While some of the books I review on my site are furnished by the publishers, authors, or publicists for the purpose of review all of my reviews are truthful, honest, and my sincere opinion.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Review: Donkeys Can't Sleep in Bathtubs and Other Crazy Laws by Susan Dach

I won this in a Member Giveaway on Library Thing.



About the Book:

Did you know -Donkeys can't sleep in bathtubs in Brooklyn? -It's against the law to disturb honeybees in Nebraska? -And in Gary, Indiana, you aren't allowd to eat garlic and go to the theater? These are just a few of the wacky laws still on the books in these United States. This amusing collection of "strange, but true" laws is a must for trivia fans as well as those who just like to laugh!

My Review:

For some reason I love to find weird laws that make no sense in the present day. This book is full of them.

The author actually gives a reasoning behind one of the laws in the book, and it was quite interesting to learn why that law was enacted. I wish that there had been that kind of background info for all the laws, but being that I'm pretty sure this was a kids book I think it would have been too much.

It was a quick read (literally took me 10 mins.) The laws that were given kind of just make you think, why would they even need to make that law. Entertaining to read.

This book was published by Watermill Press, and I couldn't find a direct link to them, but it is available on Amazon.com

Review: Harvesting the Heart by Jodi Picoult

I borrowed this one from a friend.



About the book:

Jodi Picoult earned rave notices for her debut novel, Songs of the Humpback Whale. Now this gifted young writer turns her considerable literary talents to the story of a young woman overcome by the demands of having a family.

Written with astonishing clarity and evocative detail, convincing in its depiction of emotional pain, love, and vulnerability, Harvesting the Heart recalls the writing of Alice Hoffman and Sue Miller. Paige has only a few vivid memories of her mother, who left when she was five. Now, having left her father behind in Chicago for dreams of art school and marriage to an ambitious young doctor, she finds herself with a child of her own. But her mother's absence, and shameful memories of her past, make her doubt both her maternal ability and her sense of self worth. Out of Paige's struggle to find wholeness, Jodi Picoult crafts an absorbing novel peopled by richly drawn characters and explores issues and emotions readers can relate to.

My Review:

I loved this book. It was such a touching story. I was so captivated by the characters that I just let myself get lost in the story. It only took me a few hours to read it.

The character development was great. I loved Paige and Nicholas. Even the secondary characters were great. I had great images of them all, and I could even hear the accents in their voices as I read. I think Nicholas comes off as being a bit superficial and at times a real jerk but I almost understood where he was coming from and felt that he was justified in his actions (sometimes).

The story was very good. Picoult did a great job with the narration changes, which I think can sometimes make a story seem choppy. The changes didn't affect the flow of the story at all.

The story spans quite a bit of time, and I found myself forgetting that so many years had passed but that didn't really take away from the story.

I really liked this one. It wasn't an excellent book, but it was pretty good. It was a quick read and it was easy to attach to the characters. If you like chick lit this is a good one to pick up. This was the first of Picoult's books that I've actually read, but I've added her to my list of favorite authors.

To learn more about Harvesting the Heart please visit Penguin.com