4 & 5 DOWN, 45 MORE TO GO

#4 .... KEY LIME PIE MURDER by Joanna Fluke

I wasn't sure what I was expecting with this book, but I guess I wasn't expecting what I got. It's simplistic in nature, and it's almost unbelievable as far as plot goes. However, it seems to nod to the Nancy Drew series of my youth. Plus, it's filled with all sorts of amazing dessert recipes. So, who can take issue with those two items?

I tried one of the many recipes sprinkled through out the book, the Cappuccino Royales, and I must tell you, they were ALL they were cracked up to be and then some! Of course, anything with chocolate and coffee in it must be good, right?

So, the premise of this novel, and the rest in the series, is that a small town Minnesota baker, that owns her own bakery called The Cookie Jar, is also an unofficial sleuth. She's described as a sort of chubby girl with unruly hair ... not someone you'd normally categorize as HOT, and yet, in this book, she has two very eligible, HOT bachelors chasing after her at every turn. And therein lies my problem with this book, and what really screams fiction, because I've not known any HOT man, that eligible, that chases after a chubby girl with unruly hair, and I speak from personal experience on this one!

I also had trouble with the amount of coffee Hannah, the main character, consumed throughout the story, and that's saying a lot, because, for those that know me well, they know I consume A LOT of coffee. However, with the amount this girl drank, she was two steps away from a massive coronary!

I'd recommend these as good, easy beach reads. Nothing too taxing on the brain, and more than enough recipes to make the baker in you go, "Hmmmmm ...."


#5 .... THE NANNY DIARIES by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus
I picked this book up at the Half Off Bookstore for .... drum roll, please ... $1.00. Yay for me! I'd heard all the buzz about the book when it first came out, but as usual, I'm extremely slow on the uptake ... so all these many years later, I'm just now putting my hands on it.

This was a quick read, but a good one. It was annoying at times because it dealt with a mother that should only be called mother for scientific terms. She was a disaster otherwise. I cheered for the main character, "Nanny," because she was the only one that showed Grayer X unconditional love, and I wept silently for a little boy that would probably grow up to be as heartless and screwed up as his parents.

Despite it's chick-lit wrap, I think there are a lot of societal conversations to be had about this book. It makes you think about the Haves and Have Not's of the world, and it makes you ask the question, is having everything really worth it all?

I found myself doing a lot of that evaluation while reading it. I'd recommend it, for sure!