(48) The World’s Strongest Librarian // Bookish Blurb

The World’s Strongest Librarian by Josh Hanagarne

Again after reading fantasy I felt the need for something different so I read *gasp* some nonfiction.

This is a memoir (that’s about as nonfiction as I get) following the life of Josh as he struggles with Tourette Syndrome and figuring out how to not just survive but thrive.

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(23) The Perplexing Theft of the Jewel in the Crown // Bookish Blurb

The Perplexing Theft of the Jewel in the Crown by Vaseem Khan

A few years ago my Grandparents sent this book (and the one before it) to my family since they thought someone would enjoy them. Somehow this book (the second in the series) ended up in my possession and I randomly decided to read it.

This is a book set in India where a retired police officer turned private investigator solves the mystery of a crown (and jewel) being stolen.

Overall I liked this book. I appreciated the different setting (at least different from most of the books I read). Also did I mention there’s an adorable (very smart) elephant? I love elephants. He was definitely my favorite character.

(20) The Well of Lost Plots // Bookish Blurb

The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde

This is the third book in the Thursday Next series (see my thoughts on book one here) and in this book Thursday is taking refuge in a book (quite literally) to escape from all the people trying to kill or use her (see book two).

Like the other books, a lot of different things happen in this book. The most interesting (in my mind) was her continued struggles with her memory and her husband. I don’t know what more to say without spoilers but that was probably my favorite aspect of this book.

(19) Lost in a Good Book // Bookish Blurb

Lost in a Good Book by Lasper Fforde

This is the second book in the Thursday Next series (the first being The Eyre Affair). I loved the first one so much I was excited to pick up this one. I think my expectations were a bit too high but I still enjoyed this book overall. Again there was a general confusion most of the way through the book since nothing is ever explained. Unlike the first book where I felt like I understood most of the stuff (since I have read Jane Eyre), this book made me realize just how many ‘classics’ I haven’t read. That didn’t necessarily detract from the book but it did make me feel like I was missing out on stuff.

The premise of this book is that Thursday’s husband is erased from history and in order to get him back, Thursday has to get the guy out of the book that they trapped him in in the first book. This involves Thursday having to learn how to get into books without her uncle’s invention and with the help of other book characters.

Hello (again)!

Hello,

You probably didn’t notice, but I haven’t posted in a few weeks. I decided to take a little time off to readjust and just figure out what I was doing and what I wanted to do. Blogging was not as fun as it had been and that made me worried. I didn’t want to be doing something supposedly as a hobby if it wasn’t fun. So I took a break but now I’m back.

This is what I’ve decided. I think I’m just going to do one post a week (probably on Mondays unless someone objects … which is unlikely given that no one really reads my blog anyway) and that the goal will be mostly to document what I read. I really enjoyed being able to look back at what I read last year and see what types of books I read and just how many I was able to read. That being said, I will probably still post some other things when I feel like it but I won’t push myself to do one of those posts every week as well.

I thought about going right back into regular posts but I felt like maybe I should do a little blurb expressing my thoughts (because what the world needs right now is definitely some more opinions). Also this way I have another post written (since I’m terrified of not having something to post apparently).

I hope you are all having a wonderful start to the year. Let’s just say I’m looking forward to February (February is great!).

Until next time,

-The Indecisive Dragon

 

 

(39)The Little Paris Bookshop // Bookish Blurb

The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George

When a new person moves into his building, a chain of events unfurl that force Monsier Perdu to come to terms with his broken heart and embark on a journey down the river in his book barge to visit the woman who broke his heart 20 years ago.

This book was filled with quirky interesting characters (Perdu included) who are all affected by love in various ways (aren’t we all…). There are people in and out and lost in love. Also Perdu kind of learns what it is like to love someone like a son as well as the love of friends so I guess it’s not just about romantic love.

(19) The Rosie Project // Bookish Blurb

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

This is an Australian book about Don, a socially awkward genetics professor who has decided to create a questionnaire in order to find an acceptable partner, and Rosie, a woman who does not fulfill many of the requirements to be an acceptable partner nor is she looking to be, and how they fall in love.

My favorite part of this book was trying to understand the way Don works. He narrates the story and is just such an interesting character. I believe that he has Asperger syndrome. He is incredibly smart but has a very hard time empathizing with people and understanding social behavior.

(17) The Invention of Wings // Bookish Blurb

The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd

This is a historical fiction book loosely based on some historical characters. The book follows the lives of two women; Sarah (a southern white woman) and Hetty ‘Handful’, the slave she is given on her 11th birthday.

The book is all about trying to find your place and make your life better but mostly it is about trying to survive and make the most out of your situation. Obviously the women live very different lives and at times it seems as though their lives have nothing to do with each other yet the contrast between their lives is very meaningful.

(13) 2 am at the Cat’s Pajamas // Bookish Blurb

2am at the Cat’s Pajamas by Marie-Helene Bertino

The basic premise of the book is that nine year old Madeleine want to sing at the Cat’s Pajamas which is a Philadelphia jazz club. I really wanted to like Madeleine, I really really wanted to but I just had a hard time doing so. I can appreciate her talents and that her life has been really hard and unfair but seriously, she acts like a rebellious 15 yr old.

Some of the other key characters include Sarina, Madeleine’s lonely teacher who is in love with a married man, and Lorca, the owner of the Cat’s Pajamas.

This was another book on that list of happy books and I’m kind of puzzled by that since it’s really not that much of a happy book.

(12)Pope Joan // Bookish Blurb

Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross

When my mom first recommended this book to me and told me it was a fictional account of a female pope, I was hardly sold. Even when I started it, it was very much an ‘I’ll just read this because why not’. Needless to say, I was hardly thrilled to start but once I started, I didn’t want to stop.

This book takes the little we know about Pope Joan, assumes it is true, and then strings together a work of fiction about her life. I think I got caught up in the idea that it was a history book. It’s not. It is a work of fiction, a wonderful story, that just happens to be set in the past and centered around a character that some believe existed (and some do not).