"A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World" by C. A. Fletcher Was Disappointing

In A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World by C. A. Fletcher, not many people are left in the world.  Griz is one of them and his two dogs.  One day a stranger comes upon Griz and his family and after spending the night, Griz wakes up to find one of his dogs is gone.  Griz will stop at nothing to get his dog back!  I thought this book was going to be good, but it was not!  There was very little interaction between Griz and his dog.  There are long parts where the author just goes on and on and nothing happens.
(Gerard's review, 2.5 stars)

Teaser from page 6:  And why am I talking to a dead person?  We'll get back to that.  But first we should get on with the story.

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. To find books on a specific topic, scroll to the bottom and click on the topic you want. Happy Reading!

"First We Were IV" by Alexandra Sirowy

In First We Were IV by Alexandra Sirowy, four young teens find a dead girl in an orchard.  Five years have gone by and the killer has not been found.  the teens decide to form a society and do pranks in their small town to raise awareness that bad stuff goes on and maybe the police can finally find the killer. 

The story line was weak at best.  I really could not get into the characters at all!  I kept reading in the hope that it would get better or make some sense. I would not recommend this one!
(Gerard's review, 2.5 stars)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. To find books on a specific topic, scroll to the bottom and click on the topic you want. Happy Reading!

"The Story of Edgar Sawtelle" by David Wrobiewski" (UPDATED)

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wrobiewski is a book that Gerard and I have completely different reactions toward. We'd love to hear what you think of it.

I read a lot about this book before reading it. USA TODAY called it the must read book of '08. Sometimes a book does not live up to that hype like Kite Runner and We Need To Talk About Kevin. This book does. Edgar Sawtelle is born mute into a family that trains dogs. The best part of this book to me was his interaction with the dogs. The ending is so good you will want more! The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wrobiewski lives up to the hype! Read this book!
(Gerard's review 7/30/08, My rating: 5 stars)

(Karen's review 4/9/12: my rating: 2 stars)

Well, I finally got to The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wrobiewski and must say I did not like it. Gerard and I see this one very differently. He thinks it's a must read but I do not recommend this one at all. It is 562 pages that seemed like forever to get through. Although there were some parts of the book I did enjoy, like when Edgar ran away with three of his dogs and found a kind old man who let him stay with him for awhile; however, most of the book was boring or made no sense to me. I liked Edgar, the main character for the most part, but didn't like when he was mean to his favorite dog, Almondine.

I do not understand why Gerard thought the ending was good other than it was suspenseful. I did not like the ending at all but don't want to spoil it if you haven't read it yet so won't say anymore about that unless you wish to discuss it in an email.

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading! We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during April to Paralyzed Veterans of America.

"Buried Prey" by John Sandford

I expected Buried Prey by John Sandford to be a lot better than it was.  The plot is good enough:  two missing girls found years later in a building being torn down with lots of suspects to choose from.  For me, there was just not enough action.  The first half of the book plods along and the second half picked up a bit, but not enough to make it good.  I do not recommend this one.
(Gerard's review)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it?  

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"Minding Frankie" by Maeve Binchy

“Minding Frankie” by Maeve Binchy

I was very disappointed in “Minding Frankie” by Maeve Binchy. First off, I expected Frankie to be a boy and instead it was a baby girl. I was happy when I finally finished this book. It just dragged along for me. It is about a community in Ireland. The main story line is how a bunch of people help Noel, a single alcoholic dad take care of his baby girl that came as a surprise to him. The whole novel only covers the first year of Frankie’s life.

This book is like a soap opera in that there were so many different story lines, none of which I was really interested in. Other characters are Emily, the do-gooder cousin from America, Moira the social worker, Lisa who moves in with Noel because her life is a mess, Charles and Josie who are Noel’s parents that seek to build a statute to a dead saint. There are lots more characters too, all with their own story lines as well. I’d say this book is generally about how people live and how they need one another. It does show how a baby can change everything.

I found this book very boring for the most part. The only excitement was when Frankie was missing for a bit. The ending was good but it took forever to get there.

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? You can help our charity of the month just by leaving a comment on any of our blogs! We will donate 50 cents per comment at the end of the month. The charity for this month is at the top of our blog.

"Family Ties" by Danielle Steel

Family Ties by Danielle Steel is about growing up, learning from mistakes and moving forward.  The story follows the lives of 26-yr-old Annie, a single architect who finds herself the guardian of her sister’s three kids:  Liz, Ted and Kate.  It doesn’t really spend any time on the kids when they were children, it’s more about how Annie has to learn to let go and be supportive of them as young adults making poor decisions.  Eventually she finds romance for herself which was the highlight of the book for me. 

This is not a book I enjoyed.  I really didn’t care about any of the characters other than Annie.  I just couldn’t relate to any of the kids and did not like the sex passages involving Ted and his nutty professor, Patty.  I almost stopped reading it because of that, but continued to plow through it. 

I haven’t read too many Danielle Steel’s books, but did liked The Gift, Leap of Faith and The Klone and I better than this one. 

Have you read this one? What did you think of it?

"Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk" by David Sedaris

I know Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk by David Sedaris is high on the best-seller list but it must be because of the cover and title of the book.  That is what made me want to read it.  I read 10 out of 16 of the short stories, each with different animals and unrelated to each other.  It has some offensive language that turned me off and I thought the stories were just goofy.  The overall idea, I think, is to point out how silly people can be by having the animals act like people, but in a negative way.  To me, the book was very negative and the stories were just goofy.  This is not a book I can recommend, even though the cover is cute.  I was very disappointed in it.

(Karen's review)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it?

"Man In The Woods" by Scott Spencer Was Disappointing

Man In The Woods by Scott Spencer started good at least.  I thought it would be a lot better than it was.  The start was promising, a man killing another man who was badly mistreating his dog.  From there the story rally didn't go anywhere.  I just couldn't get into it later on.  I don't recommend this one.
(Gerard's review)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it?

"Freedom" by Daniel Suarez

What was this?  I was excited to read Freedom by Daniel Suarez because it was the sequel to Daemon which was one of the best books I read last year.  Freedom started out really good but then it went south.  I couldn't follow the plot or the characters.  I didn't think this book was good at all so just 2 stars on this one.  My advice is to skip this and spend your time reading something else.  I was sad and disappointed in Freedom because Daemon was so good!  This was not!!  Here is a link to the quote from it for Tuesday Teaser (notice the page number--it's at the beginning).
(Gerard's Review) 

Have you read this one? What did you think of it?

"The Tower, The Zoo and The Tortoise" by Julia Stuart

I ordered The Tower, The Zoo And The Tortoise by Julia Stuart from the library because of the great reviews it go in USA TODAY and our local newspaper.  The premise of the story sounded good to me.  I really wanted to like it but just could not get into it at all.  The writing is sort of hard to follow.  It was about a couple who lived in a tower with a tortoise and the queen decided to move the animals from zoo to the tower.  The tortoise got away, the couple had problems and I didn't even bother finishing it.  I just skimmed the last 50 pages. I was very disappointed in it and do not recommend it.  I guess I didn't get it.  Did I miss something?  If you liked this book, can you please explain what I missed?
(Gerard's review)

Who are your top five favorite authors? Have you read this one? What did you think of it?

"Playing For Pizza" by John Grisham

I guess I've been spoiled by Grisham.  "Playing For Pizza" by John Grisham disappointed me.  The football parts were okay, but the rest was not.  The only character I really cared about was the main one.  The other characters are not really brought out much.  I cannot recommend this book.
(Gerard's review)

Here is a little fun quiz that goes along with pizza so I thought I'd toss it in here just to break things up a little.

What are you like? You are conscientious You are real You are curious You are well grounded You are confident Your ideal pizza has: High quality cheese A killer sauce Lots of meat Interesting flavors Fresh toppings If you won a trip to an American city, you'd choose: New Orleans New York City San Francisco Chicago Los Angeles When you eat pizza, how many slices do you eat? Two slices Three slices Four slices Practically whole pie One slice The best pizza places are: Little hole in the wall restaurants Generous with the portions Locally run Simple and old fashioned Gourmet   I Am Tomatoes

You are kind hearted and open minded. You're always up for something new. You like to experiment. You are easy going, and you pride yourself on not being judgmental. You can see the good in almost every situation. You prefer to keep things light and fun. You don't like heavy topics or pessimistic people. You believe that there's so much to celebrate. You're happy to just celebrate being alive! Click the link below to take the quiz:

What Pizza Topping Are You?

Please tell us: What categories of literature do you like? What are you reading now? Who are your top five favorite authors? Have you read this one? What did you think of it?

"False Convictions" by Tim Green

Whew, I'm glad I'm dne with this one!  False Convictions by Tim Green is one of the dumbest books I ever read.  I thought it would be good because it was about the Freedom Project but in this case the guy that was set free after 20 years was actually guilty after all.   This book just dragged along for me. 

The book was confusing to me and I had a hard time following what was going on.  Graham is a very wealthy man who is a well-known philanthropist who turns out to be a big crook who is on the board of The Freedom Project.  He was out to discredit a judge who refused to be "bought."  I was kind of lost throughout the book and really only liked the reporter, Jake, and the attorney, Casey.  It was very complicated with mafia connections tossed in.  

Once Dwayne, the guilty guy, was freed and Casey realized that she helped free a guilty man who killed again, because Graham set her up by managing to switch the DNA that would have proved he was guilty, she tried to correct the wrong.   


The book ends with a big chase which made no sense at all.  If you read this, I'd really be interested to see what you thought of it. 

I stuck it out but I should have quit after the first few chapters.  I did not like it at all and do not recommend this one.  There are so many better books to read! 

Please tell us: What categories of literature do you like? What are you reading now? Who are your top five favorite authors? Have you read this one? What did you think of it?

"No Dogs Allowed" by Bill Wallace

No Dogs Allowed by Bill Wallace is about Kristine, a 5th grader girl, who is afraid to let herself love her puppy because she is so sad the horse she loved died.  She doesn’t want to be hurt again.  Her father gave her a puppy for her birthday, but she did not want it.  I did not like Kristine at all.  She was mean to her puppy and was a stupid girl.  I was glad to see her attitude changed by the end of the book; however, it was too little too late for me.  I felt the best part was when her grandfather told her off about there being a difference between training a dog and making a dog terrified of you.  I only recommend this book to people who can identify with Kristine because they are afraid to love because they might be hurt.

Please tell us: What categories of literature do you like? What are you reading now? Who are your top five favorite authors? Have you read this one? What did you think of it?

"Joseph" by Shelia Moses

I did not care for Joseph by Shelia Moses.  It is teen fiction about Joseph, a high school boy who was a good student but had a tough home life.  His mom was a drug addict who only wanted him to get the child support checks to pay for her wine and drugs.  His dad was a soldier in Iraq who wanted to be there for Joseph.  Joseph was ashamed of his mother and the fact that they lived at a shelter, but felt he had to stay with her to take care of her.  His aunt took him and his mother in, but his mother left with some guy. 

This was sort of a depressing book without any closure.  I was very disappointed in the ending because nothing was really resolved except Joseph I guess came to the conclusion that he was not responsible for his mother and just prayed for God to help her.  The only thing I liked about this book was that Joseph was on the school tennis team and he felt good when he saw people come out to watch his match and support him.
(Karen's Review)

Please tell us: What categories of literature do you like? What are you reading now? Who are your top five favorite authors? Have you read this one? What did you think of it?

"The Year That Follows" by Scott Lasser

I had a very hard time getting through this book.  The Year That Follows by Scott Lasser was extremely boring to me about the sister (Cat) who tries finding her step brother’s son after her step brother (Kyle) was killed in the 9/11 tower terrorist attack.  

I was disappointed in it because I expected it to be about the boy since he was on the cover, but it was hardly about him at all.  Mostly about family secrets.  The only good thing about it was the ending.  I do not recommend this book.
(Karen's review 11/09)

Please tell us: What categories of literature do you like? What are you reading now? Who are your top five favorite authors? Have you read this one? What did you think of it?