March Book List

A Girl From Yamhill and My Own Two Feet by Beverly Cleary
These are Beverly Cleary's two memoirs - I know I've read the first one before, but it didn't seem familiar to me. The first book covers her childhood years in Oregon during the Depression and is an honest look at that time period, including her messed-up relationship with her mother. The second memoir is about her college years, first job, marriage and move to California during the WWII years, ending with the publication of her first book, Henry Huggins. She had wanted to write a book since childhood, but was 33 before she finally did it! That gives me hope. :) I think she's awesome.

Envy and Splendor by Anna Godbersen
The last two books in the Luxe series. They didn't quite live up to the first two for me, but I still loved the bold plot twists and multidimensional characters. The ending was unexpected, but pretty satisfying. I appreciated that not everyone got a big red bow!

Savannah From Savannah, Savannah Comes Undone, and Savannah by the Sea by Denise Hildreth
I read the first two books of this Christian fiction trilogy years ago, but wanted to re-read (and finish) now that I've been to Savannah several times. I enjoyed the series more with an accurate mental picture! In the first book, Savannah returns to her hometown after her dreams of writing a novel are shattered. She gets a job at the Savannah Chronicle and uncovers a beauty pageant scandal, which may affect her mother, the former Miss Georgia. In the second book, her mother protests the attempted removal of a monument of the Ten Commandments, and Savannah covers the story while going through personal changes and faith challenges. The third book involves a family beach trip, finding love, and figuring out what real love looks like. This messy summary is the best I can do, because the plots are packed. While I found most of the characters charming, I have to say that Savannah herself consistently irritated me... and when the love story came to fruition, I didn't really buy it. I have more thoughts and commentary on these books, if anyone wants to discuss them further. :)

Emily and Einstein by Linda Francis Lee
A Goodreads Firstreads novel about Emily, who works at a publishing house in NYC. Her cheating, entitled husband, Sandy, is killed in an accident - but "wakes up" in the body of a stray dog, Einstein, whom Emily subsequently adopts. In order to save his soul, Sandy/Einstein has to right his wrongs and help Emily put her life back together, while in dog form. It's upsetting in parts and a little bit crazy (okay, a lot crazy), but overall I was drawn in by the story.

Cold Tangerines by Shauna Niequist
A wonderful, moving, insightful book that brought me to major tears more than once. I eventually stopped highlighting things and just put stars next to chapter titles! I can't decide whether I like this one or Bittersweet best.

Books for March: 9
2011 year to date: 22