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Month in review

Reviews:
Amore by Laura Wolf
Andromeda on the Street of Ducklings by Judi Hendricks
Another Dawn by Sandra Brown
Another Perfect Day by Steven Popkes
Bad Manners by Chris Manby
The Bamboo Confessions by Lauren Weisberger
Bounty by Rand B. Lee
Busy Horsies by John Schindel and Casi Lark
"But Wait! There's More!" by Richard Mueller
Childrun by Marc Laidlaw
Church of the Dog by Kaya McLaren
Click edited by Arthur Levine
Collected Ghost Stories by M. R. James
A Day in the Life of my Great Brit Book Tour by Adriana Trigiani
Deja Dead by Kathy Reichs
The Dinosaur Train by James L. Cambrias
Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
El Tigre by John H. Manhold
Five by Julianna Baggott
Flip and Flop by Dawn Apperley
The Fourth Watcher by Timothy Hallnan
The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner
A Grave Mistake by Stella Cameron
The Great Waldo Search by Martin Handfold
Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
I Know a Woman by Quinn Dalton
Leaving a Light On by Claire LaZebnik
Lifetime Loser by James Ross
Moving Day by Cindy Chupack
An Open Letter to Earth by Scott Dalrymple
Persistence of Memory by J. M. Snyder
Poison Victory by Albert E. Cowdrey
The Political Prisoner by Charles Coleman Finlay
Pump Six by Paolo Bacigalupi
The Regent's Knight by J. M. Snyder
Shades of Darkness, Shades of Grace
Simplexity by Jeffrey Kluger
Smoky the Baby Goat by Mary Elting Folsom and Veronica Reed
There's a Cow in the Cabbage Patch by Clare Beaton and Stella Blackstone
The Truth About Nigel by Jennifer Weiner
The Two-Month Itch by Sarah Mlynowski
Voodoo Dolls, C-Cups and Eminem by Melissa Senate
Yoga Babe by Lauren Henderson

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5 stars: Completely enjoyable or compelling
4 stars: Good but flawed
3 stars: Average
2 stars: OK
1 star: Did not finish



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Five: 08/07/08

"Five" by Julianna Baggott in American Girls About Town is very different in tone from the lighthearted "A Day in the Life of My Great Brit Book Tour" but both share the underlying theme of hope.

An ex-baton twirler from Kernersville, North Carolina makes the trip out to California to visit her sister and brother-in-law after divorcing her fourth husband. Although she loved each husband in her own way for their quirks and special talents, she hasn't felt enough of a connection to stay with any of them. She's afraid of becoming rooted in a boring and ordinary routine.

On the other hand, her sister seems infinitely patient. She is always waiting until the right moment. She is still married to her one and only husband and seems to have a successful and perfect life. In the trip westward, though, the younger sister will learn that not everything is easy to wait for.

On the first reading, I didn't like "Five" as much as "My Great Brit Book Tour." The narrator seemed too self absorbed and too willing to meddle in her sister's life. On a second reading, though, the story is sticking with me. It's a subtler tale that needs reflecting on.

The stories in the book are: (Click on a title to read reviews).

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