Books I Read in June

Total:11 Books

Slave to Fashion (Rebecca Campbell)
The Electric Michaelangelo (Sarah Hall)
The Accidental Virgin (Valerie Frankel)
Neurotica (Sue Margolis)
Four Blondes (Candace Bushnell)
The Adultery Club (Tess Stimson)
Making Minty Malone (Isabel Wolff)
The Trials of Tiffany Trott (Isabel Wolff)
Perfect Timing (Jill Mansell)
Good in Bed (Jennifer Weiner)
Something Blue (Emily Giffin)

Slave to Fashion (21/06) - short and sweet. Somewhat predictable and slightly rushed, this book seemed to be over before it had started. Mooched from Amy Watts (USA).

The Electric Michaelangelo was easily the best book I've read this month and is probably the best fiction book I've read in a long time. I'd brought this book over with me from the UK, originally bought through the university small ads I think. Very elegant, evocative prose - even about Morecambe :o). Read my teaser here.

The Accidental Virgin (17/06). Mooched from Jamie (USA).

Neurotica (17/06). Mooched from Jamie (USA).

Four Blondes (16/06) was incredibly dull. That's probably all I can say about it. I did read to the end but I don't really know why. Mooched from Lee Hwang (USA).

Racing through the chick-lit at the moment - I need a man here fill my romance quota, until then I shall read it. Despite it's title, The Adultery Club (11/06) wasn't half bad. Won't be racing to read her other books but if it all gets a bit desperate I'd certainly consider it. I feel the need to mooch a few more challenging reads though. Mooched from Elwood (USA).

Making Minty Malone (09/06) was rather better than The Trials of Tiffany Trott but still not that great. I hate it when authors put cameos in their books from other books - if it adds nothing to the plot that whoever it is is called that then don't put it in. Mooched from Lee Hwang (USA).

I think The Trials of Tiffany Trott (08/06) may have stretched my chick-lit reading as far as it will go. Dull, poorly written and I still have another by this author to go. Mooched from ehj (USA).

Not as good as Thinking of You - a bit too contrived for my liking. Perfect Timing (06/06) was mooched from Kate (USA).

Slightly more lengthly than most chick-lit (I really should start trying to find some slightly less trashy reads whilst I'm here), Good in Bed really isn't too bad. Mooched from Stacy (USA).

Following on from Something Borrowed, Something Blue (01/06) picks up towards the end of the previous book but from another person's point of view. Nice idea, plays with any opinions you'd drawn in the previous book. Again a nice light read. Mooched from Riti (USA).

Friday Fill-In

This week's Friday Fill In:

1. She had a great bum. (Don't ask me why that's the first and only thing I could think of to fill that gap. More sexy jeans required.)

2. The Lord is by my side, always. (Feel the cheese...)

3. I know this: I am not young enough to know everything. (J.M Barrie)

4. Be still.

5. These words apply to me: make time.

6. Yesterday, the sun was shining.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to seeing Hobnob!!, tomorrow my plans include seeing Hobnob!! and Sunday, I want to do something fun with Hobnob!!! (Just a bit excited then...)

carcarcar!

Hurrah! By some magic (and money) my car is legal for another year. Here's hoping it goes that long!

Walking Alone

Sometimes it's just good to get away from everyone:



Apparently the shaft of this sculpture on the CMU campus vibrates in a way that was never anticipated. As a result, men with a big crane came and took almost all the people away. The people will be cleaned whilst the shaft is replaced and then they will be reinstalled. Not sure why she's been left behind.

In Pictures: Homestead/The Waterfront

Homestead seemed to have a curious array of buildings, particularly religious (or so I assume) ones:

And on the other side of the road - this is America after all:


Just after a quick downpour, switched back to lovely weather as I explored Homestead cemetery:


Headless memorial - I spotted one or two of these. I remember Hobnob telling me the memorials without heads in the yard of Lancaster Priory were the result of the reformation. Did similar things happen over here?


For Hobnob. This really is a good place for trains - as long as you like goods anyway. You can see the weather coming back around again too :):

Best Bathroom Ever

Trader Joe's in the strip mall with Natural Stitches. Nipped in for some bread and some relief! How cool is this?

Teaser Tuesdays: The Electric Michelangelo (Sarah Hall)

TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
• Please avoid spoilers!

My 2 “Teaser” Sentences for today:

"The show brought Claudia sadness finer than any requiem or any gravestone or anything beautiful or sorrowful that she could think of. On afternoons when she wasn't working with her husband or rotating on the platform in the Human Picture Gallery at Luna, she would go off by herself and pay her dime and linger in the corridors of the exhibit."

Page 231 of The Electric Michelangelo by Sarah Hall