Thursday, May 31, 2018

May Reads (16)




One star = did not like it at all
Two stars = eh, it was okay
Three stars =  liked it
Four stars = really, really liked it
Five stars = absolutely loved it

1-Star (1)

*Adulting (Non-Fiction, Kelly Williams Brown)
UGH.  I got this book because sometimes I don't actually feel like an adult yet (at 40 years old).  But after reading this nonsense, I've never felt more adult in my life.

(real book, will donate)

2-Star (2)
**Interpreter of Maladies (Fiction, Jhumpa Lahiri, Pulitzer Prize Winner 2000)
Meh.  This book is a compilation of short stories.  There was maybe 2 good ones, the rest were extremely forgettable and boring.  I am not a huge fan of short stories AND I'm not a fan of Jhumpa Lahiri (The Namesake?  I HATED that book).  I should have known.  Oh well.

(real book, owned, will donate to LFL)

**The Italian Teacher (Fiction, Tom Rachman)
The only reason this book piqued my interest was the cover.  And if you don't know what the cover looks like, it's worth googling.  But, unfortunately, that's where the good stops.  Narcissistic characters, extremely slow at times.  I almost didn't finish it, but then I read reviews that said it got really good towards the end so I stuck it out. 

(free from Libby audio)

3-Star (9)
***Behind Closed Doors (Fiction, B.A. Paris)
This story was MESSED. UP.  But it was really good.  I listened to it on audio and it kept me hooked throughout the entire book.

(free from Libby audio)

***The Underground Railroad (Fiction, Colson Whitehead, Pulitzer Prize Winner 2017)
This won the Pulitzer Prize last year.  I can see why, although it took me a long time to get into the story.  And there's parts of the book that are absolutely horrifying, which is even worse because these things actually happened.  And while the 'underground railroad' that we were taught about in school was not a *literal* underground railroad (instead it consisted of meeting points, secret routes and safe houses), Whitehead's Underground Railroad is literally an underground railroad which was a very interesting aspect in the book.  This is a solid 3.5 read.  It's worth it, if you can stomach it.

(real book, but listened to audio for free on Libby, will donate to LFL)

***My Name is Lucy Barton (Fiction, Elizabeth Strout)
I think my favorite part of this book was how short it was.  Ha ha.  It's an endearing story about a very complicated mother/daughter relationship.

(free from Libby audio)

***Summer at Little Lava (Non-Fiction, Charles Fergus)
I enjoyed this memoir of a man who is grieving his mother (who died very tragically).  He takes his wife and son to live in remote Iceland for the summer.  My favorite quote of the book "You have not lived until you have stayed awake a summer's night in Iceland."  The land of the midnight sun.

(real book, keeper)

***The Good Girl (Fiction, Mary Kubica)
An abduction that doesn't go exactly as expected.  With a few twists and turns along the way.  (p.s. - the ending may make you want to hurl the book across the room). 

(free from Libby audio)

***Anne of Avonlea (Fiction, L.M. Montgomery)
The second book of the Anne of Green Gables series.  I liked it, but I don't think I'll read the rest of the series.  I know what happens ha ha.  The book was good, but it's hard to top the first one.

(free from Hoopla audio)

***A Piece of the World (Fiction, C. Bakerline)
I wavered a LOT on giving this book 3 stars or 4 stars.  It's the somewhat fictional story of Andrew Wyeth's painting 'Christina's World'.  The reason I ended up giving it a 3 instead of a 4 is that at times it felt a little slow and I found my thoughts drifting away from the book.  But I enjoyed the story.

(actual book, but listened to free on Hoopla audio.  Will give book to MIL)

***White Chrysanthemum (Fiction, M. Bract)
Another one where I wavered between 3 and 4 stars.  But it got 3 due to the content.  EVEN THOUGH the content was historical and actually happened.  Sex slaves in Japan/Korea in World War 2.  Heartbreaking.

(actual book, but listened to free on Hoopla audio.  Will donate book to LFL)

***Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine (Fiction, G. Honeyman)
Lots of hype around this book, and I found it FINE....not great.  But it kept me entertained.

(free from Libby audio)

4-Star (2)
****Little Fires Everywhere (Fiction, Celeste Ng)
I listened to this audiobook on the drive to Denver before our Iceland trip.  I really enjoyed it, which was surprising because I did not care for Celeste Ng's first book (Everything I Never Told You).  This book tells the story of teenagers, friends, dysfunction, and the neighborhood dynamic of small town Ohio.

(free from Libby audio)

****The Soul of an Octopus (Non-Fiction, Sy Montgomery)
This book was beautiful and incredibly heartbreaking.  I learned a lot, but I also had a debate going on in my head throughout the entire book about when enough is enough regarding animals in captivity.  The author was pretty flippant about some things (when she was talking about possibly getting an octopus as a PET (really?!?) and also when she was talking about how they would just order octopuses online.  Sigh.  It's just....sad.  But again...that's where the debate in my head came in.  I feel incredibly blessed to have learned so much about these magnificent creatures (hence the 4 star rating), but at what cost?  But at the same time...I eat meat.  From cows and chickens that are certainly 'captive'.  Ugh.  So....again, it's a 4-star read and it was written very well, but it broke my heart at the same time.

(free from Libby audio, but I also own the book, which I will keep)

5-Star (2)
*****Anne of Green Gables (Fiction, L.M. Montgomery)
Okay so this is technically not the first time I've read this book.  I read it when I was maybe 10 or 11.  But I hadn't read it since!  And since it's been 30 years since I've read it, I'm counting it as a new read.  And it was just as excellent as I remember.  I love how you can see Anne grow and mature throughout the book.  And there are many laugh out loud moments.

(owned, keeper)

*****Lord of the Flies (Fiction, William Golding)
This is a re-read, but the last time I read it I was in 8th grade I believe.  It was just as good (and dark and haunting and horrifying) as I remembered.  However, this time I listened to the audio book, which was fantastic.  It was read by the author, and before he began, he explained how he came to write the book, exactly why he wrote the book about boys (instead of girls) stranded on an island, and why he didn't include girls at all. 

(free from Libby audio, but I also own the book, which I will keep)

Total Books Read:  16 (3 non-fiction, 13 fiction)

Formats
E-Books: 
Audio: 11
Real Books: 5
DNF (Did Not Finish): 8 (see below)

Ironweed (I gave it like 20 pages...then something weird happened and I chucked it in the trash)
The End of the World Running Club (unlikable characters and f-bombs galore)
Missoula (I love Jon Krakauer, but I just couldn't mentally take this book about a series of rapes that happened in Montana a few years ago)
We Are Not Ourselves (boooorrrrinnnnggg)
The Burgess Boys (couldn't get into it)
The Mothers (just....foul)
My Sunshine Away (content)
High Season (content)

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