249/300

The Love Goddess' Cooking School by Melissa Senate

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I thought this was a cute book about starting over and finding yourself. I am a sucker for people who leave everything behind to open an eating establishment, and that is exactly what happened here. When Holly is dumped by her boyfriend, she moves back to a tiny island off of the coast of the Maine where she spent summers with her grandmother. When her grandmother dies a couple of weeks later, Holly decides to take over her grandmothers take-out and restaurant school, despite not knowing how to cook. I thought the story was well done without being too cheesy (despite being stereotypical chick lit) and I found myself wishing there was more to the story after I finished it.



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248/300

The Book of Tomorrow by Cecelia Ahern




I have mixed feelings about Cecelia Ahern. I loved PS I Love You and I hated A Place Called Here. The Book of Tomorrow struck me as more of the latter, although I didn't hate it. I just didn't love it. Tamara comes from a life of luxury and never wanting, until her father commits suicide. This forces her and her mother to sell everything and move to the country with Tamara's aunt and uncle. I didn't find Tamara very likeable, but I really, really despised her aunt. She seemed to be unnecessarily cruel and heartless, while at the same time trying to come across as a martyr. The fact that there was a supernatural element to the book may have also been a part that turned me off, but that is an issue for me, not the book.



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247/300

A Drink Before the War by Dennis Lehane

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


After loving Lehane's Shutter Island, I am trying to now go back and read his Kenzie and Gennaro series. I read one out of order before realizing it was a series and I am starting now from the beginning. Patrick and Angie are hired to find documents that a cleaning woman supposedly stole. There is much more to the story, though, and their lives are threatened a multitude of times. I thought the story was a little convoluted and it makes the city of Boston seem like the wild wild west, but I will still continue with the rest of the series.



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246/300

Ape House by Sara Gruen

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I was really hoping I would love this book as much as Water for Elephants and it did not disappoint. I was enthralled from the beginning. Isabelle lives in an ape's world. She does linguistic training with Bonobo apes and it is amazing to see how the apes can communicate. When an explosion at the center leaves the apes homeless and Isabelle injured, she does everything in her power to save the apes and make sure they are not being exploited. The story is touching and exciting and I look forward to more from Gruen.



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