A Three Star Book Rut

I've been reading a lot of books lately, but unfortunately I'm stuck in a rut where the only books I read end up being three-star books. I haven't hated any of them. But I haven't loved them either. I was waiting until I had a great book to write about before doing another blog entry, but now it's been over a month since I've posted a blog entry and I figured you would think I was dead or trapped under a heavy piece of furniture if I didn't post something soon.

I'll spare you the long and winding literary road of all the three-star books I've read in the last few months and just hit a few highlights:

1. I read about the history of Jello, which I, of course, read while eating Jello:

I learned a lot of things about Jello from reading this book, including how to get a Jello stain out of the counter (make a paste of baking soda and water and scrub.) I make more messes than a toddler when I'm cooking, so this tip will come in handy in the future. 

The book also contains Jello recipes, including one for Barbecue Jello which involves stirring a cup of barbecue sauce into the Jello before it cools. I was sort of tempted to try is just I could report back to you about it, but I have to draw a hard line when it comes to recipes that make me gag just from reading about them. 

2. I enjoy reading regency romance novels and I'm not even sorry. A case could be argued that they are kind of ridiculous, but sometimes slightly ridiculous books can be quite fun to read (case in point: my love of Amish romance novels.)

Sadly, this one didn't live up to my expectations. I loved it for the first half. Then the author gave us the happy ending mid-way through the book and the whole thing fizzled out.

I liked the first half so much that I'm going to give the author another chance and read the next book in this series, but I'm putting this author on literary probation.

3.

I had high hopes for this biography of Laura Ingalls Wilder, but I was disappointed by the incredibly slow pace and the factual errors throughout. Sadly, the most entertaining part was the back cover:

This looks like the pioneer version of a Harlequin romance novel. I'm not sure why the illustrator thought a low cut shirt was the way to go for Caroline Ingalls. And don't even get me started on the Mary Tyler Moore hair.

And then at the top of the back cover was this:

I guess the illustrator didn't feel like doing any research on what the real Charles Ingalls looked like and decided what the heck, I'll just draw Michael Landon. I can't even begin to guess what the thinking was for why he would be wearing a leather jacket.

What books have you been reading lately, dear readers? I would love to hear about them.