The BFG by Roald Dahl

My daughter and I loved this book. The BFG is the Big Friendly Giant who kidnaps Sophie from an orphanage. Turns out, he’s not so big compared to other giants, but he is very friendly. Now, he must protect Sophie from these other giants who would love to eat her. These giants roam the world every night gorging themselves on the different flavors of human beans. BFG doesn’t eat human beans, only snozzcumbers, so Sophie is safe with him. The language in this novel is delightful--human beans, whiffsquiddler, frobscottle, trogglehumper and more. Want to know what they mean? Read the book. You won’t be sorry! Four out of four bookworms.

Bertie and the Seven Bodies by Peter Lovesey

This has been my “car book” for the last two months. Why did it take me so long to finish it? Because I really didn’t care if I finished it or not. Spoiler!!! The plot is reminiscent of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, even down to planting a child’s nursery rhyme with the victims. However, Lovesey’s characters are shallow and obnoxious, so I really didn’t care if they all died. In fact, I prayed they would and quickly! Bertie is the Prince of Wales who fancies himself a brilliant detective. When guests at a country shooting party begin dying, he tries to solve the mystery himself and puts everyone at risk by not calling in the proper authorities. If you want to read a good mystery, read or reread And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie. Skip Bertie and the Seven Bodies. One out of four bookworms.

Annie Freeman’s Fabulous Traveling Funeral by Kris Radish

A friend of mine loaned me this book. It’s not one that I would have picked up for myself. While the cover looks fun, the title looks sad. And as I’ve said before, life is sad enough. I don’t need to read about it. It took me several months to get through it—not because it was a bad book but because it was a sad book. I could only read a few pages at a time before I was sobbing uncontrollably. So I’d put it down for a few days until I felt strong enough to continue. Now comes my “full disclosure.” My daughter died when she was five, so I’m probably more weepy than most. These women’s feelings about the loss of their friend struck a chord with me. About three-fourths of the way through the book, I finally stopped crying. I finally got tired of all the sadness. If fact, I got tired of them rehashing the same feelings and thoughts over and over again. I’m the only one allowed to do that, and I do it in the privacy of my own mind. Yes, I found the book interesting enough and compelling enough to finish it through my tears. And Radish has a new book out that I think I might read—The Sunday List of Dreams—because she is obviously a gifted writer. Three out of four bookworms.

Hard Eight by Janet Evanovich

I needed some fun this week, so I picked up Hard Eight. Of course, once I started, I couldn’t put it down. Stephanie agrees to do a favor for her mother’s neighbor and track down the neighbor’s daughter who has run off with the granddaughter. It looks like a case of child abduction, but looks can be deceiving. Stephanie runs into big trouble—this time in the form of Eddie Abruzzi—and soon finds herself running for her life. The rest of the gang is there to help—Ranger, Joe, Lula, and Grandma Mazur. Even Vinnie and Stephanie’s mom get in on the act. Some reviews say this book isn’t as funny as the rest of the series, but it sure tickled my funny bone. A fast read and a good time. My only complaint is that the ending was a little abrupt. Four out of four bookworms.

Lady Sophia’s Lover by Lisa Kleypas

I’m a big Lisa Kleypas fan. All of her books are fun, emotional, and sexy. Lady Sophia’s Lover is one of my favorites. Lady Sophia and Ross Cannon are mature characters who have some life experience behind them. I love that! Their conflicts do not arise from misunderstandings. They are so sensible and rational that you wouldn’t think they would make for much of a book. But they do. Sexual tension crackles from their first meeting . . . and it never lets up. They have real problems to solve, and they solve them together. This one kept me up all night. Four out of four bookworms.

The Double Life of Pocahontas by Jean Fritz

This past summer, my daughter began to study American History at home to see how we would do together with homeschooling. When we got to the settlement of Jamestown, I felt the need to explain to her that Pocahontas wasn’t like the Pocahontas in the Disney movie. My daughter asked if there was something we could watch or read that told the true story of Pocahontas. So I began looking for a biography. I contacted Riva at a local used book store, Title Wave Books, for some suggestions. One of the books she recommended was The Double Life of Pocahontas by Jean Fritz. My daughter and I both found the book interesting. In fact, we were reading the book together, but my daughter stayed up late reading ahead of me because we weren’t moving fast enough. Fritz gives us a fascinating read while not leaving out the important historical details about John Smith, Jamestown, the Powhatan, Pocahontas’ marriage to John Rolfe, her time in England, and her death. A few weeks after reading this book, we visited the recreated settlement of Jamestown Fort and a Powhatan Indian village. A lot of what we saw there confirmed the facts in this biography. We were able to turn to each other and say, “I remember that from the book!” Fritz is an award-winning author who has a way of making history relevant and alive. Four out of four bookworms.