Hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.

Viola in Reel Life by Adriana Trigiani

Viola is starting ninth grade in a boarding school in Indiana while her parents are working in Afghanistan. This is the story of her year.

There wasn’t much story here. There was no overall conflict. It was just the story of everything that happened that year. The best thing about this book is those yellow shoes on the cover. I want those!

Moby-Duck: The True Story of 28,800 Bath Toys Lost at Sea and of the Beachcombers, Oceanographers, Environmentalists, and Fools, Including the Author,Who Went in Search of Them by Donovan Hohn

In 1992 over 28,000 bath toys (ducks, beavers, frogs, and turtles) fell overboard from a container ship in the North Pacific. Over the next few years they started washing up on the shores of Alaska. The author goes searching for the toys from start to finish.

I listened to the audiobook. There isn’t really a consistent story here. It is set up as four parts where he travels to different areas of the world to learn about oceans and also travels to China to see where toys are made. He goes off on lots of tangents and then starts drawing parallels to Moby Dick. I learned a lot about oceanography but this was a bit of a weird book.

The Jefferson Key by Steve Berry

During the Revolutionary War the United States issued Letters of Marque that authorized privateers to attack the ships of their enemies in return for 20% of the proceeds going to the U.S. Treasury. This book tells the story of four families of privateers who have continued their raiding into present times and what happens when Presidents try to oppose them.

This series features Cotton Malone, a spy. I liked all the other books in the series but I wasn’t crazy about this one.

The Wilder Life: My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie by Wendy McClure

The author tries to recreate her childhood fascination with The Little House on the Prairie books. She churns butter and travels to the historical sites where the Ingalls family lived.

I picked this up mainly to get my South Dakota book but I liked it. I read Little House on the Prairie in church as a kid since they had it in the church library. I don’t seem to remember any of it though. I didn’t realize what a deadbeat Pa Ingalls was. They moved a lot because he was running out on debts!

Sushi for Beginners by Marian Keyes

Three women in Ireland are finding out that life doesn’t always work out as planned. Now they have to decide what they really want out of life. Lisa is a magazine editor from London who didn’t get promoted to New York. Instead she has to start a magazine in Dublin. Ashleigh has always taken care of everything and everyone but herself. Clodagh has the life she always wanted with a husband and two kids. So why isn’t she happy?

I like Marian Keyes books. They have typical chick lit storylines but tend to be engrossing stories. This one was no different.

Dogs and Goddesses by Jennifer Crusie, Anne Stuart, and Lani Diane Rich

A Goddess from Mesopotamia is rising in, Ohio? She’s going to make the best of it and calls together the descendants of her seven priestesses to cement her power. But women are lippier in this century and several don’t want to help overthrow the world.

The first power the would-be priestesses get in this book is the ability to understand their dogs. That was my favorite part. The dogs range from a laid back Newfoundland to a treat obsessed Jack Russell to Dachshunds who watch way too many violent movies.

New Where are you reading places – Nova Scotia, South Dakota, Indiana