Books Read Week of November 26th

Happy December!  I finished off two books last week and unfortunately, neither of them exactly blew my skirt up!

Bridge of Clay by Marcus Zusak

A novel about five brothers, a Murderer, a woman known by many names, a mule, a girl with sixteen freckles, and the building of a bridge.
I really wanted to love this book, since I loved Zusak's other books so much.  Unfortunately, this novel just didn't resonate with me.  While there are some beautiful moments and a satisfying wrap-up, there are also a lot of "What the heck is happening right now?" moments.  I consider myself a fairly savvy reader, but I was extremely confused throughout.   Many items and phrases are referenced that aren't explained for 250 pages.  
I would suggest bypassing this one and selected I Am the Messenger instead!  But if you read it Bridge of Clay, let me know your thoughts.

Pair with:  Seven beers.  (To be explained on page 350 or so)
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Love and the Art of War by Dinah Lee Kung

A librarian trying to save her relationship stumbles into the wrong class - Chinese War Strategies as opposed to Mending Marriage, but stays with it and uses these strategies in her day-to-day life.  Awesome premise, right?
Despite some fun characters, a cool idea, and the weaving in of war strategies, this book also complete missed the mark for me.  Our protagonist is a weak person with strong moments and ultimately realizes that it was all her fault that her husband cheated on her and......that was more or less the takeaway.  Don't read too many books or your husband will stray.  Guess I'm setting myself up for disaster! 
Also, a really stupid twist occurs toward the end that almost resulted in my phone flying across the room.  
I would suggest bypassing this one as well!  I'm not much help this week!

Pair with:  Rocky road ice cream covered in Hershey's chocolate sauce, a dessert mentioned a couple of times throughout this long book that really did sound amazing.

Up Next:  Next week's post will be so much better, because I'm almost halfway through a pretty terrific novel already that I've wanted to read for a million years.  Plus I just downloaded a promising new book on my phone.  Just hoping I can continue with my two book a week pattern!

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