They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery

One of my friends has a blog and occasionally blogs about the books she's recently read. I thought that seemed like a spectacular idea (as I tend to read quite a bit). So I've decided to copy her idea. At the end of each month, I'm going to do a little review of the books I've read that month. I'll go ahead and apologize- I've been a little lax this month on my reading. But with no further ado, July's books!

Sing Me Home by Jodi Picoult. This is NOT your typical Jodi Picoult. It's about fertility (or rather infertility), ownership of unborn children (I know, that sounds horrible), music, homosexuality and family. The only typical Jodi Picoult aspect is a trial. I'm not sure you can HAVE a Jodi Picoult without a trial! On the whole, one of my favorite Jodi Picoults. It was deep and very moving.

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley. It's a story of an eleven year old chemistry genius who turns detective when she watches a man die in the garden and her father is accused of murder. I read it on the recommendation of a friend and didn't really enjoy it as much as I thought I would.

Little Lady, Big Apple and The Little Lady Agency and the Prince by Hester Browne. I read the first book in this series (The Little Lady Agency) for book club last month. It's British chick lit. Long story short, Melissa starts her own business as a girlfriend for hire (not a prostitute, as she makes sure people know). She gives make-overs, shops for gifts, attends events as a plus-one, you name it. Along the way, she falls in love (book 1), moves to New York briefly (book 2), and gets hired to transform a playboy prince (book 3). If you like British chick lit, this series is a winner!

Cloaked by Alex Flinn. I read another of Alex Flinn's novels recently. Beastly. Made into a movie that wasn't NEARLY as good as the novel. Flinn likes to modernize fairy tales. This one combined quite a few fairy tales, most of them quite unfamiliar to me. However, there was the one of the prince who was turned into a frog. The one of the shoe maker who is helped by elves. The one of the 6 siblings who are turned to swans and can only be saved by their sister (who doesn't know they exist). The one of the magic cloak that can take you anywhere you wish. The one of the magic fish who curses a man for wishing for too much. There were witches and giants. Humans who had been turned into animals. Princes and princesses. Love. And, most importantly, shoes. It wasn't a greatest piece of literature ever written, but I finished all 330+ pages in one day. So that says something!

My Reading Life by Pat Conroy. This is basically a collection of essays/stories about Conroy himself. He talks about people who have influenced him, books that have influenced him, the reason he is the writer he is today. If you like Pat Conroy and like books, it's a great read. Honestly, the only part I didn't like was that I felt like a fraud, saying I was a reader when there were so many books he mentioned that I haven't read yet. And as a Southern girl, I'm a little embarrassed to say that I've only read one book by Pat Conroy prior to this. An ex gave me The Lords of Discipline when we first started dating (to help me understand the whole Citadel way of thinking). I absolutely loved it and can't believe I haven't read any others. Might need to rectify that situation and, while I'm at it, add a few more books from Pat Conroy's list of must-reads to my own. Maybe once I put a dent in the pile of books next to my bed.....

And as I finished My Reading Life TODAY, that's it for the books read in July. Let's see what kind of damage I can do in August!

Books, books, I love books

I am a bit of a bibliophile. Under both parts of the definition. A bibliophile is defined as someone who loves or collects books. As my current library scares people, I'd say I'm a bit of a collector as well. Sure, I don't collect first editions or anything exciting like that (other than my 1929 edition of Anne of Green Gables and a few other fun old books). But my library is still vast. A friend came over to borrow from the Library of Jane. When I showed her my list (it's 11 typed pages of books, alphabetically by author and separated by paperback, hardback and series), she was a little overwhelmed. I'm not going to lie.

Being a person who LOVES to read, it's usually my go-to activity when nothing else is going on. And definitely when I travel. I usually take one book per day of vacation. Nothing makes me happier than sitting on a plane or a beach somewhere, with a book in hand.

All that being said, I can do some damage to books. Last weekend, I read 3 books. For those of you doing the math, that's one book per day. I read "Dreams of Joy" by Lisa See. It was the sequel to "Shanghi Girls," a book I read for book club last year. It takes place in the early years of communist China. Very good. I also read "Witches of East End" by Melissa de la Cruz (the author of The Blue Bloods series). It's about (wait for it) witches. Good beach, mindless read. The last one was "The Little Lady Agency" by Hester Brown. It was for book club and was British chick lit at its finest!

The weird thing is that this weekend, I can't seem to get into any of the books that I'm trying to read. I'm trying to read two of them and neither are actually peaking my interest. So I think I'm going to have to switch it up and try some others. This weekend can't be a TOTAL loss when it comes to finishing at least one book, right?