Books 61-74

61.  "City of Ashes" by Cassandra Clare 453 pages
The second book in the trilogy.  I liked it.  I want to read the third.  

62.  "World of Pies" by Karen Stolz 161 pages
I didn't like this one.  The title is horribly misleading.  Pie is not the core of this book.  Pie only has about a seven page appearance at the very start and doesn't influence the rest of the book.

63.  "Junie B Jones Loves Handsome Warren" by Barbara Park 80 pages
This is my favorite book from the Junie B. Jones collection.  I read it with T.  Even though the books are for little kids it is hilarious.  If you didn't know, Junie B. is a very precocious kindergartner.  She and her two best friends all fall in love with the new boy, Warren.  Here are some of our favorite quotes from this book:
"She has my favorite kind of hair.  It is called automatically curly."
 

"I did my spelling.

And my arithmetic.

And my printing.

Also, I drew a sausage patty on my arm.

Only that wasn't even an assignment.

That is called working on your own."

"'Cause I'm a laugh a minute, that's why."

Junie wants Warren to love her and she thinks dressing like a princess like her friend Lucille or getting fast shoes like Grace will make Warren love her.

"You're not Lucille, Junie B.  And you're not Grace, either.  You're just you.  You're just Junie B. Jones.  And believe me, that's a big enough job for anyone."

"I did a sniffle.  Also I did a snort and a swallow.

"Yeah, only I know I am Junie B. Jones," I said.  "I just want to be Junie B. Jones in a princess dress."

I know how you feel, Junie B., I know how you feel.

"Ladies and gentlemen means No Trampling Thy Neighbor.

It is a Ten Commandemnts, I think."

T thinks we should record niece L (who just finished kindergarten) reading this book aloud.  I think we would all probably die of laughter.  She is exactly like Junie B. sometimes.  We love that kid.

64.  "Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card 323 pages
I liked this one.  It's hard to imagine little kids thinking and speaking in such a grown up manner.  I always imagined Ender three or four years older than he really was and that made it more believable for me.  I wish the book would have ended differently.  The ending isn't bad or unpleasant it's just doesn't feel like a true ending to me.  I think the last 10 or so pages could have been omitted.  Also, it was strange how much nudity there was in the book.  I really did enjoy this book, but I don't think I will read the sequels.  Thanks sister-in-law S for loaning me "Ender's Game."

65.  "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald 180 pages
I read this in high school and wasn't that impressed.  It made more sense and I liked it better this time around.  I wonder if the 20's were really like that...

66.  "That Summer" by Sarah Dessen  198 pages
I didn't like this one.  It's pretty formulaic and pretty much nothing happens the entire book.

67.  "Rumors" by Anna Godbersen 423

68.  "My Life in France" by Julia Child and Ale Prud Homme 333 pages
I thought I would like this one more.  Some of the stories were excellent, but the fancy cooking part (which there is a lot of) is lost on me.  I love to eat, but I like my food simple.  I felt like the ending was very abrupt and not very satisfying.

69.  "The Rescue" by Nicholas Sparks 339 pages

This is the first Nicholas Sparks book I've read.  I've never seen any of the movies, either.  That's right.  I've never seen "A Walk to Remember" or "Message in a Bottle" or "The Notebook."  I didn't know what to expect other than some sort of love story.  And this one was the most predictable love story ever.  I'm not against stories that are predictable as long as they are good stories.  This one was not.  It's about a single mother whose son has a speech impairment and the fireman who rescues them when their car overturns.  I could have told you the entire plot after reading the first seven pages, I kid you not.  There was not a single surprise.  Based on this book, I don't think I'll read any of his other books or see any of the movies. 

70.  "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell 280 pages

This book is about what things become popular and why.  I thought it was pretty interesting, especially when he is talking about the NYPD and the dramatic crime rate drop in NYC in the 1990's.  In this example he talks about the broken widow theory, which I found very interesting.  I also liked that part because Detective Dan Stark from the TV show "The Good Guys" (which you should definitely watch!  It's fantastic!) recently kept citing it as the broken door theory.  I had to skip about a chapter of this one though because he talked in depth about teen smoking / smoking in general and even just thinking about cigarettes makes me feel sick.  I hate the way they smell SO much.  Anyway, a pretty interesting book overall.

71.  "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins 374 pages

LOVE this one.  I want to own the series.  Well, it's just three books and the third one won't come out until the end of August.  But I want to own them.  It's a series about survival and rebellion and revolution.  There's also a small Team Jacob vs Team Edward type thing going on except the boys' names are Peeta and Gale.  I'm definitely on Team Peeta.  Here's a short summary of the first book.  I think I read the whole book in about four hours.  The ending surprised me quite a bit. 

72.  "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins 391 pages

Just as good as the first book.  I had no idea how this one would end.  I was surprised.  I read this one in about four hours, too.  I can't wait to read the third one!

73.  "The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner" by Stephanie Meyer 192 pages

I really do like the "Twilight" series and I really did like this book.  It's very interesting to see life through a non-veggie vampire's eyes.  I found myself really liking Bree.  I wish Ms. Meyer would do more of these novellas.  She could flesh out how all of the Cullens came to be vampires...It would be wonderful.  I would love to read them and she would make lots of money so it's a win-win situation.

74.  "Midnight Sun" by Stephanie Meyer 264 pages

I actually wasn't such a fan of this one.  And yes, I know this is unfinished and unedited. It was okay, but I feel like it didn't add much to the original "Twilight."  I appreciated the additional insight into Edward's thoughts, but I found myself skimming because I already knew the major plot points.  I'm Team Jacob so I'm sure that if you are Team Edward you would like this book even more.