relationships

If you think a book about a sex researcher falling for one of his study participants sounds a little silly, I’m not going to try to dissuade you. Chemistry for Beginners  is, in fact, a pretty silly book. It is also, however, smart, charming and funny.

Miss G. signs up to participate in a study for a cure for female sexual dysfunction at the insistence of her boyfriend. Because she is a PhD student studying English Literature, researcher Steven Fisher dismisses her outright, until she starts asking intelligent questions. In the end, the only thing the research team learns is that sex and love

This book had great potential, and many great moments, but doesn’t deliver in the end.  After a night out with her four single girlfriends, Julie decides to travel the globe interviewing single women for a book about dating in different cultures.  It’s a great premise, except that Julie gets air sick every time she flies and is too shy to talk to strangers on her own. Fortunately, one of her friends is able to fly across the world to each country she visits to hold her hand. And in every country she visits she immediately hooks up with a young swinger who invites her to parties every single

What a great book! Though not a Sci-Fi fan by any stretch of the imagination, I really enjoyed this book! I listened to the uanabridged audio version and it was amazing (also recommended by the author - to listen to rather than read it). A story much more about moral dilemma, relationships, friendship, manipulation, and redemption than shooting buggers in a foreign gallaxy. A young boy, Ender,the protagonist, is immediately likeable and relatable. Very compelling as well! This was originally released as a short story in the 70's and written as a novel in the mid-80s. An oldy but a goody!

Warning: there is a dog on the cover of this book. There is a dog in the book. There is a dog living in Paul’s apartment, and she is a special dog. Don’t ask me if the dog dies. I already know you don’t want to read another book in which the dog dies. So don’t ask, because the book isn’t about the dog. The book is about Paul. Just as in Garth Stein’s The Art of Racing in the Rain and Susan Wilson’s One Good Dog Nelson has pulled the old bait and switch. There is a dog (and I won’t tell you if he dies, so don’t ask), but the book isn’t about the dog.

Paul is just a regular guy leading a

The Pact, a Love Story by Jodi Picoult
Meet Chris and Emily, two kids who have known each other since birth, grown up next door to each other, and now have fallen in love. Everything is perfect for both families until Emily is discovered shot to death. Picoult masterfully unfolds her story as two families who were best friends for the last eighteen years are torn apart by murder, suicide, and unanswerable questions. The authors tackles teen fears and anxieties, the bonds of friendship and love and just what will destroy those bonds. Though one of Picoult’s earlier works (as evidenced by the

The Solitude of Prime Numbers by Paolo Giordano could probably be called an anti relationship book. The story revolves around two people who come together and move apart throughout the book. They each each an intense experience when young, which affects their personalities and the rest of their lives. Will they end up together? Should they end up together? I suppose that a deeper, more relevant question is whether or not it is possible for people who have deep wounds, who are just that little bit more different, can find happiness with another person. The Solitude of Prime Numbers may or may

I recall, as a fairly sheltered college student, traveling to New York City for the wedding of a distant relative. It hadn’t occurred to me that there could be neighborhoods in this crowded place of constant motion. When I supposed that it must get lonely living where you would never serendipitously bump into someone you knew, a cousin tried to set me straight by explaining that people frequent the same places and thus you would often encounter the same people. I don’t think I truly grasped what he was saying until reading The New Yorkers.

The inhabitants of a New York neighborhood, all with

There are many things we practice for: a test, an interview, a sports event. In the early and middle part of last century women sometimes practiced being a mother. There were home economic programs at some colleges that offered female students the opportunity to learn about motherhood firsthand. Orphaned babies were loaned to the program for a year or two in order for the student, or practice, mothers to learn about taking care of a real baby. The effect of being raised by, and passed on to, more than one mother is explored in the book The Irresistible Henry House by Lisa Grunwald. The story

Right now there are many, many vampire books on the shelves. If you like to read about other kinds of supernatural creatures try Patricia Briggs' Alpha and Omega Series. The series’ focus is mainly on werewolves, although a few other paranormal beings show up here and there. Chronologically, the series begins with a short story in the book On The Prowl. The first full length book is Cry Wolf and the second is Hunting Ground. It’s often interesting and intriguing to see how different authors portray supernatural creatures and their relationships to each other and to us “normals”. I enjoyed

Anita Shreve's novels usually require patience on the part of the reader, and this book is no exception--in fact it can be quite demanding!  But the deeper the reader can get with this particular book,  more intricate and rewarding levels are mined.

Paul Sturgis is an elderly but vigorous bachelor living in London who contemplates his preferred isolation to his need for companionship, and who becomes marginally involved with two diametricaly opposite types of women.  This event alone culminates in a crisis of spirit and realization as the protagonist examines his current status, and begins to