booktastic

“I love writing about my job because I loved it, and it was a particularly interesting one when I was a young man. It was like holidays with pay to me.” - James Herriot

Technically I’m not between books: I’m still reading All Things Wise and Wonderful , but I feel like I’m between books because I’m looking for something else to read after that’s done. (I’m purposefully not talking about the Herriot books until I finish the series, by the way. If I reviewed them one-by-one, I would just be writing: “I like this book. And I like this book. And I like this book as well…”)

I’m debating whether I really actually want to read One for the Money or not, as I had originally planned. I’ve read a novel by this author before - actually a book from later in this series - called Visions of Sugar Plums. (I read it last Christmas, even though I had to read it out of order, because it was one of the few Christmas-mysteries I was able to lay my hands on during the last two weeks before Christmas. I probably wouldn’t have read it at all, but for the fact that I was trapped in a public restroom for four hours on New Year’s Eve and just happened to have it in my purse…) Anyways, it was not a great novel. Very loosely plotted, had twists I didn’t buy, and I didn’t like the characters.

Regardless of my previous experience, I started to read One for the Money the other day.  However, I was immediately put off by the fact that the first three or four pages were reproduced in Sugar Plums. It was back story on our main character and her boyfriend; and it was so close to what I read in Sugar Plums, I suspect that she simply copy and pasted. I mean, to the best of my memory, the entire section was word-for-word. (I would have checked this theory, but I book-swapped my copy of Sugar Plums earlier this year for a copy of What Should I do With My Life? I haven’t read that yet because I [more-or-less] know what I want to do with my life, making that a poor book-swap on my part. What I really need is a book titled, “How to Find Tons of Free Money.”)

Now, I apologize, Janet Evanovich, if this isn’t true - if you didn’t simply copy-and-paste four pages of your first book into Sugar Plums. But even if it wasn’t word-for-word, it was awfully close, which makes me not want to read One for the Money even more.

… But this is getting off my original topic of what I should read next. I can’t go on with the James Herriot books (which I am purposefully not talking about right now) until I get the next one, The Lord God Made Them All, through Bookmooch. I suppose I could read In This Mountain , the next Jan Karon book I’m on, but I’m kind of trying to drag that series out… Her books (with their themes of faith and hope) have been an inspiration to me this year, and I’m trying to make sure I have some left over in case I need it before the year is out.

I’ve been told I need to read Steve Martin’s autobiography Born Standing Up , which would be convenient since Mr. Hall got a copy for his birthday. I began The Murder of Roger Ackroyd last month and didn’t finish it, because I was distressed to find out it was a Hercule Poirot novel and I’ve never read any of those before (and - as you know - I hate to read series books out of order).  I also have Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict , Life of Pi , and The Secret Life of Bees in my TBR pile. So it’s not that I really have a lack of books to read - it’s just that I’m indesisive right now. Maybe.  Anyways, I have dishes to do and laundry to fold before Mr. Hall gets home, so I guess I’ll cogitate on this further and get back to you. - Mrs. Hall

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