MADreads

Isle reading

August 26th, 2008 Jane J. - Central Library

I feel like I’m going to write a back-to-school report entitled
“What I Read on My Summer Vacation”.  I’m just back from a trip to Isle Royale National Park and since the island has no tv, telephone, computer, or radio, there was time to read in the evening after hiking all day.

First up was Kristan Higgins’ Just One of the Guys.  This one is packaged as a romance but reads more like chick lit.  Chastity “Chas” O’Neill is a broad-shouldered, almost six-foot-tall woman who has returned to her hometown in upstate New York.  When her current boyfriend dumps her because she was able to carry him for half a mile on a hike, Chas feels doomed.  How does a healthy woman who grew up with four brothers find a date.  Much less the love of her life?  That last part is both the easiest and hardest bit of the equation since the love of her life is an honorary member of the family and has made it clear he wants to remain friends.  Funny and sweet at turns, this was just the thing for the ferry ride to the island (don’t ask about the ferry ride back).

On a quiet Isle evening I read John Connolly’s The Reapers - probably not the best choice for a dark night.  Charlie Parker is back.  And if you haven’t read Connolly yet, start with Every Dead Thing.  Charlie Parker, a former NYPD detective, is similar to Lee Child’s Jack Reacher in that he uses unorthodox (often violent) means to solve people’s problems.  In The Reapers, the person in trouble is Charlie’s friend Louis.  Someone is stalking Louis, and when he and his partner Angel go missing, Charlie enters the fray.  Connolly writes beautiful prose describing ugly and gritty events to awesome effect.

After the excellent, but somewhat grim Connolly, I needed something lighter to round out the trip.  Sarah Dessen’s The Truth About Forever was just the ticket.  This YA novel covers some fairly serious stuff with humor and charm.  Macy Queen is known as the girl who watched her father die.  That catastrophe has forced Macy into shutting down.  When asked how she’s coping, everything is fine.  Her attempts to maintain this front have changed her.  A fact she only realizes when she takes a job with Wish Catering and gets pushed past her comfort zone.  Dessen excels at creating relatable and likable protagonists who deal with life’s ups and downs, if not effortlessly, then at least with some grace and honesty.

So that’s my report.  Now let’s hear about what you read on your summer vacation.

Entry Filed under: Mystery, Recreational Fiction, Romance, Thriller, Young Adult