read them all back to back or I would burn myself out! So, I am now reading a “woman’s fiction” book in paperback that I bought last year to take on vacation and read (but of course, I never read it!). It’s called “The Mulberry Tree” by Jude Deveraux and I’m enjoying it as well. I’ve only been reading one or two nights, and I’m already about 1/4 of the way through it. I know most of you that read this blog don’t read this kind of book, but I have always liked this genre. I don’t read for enlightenment or knowledge. I read for enjoyment and escapism. Same with movies and TV shows. We don’t watch a lot of tv news shows and documentaries and stuff. I prefer to be swept away and entertained, and not have my horizons broadened. 🙂

Check back in a few days for a review of The Mulberry Tree. It also grabbed me right away, from the first few pages, and it’s an easy read as well, so I doubt it will take me long to get through it. After that, I’ll have to decide whether to read another Grisham from our collection, or head to the Madison library and check out another book or two. I still have 8 more to go in the Stephanie Plum series (Janet Evanovich books), so I have lots on my list! I think there are several others by authors I like to read that I haven’t read their latest of, so I have a pretty long list. I just love this time of year, I get to get a lot of reading in!

Well, I hated to see it come to an end, but I finished my copy of “The Wedding” by Nicholas Sparks. I had read “The Notebook” years ago, when it first came out. I think I probably should re-read it again soon, before we rent the movie. I want to rent it though. Tim, I think, is worried about it (not to mention it looks like a total “chick flick” and he’s not overly fond of those some times!). He remembers how I cried at the end of “The Notebook” and I think he’s worried the same will happen with the movie.

I just put a review of the book on the Hambones Review Board – click Here to go read it for yourself.

Gail – if you’re reading this, I have it tucked away for you. I hope you get a chance to read it on your trip!

I haven’t changed my “Currently Reading” block on the right sidebar of this blog yet. I am not sure what I am going to read next. I’m ready to dive into a new book, and hopefully, I will this weekend. There are several here that I have that I can read. I am way behind on reading Grisham books. About 5 or more, probably! And Tim has several Ludlum and Meltzer books that would probably be good. But, I’m not sure I’m in a “guy” book frame of mind. I may have to go to the library next week and check me out some “girl” books. 🙂

I love reading this time of year. I look forward to the time when football season is over, and before it’s really nice spring weather (and we want to get outside and do things in the yard, go geocaching, etc). I really like to fall into one of our big oversized chairs and curl up with a good book this time of year. I always really encourage Tim to read this time of year too. I love, love, love for us to read together. He started a new Ludlum the other night, so hopefully it will catch his interest and we can get some quality reading time in together, this weekend, and for the next few weeks. 🙂

I just finished reading a really good little book – One for the Money by Janet Evanovich. I’ve had the paperback laying around here for a couple of months, and just now got around to reading it. You might have noticed, I had the graphic for it on the sidebar of this new blog. That took me a while to figure out how to write the code for that, by the way! 🙂

I just posted a review for it in the Reviews section of Hambones. You can click HERE to go read it for yourself. It’s a bit off-color, but lots of fun, very witty, and an incredibly easy to read kind of book. I finished it in 3 evenings. And, am looking forward to the next one, which I believe is titled “Two for the Dough”. 🙂

Of course, I am going to read one or two books I have already bought and have here on hand, before I go to the Madison library and check out Two for the Dough.