Books the Imaginary Book Club has read but failed to post about: Part 2

1. A Three Dog Life: Quiet thumbs up. But not an easy book to read. The husband has a traumatic brain injury. He doesn't die but he's never the same. And by "never the same" I mean he can't live at home or take care of himself. But his wife finds a way to still have a life with him. Made me wonder if I'd be able to do that. I'd like to think I would. I'd like to think my husband would. But, geez, is it hard to think about.

2. Mad Dash: Eh. I tried it because it was written by Patricia Gaffney. During my historical romance reading years, I read a book by her I liked so much I still remember it to this day. Cute and funny but romantic. I didn't like any of her other romance novels though. But for the record, that one's good.

3. The Pact: I didn't like the reasoning for the pact. I also suspected the reasoning early on. But it was still well written. Also a quick read.

4. The Honk and Holler Opening Soon: Slight thumbs up. Sweet but not great. I think it's charming when people can create a family for themselves out of otherwise strangers. But why do all the characters in Billie Letts' books have to have such funky names? Isn't anyone in Oklahoma named Joe or John?

5. Change of Heart: A guy on death row that wants to donate his heart to a little girl after he gets the death penalty. Thumbs up. Interesting characters and it kept me reading to find out what was going to happen next.

6. Mommy Tracked: Hated it. No really. Boring, predictable, and cliche characters.

7. While I Was Gone: Thumbs up. Such a well written portrait of a marriage. I felt like I'd sat at their kitchen table and watched them finish each other's sentences. The whole thing about her friends from her past didn't particularly interest me but the ending did.

8. Dry: About the author getting sober. It's not for everyone. For example, my husband would hate it. So would my mother. But I liked it. I'm not really sure why. I think I just like him and wish we could be friends.

9. Harvesting the Heart: My thumbs are neither up nor down on it. Either I'm burning out on Jodi Picoult or this was just an "Eh" book. It's about a woman that leaves her 3 month old baby to essentially soul search. That seems like an interesting plot but, eh. I didn't really sympathize with her because she just seemed to lack any self awareness. But I didn't really sympathize with the husband either because he just seemed so self absorbed. Eh.

10. The Perks of Being a Wallflower: Liked it. It's offbeat. The entire book is a series of letters written by a freshman in high school and you don't even know who he's writing to. But it really rings true like it was written by a teenager. Made me remember stupid things I used to write in my diary back in high school. You know. Like stupid drawn out crap about so and so talking to so and so and what my paranoid pea brain read into what they may or may not have said. Many was the diary entry I wrote analyzing someone walking by and innocently saying "Hello." I also enjoyed when the girls he knows all gave each other earrings for Christmas. I remember the careful selection process that went into selecting the right crappy fake gold earrings for each of my friends. The better the friend the better the earrings. "Better" mostly meaning it would take them longer to chip and turn green.


Other installments of the Imaginary Book Club:
Books the Imaginary Book Club has read but failed to post about Part 1
All the rest