Bitter is the New Black

Confessions of a condescending, egomaniacal, self-centered, smart-ass, or why you should never carry a Prada bag to the unemployment office

By Jen Lancaster.

I initially thought I wouldn't be that into this book what with having zero in common with Ms. Lancaster. Well, that's not exactly true. She also has a blog.

I was wrong. This book was awesome, totally relate-able and made me laugh out loud.

Yay, Jen.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8: The Chain

I like this more now than when I first read it a couple weeks ago.

I was just caught off guard because I thought the Faith arc was starting now. But that's next month.

Everyone Worth Knowing

by Lauren Weisberger

I didn't dislike this book enough to stop reading it, but I did want it to hurry up and be over so I could start on something else.

Life Laughs

by Jenny McCarthy

I read this because I wanted to know why Jenny got divorced.

Question answered.

Otherwise, this book wasn't very good.

Three to Get Deadly

by Janet Evanovich

I didn't like this one as much as the second one. But I'm still putting the fourth book on hold because I heart Stephanie Plum and her Grandma Mazur. Who didn't appear nearly enough in this book. Which is probably why I didn't like it as much.

In any case, it continues to make good commute listening.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

by J.K. Rowling

Damn, this book was long.

Good stuff.

Murder Plays House

by Ayelet Waldman

I love this fictional family.

Confessions of a Slacker Mom

by Muffy Mead-Ferro

I did not expect to like this book, but in the end it was probably one of the best parenting books I've read.

Dedication

by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus.

I appreciated the shift in format from their two previous books, The Nanny Diaries and Citizen Girl, but ultimately I found this book predictable and kind of trite. It also unearthed a lot of pain from high school and junior high and reminded me that boys are dumb.

I probably would have liked this a lot better if I had read it, rather than listened to it because then it would have taken up 2 or 3 hours of my life, not 8 or 9.

The Washingtonienne

By Jessica Cutler.

More like the Washingtrashienne.

Baby Laughs

The Naked Truth About the First Year of Motherhood

by Jenny McCarthy.

I like this book. I liked Belly Laughs too. I just put Life Laughs on hold at the public library. So there.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8: The Long Way Home, Part 4

And the first "episode" wraps. I am eager to see where this goes.

A Playdate with Death AND Death Gets a Timeout

by Ayelet Waldman.

Books 3 and 4 in the Mommy Track Mystery Series.

The mysteries are getting better. The Mommy factor remains strong.

Two for the Dough

By Janet Evanovich

Book two in the Stephanie Plum series and another audio book.

One for the Money

By Janet Evanovich.

I initially typed "One for the Monkey" in the title field. That would be a good book.

I am listening to the Stephanie Plum mystery series on my 30 mile commute to work twice a week. This first book in the series was intriguing enough (in audio format, anyway) that I have already started listening to the 2nd book.

Baby Catcher

by Peggy Vincent.

This memoir by a midwife was AWESOME. I devoured the whole thing. It made me want to have a homebirth (Husband vetoed that idea).

The Big Nap

by Ayelet Waldman.

I love books with stay at home mom protagonists.

My Friend is Sad

by Mo Willems.

The love I have for this book cannot be conveyed in words.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8: The Long Way Home, Parts 2 and 3

I need to read each of these several more times.

Hi, Warren! I liked your surprise appearance better in American Dreamz.

Ramona is my hero

In preparation for a discussion of the character of Ramona Quimby with RSL, I brushed up on my Beverly Cleary. Ramona was my favorite when I was a little girl, and my mom kept most of my now collapsing paperbacks. I completed, and contemplated, the following:

Beezus and Ramona
Ramona the Pest
Ramona and her Father
Ramona and her Mother

All The Pretty Horses

By Cormac McCarthy.

Although I readily acknowledge that this book is much better written than the only other Western I've read, I still liked The Pumpkin Rollers better.

However, I'm very appreciative of McCarthy's sparse prose.

Microserfs

I have read this book by Douglas Coupland many many times. This time, I tried to read it as though for the first time, knowing that RSL was doing just this.

I still love it.

But I noticed, I think for the first time, that Daniel's last name shifts periodically from "Underwood" to "Underhill."

Oh my goodness, that annoys me. If I'd noticed it on the first read, I never would have read it again.

Now it's on to All the Pretty Horses. My copy from the library has Matt Damon on the cover. HOTT!

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8: The Long Way Home, Part 1

I liked the jump forward in time as mentioned already by the Rock Star Librarian. The televised seasons did this too - each new season began with actual time having passed over the summer hiatus. With this in mind, I suppose we are to assume that several years have passed in order to get us where we are when the story begins.

This would make sense considering there needed to be time to rally all slayers, and orchestrate the whole intense operation they've got going on here. And for Dawn to grow to ginormous proportions (???). I dislike Dawn even in comic book form.

Is Amy going to be our supervillian? Amy and her unidentified "boyfriend?" I am racking my brain trying to remember how Amy and Buffy left things. I will have to rewatch some episodes to get caught up.

My entry into Season 8 is so preliminary after this reading, that I don't feel like I can fully develop an opinion yet. I am anxiously checking my mailbox today in hopes that 2 and 3 will arrive.

The Chili Queen

I actually read this quite a while ago, and I'm just now getting around to posting. However, now that I am out of school there will be much more reading of, and thus more posting about books, including book discussions with The Rock Star Librarian.

Board Books

The Rock Star Librarian and I went to the public library's children's book sale today. I had heard it could get crowded... I did not expect it to be so CUTTHROAT with all the pushing and grabbing. Nonetheless, I managed to work my way through the rabid masses and nab some good finds for my daughter:

Puppies at Play (not a particularly good book, but it has picture of puppies, so there's that.)
Find the Duck
But Not the Hippopotamus (Sandra Boynton...)
Blue Hat, Green Hat (... is awesome!)
A House for Hermit Crab (Eric Carle... he's more than just a hungry caterpillar)
Baby Pets, Me & My Bear and Smile! (3 from the "Baby Faces" series because my kiddo digs looking at other babies)
Maybe My Baby
Good Morning Baby
Tickle Me Too
Undersea Open Sesame (An unbelievable find. I refuse to believe this lift-the-flap style book actually circulated because it is in near-perfect condition)
Maisy Likes Music (it has a built in rattle! Maisy rules!)

The Secret Life of Bees

I decided this was "multi-cultural." I have actually read quite a bit of multi-cultural fiction that could have met my multi-cultural fiction requirement for Reader's Advisory (Midnight's Children, A Fine Balance, Beloved and everything else Toni Morrison has ever written, Ceremony, etc.), but I wanted to read something new and I really enjoyed this.

The Mediterranean Caper

By Clive Cussler.

My apologies to Cussler fans. I found this to be rascist, sexist tripe.

Amelia's Notebook

The first in a series geared towards 8-12 year olds. I didn't actually read it, I just glanced over my roommate's copies, but I think they might be good gifts for my niece, so I wanted to remember it.

The Pumpkin Rollers

By Elmer Kelton.

The first Western I've ever read. I actually quite enjoyed it. A lovely coming of age story.

Cinderella's Lucky Ticket

by Melissa James.

I am not a reader of romance, so I purposely chose a series romance that I would NEVER read on my own to fulfill the romance requirement for my Readers' Advisory class.

It was pretty terrible. But I can see why they're addictive.