gettin my read on...

After my affair with the Twilight saga, I had to quickly attempt to forget the fact that my husband isn’t a glittery 17 year old vampire. Damn it. Anyway, my human husband had picked up a few adult reads for me at Christmas so I’ve been going non-stop. Once again, my unsolicited opinions on each:

The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb

There’s nothing like having a huge novel sitting next to your bed to look forward to. I, along with other Wally fans, have been waiting for this book since his last book back in 1999 or so. He needs to get on the ball. Anyway, he didn’t disappoint. The story follows a couple from Connecticut to Colorado where he explores the events of Columbine and back. Although the book is fiction, he’s done his research and all of the details are true. I’m a big fan of authors weaving history into a current-day story. Not only does he include Columbine, which can you believe is now history?!?, but also goes back much further into the main character’s family, which includes a lot on women’s prisons. It’s not only entertaining but it’s interesting and I give it 5 out of 5 stars.

The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards

This one was a quickie but a goodie. It is set in the fifties and is about a woman who gives birth to twins, one with Down’s syndrome, in the middle of a blizzard. Her husband, who is the doctor delivering, sends the baby away with his nurse, telling his wife that the baby has died. The nurse cannot send the baby to an institution and decides to raise her herself, unbeknownst to everyone. Fast forward 15 years, the doctor and his wife, who once appeared to have the perfect life, are virtual strangers to each other. New secrets begin, old secrets revealed, finally everything is out in the open and the remaining characters have to deal with it all. I found it a good bedtime read that I was okay with putting down and picking up the next night. 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

Ok, if you love carnies, you’re gonna love this book. Mystery, Murder, Secret Love, it’s got it all. It tells the history of a traveling train circus through the eyes of an old man sitting in his nursing home. He joins the circus in the early 1900’s after his family dies and becomes the show’s veterinarian. Although he’s young and a newbie, his Cornell education makes him pretty important and catches the attention of the director as well as his beautiful performing wife. It’s a great story and the ornery old man telling the story is pretty funny. 4 out of 5 stars.

Next up…Fool by Christopher Moore, which John is currently reading. He’s one of the few authors who we both adore.