Thursday, May 01, 2008

April Books and Stats

Here are the books:

Taken By A Viking by Michelle Styles 03-30-08 through 04-01-08 A+
A Dangerous Love by Brenda Joyce 04-01-08 A
Weeping Willow by Sarah Rainwater 04-02-08 through 04-03-08 C
The Reunion Game by Jan Scarbrough 04-03-08 B
Sweethearts of the Twilight Lanes by Luanne Jones 04-03-08 through 04-04-08 A
French Kissed by Nancy Warren 04-04-08 through 04-05-08 A
Seven Nights of Sin by Lacey Alexander 04-05-08 through 04-06-08 A
Candles on Bay Street by K.C. McKinnon 04-07-08 through 04-08-08 A
Spa Vacation by Theresa Alan 04-08-08 A
The Druid’s Quest by Cornelia Amiri 04-09-08 through 04-10-08 C
Points by I. Glebe 04-10-08 C
A Troubadour’s Testament by James Cowan 04-10-08 through 04-13-08 B
Peach Blossom Pavilion by Mingmei Yip 04-13-08 through 04-15-08 A+
Kaitlin’s Silver Lining by Ciara Gold 04-15-08 through 04-16-08 B
Duma Key by Stephen King 04-16-08 through 04-18-08 A+
Hot Date by Amy Garvey 04-18-08 through 04-19-08 A
The almost Moon by Alice Sebold 04-19-08 through 04-21-08 C
Dragon Wytch by Yasmine Glarnon 04-21-08 through 4-22-08 A
Taking the Heat by Kathryn Shay 04-22-08 A
Motif for Murder by Laura Childs 04-23-08 through 04-24-08 A+
Twenty Wishes by Debbie Macomber 04-24-08 A+
Briar Rose by Robert Coover 04-24-08 through 04-25-08 D
Coming Out by Danielle Steel 04-25-08 B
Closer to Fine by Meri Weiss 04-25-08 through 4-27-08 B
The Worst Thing I’ve Done by Ursula Hegi 04-27-08 through 4-30-08 C+

Here are my stats:
Total Books Read: 24
New Authors: 18
Fiction: 23
Non-Fiction: 1
TBR: 1
Chunksters: 1
Books I Reviewed: 14
Memoirs/True Crime/ Autobiographies: 0
Romances: 11
Mysteries: 1
From the Stacks: 17
Books I bought: 5 (4 with a gift card)
PBS Sent: 2
PBS Received: 3
Total Pages Read: 6, 713 pages

Not working a lot of hours had helped me keep up with stuff. I am hoping this month to read more of my own books. lol

The Worst Thing I've Done by Ursula Hegi

Annie loved her friends Jake and Mason. Though she chose Mason to spend her life with, Jake was always there. When Annie loses her parents in a car accident, she must now take care of her sister Opal being a newborn. As Annie struggles to be both a mother and a sister, she just cannot seem to find a balance. Mason always seems to know what to do with Opal. Yet things seem to go from bad to worse, which only tears apart everyone.

Ms. Hegi is a writer that writes very emotional books. While I am normally the kind that clings to these types of books, this one just left me confused. Every character had their point of view and I Found that very helpful. Yet something was lacking and maybe it was the different viewpoints that just seemed to muddle things for me. Doubts were very prevalent in this book. Yet Ms. Hegi seemed ot put most of them into Annie.

Annie just struggled whether it came to her sister or to her art or even with her husband Mason. She never seemed to put confidence that she could do anything in herself. Even though Mason did his best, he seemed to fall short. Aunty Storm was there to help Annie when she needed it the most. Opal was a sweet girl who just was confused about life. She knew Annie was her sister and not her mother but that was what made it worse for her somehow.

The beginning of the book was a shock to me. I never saw it coming not at all! It frustrated me so much that the author never let it be known what was going on till the book started. I almost did not even want to read any more of this book. But as it went along, Ms. Hegi slowly redeemed herself in little ways. And while I did not care for this book or the author, I was able to come to grips with her style of writing.

Ursula Hegi/ New Author/ Relationships/ Adult Fiction/ 272 pages/ 3 out of 5

This is one I got from Simon and Schuster awhile ago. I am just glad to be done with it. not to mention the last book of the month since I finished it almost a half hour ago.