Another 2 books

I finished 2 books yesterday. One was Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger and the other was The Pioneer Woman Cooks by Ree Drummond. Guess which one I liked and which one I wanted to throw in our lake? I will give you a clue. I LOVED The Time Traveler's Wife...Loved it...cried-hard-at the end of it.

Well, sadly, in my opinion (and apparently many others opinions), Ms. Niffenegger's second book did not live up to expectations. Not even close. I found it somewhat interesting at first, as it is about 2 generations of twins, which always fascinates me. However, it soon went downhill. I was VERY disappointed and quite confused. And really sorry that I bought it!

The book is a story about twin girls, Julia and Valencia, who inherit their aunt's flat in London. Their aunt Elspeth is their mother's twin, whom they do not ever remember meeting. The girls are from the Chicago area, so moving to London was thought to be quite an adventure. The aunt's caveat that the girls parents were never to be allowed into the flat was intriguing, at first. It turns out that Elspeth is haunting the flat and watching and learning about the girls.

Two other people live in the building; Robert lives downstairs and was Elspeth's (younger)lover. Martin lives upstairs and suffers from severe OCD. The two men become involved in the girl's lives.

From here, the story got bizarre and not well-written and confusing. I don't want to tell more of the story, in case anyone wants to read the book. If you do read it, let me know...I have a burning question...why did Jack call Edie "Elspeth" on the plane home? I didn't get it.

So, I think it is pretty well established that Her Fearful Symmetry was not the book that I liked!

The Pioneer Woman Cooks was a fun book to read, that I got from the library. It is basically a cookbook, but with pictures and commentary from the author who married her "Marlboro Man" and moved from the fast life to the country with him and 10 years later, had 4 children and was an established Pioneer wife! Recipes sound wonderful, full of butter and cream, nothing low-fat, as she is clear to tell the readers! I am anxious to try her Perfect Pot Roast!