Hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. I had a good reading week except for a run in with one of my major reading pet peeves.

Circle of Quilters by Jennifer Chiaverini (audio)

Two of the Elm Creek quilters are leaving so job interviews are being held.  Five people are interviewed.  This book tells each of their stories.

Somehow I missed this one when it came out.  Since I had read later books I knew which people got hired but it was still interesting.  Each person came to quilting in a different way and had a different style representing changes in the quilting world in the last several decades.  This is one of my favorites in the series.

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

I’m an Apple girl from the time of the Apple II.  (I love everything except the iPhone which I hate for not having a keyboard.  Yes, I like the iPad but I have a wireless keyboard for it.)  I got this book for my brother’s Christmas present so obviously I had to read it first.  Had to make sure it was a proper gift and all.

Overall, I enjoyed it.  It is not a flattering portrait but seems to be as true as we can tell.  The thing that drove me crazy in this book though was the author’s bias towards vegetarianism.  I’m a vegetarian so I notice this.  Steve Jobs was too and occasionally moved in and out of veganism.  He also did a lot of fasting and occasionally would only eat a few foods.  The author is very dismissive.  He equates vegetarianism with eating disorders and mental illness.  He suggests early on that his diet was a reason why he ultimately died of cancer.  I would have loved to underline and annotate the worst passages but I think my brother would notice that I read his book if certain paragraphs had, “BULLS**T!!!!!!!” written next to them.  Perhaps I should slip in a post-it note or two so my red meat worshipping brother understands my feelings on the subject though…    LOL

Ida B…and Her Plan to Maximize Fun, Avoid Danger, and (Possibly) Save the World by Katherine Hannigan

Everything has gone wrong in Ida B’s life lately.  Her mother is sick so she has to go back to school instead of being homeschooled.  Her father sold part of their orchard to pay the medical bills and the new owners cut down some of her favorite trees.  Ida B has decided that she isn’t going to take it anymore.

I read this book to get Wisconsin for the Where are you reading challenge.  49 states done and just Iowa to go!

Zero Day by Steve Baldacci

CID agent John Puller has been sent alone to West Virginia to investigate a murder of a DIA agent and his family.  This is unusual because WV isn’t his jurisdiction and he never investigates alone.  It is obvious that the murdered agent was onto something in this small town but what could it be?

I really liked this book.  It was a page turning thriller that gave a little twist to the conventions of the genre.

My Unfair Godmother by Janette Rallison

Tansy’s life is 76% pathetic according to the pie chart compiled by her new fairy godmother.  Actually that’s fairy godmother in training and she doesn’t have a lot of time to devote to Tansy since she’s moonlighting as a tooth fairy.  No wonder Tansy’s wishes keep getting all mixed up.

This was a cute YA story.

The Real Macaw by Donna Andrews

This is part of a series of mysteries that are all named after birds. You’d think that if they all have something to do with birds that there would be correct bird info in them. I started to get suspicious of this one when the local vet takes a close look at the macaw in question and declares it female. Unless she was in the process of laying an egg that is quite a feat since all the rest of the vets in the world need to do a DNA test to tell male and female macaws apart. But I let that go. Then a major clue appeared. An interior decorator with a very good sense of color noticed that the macaw had been replaced with one that was just the slightest different shade of blue. I thought that was a good plot point. Macaws of the same species are hard to tell apart. Someone noticing a slight shade variation is believable. It is all good until a few pages later they start talking about how the first macaw was a hyacinth and the second was a blue and gold.

Here’s a hyacinth:

macaw

Here’s a Blue and Gold:

bg

Seriously? They couldn’t tell the difference except for a subtle shade of blue? Did no one think, “Holy Smokes, the bird turned YELLOW over night?”

Extraordinary*: *The True Story of My Fairygodparent, Who Almost Killed Me, and Certainly Never Made Me a Princess by Adam Selzer

Jenny would like you to know that the stupid book that was supposedly written about her life and the movie that came after is totally not true. Sure, she had a magical being messing with her but it wasn’t like that author explained it at all so now she is going to set the record straight.

IOWA! That is state number 50 in the Where Are You Reading Challenge and I am done!!!
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Currently listening to:

Sisterhood Everlasting by Ann Brashares

The girls from the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series are 29 now. They haven’t been together for a while when Tibby organizes a surprise trip to Greece for them.

Ok, I’m listening to this on audio and I need advice but first there are SPOILERS:
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Tibby’s big surprise is that she kills herself before the rest of them get to Greece. That’s an awesome beginning to a book in my world. I love the unexpected. But, from there it is horrid. I haven’t read the rest of the series. I just saw the movie. Were these characters always self centered and emotionally stunted or is that new for this book? I want to propose a drinking game. One drink whenever anyone says, “I can’t imagine..” or “I just can’t face..” Two drinks whenever they describe things as hopeless. I’m listening to the audio and they have been crying and being depressed and running away from all human contact for three discs now. Does it get better or do I have hours more of this? All their families keep telling them to get a grip and move on with their lives and I totally agree but the families are portrayed as unfeeling monsters who don’t understand how hopeless life is and how they just can’t face it. Drink up!

If I was reading the book I’d skip to the end to see if it says why she killed herself and if someone finally gives these supposed adults a swift kick in the butt. Has anyone read this? Does that happen? If not, I don’t think I can go on.