book reviews

Jeffrey Zaslow, The Girls from Ames - I thought this story of lifelong friendship among a group of women would be a fascinating read ... but in the end, I really didn't find that it had much to say. They were a group of women, they were friends for a long time, that was pretty much it. I didn't think it made any particularly interesting points, and I didn't find myself interested in the women at all.

Craig Johnson, Kindness Goes Unpunished - It's a gutsy move, for your third book to take all your characters and move them halfway across the country to a new city, but it really worked here. I liked the way Sheriff Longmire and his crew dealt with the challenges presented to them in Philadelphia. There were a few too many coincidences, and I wasn't as enamored of Deputy Vic's whole family as the author was, but overall it was a fast-paced, well-written book, showcasing the character interactions that are some of Johnson's best writing.

Jan Karon, These High, Green Hills - I think with the Mitford series Karon achieved exactly what she set out to do - create a world people look forward to going back to. I enjoy every time I open one of her books and find myself on Main Street, walking past the Grill. They're simple people living their everyday lives, and yet they're so unique and so interesting and at the same time so homey that you want to keep going back.

Livy, A History of Rome: Selections - I quite enjoyed this translation. Livy (or, at least, his translator) has a candid, easy-to-read style that brings the events of Rome's history to life. Additionally, I enjoyed a brand-new experience with this book - it's the first time I ever got to cut the pages of a book! I don't know whose book this was before me, but they clearly hadn't read it from cover to cover. And I find that the newly cut pages provide a pleasing slightly ragged quality to the book. All the more so because I got to do it myself!