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
2-Star (1)
**Black
and Blue (Fiction, A. Quindlin)
I
believe I have one more book on my shelf by Anna Quindlin and if I don’t like
it, I’m no longer reading anything by her.
This one was just…ugh. The
writing was decent. It’s just a HARD
subject to read about. I guess I was
hoping for redemption or something MORE at the end, but nope.
3-Star
(3)
***The
Woman in the Window (Fiction, A.J. Finn)
Rear
Window meets child psychologist meets alcoholic meets tragic past meets girl on
the train meets gone girl. Well done and
an enjoyable read, but nothing earth-shattering.
***Midnight
at the Bright Ideas Bookstore (Fiction, M. Sullivan)
I
think I need to lay off of the mystery genre for a while. It seems like I’ve been reading a LOT of them
lately and now I’m comparing any mystery I read to Louise Penny and Tana
French. But this one was definitely
good. I listened to it on audio and it
held my interest. But it was just a
‘like’, not a ‘love’.
***Vox
(Fiction, C. Dalcher)
I
wavered about this one whether to give it 2 stars or 3 stars. This is a somewhat dystopian novel (although
it’s presumed to be not that far in the future) where women and girls have to
wear wrist devices that only allow them to speak 100 words per day. If they go over that, they get shocked (and
the shocks get more intense). Men rule
the country. The main character (Jean)
is a renowned neurologist, and when the president’s (a male) brother has a life
threatening tumor, they call upon her to come up with a cure. She agrees, but has conditions, one of them
being that her and her daughter’s wrist devices be removed during the project. And then things start to go downhill. I liked it because it was very original,
although Jean was not the most likeable person.
It also felt VERY political.
Meaning…if our current president were not our current president, I
highly doubt this book would have been written.
4-Star
(8)
****The
Lost for Words Bookshop (Fiction, S. Butland)
I
loved this book about a young woman with a troubled past who works at a
bookshop in England. She has a troubled
past and she starts receiving mysterious packages. The ending was a bit too neat and tidy for
me, but I still loved it.
****Love
and Ruin (Fiction, P. McLain)
Paula
McLain never disappoints. She manages to
write a book about 2 unlikable characters (Ernest Hemingway and his 3rd
wife, Martha Gellhorn) that kept me reading and reading and reading. Don’t get me wrong, I am a HUGE Hemingway
fan, but the man was not a nice person.
And honestly, his 3rd wife wasn’t either. However, she was strong willed and the only
wife (out of his 4) that left HIM (and not the other way around).
****A
Fatal Grace (Fiction, L. Penny)
This
was the 2nd book of the Inspector Armand Gamache series by Louise
Penny. Inspector Armand Gamache is well,
an inspector, in Quebec, Canada. This
particular mystery takes place in the small village of Three Pines. I like these books because the mysteries are
very character driven, and they weave the townspeople in the story. Yet they are not cheesy or classified as
‘cozy’ mysteries. Trust me, there is
definitely some darkness in them. But
it’s NOTHING compared to what some of the other mysteries out there have. There is no blood or guts or sex or excessive
swearing. And the writing is REALLY
good.
****Cinder
(Fiction, M. Meyer)
This
is the first novel of a Y.A. series that was recommended to me by a
friend. I was hesitant and skeptical at
first because I NEVER would have picked up this book if it weren’t for her
(gentle) nudging. And I’m so glad I did! It took me a while to get into it (maybe
1/3?) but then I couldn’t put it down. Basically, it’s post World War FOUR, there are
earth people living among cyborgs (half robot/half human), and then there are
Lunar people (from the moon obviously).
And androids. The Lunars have an
extremely tense relationship with Earth, and the Lunar queen (who is based on
the evil queen from Snow White) comes to earth looking to marry the emperor
from New Beijing to form an alliance and to better the relations between Earth
and the Moon. Plus…a plague has hit the
Earth, and the Lunars have come up with a cure.
But they don’t want to share it.
Cinder
is a cyborg. So she has feelings. But she can’t cry. Her appendages are metal, but they are
covered with silicone so she looks completely human. And the emperor has taken an interest in her
(of course…I mean…he’s an emperor). And
of course she has an evil stepmother.
There are plot twists as well (especially at the end).
I
realize as I type this out that it sounds completely ridiculous. I would totally think so too reading this
review ha ha. But the book was REALLY
REALLY good. The writing was
excellent. No cheesiness! Cinder was sooooo likeable and TOUGH. And even though it was very loosely based on
Cinderella, it felt incredibly original.
There were times that I laughed out loud and times that I cried. I am definitely reading the next books. The next one is Scarlett, who is loosely
based on Little Red Riding Hood, but it also picks up where Cinder left off (a
cliffhanger, of course). I’ve already
started reading it and it is also REALLY good so far. I’m about 150 pages in.
(and
for my sister who is reading this…Anne gave it 4 stars and Helene J. gave it 5
stars…I’m just sayin’.) J
****Flight
Behavior (Fiction, B. Kingsolver)
I
can’t believe I haven’t read this book before now! In a nutshell, it’s about climate change and
how we are destroying the earth (true).
Also, there were MANY aspects of the main character that I didn’t
like. And many that I DID like. Barbara Kingsolver knows how to write a great
book, that is for sure.
****The
Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper (Fiction, P. Patrick)
This
was a charming (hee hee) book about Arthur Pepper, a recent widower. On the day that he decides to clean out his
wife’s things from his closet, he finds a charm bracelet that he has never seen
before. So he decides to find out more
about it (and where each individual charm came from), which leads him on a
journey throughout England, France and India.
I enjoyed this book a lot.
****The
Woman in Cabin 10 (Fiction, R. Ware)
Another
mystery/thriller. I really enjoyed this
one. It’s fast paced and it kept me
guessing throughout the whole thing. And
there’s not too many characters. It had
an Agatha Christie feel to it, which was also nice.
****The
Likeness (Fiction, T. French)
Book
#2 in the Dublin Murder Squad series.
Although this one was VERY wordy, the story (and the main character)
were much better than the first book in my opinion. From what I’ve read on Goodreads, many people
think this book reminds them a LOT of A Secret History by Donna Tartt (which I
haven’t read but have heard good things about).
Tana French is known for being a literary mystery writer (which
is hard to come by), and you can definitely tell. Her books are dense (this one was almost 500
pages), but very enjoyable.
5-Star
(3)
*****I’d
Rather Be Reading (Non-Fiction, Anne Bogel)
Anne
Bogel is the host of the ‘What Should I Read Next Podcast’. While I did not enjoy her first book (all
about personality types), I LOVED this little book of essays about the delights
and dilemmas of the reading life. It
made me laugh out loud more than once and I found myself nodding along with so
many chapters. Well done, Anne!
*****Little
House in the Big Woods (Fiction, Laura Ingalls Wilder)
Obviously
this is a re-read. And is it really
fiction? Or a loose autobiography. Hmm.
Anyways. It’s wonderful. I love re-reading books I read as a child as
an adult. I loved them then, but I seem
to appreciate them so much more now. I
plan to re-read the rest of the series.
*****Bibliophile
(Non-Fiction, J. Mount)
Imagine
a book full of lists. Lists of cool
bookshops around the world. Lists of
notable genres of books to read. Lists
of bookstore cats. And many other
lists. And then combine those lists with
charming illustrations on every single page.
And you have this beautiful book called Bibliophile.
Total
Books Read: 15 (2 non-fiction, 13 fiction)
Formats
Kindle: 0
Audio:
9
Real
Books: 6
Books
I read for FREE via the library e-book/audiobook system: 8
Books
I paid for (actual books/Kindle books):
7
DNF
(Did Not Finish) 8:
The
Boys in the Boat – I tried. TWICE. Just couldn’t get into it.
The
Year of Fog – I enjoyed one of Michelle Richmond’s other books (The Marriage
Pact) but I couldn’t get into this one and the writing wasn’t good enough for
me to keep trying.
A
Thousand Acres – Couldn’t get into it
The
Rosie Project – Couldn’t get into it
A
Spark of Light – This is the new one by Jodi Piccoult that is coming out next
month. I REALLY tried this book (I gave
it about 100 pages). But it’s written
backwards. The ending is the first
chapter of the book. And then it goes in
reverse. So you already know the
outcome. And there were too many
characters. Nope.
The
Music Shop – Couldn’t get into it
My
Brilliant Friend – Couldn’t get into it
Prodigal
Summer – Couldn’t get into it
