Reading retrospective: May 2004

I only read 2 books in May 2004.

One was Three Wishes by Liane Moriarity. I got this book as a ARC. I don't remember much about it except that it was set in Australia and about 3 adult triplets.

My other read was Adrian Mole: The Lost Years by Sue Townsend. I don't remember exactly which Adrian Mole book this was but I highly recommend the Adrian Mole books. They are hilarious! They are written in diary form by Adrian Mole starting at age 13. He is a British teenager. The British slang is great and the book are very funny.

Just Don't Make a Scene, Mum

Kids and parents. Parents and kids. This novel tells the viewpoint of several British teenagers and how they think their parents embarrass them. It also gets the point of view from the parents. It was a quick fun read and very funny. Apparently more books about the same teens, which I may read some day.

Eleven Karens

Eleven Karens by Peter Lefcourt is fun book and an interesting way to write a novel. It is a fictional memoir about a nameless man and the eleven Karens he's met throughout his life. It starts in elementary school with the first Karen and goes to the final Karen in middle age. Each chapter or section of the book is about a different Karen and how that Karen enriched his life. There are also footnotes in each chapter, which I found interesting in a fiction book like this, about certain aspects a culture that he talks about in the chapters. This was a fun book, very enjoyable to read.

Afternoon of the Elves

This book wasn't exactly what I expected. Hilary becomes friends with the outcast Sara-Kate after Sara-Kate shows her an elf village in her yard. Is the elf village real or not? Is Sara-Kate an elf? These are all questions Hilary has as well as the readers of this book. The realization of who Sara-Kate really is both surprising and sad.

Sweet Sixteen Princess

Another book in the princess diaries series by Meg Cabot. This short book revolves around Mia's 16th birthday. As usual, her grandmother wants something totally different than Mia wants. This book was short and fun and I read it in the middle of reading Giants in the Earth to take a short break from that book.

Giants in the Earth

I learned about this classic book after a discussion on a book group about Laura Ingalls Wilder and someone mentioned this book about pioneer life in the Dakotas. The book was written in 1924 in Norwegian by a Norwegian immigrant and later translated to English.
It falls the lives of several Norwegian families setting up a life on the Dakota prairie. I felt this book had a dark undertone, especially with the depression that one woman, Beret, struggled with. It was mostly interesting but some parts were slow too and it took me a month to get through this book. The ending was a little surprising. I thought it was going to end one way but it ended another.
I love historical sagas and although this was not my favorite, I still enjoyed it a lot.