Two Book Club Book Reviews

Two Book Club Book Reviews

My book club, the Itty Bitty Reading Committee, has read a book a month so far this year and I haven't reviewed any of the books yet and basically we have read some pretty awesome books in the first half of the year.  So here are two short reviews of the first and second book club reads of 2014.

Our first book of 2014 (January) was The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion.  It was pretty cute.  It is a awkward love story that is laugh out loud funny.  It is a feel good kinda book.  Don Tillman is the main character and he is systematically trying to find a wife and starts, the wife project where he interviews and dates women who fit the "wife" criteria.  Of course nothing ever goes as planned and Don ends up meeting Rosie and they begin a tentative friendship.  Rosie does not meet the "wife" criteria that Don has established so Rosie can never be more than a friend.  This novel is quirky and enjoyable and Don is a unique character, with Asperger- like characteristics.

Our second book of 2014 (February) was Back When We Were Grownups by Anne Tyler.  This is the third book I have read by Anne Tyler.  I read and enjoyed both Ladder of Years and Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant.  Back When We Were Grownups is a character driven book about Rebecca Davis, a 53 yr old grandma and her family.  Rebecca is looking at her life through a new lens and wondering if she made the right choices.  Rebecca is a professional party planner and her life is giving one endless party after another.  In some ways, I feel the book is reminiscent of Mrs. Dalloway.  Yet, I feel there wasn't much happening in the book, very little action and I've decided I prefer plot driven novels over character driven novels.  Back When We Were Grownups was a little slow moving and my least favorite of the three Anne Tyler books I have read.

What about you?  Do you prefer Plot Driven books or Character Driven books?
What has your book club been reading?