MARCH 2018

Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman / YA / **** / Hard Copy

This book is the sequel to "SCYTHE"... which tells the story of a Utopian world where no one dies... unless they are gleaned by a properly trained Scythe. This is only done to property maintain the population. 

The world is governed by "The Thunderhead" - a non-sentient computer program that divides resources, makes laws, and provides stability and security.  

In this book it has been a year since the end of Scythe. Citra is a full-time Scythe and is working to professionally and humanely complete her duties. Rowan has gone rogue, and has started removing Scythes that are not living up to their mandate.  

The scythes are the only group that the Thunderhead cannot interfere with .. and now the Scythes are at war with each other. Citra and Rowan have to make decisions that will affect not only themselves but the entire planet.  The Thunderhead also has to decide how much to act.

I have really enjoyed this series.  I have to admit this one wasn't as engaging as the first one but it was still thrilling and exciting.  It brings to light ethical questions about who we are as humans, what we believe, and what a utopian society would really mean.

Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon / YA / ***1/2 / Kindle

This is the story of Madeline, a "bubble girl" that is perpetually confined to the inside her own home as she is allergic to the world.  The story arc is that she falls in love with the neighbor boy and decides the life she is living is not worth the price. She wants more.
The end has a twist that I'm not sure I like but anyway it was an interesting read.

Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes / A / **** / Kindle and Audio

It took me over a year to get this book read. I remember starting to listen to it as I was driving to the temple in Manti for a Ward Conference visit.  And I finished it a year later when I was driving to the temple in Manti for a Ward Conference visit.  I ended up reading a good chunk of it...  what was interesting was that at first it took me FOREVER to read a section. I had to really think about the language. By the time I got to the second volume of the book, it either was written more simply or I was now used to the language. It seriously took me about 11 months to read about 50% of the book and then another month to read the last half. 
Anyway - I am super proud of myself for reading this one.  I can see why it is a classic. There are so many little cultural things that came from this book.  I loved the clever irony and really grew to love and even admire the Man of La Mancha and his faith.
* This book was read as part of the Goodreads challenge AND the Rory Gilmore reading challenge

Empire Falls by Richard Russo / A / **** / Kindle

This novel tells the story of several citizens of the town of Empire Falls, an American industrial town where most of the businesses have closed and the only people left are those with no where else to go. This Pulitzer Prize winning novel is the perfect example of how to write characters. Not much happens in this novel until the last few chapters but the entire thing is engaging and at times laugh out loud funny. I enjoyed this one.
* This book is part of the Rory Gilmore reading challenge

The Girl that Wrote in Silk by Kelli Estes / A / **** / Kindle
This was our book group book for March. It is a fictional story that switches back and forth in time between the present and 1800's when Chinese immigrants were being driven from the Pacific Northwest.  It tells the story of Mei Lin, a young Chinese woman driven from her home in Seattle. It also tells the story of Inara, a modern day young woman who is remodeling her family home and finds a piece of Chinese embroidery hidden under the stairs.  Inara works to find out the story of the piece... which is the story of Mei Lin.  The first 3/4 of the book were so exceptional that I couldn't put it down.

The Color Purple by Alice Walker / A / ****1/2 / Kindle
This novel was painful to read. It focuses on the lives of several African American women in George around the time of the depression.    The women basically have zero status not only in their community but also in their families.  The main character, Celie, is beaten, raped, starved, and neglected.  She still maintains a fairly hopeful and positive outlook in life despite her life of backbreaking work and abuse.  Her sister Nellie comes into the picture, as well as Celie's husband's mistress, Shug.  Surprisingly, Shug ends up being the one that helps Celie the most.  
This one was hard to read but so worth the effort. 
* This book is part of the Goodreads challenge I am ALMOST DONE WITH WOOT WOOT.

Odd Child Out by Gilly Macmillan / A / *** / Kindle
This was a detective novel.... a young boy is found floating in a canal and his Somali friend won't tell what happened.
In full disclosure when I borrowed the book  I thought the author of this was Gillian Flynn... the author of Gone Girl and Dark Places and Sharp Objects.... so the whole time I was reading this I was expecting something large and disturbing and twisty to happen as that is what Gillian Flynn does.  It was an interesting story and well written.

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach / A / *** 1/2 / Audiobook

I listened to this book on my drives back and forth to Manti. It was totally fascinating and so well written but I admit some of the chapters made me totally queasy.  One good thing is that I totally have changed the way I want to be processed after I die.... I want to be freeze dried and turned into fertilizer for a tree. I am not kidding about this... I've even talked to Darren about it. 
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-new-burial-technique-turns-a-corpse-into-a-tiny-pile-of-freeze-dried-fertilizer-1788824/
* This book is part of the Rory Gilmore reading challenge 

Far from the Madding Crowd  by Thomas Hardy / A / **** / Audiobook
Elissa is on a total English literature kick. She read Jane Eyre and then we watched the BBC movie.  She read Pride and Prejudice then she watched that movie about four times.  She has a little tender romantic heart and loves Mr. Rochester and Mr. Darcy. I felt it my maternal duty to introduce her to another great English film, "Far from the Madding Crowd".  She loved it as well.  We discussed the title, as nowhere in the film does it explain it.  I decided to follow in my awesome 17 year old's footsteps and read the book so I could figure it out for myself.  I assumed it was a place name.  It isn't... in fact the book didn't explain it to me, either.  I had to google it in order to find the word madding is an english adjective we don't use anymore that means "frenzied" or "crazed". The title itself comes from a Thomas Grey poem written in the 1800's.  Anyway - the book tells the story of the orphan Bathsheba Everdeen who is wild and free and ahead of her time. She inherits a farm and proceeds to work as it's manager and overseer.  The book is a beautiful story of country life and country people. Bathsheba has the opportunity to decide between three remarkably different suitors and her choices affect more than just herself.  It was a great book and I was impressed how well the movie follows the actual text.