Book Chatter

Are you ready for the holidays? Getting ready? Thinking about getting ready? I am doing a little at a time and making progress but I know I will be the one searching for stuff when the time comes. I am notorious for losing things after I’ve purchased them.

BTW, if you haven’t entered my giveaway of Pretty Monsters, you can do so here.

Monday, November 17, 2008 – As of this writing, I am not sure if I will make it into work. The roads are still partially closed due to the wildfires and since I have to take Kidlet #1 to the doctor around noonish, I may not be able to get in and back in time. If that is the case, I will most likely have to work from home. I started Who By Fire and look forward to reading some more of it during my son’s rehearsal tonight.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008 – Teaser Tuesdays today. Not much else going on. I plan to hit the local gourmet food store at lunch to pick up some stuff for Thanksgiving. I should have some quiet time tonight so I hope to start Forever Lily.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008 – Co-teaching a PowerPoint class today. Yoga at noon. Thank you for all your comments last week regarding my yoga instructor. The thing is, she is a student who is still learning herself and she is overly eager. She means well but sometimes pushes her students too far. We all remind her that we are older, not twenty-somethings like her. She’s slowly getting the point. No rehearsal tonight so that will give me more time to finish Who By Fire.

Thursday, November 20, 2008 – Today is Book Club Girl’s on-air radio show with Diana Spechler who will be discussing her book Who By Fire. If you want to tune in to the radio show, click here for more info. Diana sent me an email and offered to do an interview! My first one! Not sure when that will post but it will probably coincide with my review of the book.

Friday, November 21, 2008 – Co-teaching a class today. I also have a very important meeting scheduled at the same time. Not sure how that happened or what I am going to do about it. I have a union lunch at noon. I’ve never been to one before but it should be informative with the state budget being the way it is. Hopefully I will have a review or two posted later today.

The Weekend – Saturday morning, my daughter has a birthday party to go to. I’ll bring a book with me for sure because it’s 2.5 hours long. Lots of sitting around and watching otherwise. Sunday, I really just want to stay at home. I want a “lazy” day that requires me to do nothing but sit around. I know it will be hard with the kids but I am going to try. That means I have to get all my Thanksgiving errands done on Saturday so my Sunday is free.

What do you have planned this week?

Mini Book Expo and author David Desmond were kind enough to provide me with a copy of The Misadventures of Oliver Booth. Have you heard of this book yet?

Here’s the blurb from Barnes and Noble:

“Oliver Booth wants nothing more than to join the ranks of Palm Beach’s high society. But with his arrogant personality, garish wardrobe, and incompetent stewardship of an antique shop filled with gaudy reproductions, he doesn’t have a chance. Oliver’s luck takes a turnabout when the society doyenne Margaret Van Buren sends him and his assistant, Bernard, to Paris on a shopping spree to furnish her new estate. What ensues is a series of hilarious, Voltaire-esque misadventures as Oliver bumbles his way through the milieu of the elite. A satirical look at the lengths some people will go to in order to enter the insular circle of the privileged, David’s Desmond’s novel is a witty glimpse into a world few of us know.”

This book is highly entertaining. Oliver Booth is basically a “wannabe”, for lack of a better term. His opinion of himself does not match that of others and it’s a constant source of entertainment for the reader. The book takes us through numerous misadventures…most of which take place in Paris as he and his assistant Bernard, attempt to select antiques for a wealthy Palm Beach resident.

At 202 pages, this was a very quick read. My only criticism really is that as obnoxious as Oliver was, I wanted to read more about him! At one point the story began to focus more on Bernard, his assistant and I was anxious for it to get back to Oliver, which of course it did. Desmond did an excellent job of creating a character that you can laugh at, yet not dislike so horribly that you cannot stand to read about him.

Overall it was light and fun and there were several moments that I found quite humorous. If you’d like to read more about the book and David Desmond, check out the books’ website by clicking here.

Chatting with friends about books and life…