Some Books I've Read Lately

The Last Little Blue Envelope by Maureen Johnson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Someone recently pointed out that I have entirely too many 3 star reads. What can I say? I read a lot of mediocre books.

This was the never-intended-to-be written sequel to 13 Little Blue Envelopes (not to be confused with 13 Reasons Why. Whats up with 13 in YA titles?) I enjoyed this sequel much more than I thought I would, which is not saying much because I had fairly low expectations. On the top of my list of things I liked was Keith's downgrade from boyfriend to friend in this book. I personally never had much use for the Keith character in the first book. As for negatives, I thought the 20 page last letter was a stretch especially for free spirit Aunt Meg. Overall, it was just okay.

All Other Nights by Dara Horn

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Keeping in mind my recent liberally use of 3 stars, I decided to give this book 4 stars for originality of plot: Jewish spy in the Civil War. It definitely gave an interesting perspective, quite varied from any other book I've read on the Civil War. (disclosure: I haven't read many books on the Civil War.) The writing was good. The plot was all over the place, but kind of in a good way. Lots of action over the course of the novel. My biggest complaint was I felt like the author was at times a bit heavy handed and manipulative (for example slave auction.) I liked the spunky Jeannie and the inclusion of real life Judah Benjamin.

Uncommon Criminals by Ally Carter

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I understand some have been disappointed with this sequel but I really liked it. I liked the reuniting of Kat's Henley gang. I like that they are kids and don't act like adults. I liked the message of the book (and Maggie acting as a foil as Kat has to decide her personal philosophy.) I liked the twists and turns of the heists. And the humor. But most of all, I love Hale and Marcus.

But could we PLEASE have some thing a bit more from Hale and Kat in the third? That would be great. The whole are-they-aren't-they is getting OLD. Bring on book three!

The Levee: A Novel of Baton Rouge by Malcolm Shuman

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This book was crass and full of language (the narrator was a 16 year old boy. No offense to 16 year old boys.) It was short, so I waded through to get to the hyped resolution of the mystery at the end. Not worth it, for my tastes.

(You know it's bad when I was embarrassed that the person sitting next to me on the plane would read over my shoulder and think "What kind of garbage is she reading?")

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