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Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan My rating: 4 of 5 stars Susannah Cahalan writes this memoir like the journalistic reporter that she is. It lacks the emotional intensity it could have perhaps because of her suffering and memory loss. However, the story is fascinating and frightening at the same time. I was hooked into the medical mystery of it all. Worth the read. View all my reviews

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut My rating: 2 of 5 stars Umm...umm... That's all I could come up with. I read it on a trip where I literally had 3 days to do nothing. Under those circumstances, I found it easy to read, and well-written (Kurt Vonnegut, duh). View all my reviews

The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling My rating: 1 of 5 stars I knew this was no Harry Potter. Just how NOT Harry Potter was yet to be determined. It felt like she was trying to prove something. "I can write for adults," says J.K. I suppose she can. If you like that kind of thing. I have proven to myself that my criteria for finishing a book rests largely on how well it is written. J.K. Rowling can write. With her writing, she can entice me to finish a book that is about despicable people, behaving badly*. There is nothing redemptive, uplifting or even rational about the way the characters in this story interacted. There was more hate, back-biting, vindictiveness and ugliness in these people's lives than I have ever seen, nor can I even imagine - and for that I am grateful. *addiction *rape *treachery *self-mutilation *child neglect *child abuse *infidelity and betrayal *personality disorders Reader BEWARE View all my reviews