In Her Shoes by Jennifer Weiner

Rating: 5.0

What it's about:
Meet Rose Feller, a thirty-year-old high-powered attorney with a secret passion for romance novels. She has an exercise regime she's going to start next week, and she dreams of a man who will slide off her glasses, gaze into her eyes, and tell her she's beautiful. She also dreams of getting her fantastically screwed-up, semi-employed little sister to straighten up and fly right.
Meet Rose's sister, Maggie. Twenty-eight years old and drop-dead gorgeous. Although her big-screen stardom hasn't progressed past her left hip's appearance in a Will Smith video, Maggie dreams of fame and fortune -- and of getting her big sister on a skin-care regimen.
These two women, who claim to have nothing in common but a childhood tragedy, DNA, and the same size feet, are about to learn that they're more alike than they'd ever imagined. Along the way, they'll encounter a diverse cast of characters -- from a stepmother who's into recreational Botox to a disdainful pug with no name. They'll borrow shoes and clothes and boyfriends, and eventually make peace with their most intimate enemies -- each other.
-taken from Barnes&Noble.com

My thoughts:
This is chick lit at it's best. I was totally drawn into the story of these sisters and their estranged grandmother. The Feller sisters Maggie and Rose seem so different at the beginning of the story but through circumstance they both end up changing and figuring themselves out which brings them closer together. By the end they realize that they're not so different. I enjoyed the three different perspectives of Rose, Maggie and the grandmother. This is a great book and I'd also have to recommend the movie.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Rating: 5.0

What it's about:
A monster assembled by a scientist from parts of dead bodies develops a mind of his own as he learns to loathe himself and hate his creator.

My thoughts:
My first thought on completing Frankenstein was this: I love this book! I really didn't know what to expect when I began reading this. We've all seen Frankenstein and his "monster" portrayed through numerous media outlets and I wasn't sure how any of these compared to the original story created by Mary Shelley. From page one I was drawn in and riveted by the narrative. I was hooked on Victor Frankenstein with his ambition and his creation who showed such strong emotions. Frankenstein's creation is an infantile being born into the body of a monster. We watch as this "monster" teaches himself writing, language, geography, history. He reads from Milton's Paradise Lost and from Plutarch's Lives. Learning brought such joy to him. It was so sad to see the "monster's" attitude toward man (and especially Frankenstein in particular) go from such love and delight to dark feelings and hate. Frankenstein and his race pushed the "monster" away and shunned him because he didn't look like them. They never gave him a chance to prove his worth among them. I believe it was society that created the "monster", and not soley Victor, but it was Victor who reaped the punishment. Frankenstein, the novel, brings up some thought provoking questions dealing with science and life and what it means to be human. You'll have to read the book yourself and draw your own conclusions.

"So much has been done, exclaimed the soul of Frankenstein-more, far more, will I achieve: treading in the steps already marked, I will pioneer a new way, explore unknown powers, and unfold to the world the deepest mysteries of creation."

And Eternity by Piers Anthony

Rating: 3.0

What it's about:

In Pursuit of the Ultimate Good

After an overwhelming succession of tragedies, life has finally, mercifully ended for Orlene, once-mortal daughter of Gaea.

Joined in Afterlife by Jolie -- her protector and the sometime consort of Satan himself -- together they seek out a third: Vita, a very contemporary mortal with troubles, attractions, and an unsettling moral code uniquely her own.

An extraordinary triumvirate, they embark on a great quest to reawaken the Incarnation of Good in a world where evil reigns -- facing challenges that will test the very fiber of their beings with trials as numerous, as mysterious, and as devastating as the Incarnations themselves.

My thoughts:

And Eternity is book seven of the Incarnations of Immortality series. It was okay but nothing spectacular. With the premise of the book being the take over of the office of god I guess I was expecting something a little more dazzling. Overall the book (and much of the series) was pretty boring. That's not to say that it didn't have some coolness about it though. There were some interesting characters and situations but I have to say I'm looking forward to the end of this series.

Anne of Windy Poplars by L.M. Montgomery

Rating: 5.0

What it's about:
Anne Shirley has left Redmond College behind to begin a new job and a new chapter of her life away from Green Gables. Now she faces a new challenge: the Pringles. They're known as the royal family of Summerside--and they quickly let Anne know she is not the person they had wanted as principal of Summerside High School. But as she settles into the cozy tower room at Windy Poplars, Anne finds she has great allies in the widows Aunt Kate and Aunt Chatty--and in their irrepressible housekeeper, Rebecca Dew. As Anne learns Summerside's strangest secrets, winning the support of the prickly Pringles becomes only the first of her delicious triumphs.
-taken from Barnes&Noble.com

My thoughts:
The Anne of Green Gables series is rare in that it is beautifully consistent. Anne changes throughout the series as she ages but she still stays "Anne with an e". She doesn't lose that special something that first attracts the reader to her and makes her the person that she is. In Anne of Windy Poplars we see Anne off to teach for three years away from Green Gables and away from Gilbert, her fiance. This is sort of a turning point in the series. This is the first book that Anne seems like an adult with not so much of the precocious child inside. This book divides the schoolgirl Anne in the previous books from the married woman of the books that follow.

The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan

Rating: 5.0

What it's about:
A New York Times bestseller that has changed the way readers view the ecology of eating, this revolutionary book by award winner Michael Pollan asks the seemingly simple question: What should we have for dinner? Tracing from source to table each of the food chains that sustain us - whether industrial or organic, alternative or processed - he develops a portrait of the American way of eating. The result is a sweeping, surprising exploration of the hungers that have shaped our evolution, and of the profound implications our food choices have for the health of our species and the future of our planet. -taken from Barnes&Noble.com

My thoughts:
Michael Pollan has fast become my favorite author on the topic of food and eating. This is the third book of his I've enthusiastically devoured. He takes the time to follow the food chain from it's beginning to it's end. It was a fascinating trip which leaves the reader more knowledgable and maybe more concientious about what we choose to eat and how we do it.

"For we would no longer need any reminding that however we choose to feed ourselves, we eat by the grace of nature, not industry, and what we're eating is never anything more or less than the body of the world." -Michael Pollan, The Omnivore's Dilemma

Villa Incognito by Tom Robbins

Rating: 3.5

What it's about:
Imagine that there are American MIAs who chose to remain missing after the Vietnam War.

Imagine that there is a family in which four generations of strong, alluring women have shared a mysterious connection to an outlandish figure from Japanese folklore.

Imagine just those things (don’t even try to imagine the love story) and you’ll have a foretaste of Tom Robbins’s eighth and perhaps most beautifully crafted novel—a work as timeless as myth yet as topical as the latest international threat.

On one level, this is a book about identity, masquerade and disguise—about “the false mustache of the world”—but neither the mists of Laos nor the smog of Bangkok, neither the overcast of Seattle nor the fog of San Francisco, neither the murk of the intelligence community nor the mummery of the circus can obscure the linguistic phosphor that illuminates the pages of Villa Incognito.

A female fan once wrote to Tom Robbins:
“Your books make me think, they make me laugh, they make me horny and they make me aware of the wonder of everything in life.”

Villa Incognito will surely arouse a similar response in many readers, for in its lusty, amusing way it both celebrates existence and challenges our ideas about it.

To say much more about a novel as fresh and surprising as Villa Incognito would run the risk of diluting the sheer fun of reading it. As his dedicated readers worldwide know full well, it’s best to climb aboard the Tom Robbins tilt-a-whirl, kiss preconceptions and sacred cows goodbye and simply enjoy the ride. -taken from Barnes&Noble.com

My thoughts:
Villa Incognito is one weird story! It was funny and witty and kept my interest somewhat but it certainly wasn't a great book. I can't even begin to describe what it's about except for this: an animal from Japanese folklore with a giant scrotum, Vietnam MIA's trafficking drugs, a lesbian circus clown, some lady with a chrysanthemum seed implanted in her mouth. Villa Incognito is both bizarre and strangely captivating. This is the first Tom Robbins book I've read and though I only sort of enjoyed it I would definitely give his other books a read.

Any Given Doomsday by Lori Handeland

Rating: 4.0

What it's about:

Elizabeth Phoenix once used her unique skills as a psychic to help in the Milwaukee Police Department’s fight against injustice. But when Liz’s foster mother is found viciously murdered—and Liz is discovered unconscious at the scene—her only memory of the crime comes in the form of terrifying dreams...of creatures more horrific than anything Liz has seen in real life. What do these visions mean? And what in the world do they have to do with her former lover, Jimmy Sanducci?

While the police question Jimmy in the murder, Jimmy opens Liz’s eyes to a supernatural war that has raged since the dawn of time in which innocent people are hunted by malevolent beings disguised as humans. Only a chosen few have the ability to fight their evil, and Jimmy believes Liz is among them. Now, with her senses heightened, new feelings are rising within Liz—ones that re-ignite her dangerous attraction to Jimmy. But Jimmy has a secret that will rock Liz to her core…and put the survival of the human race in peril. -taken from Barnes&Noble.com

My thoughts:

Any Given Doomsday is a fun book. It was very humorous and overall enjoyable to read. In it vampires, werewolves, shape-shifters and even fairies live among humans. Some of the plot points are a little thin and I found myself rolling my eyes at some especially corny parts but it's all in good fun. If you don't take the story too seriously and are good at suspending your disbelief then this is an entertaining read. I really liked Elizabeth, the heroine, and her sarcastic and biting temperament. This page-turner is the first in a series of novels with number two coming out next spring. I'll definitely be picking that one up!

Flower Children by Maxine Swann

Rating: 3.5

What it's about:
From an award-winning short story writer comes this spare, lively, moving novel, quickly embraced by critics and readers, portraying the strangely celebrated and unsupervised childhood of four hippie offspring in the 1970s and 80s. Based on the author's own upbringing, Flower Children tells the story of four children growing up in rural Pennsylvania, impossibly at odds with their surroundings. In time, as the sheltered utopia their parents have created begins to collapse, the children long for structure and restraint—and all their parents have avoided.
-taken from Barnes&Noble.com

My thoughts:
The idea of Flower Children really intrigued me. Here are four children raised by hippie parents. They have a swing hanging from their living room ceiling and they are brought up on anti-nuclear protests. While the story was interesting it's not one that's particularly memorable. A week from now I'd probably be hard pressed to describe what happened in the book. Maybe that's partly due to the fact that nothing really does happen in the book. Flower Children is just a chain of accounts from their lives that bring the children from a very young age up to puberty. It was a quick read and entertaining but not all that that I'd hoped for.

How to Make an American Quilt by Whitney Otto

Rating: 3.5

What it's about:
Inventive and haunting, How to Make an American Quilt powerfully captures the rites of passage in women's lives. The art of quiltmaking becomes a metaphor for the realities of being a woman in America as the unforgettable stories of seven members of a contemporary California quilting group unfold. And as we come to understand the beauty and complexity of the quilting process — to see its evolution in our country's history — we come to intimately know the history of these women as well. -taken from Barnes&Noble.com

My thoughts:
How to Make an American Quilt is a fairly interesting story. There is a lot of quilt talk and by the end of the book I was wanting to start my own quilt. The story has quite an array of characters which makes it hard to keep their stories separate. On top of that, each character has only one chapter in which their life story is told and that makes it hard to remember much about that person by the end of the book. If I read it again I think I'd get more out of it. Maybe.