Summer Sisters

I re-read Judy Blume's Are You There God? It's me, Margaret earlier this year and still really liked it so I couldn't resist buying Summer Sisters when I saw it in a used book store. I actually wasn't aware that Judy Blume also wrote books for adults and I was curious to read one.

It was good. It tells the story of two friends who met as kids and stayed friends into adulthood. It's basically about growing up, but that includes values, attitudes, goals, dreams and so much more. I liked that the main characters were believable whatever their age was, meaning that the author has a grasp on the gowing-up issues she writes about.

The style was simple and engaging. I liked that throughout the story there were parentheses where we could see what some of the more minor characters were thinking, what their take on the situation was. I liked it because it made all the characters and their interactions more real.

It's a light read, nothing mind-blowing. Although I was expecting it to be more uplifting than it actually was, so don't expect something too happy! I found parts of the book slightly formulaic and reminiscent of women's writing of the 80s, but I still enjoyed it.

C+ and a contribution to the Title Master Reading Challenge.

342,745 Ways to Herd Cats

What a fabulous name for a challenge! And the challenge itself is also pretty cool! Can't ask for more than that eh? ;-)

Renee is hosting the 342,745 Ways to Herd Cats challenge. It runs from May 1st to November 30th and requires me to make another list. Yay! :-) The list is to be of 10 books that I love - each participant will make such a list, the lists themselves are listed here and Renee is making a master list of the books we love as well. Can't wait to tuck into those other recommendations!

Oh yeah, and the challenge itself is to read 3 books recommended by others. OK! :-)

Here are ten books that I absolutely love:

1. The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

2. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

3. American Gods by Neil Gaiman

4. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon

5. Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman

6. The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende

7. The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells

8. The Life of Pi by Yann Martel

9. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

10. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

Hope you read the ones you haven't yet and that you enjoy them!

Weekly Geeks #1

I signed up to be a Weekly Geek. I found out about the opportunity via a really funny post at a Tiny Little Reading Room, which led me to Dewey, other Weekly Geeks and a chocolate monkey. Yes, that's right, a chocolate monkey!

In other (less cryptic) words, I joined Dewey's new blogging event. Every week will bring a different theme - if you are so inclined, you can blog about this theme. For full details, go here.

The first one is about getting to know other participants - it's Discover New Blogs Week! Still being a newbie, I had no problem finding five blogs that are new to me among the participants - cue drumroll, introducing:

Marg and her Reading Adventures - she has a lovely photo as her header, seems to also be a challenge addict and I already found several books that sounded good from her comments.

Heather and her Book Addiction - the first thing I saw on there today was Harriet the Spy. Cool! Plus, judging by her post on Herding Cats, we share some favorite books!

Natacha from Maw Books - who is celebrating 100 posts and is thrilled at how popular her giveaway is! And I just really like the look of her blog.

Somer from SomeReads - who loved Neil Gaiman's Stardust as much as I did! I'm looking forward to her other reviews.

Reader Rabbit - actually two sisters blogging together - I think that's really cool! They have some interesting-looking YA literature on there and I'd like to read more YA.

This makes five, but there are loads more so off I go, exploring...