Whiskey Beach
Kind of dragged in the middle and the end was a bit too pat, but Nora Roberts likes to write those kinds of books; I've read a lot of them, so I know! Maybe I just wasn't in the mood. It was longer and more involved than some of her books, so I give her points for that.
Happiness Is an Inside Job: Practicing for a Joyful Life
Highly recommended for beginners and experienced meditators and for non-meditators who want to be more mindful, happy and knowledgeable about their own minds/emotions. Share!
Rush (The Breathless Trilogy)
This book just got worse and worse. I did finish it, but I felt as if I needed to go visit a feminist consciousness-raising session for about a year to undo the horrible, misogynistic, retro/atavistic messages Myra Banks promotes in this book. I also dipped into Book 2, just to see what it was about. It is not so much a continuation as it is an expansion, focusing on 2 other characters. However, same old, same old. Man possesses woman, woman surprises herself (but, somehow, not the man) by wanting to be a submissive. Bondage and more bondage, lots of similar sex to Book 2, repetition, obsessiveness, redundancy, psychological imbalances masquerading as interesting character traits, saying the same phrases over and over and over, planned and perfect orgasms, yada yada yada.
Am I the only one who found the "50 Shades" trilogy (and, yes, I read all 3) and these two books BORING??? I kept waiting for it to get more interesting. It doesn't.
I get that people want to read porn and pretend they're not, but couldn't the writing be better? Couldn't the characters (or, more importantly, the BOOKS0 be distinguishable? Couldn't the plots be more interesting? Couldn't the female characters have psychological strength and still be attractive? Couldn't the male characters NOT be so totally screwed UP yet somehow, "irresistible" to the females?
I despair of the mental and sexual health of 20 - 40-somethings if this is what they want to fantasize about for themselves. Are these characters really their role models for perfect lives? Sure, who wouldn't want to be a/be involved with a gazillionare. But do these guys have to be so horrible in relationships?
Am I just too old, too feminist, too realistic, too educated (especially about psychology) to buy these kinds of fictional worlds? Probably, yes. Not going on to Book 3. Thank goodness.
The Husband List
Ending rather predictable and somewhat disappointing, but about what I'd expect from the genre. I think I'm tired of the genre.
The Last Gift of Time: Life Beyond Sixty
I found out a few weeks ago that Dr. Heilbrun committed suicide 10 years ago, a few years after this came out (in her 70s). I haven't been able to pick up the book to read more since. Others know this?
Deception Cove (A Rainshadow Novel)
One of the better ones in the series, with better main characters and plot than some others. Liked it a lot.
W is for Wasted (Kinsey Millhone Mystery)
Got as a CD book; it was very boring. If I had had the actual book, I would have skipped a lot. As it is, I gave up and returned it. I just didn't care about the characters or the situations and the writing wasn't very good. Disappointing.
Total Eclipse (Weather Warden, Book 9)
Interesting culmination to the series. Last chapter should have been an Epilogue, not a Chapter, and was kind of trite. Otherwise, satisfying ending.
Cape Storm (Weather Warden, Book 8)
Much improved over last volume. Unexpected twists and ending. Already started final volume, "Total Eclipse."
Swamplandia!
Couldn't read entire book. Read beginning and end. Really just not interested. Well-written, unimportant story, IMHO.
Thin Air (Weather Warden, Book 6)
This is, in my opinion, the weakest of the series. Hackneyed plot devices dragged the story throughout the volume. Repetitions (for whose benefit) of key elements of her "world" and information from previous volumes hit too hard. A lot was boring and, in my opinion, lazy writing. Rachel does better than this, usually. Got through it to get to final volume, but would have put it down if it were a stand-alone volume.
Firestorm (Weather Warden, Book 5)
Disappointed in the ending and not sure what the purpose of the last-minute plot device is. Seems cliched and unnecessarily delaying of overall series' plot. Otherwise, good 5th volume. On to 6!
Windfall (The Weather Warden, Book 4)
Another great volume in the Weather Warden series. This one had a slow part in the middle, but then picked up like a roller coaster and led to many surprising twists by the end. On to Vol. 5!
