books

65. Carrot Cake Murder by Joanne Fluke
This is part of a murder mystery series involving a baker in Minnesota, complete with recipes! It was a fun little read and I enjoyed the Minnesota setting, but if you enjoy this genre of mystery, I think Diane Mott Davidson is a better writer. There is some intriguing back story about the main characters love life (she can't decide between two men!) that I want to know more about, so I might read more in the series, although the writing did get on my nerves sometimes.

66. Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner
The sequel to Weiner's earlier book, Good in Bed. I read it hoping to join a bookclub and make friends, but then found the book club met somewhere too hard for me to get to on the public transportation. Alas. Anyway, I have kind of mixed feelings about the book. It meets Cannie Shapiro and her daughter, Joy, 10 years or so after the earlier book ends. I was disappointed in some of the issue Cannie had, like she hadn't grown much since the earlier book. Cannie's husband was not portrayed very fully at all, he was kind of a shadow character. I did like the depictions of Cannie's relationship with her daughter and the preteen angst her daughter had. I thought those parts were well done. Overall, though, this was not up to the standard I expect from Weiner who I usually think is a very very good writer. It just didn't suck me in the way her books usually do. Also, I don't want to give anything away but I thought the end was terrible. I don't know if I will ever forgive Weiner for writing it.

67. 4% Famous by Deborah Schoeneman
This is a kind of fun book about gossip columnists and the famous and nearly famous in New York. It was interesting for all the glitz and glamor and desperation, but also exhausted me. All these young people running around with high pressure jobs staying out all night at clubs and snorting coke. Exhausting. It was ok, but got kind of repetitive, and I never related to the main character like I think I was supposed to.