Texts from Jane Eyre - Mallory Ortberg

Title: Texts from Jane Eyre and other conversations with your favorite literary characters
Author: Mallory Ortberg, illustrated by Madeline Gobbo
Pages: 240
Published: 2014
Challenges: I Love Libraries, Nonfiction
Genre: Humor
Edition: Hardcover
Source: Library

Description: Hilariously imagined text conversations—the passive aggressive, the clever, and the strange—from classic and modern literary figures, from Scarlett O’Hara to Jessica Wakefield.

Mallory Ortberg, the co-creator of the cult-favorite website The Toast, presents this whimsical collection of hysterical text conversations from your favorite literary characters. Everyone knows that if Scarlett O’Hara had an unlimited text-and-data plan, she’d constantly try to tempt Ashley away from Melanie with suggestive messages. If Mr. Rochester could text Jane Eyre, his ardent missives would obviously be in all-caps. And Daisy Buchanan would not only text while driving, she’d text you to pick her up after she totaled her car.  (via Goodreads)

Thoughts: I heard about the book through Book Riot's podcast Reading Lives, when they interviewed the author about the book.  And due to the interview, I became interested in the book.

The book seemed to start out strongly and had a quick to the book, but sometime near the end, it seemed to lose some steam (I suppose reading ahead didn't exactly help). There were some sections that I had to look up due to the fact that I had not read the piece that the author was referencing to and therefore was unable to understand the humor.

Bottom line: What I did like was that it was a fairly quick read and didn't take a lot of time to through.  It clearly is a book geared towards those individuals who understand their literature fairly well, as there are pieces of literature that are somewhat obscure.  Recommended.

Rating: 3.5/5

Pages for 2014: 28,392

The Rosie Effect - Graeme Simison

Title: The Rosie Effect (Don Tillman #2)
Author: Graeme Simison
Pages: 414
Published: 2014
Challenges: I Love Libraries
Genre: Fiction
Edition: Trade Paperback
Source: Library

Description: Don Tillman and Rosie Jarman are back. If you were swept away by Graeme Simsion’s international smash hit The Rosie Project, you will love The Rosie Effect.

The Wife Project is complete, and Don and Rosie are happily married and living in New York. But they’re about to face a new challenge.

Rosie is pregnant.

Don sets about learning the protocols of becoming a father, but his unusual research style gets him into trouble with the law. Fortunately his best friend Gene is on hand to offer advice: he’s left Claudia and moved in with Don and Rosie.

As Don tries to schedule time for pregnancy research, getting Gene and Claudia back together, servicing the industrial refrigeration unit that occupies half his apartment, helping Dave the Baseball Fan save his business and staying on the right side of Lydia the social worker, he almost misses the biggest problem of all: he might lose Rosie when she needs him most. (via Goodreads)

Thoughts: While I really enjoyed The Rosie Project earlier this year, I was disappointed with this book.  Maybe it was due to the expectations that grew out of The Rosie Project, but I wasn't blown away with the book.

I thought that Rosie was unreasonable at times, in that she was sometimes asking too much of Don and didn't give him time to process her pregnancy.

I also felt that while it did have a plot, it did seem to be all over the place and there really wasn't a coherent storyline that one could really follow.

Bottom line:  I would read The Rosie Project before reading this book and if you are a fan of contemporary romance books that are slightly quirky, you probably will enjoy this read.  Recommended.

Rating: 3/5

Pages for 2014: 25,086

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams

Title: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy #1)
Author: Douglas Adams
Pages: 216
Published: 1995 (first published 1979)
Challenges: Blogger Summer Reading, I Love Libraries
Genre: Science Fiction, Humor, Fantasy, Young Adult
Edition: Mass Market Paperback (Library binding)
Source: Library

Description: Seconds before the Earth is demolished to make way for a galactic freeway, Arthur Dent is plucked off the planet by his friend Ford Prefect, a researcher for the revised edition of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy who, for the last fifteen years, has been posing as an out-of-work actor.

Together this dynamic pair begin a journey through space aided by quotes from The Hitchhiker's Guide ("A towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have") and a galaxy-full of fellow travelers: Zaphod Beeblebrox--the two-headed, three-armed ex-hippie and totally out-to-lunch president of the galaxy; Trillian, Zaphod's girlfriend (formally Tricia McMillan), whom Arthur tried to pick up at a cocktail party once upon a time zone; Marvin, a paranoid, brilliant, and chronically depressed robot; Veet Voojagig, a former graduate student who is obsessed with the disappearance of all the ballpoint pens he bought over the years. (from Goodreads)

Thoughts: This has been one of those book that I have been wanting to read for sometime, especially since I had heard a lot about this book over the years (in fact, I had never heard about this book until about 10 years ago).  So while I was listening to an episode of the Book Riot podcast this past June and hearing one of the hosts talk about the amazing audiobook that was narrated by Stephan Fry (it was a sponsor break for Audible that I heard about the audio), I knew I had to read this book.  So I downloaded the audio and borrowed a paper copy of the book from the library.

It took me a bit to get into the book, but once I was able to get into the rhythm of the book, it felt like a really fun ride at an amusement park and I could see why this has become a cult classic among science fiction fans and other readers over the years.  It is definitely a healthy overdose of fun for readers and non-readers alike.  I definitely had fun with the book, once I was able to relax and not take the book too seriously.

Bottom line: I really enjoyed the read and the ride.  I would recommend this to readers who at least want to try science fiction and those that have been wanting to read this book for sometime.  Recommended.

Rating: 3.75/5

Pages for 2014: 14, 638 

The Rosie Project - Graeme Simison

Title: The Rosie Project (Don Tillman #1)
Author: Graeme Simison
Pages: 295
Published: 2013
Challenges: Blogger Summer Reading, I Love Libraries
Genre: Contemporary, Fiction, Humor, Romance
Edition: Hardcover
Source: Library

Description: Don Tillman, professor of genetics, has never been on a second date. He is a man who can count all his friends on the fingers of one hand, whose lifelong difficulty with social rituals has convinced him that he is simply not wired for romance. So when an acquaintance informs him that he would make a “wonderful” husband, his first reaction is shock. Yet he must concede to the statistical probability that there is someone for everyone, and he embarks upon The Wife Project. In the orderly, evidence-based manner with which he approaches all things, Don sets out to find the perfect partner. She will be punctual and logical—most definitely not a barmaid, a smoker, a drinker, or a late-arriver.

Yet Rosie Jarman is all these things. She is also beguiling, fiery, intelligent—and on a quest of her own. She is looking for her biological father, a search that a certain DNA expert might be able to help her with. Don's Wife Project takes a back burner to the Father Project and an unlikely relationship blooms, forcing the scientifically minded geneticist to confront the spontaneous whirlwind that is Rosie—and the realization that love is not always what looks good on paper. (from Goodreads)

Thoughts: After having seen a number of bloggers reviewing the book, I knew that this would probably be a really good read for me and I wasn't disappointed with the book.  It was probably due to the fact that at some level I could I identify with Don and his wanting to keep routines and a schedule as much as possible and how getting out of that routine and schedule can cause a certain degree of anxiety.  I also liked how Rosie allowed Don to change at a pace that he was more comfortable with.  

Like with His Majesty's Hope, this book was a nice break from the usual sort of books that I read and when I was able to sit down with the book, I found that it flowed really well and was an enjoyable read.  I am looking forward to the upcoming sequel this September.

Bottom line: If you enjoy books that have some romance and some humor in them or just need a nice, light read, you probably will enjoy this book.  The writing is pretty good and the characters are well-drawn.  Highly recommended.

Rating: 4.5/5

Pages for 2014: 13,690

If you have read the book, what did you think of it?

Where'd You Go, Bernadette - Maria Semple

Title: Where'd You Go, Bernadette
Author: Maria Semple
Pages: 330
Published: 2012
Challenges: Outdo Yourself
Genre: Fiction, Contemporary, Humor
Edition: Hardcover
Source: Library

Description: Bernadette Fox is notorious. To her Microsoft-guru husband, she's a fearlessly opinionated partner; to fellow private-school mothers in Seattle, she's a disgrace; to design mavens, she's a revolutionary architect, and to 15-year-old Bee, she is a best friend and, simply, Mom.

Then Bernadette disappears. It began when Bee aced her report card and claimed her promised reward: a family trip to Antarctica. But Bernadette's intensifying allergy to Seattle—and people in general—has made her so agoraphobic that a virtual assistant in India now runs her most basic errands. A trip to the end of the earth is problematic.

To find her mother, Bee compiles email messages, official documents, secret correspondence—creating a compulsively readable and touching novel about misplaced genius and a mother and daughter's role in an absurd world. (via Goodreads.com)

Thoughts:  I had more expectations in regards to the book, but they fell a bit a short despite the fact that by the end of the book I was actually enjoying it.  I was expecting that I would have a similar reaction to the book as some may have had, but it felt a bit somber and a bit superficial.  There almost was almost a sense that there was a sadness behind Bernadette; it was almost as though she was running from something that happened in L.A.  It felt like she was compensating for something by putting all her energies into bringing up Bee and as though she was being something that she probably wasn't.

Bottom line: I have mixed thoughts about this book, in that it took me awhile to get into the book and once I was able to get into the book, I couldn't put it down (part of it was that I had to return the book to the library).  I honestly don't know who I could recommend the book to because not only was it a book that I struggled in reading, its also a book that I read a few weeks ago and somehow I forgot my exact thoughts.  But I think if you like books that are written in a non-conventional manner and like books that have a twist of humor to them, I think you would enjoy this read.

Rating: 3.5/5

Pages for 2013: 7916

The Wilder Life: My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie - Wendy McClure

Title: The Wilder Life: My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie
Author: Wendy McClure
File Size (Pages): 475 KB (352)
Published: 2011
Genre: Non-fiction, Memoir, Humor
Challenges: 2012 Support Your Library
Edition: E-book
Source: Library

Description: Wendy McClure is on a quest to find the world of beloved Little House on the Prairie author Laura Ingalls Wilder — a fantastic realm of fiction, history, and places McClure has never been to yet somehow knows by heart. She traces the pioneer journey of the Ingalls family—looking for the Big Woods among the medium trees in Wisconsin, wading in Plum Creek, and enduring a prairie hailstorm in South Dakota. She immerses herself in all things Little House — exploring the story from fact to fiction, and from the TV shows to the annual summer pageants in Laura’s hometowns. Whether she’s churning butter in her apartment or sitting in a replica log cabin, McClure is always in pursuit of “the Laura experience.” Along the way she comes to understand how Wilder’s life and work have shaped our ideas about girlhood and the American West. (via Goodreads.com)

Thoughts: I really liked the book and when I came across it late last year, I knew that this was the sort of book for me.  Yes, I am a fan of the Little House books (my favourites being the final 3 books in the series) and yes, my parents have taken to me to two of the sites, including De Smet, where we saw the Surveyors House and the house in town that her parents resided in after Laura married.  And yes, I did have romantic notions of the family when I was growing up, only to have them dispelled when I was 12.  But despite the fact the information that I have learned over the years, I still love them, as they represent a time and place that really doesn't exist and sort of reminds me of what my ancestors who settled in Kansas and Oklahoma must have gone through, to a degree.

What I like, in addition to Wendy's own story, was learning about the truth about the Ingalls family, or so what I was told. It was pretty interesting and really made me rethink the books and how much they were edited.  And it even goes into the debate of who actually wrote the books (there is discussion out there that the books were actually ghostwritten by Rose, Laura and Almanzo's daughter.

But that being said, I quite enjoyed it and understood it to was meant to Wendy's journey rather than what Laura and her family experienced.

Bottom line: I would recommend this book to Little House fans, but beware that some of your notions of the Ingalls family and their journey west will probably dispelled.  Overall, its a pretty good book.

Rating:  4/5

Pages for 2012: 20545