I'm not a HUGE Bruce Springsteen fan, but I do like him, and my Challenger's favorite song is "Born to Run". She makes me listen to it whenever it comes on the radio. I enjoyed this one quite a lot, he has a wonderful writing style, descriptive without being wordy, which I imagine he's honed as a songwriter. I never really thought of him as a guitarist and songwriter before, but of course that's what he is. He talks about growing up poor in New Jersey and being inspired after seeing Elvis on Ed Sullivan. He worked hard for a lot of years, pounding the bar scene, building up a fan base, before hitting the big time. I found it ironic that a lot of his earlier songs are about cars and yet he didn't learn to drive until his twenties. Lots of fun information and despite being so long, it was a very quick read. I was out in the backyard finishing it up, and as I was on the last page I heard a car drive by on the road behind the house blasting "Streets of Philadelphia", so that was a nice coincidence.
I love reading trashy books on vacation, and when I found out that there was a sequel to V. C. Andrews' "My Sweet Audrina", I had to run out and get it. "Audrina" was one Andrews actually wrote herself before she passed away, so it holds a special place in my heart. This one wasn't quite as good, and it was terribly predictable, but it was still fun. Audrina is all grown up and her father passes away, leaving the majority share of his stockbroking company to her rather than her husband, Arden. Arden is incensed and demands Audrina sign over her share of the company to him so he can run it properly, but Audrina shows some spirit and holds him off. In the meantime, she hires an art tutor for her developmentally disabled younger sister, Sylvia. Audrina soon discovers the art teacher is molesting Sylvia and that she is pregnant. Since she and Arden have been having issues conceiving, Arden convinces her to pretend she's pregnant and they'll raise Sylvia's baby as their own.
And finally, Jodi Picoult's latest, "Small Great Things". I didn't love it, I found it predictable (or maybe I'm getting smarter and better at guessing...um, doubtful :) ). Usually she's able to make even the most unlikable characters somewhat likable, which is why her books are so amazing, you don't know who to root for because you can see everyone's side. Not this time. A couple of White Supremacists insist that an African American nurse named Ruth be prohibited from tending to their newborn son, and the hospital bows down to their demands. When the floor is short staffed Ruth is left alone watching the baby, who goes into distress. Defying orders, she tries to resuscitate him but he ends up dying anyway. The couple then decides to press charges against Ruth.
Look, assholes, you can't have it both ways. Either you want the woman to do her job or you don't.
Anyway, there's a trial and a lot of preaching about racism and it turns out the baby would probably have died anyway from health issues and then the twist which I figured out beforehand. It ended all too tidily. It wasn't a bad book, and I certainly agree that race is something that needs to be discussed more, but it wasn't the best thing she's ever written.
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