Final Book List of the year

 

November continued:

Everneath by Ashton, Brodi / YA / ***

It's hard to describe this book without it sounding absolutely ridiculous.  It is a cute story based on the Greek Persephone myth.  Nikki Beckett is a teen that disappeared without a trace six months ago.  Who would guess that she's been in the Underworld, her soul being sucked dry by an immortal named Cole.  The story tells of her trying to reconnect with those she left behind, while working to figure out how to not get taken again. It has a delicious love triangle between the boyfriend she left behind who provided an "anchor" that enabled her to find her way back in the first place, and the steamy Cole who wants to make her his queen. I told you it sounded crazy. But is a cute clean story that provided some nice light reading.  

Humbug Mountain by Fleischman, Sid / JF / **

Wiley and his sister are being forced to move yet again, as their traveling newspaperman of a  father has once again got them run out of town.  They travel down the Mississippi, hoping to find a new start living with Wiley's grandpa.  What ensues is a story with lots of twists, turns, interesting characters, and crazy shenanigans that have a very "Tom Sawyer" feel to them.

The Skinny Rules: The Simple, Nonnegotiable Principles for Getting to Thin by Harper, Bob  / A / **

Same old, same old. 

Dark Places: A Novel by Flynn, Gillian / A / **1/2

This writer is fascinating. The first few paragraphs of this book are are amazingly well written.  This story was not near as dark and twisted as the other two I've read by this author, but they are definitely not for children. It tells the story of a 7 year old girl that was the only witness to her family being violently murdered. At the time, she testified the act was done by her 15 year old brother as part of a Satanic ritual. Now, 25 years later, she has done absolutely nothing with her life, living off the donations made by strangers at the time of the event.  The money has run out and her life is a dead-end.  

She is hired by a club intent on finding out the real story... accepting their money as she reconnects with people from her past.  The story flashes back to that fateful day and the true story emerges.

This story is well written but crude, and the ending is so implausible I really had to roll my eyes.

Can You Keep a Secret? by Kinsella, Sophie / A / ***1/2

After finishing the grisly "Dark Places", I needed something light and fun.  Sophie Kinsella never disappoints. She writes great characters that are delightfully flawed that get into fantastical scrapes that all end with a wonderful happy ever after.  This comedy of errors is a fun romp and a fun read.

Everbound: An Everneath Novel by Ashton, Brodi / YA / ***

This is the second in the series by Brodi Ashton.  The final book will be out in January.  It continues the story of Nikki as she works to break the bonds the Underworld has on her.  She makes several trips through the levels of the undead on a quest for freedom. In some ways this book was better than the first.

The House of Hades (Heroes of Olympus, Book 4) by Riordan, Rick / YA / ***

I don't know how I ended up reading two books involving the Underworld in a row, but it shows how fiction, especially teen fiction, tends to move in cycles.  For a while I saw a lot of magic based books (stemmed from the success of Harry Potter), to Vampire stories (Twilight) to dystopian books (from Hunger Games).  Lately I've seen books based on Greek mythology, and especially the Persephone myth.  

This book tells the story of Percy and Annabeth working their way through the Underworld towards the doors of death... trying to meet their friends on the other side. It took me a while to slog through this one... the story seemed to feel like it was tormenting me. Ha. No really the stories are getting a little bit monotonous... it is the same cycle of activity over and over again.

Enchantment by Card, Orson Scott / A / ***

I am too brain dead to write descriptions of these stories.  This is basically a story of a modern day man thrust into a Russian fairy tale. It is an imaginative take on how the Slavic myths of Baba Yaga and her house on chicken legs may have come about.  It was good reading but I wouldn't read it again.  I am in a real slump like that lately.

Midnight in Austenland by Hale, Shannon

Shannon Hale has an annoying tendency to keep beating a dead horse.  She had great success with "The Princess Academy" so after several years she spit out a sequel that dimished the story of the first book. She did the same thing here, writing this novel after the success of "Austenland".  It wasn't a BAD story, but it really dilutes the efficacy of the original story.  There really is nothing to miss here.

The Elite (Selection) by Kiera Cass 

Oh the brain-numbing weariness of it all. This book was so painfully shallow. I bet thirteen year olds LOVE it.  Which is what is wrong with America. Just sayin'.

Defiance (Courier's Daughter) by Redwine, C. J. / YA / ****

I LIKED this one.  It had great kingdom building. a good love story, a strong female lead, and an interesting story line. This has the feel of an old-world adventure set in a post-apocalyptic society.  

Rachel is the daughter of a Courier, someone that braves the Wastelands delivering messages, packages, and information between the walled citys of a devestated North America.  The story begins when her father fails to return from a mission and is declared dead.  Rachel is determined to find out what happened, requiring her to escape the protected city that really is more like a prison. She is captured which starts a whole series of events that end up changing her entire world.

The Four Corners of the Sky: A Novel by Malone, Michael./ A / **

Didn't love this one. 

From PUBLISHERS WEEKLY: After years of accompanying her con artist father on his exploits, seven-year-old Annie is left on the family's North Carolina farm with her aunt Sam. Annie relishes the stability, but still craves excitement as she grows up, learning to fly the single-engine plane her father left her and becoming a navy fighter pilot. When her father calls years later, he claims that he's dying and needs her help with one last escapade. She agrees—in exchange for the name of the mother she's never known. Annie travels to St. Louis, Mo.; Miami; and Cuba in the service of her elusive father, meeting quirky eccentrics along the way, including her one true love. Bizarre coincidences, caricatured criminals and characters who spurt groan-worthy puns, classic movie lines and Shakespeare quotes in place of meaningful dialogue keep the novel teetering toward the absurd. The novel's ambitious blend of humor, mystery, adventure and sentimentality can be as exhausting as Annie's fast-paced flights."

 

 

 

 

I Am Number Four Pittacus Lore / YA / ****

I LIKED this one.  Great characters, great story. It has an "alien" base but really is a great adventure story about what makes us human, what is family, and what ties our past has on us. Great story.

Book bag

1. The 5th Wave by Yancey, Rick / YA / ***1/2. Aliens. Dystopian story. Love Triangle. Action.  Great book.

   
   
2. Battle Dress by Efaw, Amy (Dec 2, 2010) / YA / **  A story of a young girls experience as a cadet at West Point.  It was interesting but could have been better written.

    
3. The Eleventh Plague by Hirsch, Jef / YA / ***. This was basically a story of teenage rebellion cast in the recently popular dystopian style.  The dystopian part was awesome. The rest was just so-so.

4. I Now Pronounce You Someone Else by McCahan, Eri / YA / *** . I needed something light after so many "the world has ended and we're all gonna die" books.  This one was a cute coming of age story. The style reminded me a lot of Sarah Dessen.

   
   
5. The Last Runaway by Tracy Chevalier / A / ****

   I liked this one.  My mom would like it for all the quilting references.  From Amazon.com: 
   For a modest English Quaker stranded far from home, life is a trial. Untethered from the moment she leaves England, fleeing personal disappointment, Honor Bright is forced by family tragedy to rely on strangers in an alien, untamed landscape. Drawn into the clandestine activities of the Underground Railroad, a network helping runaway slaves escape to freedom, Honor befriends two exceptional people who embody the startling power of defiance. Eventually she must decide if she too can act on what she believes in, whatever the personal cost."

   
   
6. The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel by Gaiman, Neil / YA / ***1/2.  Neil Gaiman is such a puzzle to me.  His books are all so eccentric, his stories an odd mix of existing lore and fresh new ideas.  I didn't LOVE this book but I had to admire his writing style.

   
   
7. Send by Blount, Patty / A / **.  This was a well-written story about a timely topic (cyber-bullying) but there were so many implausible coincidences I couldn't help but roll my eyes half the time.  Skip this one.

   
   
8. Victoria and the Rogue by Cabot, Meg / YA / ***. This is typical Meg Cabot fare.... light, funny, sweetly satisfying. Her heroines are always flawed and spunky and ultimately likeable.  This story had a bit of a Jane Austen flare and the right amount of drama that you knew would end happily.
9. The Descendants: A Novel ) by Hemmings, Kaui Har / A / ***1/2. 

   This was an interesting read for me.  I read the book because the movie had received Oscar nominations. I liked it.  The characters were so real.  And without making it obvious the book discussed choices... and consequences... and how a family can be so broken but still so strong.  

   From amazon.com:
   Fortunes have changed for the King family, descendants of Hawaiian royalty and one of the state’s largest landowners. Matthew King’s daughters—Scottie, a feisty ten-year-old, and Alex, a seventeen-year-old recovering drug addict—are out of control, and their charismatic, thrill-seeking mother, Joanie, lies in a coma after a boat-racing accident. She will soon be taken off life support. As Matt gathers his wife’s friends and family to say their final goodbyes, a difficult situation is made worse by the sudden discovery that there’s one person who hasn’t been told: the man with whom Joanie had been having an affair. Forced to examine what they owe not only to the living but to the dead, Matt, Scottie, and Alex take to the road to find Joanie’s lover, on a memorable journey that leads to unforeseen humor, growth, and profound revelations.

   
   
10. Prom Nights from Hell by Meyer, Stephenie, Harrison, Kim, Cabot, Meg and Myracle, Lauren / YA / *

    Oh the need for a brain scrubber....

    
    
11. A Reliable Wife by Goolrick, Robert / A / **.  I loved this book and I absolutely hated it, too.  This book had such an interesting story line. It was well -written... it kept you guessing until the end.  It was really rather brilliant in the way different relationships were presented. The problem was that every other page was over the top sexual. It was very dark but also oddly compelling. 

     

    12. 

    Dust (Silo Saga) (Volume 3) by Howey, Hugh / A / ***.

    This is the pre-story to the Silo series called "Wool" that I fell in love with earlier this year.  This is the perfect dystopian story to me as it is about people living in Silo's because the world has ended.   The day to day needs of the people... the recycling and re-using of resources in order to survive.. the knowledge that when something is gone there will never be another one again.  This story finishes the trilogy that tells how the silo's came into being in the first place.  Even though this is a prequel the books really need to be read in the order written to make sense.

     

1. And the Mountains Echoed by Hosseini, Khaled / A / ****.  I was hesitant to read this book simply because it was by Khaled Hosseini.  I read "The Kite Runner" and it tore me up inside.  It was heart-wrenching and brilliant all at the same time.  I had mentioned this to a friend and was told this story was not so brutally violent.  And she was right.  It was a fascinating story about Afghanistan. It follows several different people whose lives all believably intertwine in the end. It was very well written and fascinating to read.

   
   
2. Rot & Ruin by Maberry, Jonathan  / YA / **1/2.   I figure since I read "And the Mountains Echoed" I could stand to read something quite a bit more ridiculous.  This was a dystopian story but also threw in a Zombie element.  It really reminded me of parts of "A Forest of Hands and Teeth".  It wasn't really scary and it wasn't gross... and it actually wasn't THAT bad. I'll never read it again but I admit I'll probably read the sequel.

   
   
3. Sharp Objects: A Novel by Flynn, Gillian / A / **1/2.

   I loved the book, "Gone Girl" so I had to give another of hers a try. It was fascinating in that I couldn't put it down but was also darkly disturbing.  I kept thinking that there was no way that people could be THAT crazy and not be institutionalized. 
4. Blackmoore (Proper Romances) by Donaldson, Julianne / YA / **** / I read this one twice.  It is so charming... and predictable... but delightful at the same time. I love this author.
5. The Rent Collector by Wright, Camron / A / ***1/2

   We read this book for book group.  I enjoyed it very much but thought parts of it were so implausible... until I found it was actually based on a true story.  I was blown away.

   From Amazon.com:

   Survival for Ki Lim and Sang Ly is a daily battle at Stung Meanchey, the largest municipal waste dump in all of Cambodia. They make their living scavenging recyclables from the trash. Life would be hard enough without the worry for their chronically ill child, Nisay, and the added expense of medicines that are not working.
   Just when things seem worst, Sang Ly learns a secret about the ill-tempered rent collector who comes demanding money—a secret that sets in motion a tide that will change the life of everyone it sweeps past. The Rent Collector is a story of hope, of one woman's journey to save her son and another woman's chance at redemption. It demonstrates that even in a dump in Cambodia—perhaps especially in a dump in Cambodia—everyone deserves a second chance.

   
   
6. Whistling Past the Graveyard by Crandall, Susan / A / ****

   Loved this book. Loved this story. The only thing that I had a hang up on is that how could this many bad things happen to one person???? But it is definetly worth the read.  It was heart-warming and heart breaking all at the same time.

   From amazon.com: 
   In the summer of 1963, nine-year-old spitfire Starla Claudelle runs away from her strict grandmother’s Mississippi home. Starla hasn’t seen her momma since she was three—that’s when Lulu left for Nashville to become a famous singer. Starla’s daddy works on an oil rig in the Gulf, so Mamie, with her tsk-tsk sounds and her bitter refrain of “Lord, give me strength,” is the nearest thing to family Starla has. After being put on restriction yet again for her sassy mouth, Starla is caught sneaking out for the Fourth of July parade. She fears Mamie will make good on her threat to send Starla to reform school, so Starla walks to the outskirts of town, and just keeps walking. . . . If she can get to Nashville and find her momma, then all that she promised will come true: Lulu will be a star. Daddy will come to live in Nashville, too. And her family will be whole and perfect. Walking a lonely country road, Starla accepts a ride from Eula, a black woman traveling alone with a white baby. The trio embarks on a road trip that will change Starla’s life forever. She sees for the first time life as it really is—as she reaches for a dream of how it could one day be.

1. The Lord of Opium by Farmer, Nancy / YA / **.

   This book continues the story of young Matt from the awesome and amazing and award-winning book "The House of the Scorpion".  This sequel was such a disappointment. It never should have been written.  It didn't further the story, it didn't raise up or resolve any of the amazing ethical questions introduced in the original book, and was frankly rather boring.  Skip it.

2. The Slave Dancer by Paula Fox / YA / ****

   I chose this Newbery winner  for the kids to read before we went on our trip. It is the story of a young boy from New Orleans who is kidnapped and taken aboard an illegal slaver.  It is his job to play his fife to encourage the slaves taken from Africa to dance for exercise.  It shares the horrors of the treatment of slaves in a way that is poignant and historically accurate but also not too overwhelming to children.  Several of the islands we visited were stops for ships in the slave trade. In Colombia we learned of a Priest that spent his life administering to slaves in the holds of the ships. providing food and water and medical care.  While visiting Curacoa we read about how slaves were brought to the island to be healed, fattened up, and then trained in skills that would increase their value.  This is an excellent book.
3. The Beginner's Goodbye: A Novel by Tyler, Anne / A / ***.

   I think I have read every Anne Tyler book every written. I couldn't tell you the plots of half of them but I can tell you I've enjoyed nearly every one.  Her characters are consistently so real and so flawed. She seems to believe in the inherent goodness of people, and writes about their bonds of friendship and family in such a beautiful way that I always feel so hopeful after finishing her books.  To me she brings out that life is hard and crazy and oh so precious.

   
   
4. The Selection by Cass, Kiera / YA / ***

   This book has elements from "Matched" and "Hunger Games" and "The Princess Academy" stories combined with the TV show "The Bachelor".   It is fluff reading of a girl who is fighting for a better life for her family while learning that the world at large has bigger problems than even she imagined.
5. Every Day by Levithan, David / YA / ****

   This is a fascinating story about a teen (you never know if they are male or female) that wakes up every day in someone elses body.  The character (who has named him/herself "A") never knows where he/she will be each day or what situation awaits.  There is never really a problem to solve or a good deed to do like some TV shows I've seen with this same idea.  "A" is very ethical and is determined to cause no harm to his/her host.  He/she tells a fascinating story that touches on the different parts that make us human... our desires... our dreams... our addictions.

   One day "A" wakes up in the body of a teenage boy and meets his host's girlfriend. Unfortunately "A" falls for the girl and must figure out a way to get to be with her every day.  

   I can't wait for the sequel to this story.

    
6. World of Shell and Bone (Glimpsing Stars, Book One) by S.K. Falls / A / **.  China has taken over the United States due to non-payment of debt.  The environment is ruined by the fall-out of nuclear war. What is left is a Matriarchal society of Have's (those who can produce children to keep the human race alive) and "Have-Nots" (those that are infertile or deformed by radiation).  The book tells the story of Vica who has been assigned a partner and given a few chances to become pregnant in order to prove her worth to society.  Her partner is really an underground operative for a rebel group working to overthrow how things are. Vica joins with him in order to try to find her little sister who had been determined to "damaged" and removed from the family.

   It has elements of the story "1984" and "A Brave New World".  The first part of the book was interesting but quickly spiraled downhill to a meaningless conclusion. Skip it.
7. Safe Haven by Sparks, Nicholas / A / ***

   This is one of the books I purchased and saved for my trip to be read as my "beach book".  It did not disappoint. It is typical Nicholas Sparks which is exactly why I wanted it as a light enjoyable read.
8. Reconstructing Amelia: A Novel by McCreight, Kimberly / A / ***1/2

   Kate is a successful lawyer whose greatest achievement is her teenage daughter Amelia.  They share a bond that comes from getting through life together as a mother-daughter team.  Kate is shocked to learn that her academically successful daughter has been expelled for cheating. Before she is able to pick Amelia up from school she learns that Amelia has jumped to her death.
   Kate is grief stricken but is slowly getting back to normal life when she receives anonymous text indicating that Amelia did not jump.
   The rest of the story is about Kate "reconstructing" her daughter's life to find out what really happened to her daughter and why.
   I enjoyed the story except that it had a few too many implausible coincidences (I say that a lot lately in my reviews it seems).  Still, I recommend it.
9. Eleanor & Park by Rowell, Rainbow / YA / ****

   Park begrudingly offers the new "weird" girl Eleanor a seat by him on the school bus.  Forced to be together for a period of time, the two begin an unlikely friendship considering their vastly different family lives and socio-economic statuses.  They originally bond over comic books and 1980's music but soon find that their friendship gives them what they both ultimately need... a feeling of belonging.  I loved the two characters and how they help each other grow. This is a great feel-good book that had the right amount of suspense (as Eleanor's family life unravels) as well as the right touch of teenage romance. And I loved the 1980's cultural references.

    
10. The Next Thing on My List: A Novel by Smolinski, Jill / A / ****

    I really enjoyed this story.  June is giving a new acquaintance a ride home from a Weight Watchers meeti when they are in a car accident. Her passenger, Marissa, dies.  June finds in the debris from the accident a list of items that Marissa wanted to accomplish before her 25th birthday.  Even though June was not the cause of the accident, she feels an obligation to accomplish each item on the list for Marissa. What follows is a sometimes sweet, sometimes sad, but mostly funny journey that changes the lives of June and those around her.

    
    
11. Allegiant (Divergent) by Roth, Veronica / YA / **1/2

    I seriously have a problem with books written as a series. I almost always hate the last book.  Allegiant followed this same trend.  Nothing really happened in the book... and what did happen made little sense. I am really so so sad.

1. I'll Walk Alone: A Novel by Clark, Mary Higgins / A / *

   The only reason I finished this book is because it was a book group selection.  I have read other titles by Mary Higgins Clark and didn't mind them. This one was so bad I seriously wonder how it even got published.

   
   
2. The Cay by Taylor, Theodore / JF / **1/2

   This book was assigned by Elizabeth's English teacher for reading during our trip.  The first of the story takes place in Curacao, an island in the Caribbean that we visited last month. It was really fun to be able to picture the bright colored houses, the Punda district,  the Queen Emma pontoon bridge, and Fort Amsterdam as mentioned in the book. I had not known that Curacao was surrounded by German U-boats during WWII due to their manufacture of aviation fuel for the Allied forces. The story tells of a young American boy who is trying to escape the island with his mother.  Their boat is torpedoed and he escapes with his life but not his sight. He ends up marooned on a remote cay with an elderly black man named Timothy.  The story tells of what they must endure to survive and how they learn to love and trust each other despite their differences in age and skin color.

    
3. Sycamore Row by Grisham, John / A / ****

In this book Grisham returns to where it all began... Ford County Mississippi and a young lawyer named Jake Brigance.  It takes place three years after the events in "A Time to Kill". This story is classic Grisham with real, memorable characters and an exciting search for justice in a small American town. Loved it.