Sunday, January 4

december reads

  1. Born Standing Up by Steve Martin....I managed to miss out on Steve Martin during his decade (as he called it) the 70's. I didn't grow up watching Saturday Night Live and I have never seen "The Jerk". But, I really enjoyed this story about Steve Martin's persistence to develop his own style of comedy ("what if there were no punch lines?) and to become a great comedian. It makes me want to search out some of his stand up acts like "Wild and Crazy Guy".
  2. Christmas Train by David Baldacci....Good story for the Christmas season. A huge departure from Baldacci's typical fast paced mysteries but more like a Hallmark Channel holiday special. It was cute, full of colorful characters, and still had some twists.
  3. Thriller:Stories to Keep You Up All Night by various authors...Great collection of 30 mysteries/thriller short stories. James Patterson wrote an intro to each story which connected most of the stories to characters from the authors' other books. And, on top of enjoying the short stories, I now have a list of 27 new authors to explore!
  4. Letter from Point Clear by Dennis McFarland...Recommended by my friend Keetha, I enjoyed this book full of complex characters and even more complex relationships. A story centered around 3 adult siblings and their growing pains. It is also fun to read a book set in an area that you know and can imagine the characters sitting on the sun porch of their fabulous waterfront cottage.
  5. The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall....I got caught at Mom and Dad's over Christmas after I had finished the book I brought without anything else to read. And as my sister said in surprise, I didn't get any reading material in my stocking. Carly on the other hand got several new books in her stocking so I swipped one of hers. This is a super cute kids' book and Carly will really like it when she gets to it. It is a story about 4 sisters' summer stay in a cottage behind a mansion. The author's description is "a summer tale of four sisters, two rabbits and a very interesting boy".

6 comments:

Keetha Broyles said...

I'd like to read Steve Martin's book too. I heard them interview him about it on NPR.

BUT - - - I DO remember his SNL days (though he was never actually on the cast of SNL and always was only a guest host - - - amazing he was on there all the time.) I'll NEVER forget "We are two wild and crazy guys!"

patsy said...

Great list-
very impressive!!

I only read one book this month, Two From Galilee, it was my 3rd time reading it so I don't know if it really counts?

the steve martin book looks really interesting-

Amy said...

I read Steve Martin's The Pleasure of My Company and loved it! Not a memoir, though. Just a funny book. I'll have to check out Born Standing Up sometime.

Unknown said...

i always get such great ideas from your reads!

Keetha said...

After hearing an interview with him, that Steve Martin book is on my to be read list. I need to check it out!

Happy New Year!

Shar said...

I enjoy reading your book reviews. I wish I could read half as many as you do a month!

I like Steve Martin too. I'll have to check that out!

I read The Christmas Sweater by Glenn Beck this month. It was great. A tear-jerker, but good story!