The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 2,200 times in 2014. If it were a cable car, it would take about 37 trips to carry that many people.
The Booklover’s Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
The first thing you see when you pick up One Step Too Far is that is a #1 International Bestseller. This is an immediate hook for me, as I’ve long held that European writers know how to tell a story better than American writers. American writers simply put too much action in the book for me. It just seems as if they’re already writing the screenplay, instead of telling me a good story. Tina Seskis’ novel did not disappoint me!
Emily Coleman has a happy marriage, a beautiful family, and a beautiful home. She’s a former attorney who stays at home with her small son. So what makes her get up one morning and start all over as Cat Brown?
Cat quickly makes a new friend, Angel, and begins working as a receptionist at a hip advertising agency in London. Cat’s new life could not be more different than her old one. Angel teaches her how to survive and thrive on the London scene and soon Cat has risen through the ranks of the advertising agency. Inevitably, Emily’s old life and her new life as Cat intersect. You will have to read the book to find out what happens next!
This book was far better than even I had imagined. While none of the characters are particularly likeable, by the time you get to the end, you can at least understand them. In some ways this book reminds me of The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt. The characters engage in some of the same destructive behavior and you wouldn’t want them for a friend or a family member, but you can understand why they do what they do. This book was hard to put down.
Book Details: Published by William Morrow (January 27, 2015), 304 pages, ISBN: 978-0062340078
Business Insider posted a list of 11 true crime books you should read if you are obsessed with Serial. I am on Episode 5 of this terrific podcast. While I have been a fan of This American Life for years, Serial far exceeds that program. Check out the books and make plans for your post-holiday reading!
NPR has created a new book club for Morning Edition listeners. The first book has been selected by Ann Patchett, author of Bel Canto and co-owner of Parnassus Books, an independent bookstore in Nashville. Patchett says the best book she read this year was Deep Down Dark: The Untold Stories of 33 Men Buried in a Chilean Mine, and the Miracle That Set Them Free. The book guide can be downloaded and is definitely worth a look.
The Booklover 