Three Stars 2012!

It is so rare for me to continue reading a book I don’t like that the LOWEST level on my scale is three stars this year! Here is my scale:

• Three stars - I liked these a lot, but I don't expect everyone to love them as much as I did.
• Four stars - These are the ones that I liked very much indeed, but was able to function while reading them.
• Five stars - The books that I loved - that I could not put down to pay attention to my family or even make snacks.

FICTION WRITTEN FOR ADULTS (and clever teens, I suppose) 

Jack: 1939 by Francine Mathews – Young Jack Kennedy gets involved in espionage in Europe during WWII – neat concept, but there was a distance to the characters.

The Lifeboat by Charlotte Rogan – A survival story of a young woman in 1914, it probably had more depth than I was in the mood for. Not the book’s fault. Just my lazy mind!

Prospect Park West by Amy Sohn – A bitchy Brooklyn summer comedy of bad manners. It was kind of fun to read, but I didn’t like any of the characters. You have to give me at least one fictional friend per book, or something twisty. Otherwise I feel ripped off. 

NON-FICTION

How to Fight Lie and Cry Your Way to Popularity (and a Prom Date): Lousy Life Lessons from 50 Teen Movies  by Nikki Roddy [non-fiction] – Great title and cute graphics, but the “lessons” are a little slight. I enjoyed it, but I ripped through it in about 10 minutes. 

YOUNG ADULT

Want To Go Private by Sarah Littman [YA] – A scary little potboiler about a young girl who is groomed by a pedophile and runs off with him and suffers the consequences. It was bleak and well written, but I felt icky after I finished it. That doesn’t mean it is bad. I think it is a valuable book, but I didn’t enjoy it. And sometimes I just need to enjoy a book. I can enjoy a creepy book, but this one had a little too much of a lesson to it for me to stop cringing at what was happening.

The Other Side of Dark by Sarah Smith [YA] – Another one that is a perfectly well written book. This is a bit of supernatural fiction with a fascinating topic, set in Boston with excellent historical detail and racial viewpoints. A young girl dealing with the loss of her mom becomes obsessed with a historic building and befriends the wealthy son of parents with very high expectations. It was really interesting, but not enjoyable.

So those are my three stars – of the 76 new books I remember to write down for this year, only these 6 were three stars! Stay tuned for the fours and fives!