I only had time to read one book this month, but it was a good one!

Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear. Set during WWI, this is the first in a series of books about Maisie, who is a detective or private investigator. I expected this to be a mystery, but it was more about her life, how she came to be where she is and how the war affected almost everything. As someone who really doesn’t read much about WWI, I thought those stories were the most interesting. A good, solid read all around. Thanks for the book, Mom!

And now … I’m off to start The Hunger Games. Oh yes, I’m doing it. I hope it’s as good as everyone says!

For those of you who missed my first installment of Goodreads (totally not my name; find out about the real Goodreads here), let me sum it up for you:

1. I am what some might call a book nerd, which means that I like to read … a lot.
2. This also means that I like to give and get book recommendations. So keep the love coming, people!

The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly. This is one of those books that I judged by the cover. A few years ago (yes, years), I bought this book for book club and I never ended up reading it. Ha! If you see it in the store, you’ll know what I mean. It’s dark and, well, manly looking, and I didn’t really want anything to do with it. But I’ve recently been trying to “clean out” my bookshelf, so I picked this up. It surprised me. Big time. It is pretty dark and slightly disturbing at times, but it’s really original. A little boy runs away from home and finds himself living the fairy tales he’s been reading in his room. But the fairy tales have a twist. Let’s just say that Snow White isn’t the pretty princess we all know and love.

Sisterhood Everlasting by Ann Brashares. And THIS is the opposite of The Book of Lost Things. For those of you familiar with the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series, yes, these are the same characters. I admit, I really like the series. I seemed to follow Lena, Tibby, Carmen and Bridget in age and experiences so I got into those four books. This book, however, has a totally different feel. I was expecting a warm, fuzzy, feel-good book that would tie the series together, and it’s actually a little bit dark … and dramatic in my opinion. Still, a super easy read and one you should definitely check out if you’re loyal to “The Sisterhood.”

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley. Love, love, love! I don’t normally read mysteries but this one you definitely can’t miss! First, the character is super cute and ridiculously witty for an 11-year-old. Second, this book is smart and sharp and will keep you guessing. Third … there’s no third, just go. run. grab. read! The narrator, Flavia (c’mon! Flavia?! How could you not like her?), finds herself (well, most like inserts herself) in the middle of a murder and is determined to figure out what happened before the police. There’s a blackbird, valuable stamp, custard pie and red-haired Norwegian that are pieced together in the end.

Happy reading!

I have two questions for you: 1) Do you like to read? (If that answer was no, what’s wrong with you?! ) 2) Are you on Goodreads?

If you answered yes and no, respectively, you need to get yourself on over to www.goodreads.com and start getting and sharing book recommendations! If you love to read AND you’re a super organized person, you REALLLLLY need to get yourself over to Goodreads. I think my favorite part about the whole site is that I now have a place to “shelve” my “To Read” books … other than that little piece of scrap paper that I always seem to lose.

In the last couple months, I’ve read two awesome books (actually, just two books period, which I feel like must be some sort of record in Lane World considering how little time I have to read! Let’s just say I’ve been staying up waaaay too late):

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender. I’ve been excited to read this book since I saw the mouthwatering cover at Joseph-Beth Booksellers. Yes, mouthwatering. I love cake! The inside pages didn’t disappoint. The story follows a young girl who finds that she can taste feelings in food, and you learn how this “talent” affects her life, for good and bad. There’s definitely a sense of magical realism in the story, which I’m generally not a huge fan of, but this is a quick and easy read that keeps you wanting more.

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout. You know that feeling when you finish a good book and the thought of starting a new one is almost too overwhelming? OK, maybe it’s just me, but after really getting into a good story, I have a hard time starting at square one again. That’s how I felt when I picked up Olive Kitteridge, but after the first couple pages, I was already hooked. The novel is uniquely set up in that you learn who exactly Olive is from a number of connected and unconnected narrators. Each chapter starts almost all over with a story that loops Olive into the mix. I liked this perspective. Because each person has a different image of Olive, you really have to piece it all together and form your own opinion of the character.

Happy reading!