July | 2013 | Beth's Book-Nook Blog

I had heard of Suzy Becker – we live in the same small town – so I was happy to see ONE GOOD EGG pop up on Net Galley. I downloaded a galley to read and also contacted Suzy (I hope to follow up this review with an author interview!).

ONE GOOD EGG is Suzy’s very personal story of finding her life partner and wife, Lorene, and their quest to have a baby. Suzy’s struggles with infertility and their journey to motherhood is the basis of this book – often told so humorously it had me laughing aloud. Suzy has illustrated this memoir with line drawings, most of which are witty, too. Beyond the “top story” of Suzy’s journey through life decisions, infertility, fertilization (from donor friend Steve), pregnancy, and childbirth, is a touching and very candid look inside a very likable and honest woman.

While some readers may find this book’s honesty about Suzy’s pregnancy too personal, others will be nodding their heads in recognition of a journey that was similar to their own.

Thank you, Suzy, for sharing your very personal experience with us -and the offer of an author interview still stands! 🙂

Thanks, Net Galley and Bloomsbury USA, for my digital download!

With a gift card I received for my birthday, I bought Dan Brown’s new novel: INFERNO. I really liked DA VINCI CODE and I heard this was similar. I have to say I was disappointed with THE LOST SYMBOL, and I found ANGELS AND DEMONS too violent. I liked DIGITAL FORTRESS and DECEPTION POINT, but not as much as DA VINCI CODE. Anyhow – I really liked this novel! It had more action and less codes than DA VINCI, so I have to say I still like DA VINCI CODE best. I can imagine this will be made into a movie very soon.

In INFERNO, Langdon awakes to find himself in a hospital in Florence, Italy with no idea how he got there or what happened to him. He barely has time to adjust to his surroundings when a killer arrives looking for him. He escapes with the help of a young, brilliant doctor and thus begins a crazy chase across Florence and on to Venice as Langdon and Sienna (the doctor) try to evade a host of people who appear to be trying to kill them. Along the way they discover that Langdon and a colleague (now dead) had apparently stolen the death mask of Dante Alighieri (author of “The Inferno”). Meanwhile a crazed scientist who is obsessed with population control, is trying to “save the world” by releasing a virus of epidemic proportions. His clues are related to “The Inferno” and Dante as well.

Whew! There is a lot going on in this book! I have to say I loved reading about Florence – which happens to be my favorite place in the world. One complaint I had (and this is a SPOILER ALERT!) is that the whole “this was a set-up, we created a fake scene for you” storyline was too far-fetched. I mean really – just be honest with the guy. It’d be a lot less work!

Anyhow, if you liked DA VINCI CODE I think you will like INFERNO. It also made me want to go back and reread the original INFERNO by Dante as it’s been about 35 years. And even more – it made me want to go back to visit Florence!