The Week in Review: 06.22.2018

Between the Covers

Finished last week:

Of all of James Patterson‘s characters, Alex Cross is my favorite.  It’s been a while since I’ve read an Alex Cross book so I picked up CROSS FIRE, expecting it to be a fast paced read.  In this book, Kyle Craig is back and he wants revenge against Alex.  There’s also a sniper on the loose, targeting high profile political people.  Alex has to protect his family from Craig, hunt for the sniper, and plan his wedding to Bree.  As always with a Patterson book, this one was a quick read with short, tension filled chapters, but I wasn’t completely satisfied with it.  I didn’t quite buy the way the sniper case was solved and I felt the ending was rushed.  There were also a few loose threads (like the return of Alex’s ex-fiancé Christine) that seemed to be thrown into the mix for no reason.  As you can tell, I didn’t love this book, but I liked it well enough.  (Review copy provided by Little, Brown.)

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I WANNA BE A COWGIRL by Angela DiTerlizzi is an adorable picture book about a little girl with a big imagination.  She puts on her boots, spurs, and hats and heads out to become a cowgirl on her stick pony.  She loves her adventures so much she dreams that she’s a cowgirl.  Told in rhyming verse from the young girl’s point of view, this book totally charmed me.  Elizabet Vukovic‘s illustrations are delightful and add just the right touch of whimsy.  You’ll want to pick this up for the early readers in your life.  (Review copy provided by Simon & Schuster.)

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Originally published in 1945, THE EGG AND I by Betty MacDonald is the story of a newly married woman living on a chicken farm in Washington.  I was excited to read this book because I loved MacDonald’s Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle books when I was a child.  I’m sad to say that, for me, this book did not stand the test of time.  MacDonald’s racist attitudes toward Native Americans and her husband’s demands of her when it came to housework, etc grated on me after a while.  I was surprised to learn that the characters of Ma and Pa Kettle originated from this book.  Heather Henderson does a fine job narrating the audio version of this one but it wasn’t enough to save the book for me. (I won this book from A Bookworm’s World and Audio Publishers Association .)

Currently reading:

• THE SECRETS BETWEEN US by Thrity Umrigar
• GHOSTBUSTER’S DAUGHTER: LIFE WITH MY DAD, HAROLD RAMIS by Violet Ramis Stiel
• ASTRONAUT – AQUANAUT: HOW SPACE SCIENCE AND SEA SCIENCE INTERACT by Jennifer Swanson

On the Screen

Not much of anything.

Off the blog

• I went with Vance to the opening of a beautiful new brewery in our area.

• I’ve made some progress on my current puzzle but still have a long way to go.
• We walked at least three miles every morning and I averaged just over 17,500 Fitbit steps a day.

What’s going on in your corner of the world?