I've Been Reading Books

Instead of blogs.

I know, I know. I blame the vacation. And the nice weather, which has made sitting on the porch reading much more appealing than being on the computer. (Er, yes, I do have a laptop and wireless internet. But I have a secret fear of dropping a laptop if I treat it like a cell phone. Clearly my age is showing. Besides, it's hard to hold a laptop up like a book. Anyhow.. . )

Mostly I've been reading mysteries. I've always liked them, but it became an obsession after Ironflower started teething and I started watching Noggin with her. Nothing else banishes the syrup of Dora like a really good murder. But on occasion I try other genres. This time it was the literary chick story, The Lace Makers of Glenmara by Heather Barbieri. This is not shallow chick lit by any stretch. If anything, it reminded me of a thinner version of Maeve Binchy (who I love, despite the fact that there are very few murders in her books).

The story centers on a very small town in the west of Ireland and the unhappy American woman who accidentally winds up healing there. I liked the characters immediately and enormously so naturally I enjoyed reading the book. I was happy while reading it in a way that doesn't happen with my usual fare. But I still had to know what happened, if only because I had grown attached to the characters.

The ending was satisfying if not completely unpredictable. The only problem, really, was that I wanted more. I feel like the book should have been 100 (or so) pages longer so that I could have learned even more about the secondary characters. And I want to know what happens to the main characters next. (This may be a symptom of all the mystery series I read. And the problem when authors write such good characters).

I also liked the message of the book about the importance of doing something for yourself and that even little things do make a big difference. It was definitely a great choice for Mother Talk readers and I'm so glad I got to be one of the lucky ones.