Uh, maybe it shouldn't be on my list then ...

haha, well, I'm a pretty critical reader (of novels especially). But, none of the characters felt real to me and there was information withheld that changed the whole story at the end in a really artificial way. It doesn't drag though, I'll give it that, I was compelled to read to the end.

I'd be interested to hear your take on it. And it was on several Best Books list so maybe it's just my taste? My boyfriend also hated it, though. We actually read it for our bookclub (members: me and him!).

A friend pressed it on me, and I did like it, except that the monster made no sense, even metaphorically. It felt like she had this vision of a monster in the lake and she wrote the book around it, but when she was done writing, she should have thrown the monster out. Also, for the end to make sense, we should have known more about the running boys. I couldn't tell them apart.

Also, for the end to make sense, we should have known more about the running boys. I couldn't tell them apart.

Yes! And, also, I HATE that she withheld the part about how her mom had told her she'd been pregnant for 10 months until the end. That really pissed me off.

I actually kind of liked the monster parts. I think the book would have benefited from her throwing everything else out and making the monster part a short story!

That was irritating, but we were told fairly early that the father was someone in Templeton. What was really irritating was the whole scavenger hunt thing, which just made the mother look like a bitch. It would have been better if the book had another reason for her to scour Templeton's history and through that she stumbled on the answer. I really liked the parts about putting together Templeton's history.

eta: I think the monster could have been a whole different book. Just not the one she wrote.

What was really irritating was the whole scavenger hunt thing, which just made the mother look like a bitch.

It totally did! It made no sense except as a device to keep the daughter there.

The daughter wanted to stay and sort things out anyway. I think she would have leapt on the thinnest of reasons and would have jumped at any research project to distract herself. She could have found a clue in the house earlier. There could have been some piece of information needed or they'd lose the house.

It is a first novel. I'd give the author another chance, but better editing would have improved this one. I think the basic stuff was there.

Any stand-out historical non-fic

Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America is very good.

And I'll repeat my rec for Three Cups of Tea

Any stand-out historical non-fic

The Ghost Map, by Steven Johnson, is very good. It's about a cholera epidemic in London during the 1800s, and how figuring out the source and transmission pretty much gave rise to modern epidemiology. It's also the story of the partnership of Reverend Henry Whitehead and Dr. John Snow, who worked together to figure things out.

The Ghost Map sounds intriguing. And I read Three Cups of Tea and quite liked it.

The woman who wrote Reading Lolita in Tehran has come out with a memoir I want to read. I really liked RLiT.