Bogormen

Title: The House of Mirth
Author: Edith Wharton
Genre: classic
Rating: 3/5
# pages: 329
Date read: July, 2009

The beautiful Lily Bart lives among the nouveaux riches of New York City - people whose millions were made in railroads, shipping, land speculation, and banking. In this morally and aesthetically bankrupt world, Lily, age twnty-nine, seeks a husband who can satisfy her craving for endless admiration and all the trappings of wealth. Her quest comes to a scandalous end when she is accused of being the mistress of a wealthy man. Exiled from her familiar world of artificial conventions, Lily finds life impossible.

I don't do well with books with sad endings. That's a personal quirk and I'm well aware it has no influence on the literary quality of the book.

"The House of Mirth" falls into the same genre as "Ditte Menneskebarn" and several other Danish books of that era - books that are well-written, but where the author for one reason or another decide to let the main characters fail in all his/her endeavours rather than succeed. This inevitably leads up to a depressing book, so that no matter how much I enjoyed other aspects of it I can't enjoy the book as a whole.

However, I did appreciate that Edith Wharton didn't let Lily lose her integrity along with everything else.

Title: The Friday Night Knitting Club
Author: Kate Jacobs
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 4.5/5
# pages: 418
Date read: July 2009, April 2014

Walker and Daughter is Georgia Walker''s little yarn shop, tucked into a quiet storefront on Manhattan's Upper West Side. The Friday Night Knitting Club was started by some of Georgia's regulars, who gather once a week to work on their latest projects and to chat-and occasionally clash-over their stories of love, life, and everything in between.

Georgia has her hands full, juggling the demands of running the store and raising her spunky teen daughter, Dakota, by herself. Thank goodness for Anita, her mentor and dear friend, and the rest of the members of the knitting club-who are just as varied as the skeins of yarn in the shop's bins. There's Peri, a pre-law student turned handbag designer; Darwin, a somewhat aloof feminist grad student; and Lucie, a petite, quiet woman who''s harboring some secrets of her own.

However, unexpected changes soon throw these women's lives into disarray, and the shop's comfortable world gets shaken up like a snow globe. "James," Georgia's ex, decides that he wants to play a larger role in Dakota's life - and possibly Georgia's as well. Cat, a former friend from high school, returns to New York as a rich Park Avenue wife and uneasily renews her old bond with Georgia. Meanwhile, Anita must confront her growing (and reciprocated) feelings for Marty, the kind neighborhood deli owner.

And when the unthinkable happens, they realize what they've created: not just a knitting club, but a sisterhood.

I really liked this book. It was cozy, optimistic and generally the perfect chick-lit. To my surprise it even made me want to knit(!) - something I've always reckoned I didn't have the patience for at all.

I enjoyed getting to know the characters, and the relationships between them. Especially Georgia's Gran was just terrific.

It's not a book where a lot of things happen, but a book where you get to know and love a bunch of people and get a look into their every day life. I did feel Kate Jacobs skipped quickly over things occasionally, and the ending knocked me for six, but in general an excellent book.

Title: The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening and The Struggle
Author: L.J. Smith
Genre: Paranormal
Rating: 3/5
# pages: 492
Date read: July, 2009

Elena: the golden girl, the leader, the one who can have any boy she wants.

Stefan: brooding and mysterious, he seems to be the only one who can resist Elena, even as he struggles to protect her from the horrors that haunt his past.

Damon: sexy, dangerous, and driven by an urge for revenge against Stefan, the brother who betrayed him. Determined to have Elena, he'd kill to possess her.

Volumes one and two of The Vampire Diaries tells the tale of two vampire brothers and the beautiful girl torn between them.

In style "The Vampire Diaries" is very much like Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight"-series, only a lot darker and therefore probably aimed at an older audience. I didn't think it as captivating as "Twilight" though, and was somewhat bothered by L.J. Smith's inclination to end each and every book with a cliff-hanger! There didn't even seem to be any real reason for this (other than prompt people to read the next book obviously), which left a very unfinished feel to the book - almost as if L.J. Smith had said "Right, each book has to be so-and-so many chapters long, so I'll end there, no matter if the plot agrees with me or not."

Obviously this subtracted a couple of stars in my rating, and I'm still debating whether or not I want to read the next volume as I assume that won't have a conclusion either.

The story in itself was enjoyable enough though. Your typical teen love triangle where two parties just happen to be vampires ;-) Unlike "Twilight" however, I appreciated that Elena actually appeared to have friends beyond the "dark and brooding" Stefan.

Reread in March/April 2010
Part 1
16 years before Twilight, there were the Vampire Diaries! Seriously, they are SO much alike. I still prefer Twilight though, and it wasn't really my own choice to reread this so shortly after my first read of it, but it's being translated to Danish, so I was asked to review it for my publisher. Thankfully it's a quick read! It's not bad - just nothing special either.
Part 2
Now I know why I didn't much care for the double album when I first read it. The Awakening was fine, but I did NOT like The Struggle. Its one redeeming factor is that we're supposed to find Damon dispicable. If it had been a book like Hush, Hush or Evermore where the dispicable guy is also the love interest, I would have thrown it across the room.

Gah! I promised to read the two first books before April 5th. That's done now. I think I'll take a bit of a break before tackling #3. At least they're quick reads - only took me about 2 hours.

Title: Hello, Darkness
Author: Sandra Brown
Genre: Suspense
Rating: 4.5/5
# pages: 476
Date read: July, 2009

Since moving to Austin to ease the pain of tragic mistakes, Paris Gibson has led a life of virtual isolation, coming alive only at night when she hosts her popular radio show. Then one listener--who identifies himself as "Valentino"--tells Paris that the girl he loves jilted him because of Paris's on-air advice. He intends to exact revenge by killing the girl and then coming after Paris. Desperate to stop the sinister Valentino, Paris enlists the help of the police--including crime psychologist Dean Malloy, the very man she had hoped to never meet again...

Not high literature, but it had me captivated from page 1, and sometimes that's really all I ask. I was completely drawn into the story and Sandra Brown kept me guessing until pretty much the very last moment. I did think - as I typically do with her books - that things got wrapped up too quickly, but she writes such a ripping good tale that I can forgive her for that.

That said, this is probably one of the best Sandra Brown novels I've read. The plot was fascinating and I enjoyed following the dynamics between the characters.

Book List

Title: Homegrown: The Terror Within
Author: Cialan Haasnic
Genre: Suspense
Rating: 3/5
# pages: 427
Date read: July, 2009

Homegrown is an extremely geeky novel, and I mean that in the best way possible. I'm a geek myself, so the math, cyber and biology aspects of it are right down my aisle. At the same time, it's action-packed enough to grab the attention even of non-geeks, and paints a picture of a future that's very dark indeed.

Maureen has recently been fired from her job, but the circumstances are suspicious. Were her teaching methods really inappropriate, or are the reasons more sinister than her boss will admit? Thankfully she's not without a job for long. The NSA finds her "Theory of Everything" to be of great interest, and want to employ her to look for potential terrorist threats around the country - especially in the light of an upcoming celebrity wedding somewhere in California.

After an emergency landing of an aircraft where the entire crew and all passengers have died after what appears to be a deliberate bio-attack, Maureen's theory turns out to be even more vital than first expected, and her work becomes a race against time, to find out where the terrorists will strike next in time to prevent it.

In style it reads as a mixture of Richard Preston's "The Hot Zone" mixed with a dose of the TV-series "24", as the bio-technic details and the search for terrorists compete for the reader's attention. It took Cialan Haasnic a while to set up the background to his story, and therefore the beginning is somewhat slow-moving. Don't let that deter you though, for once he takes off, it picks up with a vengeance, and I found myself struggling to read fast enough for my own liking. People who want a happy ending - or even proper closure - should stay away, as Homegrown isn't meant to stand on its own, but paves the way to a sinister sequel. However, if "Terminator 3"-style endings don't bother you, I can only recommend that you read on - but beware: it's a chilling ride.

Book List

Title: Dead Famous
Author: Ben Elton
Genre: Suspense
Rating: 4/5
# pages: 382
Date read: July, 2009

One house, ten contestants, thirty cameras, and forty microphones. Everybody knows the rules... total strangers are forced to live together while the rest of the country watches them do it. However, on day 27, one of the housemates is killed on live TV. Who is the murderer? How did they manage to kill under the constant gaze of the television cameras? Why did they do it? And who will be next?

I was completely fascinated by this book from the very first page. A murder committed in a "Big Brother"-type environment would have seemed impossible to achieve - and certainly very easy to solve - so how could it make for an interesting book? Yet Ben Elton manages to pull it off. I had great difficulties putting it down, and was completely taken aback by the ending... which, granted, wasn't all that likely, even if it was plausible.

The atmosphere of "Big Brother" was spot on (at least as seen in the Danish version), which is actually the sole reason for the one star taken off - I always felt kinda dirty or voyeuristic watching that show, and Ben Elton managed to achieve the exact same result from me reading... to which I guess I should say "Well done!"

Perfect for a quick summer read... but now I feel like rereading "Guilt by Association" by Gilbert Morris, as "Dead Famous" reminded me quite a bit of it... that's not a bad thing though.

Book List

Title: The Yada Yada Prayer Group Gets Rolling
Author: Neta Jackson
Genre: Christian fiction
Rating: 10/10
# pages: 395
Date read: October 2008, July 2009, July 2012, July 2020

A devastating fire wakes up the Yadas to a new reality: God is on the move.

What I'd like to know is, why does God keep rearranging my comfort zone? It could have something to do with my Yada Yada prayer sisters, who aren't afraid to get in each other's faces and tend to expect big things from God.

But to move forward, sometimes we have to let go of what's behind. In spite of the loss of two dear friends. In spite of the breakup of a teenage love. In spite of the curse of HIV. In spite of prison time hanging over the head of a beloved child. In spite of fire consuming the hopes of those who have nothing.

Yet out of the ashes, God is doing a new thing! It's time for the Yadas to press on, pray on, and get rolling!


Wow... that was some ride. I'm still wiping the tears off my face from the last few chapters. Good tears though. It wasn't sad, just incredibly moving.

I'm sad there are only 7 books in this series, because they are just incredible. I pray I can learn to pray like Jodi and her Yada Yada sisters... and I wouldn't mind hearing that still small voice as clearly either.