The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver

I only blog about books that I've completed. But you should know that for every four or five books that I review here, there is at least one book that I tried to read and decided not to finish. It's a good thing I borrow books from the library instead of buying them.

How do I decide if I'm going to finish a book? As a general rule, I read the first 50 pages before I decide. And at any point, I stop reading if any of the following are true:

-I don't look forward to reading the book.
-I keep checking to see how many pages are left.
-The author doesn't use quotation marks when people are speaking.


This is a book that I didn't finish. I was so looking forward to reading it because I'm a Barbara Kingsolver fan. It was flat and not at all up to what I expect from Kingsolver. It really didn't even seem like it was Kingsolver's writing.

So after reading 250 of the 500 pages (I was really waiting for it to get better!), I put it down and returned it to the library. I pre-ordered it to give to my sister as a birthday present, but the book was so terrible that I unwrapped it, and returned it to Amazon.

All I can say about this book is: What happened, Barbara???

Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen

I've already read and reviewed four of Sarah Dessen books including The Truth About Forever, Lock and Key, Just Listen, That Summer. And three of these four reviews started out with: "Sarah Dessen is one of my favorite authors." So it is with mixed feelings that I write this review of her latest, Along for the Ride.


Dessen still is one of my favorite authors and I was very eager to read her newest book. However, about fifty pages into it, I felt disappointed because it seems like Dessen has fallen into a rut. The plots are so formulaic and predictable now (although it worked for me in the first several books of hers that I read): teenage girl has troubles with her family, moves to a new location, meets an unlikely friend in oddball boy, boy and girl become romantically involved while at the same time girl understands something more about herself and her situation.

So I enjoyed reading this book (I read it in two days), but I'm hoping that in Dessen's next book, she'll hop out of this mold and give us something new.

From her book:

"It was terrible and awful when someone left you. You could move on, do the best you could, but...an ending was an ending. No matter how many pages of sentences and paragraphs of great stories led up to it, it would always have the last word."

The Maples Stories by John Updike

In 1956, John Updike published a short story featuring the Maples, a married couple. In the 20 years following, Updike returned to the couple time and time again, writing short stories that traced the Maples' marriage, parenting, and eventual divorce.

The Maples Stories is the collection of all of these stories. These stories definitely held my attention, but there were some painful moments, especially toward the end.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling

A re-read. Because sometimes you just gotta read Harry Potter again.

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

This is a collection of short stories. I usually don't read short stories.

What made me pick this one up? The title character, Olive, is the common thread throughout all of the stories. I like it when a character from one story shows up in another. It lets me see a different side of the character.

There are 13 short stories that all take place in a small town in Maine. In each story, Olive is either the main character or makes an appearance.

I thought the concept of having Olive in all of the stories would be neat. But the problem was that I never really took a liking to Olive. So this book was just okay for me.

Hungry: A Mother and Daughter Fight Anorexia by Sheila and Lisa Himmel

Sheila Himmel was the restaurant reviewer for the local paper while I was growing up, so I am familiar with seeing her name and reading her writing.

She wrote this book with her daughter, who struggled with anorexia and bulimia and is now in recovery. They talk about how Sheila's job required her to eat out often in order to write reviews, and how Lisa was starving herself at home. Sheila and Lisa take turns writing and it actually flows quite well. They give us a picture of what an eating disorder looks like, how much it affects the family, and how difficult recovery is.

This would be a great book for daughters and their parents to read and talk about, and also a good resource for families dealing with a daughter/son/sibling with an eating disorder.

The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides

Five sisters commit suicide and in this book, a group of neighborhood boys try to understand exactly what led all of the girls to the decision to kill themselves.

A page-turner, but kinda weird. I liked Middlesex (by the same author) better.