Show Us Your Books! - What I read in February

Book nerds, unite.
Link up your posts about the book(s) you've read recently with me and Jana of Jana Says!

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The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls by Anton DiSclafani - Meh. I think this author overestimated himself, writing this book as if it would be a sweeping tale of secrets and gender and family in the late 1920s/early 1930s. It was not. The main character is selfish and greedy, which I suppose could describe a lot of us at 15. There was too much fat in this book, scenes provided, I suspect, so the author could write them...not because they advanced the narrative or contributed to characterization or plot. The ending was a big loud fart too, with no smell to back it up. It just sort of petered out and left you like...Okay? What was the point?

Even in Paradise by Chelsey Philpot - This reminded me a lot of Gossip Girl, and not in a good way. I liked none of these characters, which makes it hard to like a book unless they're intriguing (they're not, they're pretty flat) or the writing is excellent (it's not bad but not great). This is a YA novel you can skip.

Second Helpings by Megan McCafferty - I read the first of the Jessica Darlings last month. I was unsure how I'd feel about this one, but I think I liked it more than the first. I'll continue on with the series.

Rocks: My Life in and out of Aerosmith by Joe Perry - When I started this, I was like wow, Joe Perry is quite articulate and really throwing his soul into overly poetic writing. Then I realized that was the cowriter. Cripes, some of it was so flowery. I liked the stories Joe told, even when they seemed out of place to where the book was at that point. One of the things I liked the most was hearing about where he came from and how normal and not rock-n-roll or hard his upbringing was. I'm not the hugest Aerosmith fan and this comes nowhere near Nikki Sixx's autobio, but it wasn't bad. Joe Perry seems like a really stand up guy.

My Sunshine Away by M.O. Walsh - This reads like a love story to Louisiana, and in particular to Baton Rouge. This makes sense given that it's the author's home and also the setting for the novel. I liked this book a lot but felt some things that were important were glossed over while things that weren't were given a lot of play. Overall enjoyable for many reasons, one of which was that I faintly felt the rocking cadence of some Pat Conroy-ish descriptive writing. I've always been a sucker for a good southern novel.

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel - This book was so weird. I appreciated that it wasn't overly dramatic as most world ending books are. I liked some of it, but I wasn't crazy about it. It didn't engage me so that I couldn't put it down, which was what I was expecting given the hype and praise it got everywhere.

Rage Against the Dying by Becky Masterman - The main character of this book is a 59 year old kick ass lady with white hair. I really liked reading a book with an older protagonist who didn't come with the trappings of age we see in so many novels. Some of this was formulaic suspense, but I enjoyed Brigid and her husband (and they have pugs) so I'll read more of these - I think Brigid Quinn is a recurring character for Masterman.

Killer Wasps by Amy Korman - This was written by a local writer and my old boss's sister-in-law. I was petrified I wouldn't like it and would have to sweep it under the rug but I liked it a lot. It was light and fun and had some Philly-area flavor and characters that made me laugh. It would make for a great beach read, and it appears to be the first in a series. I'll read the next one when it comes out

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Haikuesday

Birthday in five days...

Anticipation is strong.
Give me all the cake.  

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Non-bloggers, what have you read recently? Let me know what you recommend!
Bloggers, link up your posts about the book(s) you've read recently with  Jana of Jana Says and me!

This link up happens the second Tuesday of every month. 

The next one is Tuesday, April 7.

An InLinkz Link-up