Review: Everybody Loves Ramen

Everybody Loves Ramen: Recipes, Stories, Games, and FunFacts About the Noodles You Love by Eric Hites
For a tongue-in-cheek cookbook, this turned out to be almost all fluff. Every other page is padded with a recipe journal: When did you serve this dish for the first time? Whom did you share it with?... And most of the 'Ramen Factoids' were stupid: "One pound of ramen noodles weighs the same as one pound of gold. But you can't eat gold." I like silly, but facts like this are lazy. But the book wasn't all terrible. The stories about ramen were fun - college prank type of tales. The title is right: I do love ramen... just not this book. And, I'll admit, I am keeping it for the recipes. (Originally posted as SquareSpot on PaperBackSwap.com.)

Review: Skipping Christmas

Skipping Christmas

by John Grisham

I wanted to like this story, but eh. I didn't. Loved the first half of the book until the plot-pivoting phone call. The main characters plan on skipping Christmas for one year to give themselves a break from all the stress and the debt. Except, they don't skip it, and they still get stressed out and spend money. I guess the moral of this light-hearted story is... if you're going to be stressed and broke, better to do it together with your neighbors than alone during the holidays. Plenty of people will like this story's finale, but an introvert like me has a hard time warming up to it. (Originally posted as SquareSpot on PaperBackSwap.com.)

Review(s): Bad Cat & Bad Dog

Bad Cat: 244 Not-So-Pretty Kitties and Cats Gone Bad by Jim Edgar

Not much to read in this book, but it is wicked fun! I enjoyed this more than Bad Dog because cats, for some reason, have a natural flair for posing.(Originally posted as SquareSpot on PaperBackSwap.com.)

Bad Dog : 278 Outspoken, Indecent, and Overdressed Dogs
by Harry Prichett, Rob Battles, and R.D. Rosen

I liked this book, but not as much as Bad Cat. The dogs' outfits are so embarrassing, it's painful. (Originally posted at PaperBackSwap.com.)

Review: I Thought My Father Was God

I Thought My Father Was God: And Other True Tales from NPR's National Story Project
Edited by Paul Auster

One night, I started to read this thinking it would be good 'bedtime material.' Each micro-memoir was like a cliffhanger that kept me turning pages. I ended up devouring half the book that first night. My pace slowed down as I came upon the darker stories in the War, Love, and Death chapters. Even the introduction is an interesting backstory about how the National Story Project started on National Public Radio. The 179 stories in this book are organized into thematic chapters (Animals, Objects, Families, Slapstick, and so on...) which serves 'mood-reading' very nicely. Very enjoyable book that keeps me coming back. (Originally posted as SquareSpot at PaperBackSwap.com.)