Notes on a Scandal [What Was She Thinking?]

What Was She Thinking
Zoë Heller

5 of 5 Stars

Anyone who has ever made disastrous romantic decisions, been betrayed or disappointed by a friend, or has ever had their reason overruled by emotion, will understand why I love this book. As a new teacher at a comprehensive school, Sheba Hart is in over her bourgeois head, and quickly head-over-heels for a 15-year old student. But this novel isn't just about a forbidden teacher-student affair. The real story is the relationship between Sheba and Barbara, the older and more experienced teacher, who is at once her savior and her Judas. Heller's examination of the female psyche and female relationships is accurate and compelling.

My Horizontal Life A Collection of One Night Stands

If you watch E! at all, you'll know Chelsea Handler. She has a show "Chelsea Lately" where she rips on celebrities. That said, this book is literally laugh out-loud funny. Chelsea recalls many of her extremely odd and note worthy one night stands. You will die realizing with each turn of the page how nuts she is. It's a great, easy, quick read. Plus, you'll feel like the perfect sober prude after reading about her debauchery and sexcapades.

Syal-- Anita & Me

Anita and Me by Meera Syal

4 of 5 stars

Very engaging story of young Indian girl in small English town in the 1960s. Anita is a trashy older girl (white) who Meena (the main character) semi-idolizes. Meena wants to be part of Anita's crowd, wants her family to fit into the bucolic English world... Pre-teen & teen angst appears to be universal!

Well written, some odd twists. I really like that Meena wasn't perfect, was sometimes downright unlikeable. A solid everyman anti-hero;) I've also read Life Isn't All Ha Ha Hee Hee by Meera Syal, a great story of 4 women.

Naylor -- Dog Handling

Clare Naylor

Dog Handling

3 of 5 stars

I wanted something easy and chic lit so I could live vicariously through the main character. I found this on the shelf at the library and wasn't expecting much. I was definitely surprised that this book had a bit more to it than the usual single woman working in publishing in big city vibe. The characters were amusing and I'm a sucker for a love story that has its ups and downs. Great beach read, quick read or you want something simple and playful.

Smith-- I Capture The Castle

Dodie Smith
I Capture the Castle
5 of 5 stars
This is one of my favorite books. Takes place in England in the post-WWII era, the story of an unusual family as told by the younger of 2 daughters (the middle child). She loves, she lusts, she grows up... It is so beautifully written. Dodie Smith also wrote 101 Dalmatians, upon which the Disney movie was based. Her book so thoroughly blows away the movie, I half feel bad for the cartoon. She has amazing literary skill. Ah, if only...

Clarke- Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell: A Novel

Susanna Clarke
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell: A Novel
4.95 stars (out of 5)
About the return of Magic to England in the Regency period. Half novel, half faux-historical record. Very Good, but very long. 800+ pages, lots of footnotes. The first 100 pages or so are slow, but it becomes engrossing as plot develops, along about the time Johnathan Strange is introduced. I'd have given 5 stars, but I am anti-footnote, although it is amazing how Clarke created references, legend, a whole alternate history of England. This is not a quick read, but it was so worth the time!