Three More Books

In case you're a bookish type and don't already know, Semicolon hosts "The Saturday Review of Books" each week. If you blog book reviews, go add yours to the list each week or just go browse what's been reviewed and get introduced to some new books!

Here are the rest of the books I finished this week...

The Pearl by John Steinbeck

This is really more of a short story or novella than a novel. It's the type of reading you may have been assigned in junior high or high school -- enough to introduce you to a writer, but not enough to really overwhelm you. It's a little hard to explain. There is lots of symbolism (good vs. evil)--kind of a lesson in "The love of money is the root of all evil." Except in this case, substitute "a pearl" for "money."

The Virgin Blue by Tracy Chevalier

Chevalier's first novel. You might recognize her name because she also wrote Girl With a Pearl Earring. I listened to this as an audio book, and since the book is set in France, there is quite a bit of French interspersed throughout. Since I've never taken French, that was a bit of a challenge. It probably would have been easier for me if I were actually READING the book and could puzzle out what the root words were, but it was a little difficult just hearing it. Anyway, there are lots of characters in this book--so many that I had to start making notes to keep up with who everyone was. It's actually the story of two women, Ella (comtemporary) and her long lost ancestor from centuries before. It's told from those two characters' points of view and eventually everything comes together and their stories are combined. Pretty good.


How to be Popular by Meg Cabot

Cute, short, and sweet. YA chick lit by the author of The Princess Diaries. The main character finds out that becoming popular (and staying popular) isn't as easy or glamorous as it seems.