What I Read Wednesday: Trying to Get Back

Back to school is always a rough and crazy time and now that I am not working on Boards anymore, I was hoping the insanity would die down.

Thankfully, I was able to finish two books in the last couple days...but only because one of them was for my book club with the girls this past weekend AND the other I raced through so I could get back to blogging this little post here and join up with Juice Boxes and Crayolas linky finally!

The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult | This was my first Jodi Picoult read, believe it or not.  Not sure why I was refusing to read any books by her.  But let's just pretend I wasn't.  My book club girls and I read this for the month of August and had an awesome and insightful conversation about it around a table full of homemade baked goodies (a la the treats in the book itself).  I've read many a Holocaust inspired and nonfiction books, including The Reader (which I didn't like), a couple years back.  The Storyteller is similar to it in that a war criminal is living amongst everyday people and hiding his secret background.  But this story is done in a way that involves several different points of view from those who survived the Holocaust, were a part of it, or knew someone who survived.  I truly appreciated the storytelling nature of it on behalf of the main character's grandmother...so much so that I got lost in her story that I mixed up what was real and what wasn't.  Jodi takes you on an up and down journey as well as one that makes you question yourself over and over.  As you read, you meet the war criminal before anyone knows he is such (well, sort of...except for the synopsis tells you so) and you come to like him and enjoy him.  But just like the main character, Sage, you are taken aback and for the rest of the story can't decide what you would do in Sage's situation.  I look down upon war criminals for many obvious reasons, but I kept finding myself trying to decide if this man should be looked past.  Darn you Jodi for making me feel that way more than once!!!  Definitely pick this one up and give it a good read...especially if you are interested in the Holocaust and/or Jodi Picoult literature.

From Goodreads:  What do you do when evil lives next door? Can someone who's committed a truly heinous act ever atone for it with subsequent good behavior? Should you offer forgiveness to someone if you aren't the party who was wronged? And most of all - if Sage even considers his request - is it murder, or justice?

My rating:  5 out of 5 stars ||  Goodreads average:  4.24 stars

Infamous by Lauren Conrad | Let me preface this by saying I'm a huuuuuge fan of Lauren Conrad and have quite the girl crush on her.  If you must know more, take a look at this little blog post.  Sure, these books are for teenaged girls, but that's fine...because a good mindless book is good for the soul sometimes.  While this was my least favorite in The Fame Game series (her 2nd), I still had some fun reading it and trying to guess all about who she was ragging on from The Hills within these pages.  Jay was definitely supposed to be Justin Bobby...."crude lewd jokes, combat boots, cutoff shorts, Harley?"  Hmmmmmm...I think yes!  I can't help but wonder if Gaby and her obsession with Hollywood and becoming a Botox queen with too much plastic surgery represents Heidi as well. I'm fairly certain that only The Hills fans will ever really enjoy these books...that and 14-16 year old girls.  But if it suits your fancy to pick one of these up, then go for it!  Aside from my girl crush fandom, I do like reading about the little quirky spots in Hollywood and around L.A.  To me, Hollywood life always sounds like it could be fun for a little while, until you read all about the crazy things they do to keep up with the Joneses when they clearly aren't even remotely close to being the Joneses.  Heidi and Spencer much?!

From Goodreads:  Kate and Carmen are about to become big stars, but they’re going to have to survive some backstage drama first. Madison is learning hard lessons about fame as she deals with backstabbing “friends” and family, out-of-control paparazzi, and a scandal reported in every tabloid.

My rating:  3 out of 5 stars || Goodread's average:  3.54 stars

Please feel free to add me on Goodreads or follow my reviews there.  I absolutely love discovering new and interesting books that I may not have found otherwise.  

What have you read lately?  Do you have any book recommendations?  Or better yet...link up to Juice Boxes and Crayolas with your own What I Read (Am Reading) Wednesday post!