A book report

When I think about what I miss most from Washington, it's hands down the people.  Second on the list is the library.

(Endless rain is so far down on the list I can't see it.)

But the library; I didn't know how good I had it.

I think I am reading less as a result of the inferior library here which is a sad truth.

Here are a few books I've read lately:

The Mermaid's Sister by Carrie Anne Noble ***

I got a Kindle version of this book from Amazon and I don't know if you can get a book version.  I liked this book.  It's about a girl whose sister turns into a mermaid.  Sounds weird but it wasn't.  I am not usually a huge fan of fantasy but this one I liked.

Paper Towns by John Green ***


I was lamenting to Emma about the dearth of good reads in my life and she asked her friend Vanessa if she could hang onto the book she had borrowed a little longer so I could read it.

A few pages in, I saw this:

I thought it was the most adorable thing in the entire world.  Throughout the book, words were whited out or replaced and she also penned in a few comments of her own and starred things she liked.

The character Lacey in the book didn't think what was said was appropriate and neither did Vanessa.

So I didn't even have to see it. (I love Vanessa!) 

I am hoping to have Vanessa read everything in advance for me in the future.  Is there anything better than your kids' good friends?

Paper Towns was pretty good.  I would have liked it less if Vanessa hadn't classed it up for me.  I appreciated the crudeness she deleted for me.  It's about a teenage boy who is graduating from high school and his entanglements with his friends.  It was compelling enough that it held my interest even though my son is the one graduating from high school and I am well past that age.

The end wasn't satisfying.  I read this in a book I read to Mark (Otto of the Silver Hand by Howard Pyle) and I wish John Green had read it too:

But perhaps you may like to know what happened afterward, for no one cares to leave the thread of a story without tying a knot in it.

I couldn't agree more.  (And Mark and I enjoyed Otto.)