Tonight, though, I'm on my way to bed soon, but thought I'd get caught up on my books for the

There are a few spoilers here, especially some pretty big ones for "The Little Friend," so you might not want to read these if you care about such things. :-)
Jemima J by Jane Green
I liked this book. Liked it much better than Green's Straight Talking. I'm still not entirely in love with Green's writing style - in this book she went back and forth between a first person narrative and a sort of strange third person now and again, and there's something a bit "in your face" about her writing at times that I find just a bit off-putting. But overall, I liked it. It's about an obese woman who meets a guy over the Internet, and when he asks to meet face to face, decides that she is going to lose the weight she wants to lose. That's a very simplistic synopsis, but it gives the gist. I liked Jemima, and several of the other characters. I found the book dryly humorous, but not really "funny." A good, easy read which was satisfying enough to leave me with a good impression. (Library book)
The Little Friend by Donna Tartt
Erm. I really disliked this book. It disappointed me on several levels. First, I somehow got the idea that it was a prequel to The Secret History, which I really enjoyed. I was unable to find any connection between the two books, though. But that wasn't my real trouble. My real trouble is that I found the book very difficult to read . . . I had a hard time "bonding" with any of the characters, and I found her writing style to be somewhat dense at times, and hard to follow. I found myself going back and re-reading paragraphs because I felt like I'd missed things the first time through. Even this can be okay, though; after all, I swam through House of Leaves, and loved it. But there were two things that I found really discouraging. First of all, at the very beginning of the book, we discover that the big "issue" in this family is that one of their children had been murdered some ten years in the past. And it starts off with one of his sisters deciding that she's going to solve the mystery. Well, she doesn't. And second, not only does she not solve the mystery, but there is a rather confusing element thrown in right at the end of the book (which I'm not sure whether or not we're meant to take at face value), and then the book just ends. Very abruptly. So, I didn't enjoy reading the book, but struggled through because I was curious enough about the ending . . . only to be very disappointed by said ending. I would not recommend this book. (Library book)
Girl With a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier
This was a lovely book - a very quick read, I read it in only a few hours. Beautifully written, with colourful descriptions. It tells the story (highly fictionalised, I believe) of the young maid who posed for Vermeer's painting of the same title. It felt like wandering around Delft in the 17th century for a bit, and getting a taste of this girl's life, seeing things through her eyes. Touching and beautiful in quiet sort of way. I think I'd like to see the film now, to see what they've done with it. Plus, it has Colin Firth. Always a bonus. ::grin:: (Library book)
Exit to Eden by Anne Rampling (Ann Rice)
This is one of the books that Rice wrote under a pseudonym, presumably because it's considered erotica. It definitely had a storyline, though, and an interesting one (as opposed to being PWP). This was recommended to me by