53. 
Title: Insatiable
Author: Meg Cabot
Pages:
Genre: YA
Medium: Kindle
Acquisition: Library Book
Date Completed: Incomplete June 2012
Rating:

I didn't give up on this book on purpose.  Rather, my library loan ran out, and I wasn't concerned enough to request it again.  Everything in Insatiable has been done before, but Cabot's version certainly isn't the worst that I've read.

54. 
Title: Persuasion
Author: Jane Austen
Pages: 272
Genre: Classic
Medium: Kindle
Acquisition: Free Download
Date Completed:  July 7, 2012
Rating: ****

With my books now packed for the move I'm finally finding time to read some of the things I have downloaded on my Kindle.  Jane Austen's Persuasion is the first that caught my attention, and is pleasant for its charm and comfortable familiarity.  Though I enjoy Austen's satire and dissatisfaction for trivial social pursuits and concerns, the novel as a whole seems less polished than her earlier works.  The narrative style is all Austen, the observations more biting, and many of the characters more realistic and therefore sympathetic. 

51.
Title: The Princess Diaries
Author: Meg Cabot
Pages: 256
Genre: YA
Medium: Kindle
Acquisition: Library Book
Date Completed: June ?, 2012
Rating: ***

I've avoided reviewing this book - to the point that I cannot remember when I actually finished reading it - because of a rather lackluster response.  I didn't dislike the book any more than I actually liked it.  I enjoyed the fact that Cabot's original story is very different from the Disney movie (and I appreciated the drunk and slightly-scandalous grandmother in the novel), but it wasn't thrilling.  I'm giving it three starts because I'm sure others would enjoy it.

52.
Title: Witch Way to Murder
Author: Shirley Damsgard
Pages: 304
Genre: Supernatural Cozy Mystery
Medium: Kindle
Acquisition: Library Book
Date Completed: June 26, 2012
Rating: **1/2

Witch Way to Murder gets a low rating for inconsistency and poor research.  The story itself is what one would expect from any cozy - a librarian is attempting to solve a series of crimes in her small town - and a supernatural cozy  - she's inherited a skill for witchcraft which she is oh-so-dramatically resisting because of a past trauma.   

The big problems - inconsistency in plot and characterization - make the "little" problems all the more irksome.  I can think of two examples off the top of my head: there is a vision involving a young girl dancing ballet, described by the protagonist, and likely inspired by some juvenile fantasy of what ballet should look like.  Oh, sure, she throws in the word "arabesque" for good measure, but here's a big tell: ballet dancers don't cross their laces up to their knees.  I promise. 

The second irksome detail?  A librarian who doesn't know how to conduct research.  Specifically, research on the internet.  I can't imagine that a librarian attempting to do research related to the mystery she is solving would a) be so careless in her search attempts and b) would give up on said research after a single results return.  Really? 

Overall, the story seems careless; there are better examples of the genre to be enjoyed.

48.
Title: Avalon High
Author: Meg Cabot
Pages: 320
Genre: Young Adult
Medium: Kindle
Acquisition:  Library Book
Date Completed: June 6, 2012
Rating: **1/2

Avalon High has the subtlety of a barrel of bricks dropped from seven stories, and just in case the reader doesn't pick up on the five inches of gooey sloppy allusions slathered on this narrative, the protagonist explains things explicitly at least twice.  While the premise of the novel is fun in theory, Cabot's execution leaves much to be desired, as she demonstrates just how little faith she has in her reader to even understand the basic premise of her story.