Monday, March 24, 2014

Late Winter Blues - March 24, 2014


Multiple illnesses and a never ending winter have really zapped my motivation, even when it comes to reading.  I did manage to finish two quickies and have included short reviews below.  I have to think spring will come soon but it is very hard to believe when there is still snow in the forecast. 

Currently Reading:
  • My Life in Middlemarch  by Rebecca Mead
  • The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert
  • Blood Will Out: The True Story of A Murder, A Mystery, and A Masquerade by Walter Kirn
  • Johnstown Girls  by Kathleen George (received through NetGalley)

On Deck:
  • Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
  • Colonel Roosevelt by Edmund Morris
  • The Frangipani Hotel  by Violet Kupersmith (received through NetGalley)
  • Dear Mr. Knightly by Katherine Reay
  • Dazed  by Kim Karr (received through NetGalley)

Recent Reviews: 

Beautiful Addictions by Season Vining (received through Goodreads)
2 stars

Josie and Tristan grew up together and were ripped apart when Josie moved away and was later reported murdered.  Some years later they coincidently reconnect in San Diego after both have endured tragic and difficult circumstances.  I give the author props for using dark material and making her heroine so completely damaged, however I just couldn’t get into this book at all.  Josie has endured a very hard life, but I found her extremely unlikable as she used drugs, had meaningless sex and treated the few people in her life very badly.  Tristan was the more likable character but he just didn’t seem realistic.  Supposedly a genius with a photographic memory he completely cut himself of from his loving family to become a criminal and cover himself in tattoos (of course…the tattoos).  I never really found myself connecting to the plot or the characters.  I received this book through a Goodreads Firstreads Giveaway.

 

Third Degree by Julie Cross (received through NetGalley)
4 1/2 stars

Isabel Jenkins, an 18 year old prodigy, fails her psych exam to continue her medical residency and is forced to reinvent herself as a college freshman at a Midwestern college.  She is smart, confident, and has absolutely no social skills.  Her college experience is a complete failure until she is taken under the wing by her charismatic and attractive resident advisor.  These are two complex, flawed and completely believable characters.  Isabel is hard to like at first but she is also hysterical and the dialogue is funny and smart.  This book definitely redeems the somewhat tired “New Adult” genre and I highly recommend it. 
I received this book through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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