ENDURANCE: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing / A / *** / Audiobook
I listened to this one during my Manti travels. It was FASCINATING. I can't imagine living through an artic winter in a tent. It really is a miracle they all lived (sorry for the spoiler there).
ANGELA'S ASHES by Frank McCourt / A / **** / Hardcopy
* This book was part of the Goodreads Challenge AND the Rory Gilmore Challenge
Wowza. This book told the story of a young boy growing up poor in New York and then Ireland. He was poor because he had a mother that let life happen to her instead of making things happen and a father that drank away every penny he got. This book made me sick and most of all angry. The father was never remorseful that his children were literally malnourished because he couldn't keep a job and when he had a job he drank away the money. I was just angry most of the book.
SILVER IN THE BLOOD by Jessica Day George / YA / ** / Kindle
Dumb dumb dumb. Why do I read this crap? This is a story of two young cousins that are part of a magical family that helps keep the Dracula family in power. They come into their powers and help save the day in between worrying about their clothes, hair, social standing, and beau's. Garbage.
MIDDLESEX by Jeffery Eugenides / A / ***** / Hardcopy
* This book was part of the Goodreads Challenge
AND the Rory Gilmore Challenge
This is the story of a girl who really was a boy. Based on years of village/family inbreeding, Cal/Calliope was born with undecended testicles. She was raised as a girl, while her body eventually won out and revealed she was a boy (which explained a LOT to Calliope). It is an odd sounding story - what was interesting to me was the stories of the three generations of her family and what happened to them as they lived in Greece, made a new life in America, and added Cal/Calliope to the family. It was fantastic writing - although it was overly sexual for me.
ALMOST SISTERS by Joshilyn Jackson / A / **** / Kindle
While this one was not my favorite of Joshilyn Jackson's books, it was still great. Jackson is great at writing family relationships (both those by birth and those we make ourselves). She is also great at writing characters. I will never forget cute little Birchie and Wattie stealing the car. The main traumatic event of the story was a little unbelievable to me, but I enjoyed the book just the same.
MOSTLY VOID PARTIALLY STARS:Welcome to Night Vale Episodes Volume 1: by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor / A / *** / Kindle
My daughter Elizabeth loves loves loves these podcasts. I couldn't find the podcasts easily so I just read the book - which I'm sure was no where near the same. These podcasts are based on a fictional town where the normal is horrifying the the supernatural is normal. It was worth reading this book in order to be able to write Elizabeth an email on her mission that was "Nightvale-esque". She said this was the best email she had ever received in her entire life. Mission accomplished.
Snow & Rose by Emily Winfield Martin / JF / *** / Kindle
This was a juvenile fiction book that fleshes out the story of Snow and Rose. It was just okay - to me you shouldn't retell a story unless you are going to add to it or enhance it in some way.
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie / A / **** /Audio
* This book was part of the Rory Gilmore Challenge
LOVED this one. Loved the narrator as well. He had the perfect voice for the story.
It tells the story of two friends that are placed in the rural areas of China to be "re-educated" under the new Communist regime. These educated boys work in the fields, care for animals, and labor in the communal mines in order to learn what it is like to be peasants.
Their friend in another village has smuggled some forbidden books with him. Most of the book is about the crazy things these boys do in order to have access to the books.
They befriend a seamstress in another village. She loves hearing the stories they tell from the books.
The end has a delightful twist.
Loved this book!
Flat Broke with Two Goats by Jennifer McGaha / ** / Audio
This book was chosen by Pioneer.utah.gov as the selection for a statewide book read. I don't know why. It was the most boring, awful story. I hated the narrator.
It tells the story of a family that lost their home due to stupid financial decisions. They move into a cabin in the woods to save money. I just had no respect for the narrator. She continually complained that her friend (whom they bought their house from in a sale-by-owner deal) no longer spoke to her after they stopped paying their payments. She didn't understand that this friend that they had traveled with the Disneyland and Spain and whose kids attended the same expensive private school would TREAT her like this. (Gee what a news flash - by living the life you lived you SCREWED OVER YOUR FRIEND. And then, after they stopped paying, they refused to leave the home until it was actually foreclosed on. And then left a bunch of trash and debris. It was ridiculous.) The wife (who narrates the story) refused to get work as nothing met her standards. Instead they spent outrageous amounts as she bought goats to save money on milk and cheese ( although the amounts spent far outweighed any monetary savings after the cost of the goats, the feed, the vet bills, etc). This book was a train wreck. Maybe that is why it was selected?
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath / A / **** / Audio
* This book was part of the Goodreads Challenge AND the Rory Gilmore Challenge
This one was weird to me. I have true empathy for those with depression and mental illness. I'm sure one of the stereotypes that true sufferers face is people not believing that anything is really wrong with them. I experienced this with this book as I just wanted her to "snap out of it". It made no sense. It was interesting but I didn't love this one.
Dune by Frank Herbert / A / *** / Hardback
* This book was part of the Goodreads Challenge
I like science fiction but this one was hard to read. It is a story of power and intrigue. Of supernatural abilities and the price they extract.
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.
2016 READING GOAL THAT HAS EXTENDED INTO 2017 AND NOW 2018
Still plugging away at this....I only read SIX books from the list in 2017.
I am bound and determined to finish this in 2018!! I had 11 left at the start of the year, now I have 9 as I finished Don Quixote and The Color Purple. Woot!
Click HERE to read about my reading goal.
.
# 16 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - February 2016
# 18 Memoirs of a Geisha
# 32 The Picture of Dorian Gray - January 2016
# 33 Crime and Punishment
# 41 Dracula - January 2016
# 49 The Lovely Bones - February 2016
# 59 Anna Karenina - January 2016
# 61 Lolita
# 62 Slaughterhouse-Five - June 2016
# 64 Catch-22
# 66 Dune
# 68 Watership Down - June 2017
# 70 The Stand
# 72 Frankenstein - June 2016
# 73 Great Expectations - January 2017
# 75 The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
# 76 Angela's Ashes
# 77 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - July 2016
# 80 The Bell Jar
# 83 The Color Purple - March 2018
# 86 The Brothers Karamazov
# 91 Siddhartha - January 2017
# 92 Don Quixote - March 2018
# 94 A Prayer for Owen Meany - May 2016
# 95 Vampire Academy - January 2017
#96 The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - January 2016
#98 Moby Dick - April 2017
# 104 Interview with the Vampire - January 2017
# 105 Middlesex
American Street by Ibi Zoboi / YA / ***** / Kindle
This was my first book for the month and I think it may end up being one of the best I will read all year.
It was rich, complex, heart-felt. It was so gritty and so real.
Most of the story is told from the point of view of Fabiola - an American born teen that has lived the majority of her life in Haiti. As she and her mother are returning to Detroit, the mother is detained by immigration. Only Fabiola is released to her Aunt and cousins.
Every so often the author included a short chapter from the point of view of the other characters including Fabiola's Aunt, each of her cousins, Fabiola's boyfriend, and even the home they live in. This provided so many different perspectives that really made this book character driven.
This book was so fascinating to me as it touched on the immigration experience, the inner-city experience, the black poverty in America experience. It tells the story of a girl trying to fit into an America that may not be all she thought it would be. A girl that fights for her family, no matter what.
I can't say enough good things about this book.
90 Days of Different by Eric Walters / YA / *** /Hardback
Sophie is solid. Responsible. Predictable. As she graduates High School her best friend, her now ex-boyfriend, and even her father are telling Sophie that these traits, while admirable, have made her a little bit boring. Her best friend, Ellie, decides to expose her to a summer where she does something "different" every day.
The book doesn't tell the activity of every single day, thank goodness. Most of the activities selected, while different, were not unrealistic for two teenage girls to engage in.
The book was cute and fluffy with some moments of emotional introspection. It didn't, however, have a lot of literary tension.
There were two things that made me not like this book:
1) Ellie was mean. Sophie is apparently pretty, which causes Ellie insecurity. Her friend would put Sophie in situations where Sophie looked bad or ended up feeling bad about herself so that Ellie could say, "Now you know what I feel like". Ummmm what friend does that? Maybe if this situation had been built into the narrative where Sophie dumps the friend I would have been okay with it. Which leads me to the second dislike:
2) Why doe Sophie need to be different? So she isn't on social media. She doesn't drink. She doesn't go to wild parties. How is this bad? What kind of message is this sending?
Summerlost by Ally Condie / Kindle
This was written by the author of the "Matched" series. It tells the story of a 12 year old girl, Cedar, who has just moved to a new town (based on Cedar City, Utah) after the death of her father and brother.
This was a cute coming of age story as Cedar makes a friend, gets a job (at the Summerlost festival - based on the Shakespeare festival) tries to solve a mystery, and works to come to grips with the changes in her life and family.
The characters in this book were the strong point for me. The dialogue was really good and sometimes quite humorous. I also enjoyed how appropriate of a summer feel it had to it... it brought me back to my own summers where the days were long and hot and sometimes boring. It did have some really sweet, poignant moments - This book was good but what was frustrating is that it really had the promise of being GREAT. I wish Ally would have held onto this one a little longer to fine tune it.
Deenie by Judy Blume / JF / ** / Kindle
My friend Kerrie is an avid reader. We have both found that we are more engaged and well-rounded readers when we participate in book challenges. This year we committed to each reading 50 books from the Rory Gilmore book list. This is a list of 300 books either mentioned or spotted or discussed in the show "Gilmore Girls". I had previously read about 90 of them.
Kerrie is an over-achiever. She has already read like freaking half of her 50 books from the list even though it is only freaking February. But I love her anyway. But I can't keep up. Not even close.
I didn't read any from the list in January. I figured I need to get my literary self in gear so I went through the list and tried to find books that were on pioneer.gov AND actually available AND sounded like something I would actually want to read. My first book was DEENIE by Judy Blume. This book is about a girl with scoliosis that masturbates. That pretty much covers it. I was thinking maybe I'd read this book before or maybe read another one by Judy Blume about a girl that masturbates? Do all of Judy Blume's characters masturbate? I started to google books about masturbation before I had a moment of lucidity that maybe this is not such a good idea. Especially at work. But anyway I didn't love this one. It was too paint by number story of a physically attractive girl that mocks others for their looks and then ends up having to wear a large brace for her treatments. There is some personal growth which is good but overall the book was just a little odd to me. As Kerrie said, "Rory Gilmore read some stupid damn books".
Othello by William Shakespeare / A / **** / Kindle
I needed some quick wins for the Rory list... and I had never read Othello... so there you go.
Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng / A / **** / Audio
I liked this one. On the surface it is the story of a family whose daughter died. In reality it is a character study of a family. It switches around to different perspectives and history of each family member both before the event and after. Besides the death of the daughter, not much big happens in the book... but it still is this fantastic look at the dynamic of a family. It is a series of small stories that all combine into this really intriguing look at how we can love someone so much and still cause harm. This was great writing.
Turtles All the Way Down by John Green / YA / **** / Kindle
Oh I loved this one. I loved so much about it. I've said before that John Green really does seem to have his finger on the pulse of teenagers. The dialogue is right. The emotions are right. The choices they make are right. This novel is no exception. It is the story of a high school girl with an awesome mom and a comfortable home and a best friend that she is having a crazy adventure with as they work to solve a mystery. It is also the story of a girl that has invasive thoughts that increasingly lead her to self-harming behaviors.
John Green doesn't pull back the punches. It is very real and sometimes very painful to read. The best part of this is that John Green doesn't suddenly make her better. You want her get better. But that is the point... she can't. But despite this you love her and know she is wonderful. And that is a great lesson in and of itself.
This book was fantastic.
Everlost by Neal Shusterman / YA / ***1/2 / Hardback
The Librarian sent this one home with Lizzy when I sent her looking for the second Scythe book - which is by the same author. It is the story of children that get stuck between our world and the after life. The gray world they live in mimics the world they came from in some ways, but is very different in others.
It took me a while to get into this one, but then it got really interesting with some great characters and a narrative arc that really made you think. I will read the sequels if I can get my hands on them.
El Deafo by CeCe Bell / JF / *** / Kindle
The story of , a spunky girl (rabbit?) who also happens to be deaf.
This is a graphic novel chronicling her illness that lead to being deaf, the acquisition of implants that give her limited hearing, and her search for true friendship. The heartwarming thing about the book is that is contains a lot of the things elementary school kids experience (whether they are deaf or not) as they are trying to figure out who they are. These universal type experiences helps promote the message of the book... that we are all different in some way and it is those differences that make us stronger.
The Girl You Left Behind by JoJo Moyes / A / **** / Kindle
Sophie lives in occupied France during WWI. She and her sister Helene are tested to their limits as they struggle to keep their families fed and warm while their husbands fight at the front.
Sophie's husband Edouard is an artist, and has painted a portrait of Sophie that hangs in their inn. Both Sophie and the portrait have garnered the interest of a German Kommandant. Sophie must decide how far she will go in order to save her husband, who has been interred in a prison camp.
Just as you are about to find Sophie's fate, the story switches to the modern day. The portrait of Sophie is now owned by Liv Halston. It was given to her as a wedding gift by her now deceased husband. She is mired in grief, struggling to pay her bills, and trying to find her way through. She receives a shock when she is contacted by a victims reparation group that indicates her beloved painting was stolen during WWI and needs to be returned.
To try and unravel the story of the painting and it's ownership, Liv works to find what she can about Sophie and what happened to her 100 years ago.
The first part of the story was very engaging, the last not as much. I do think I have enjoyed every story this author has written as I enjoy the way the writes characters. I also love happy endings, as long as they are not entirely implausible. This one stretched things almost too far, but I was happy with it.
It reminded me of another book she wrote called, "The Last Letter From Your Lover". I was a bit surprised the author would repeat the the whole split narrative concept.
Tell Me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum / YA / ****
A fun teen flick of a new girl in a new town, a new school, and with a new family. Jessie is struggling to find her way in a place where she feels she won't ever fit in. She is lonely and still grieving the death of her mother. She is a great combination of raw emotion and relatable comic wit.
The rest of the book is almost like a 'who-dunnit' as Jessie receives an email from an anonymous source offering to help her navigate the in's and out's of her new school. Jessie decides to trust this person, and of course in the process of sharing her heart really grows to care and depend on this person. The title, "Tell Me Three Things" refers to a frequent format of their emails. Throughout the book, Jessie becomes more comfortable with her new situation, makes some new friends, and works to figure out who her anonymous emailer is. Cute story.
The Circle by Dave Eggers
Wowza. It is books like this that remind me why I am so against gun control in any shape or form.
It was A Brave New World meets Animal Farm meets The Fountainhead meets 1984 (except that it wasn't as well written ). I was hoping for a realistic and engaging dystopian novel about the powers of the internet but it did fall short for me. That being said, the warnings this book provides make it worth reading.
Mae has been hired by "The Circle" - a fantastic up and coming company that is changing the world with innovative technology that will make us more educated, more healthy, more safe, more connected, and more informed.
There is a price to this safety including total transparency, no privacy, and no secrets. All of your personal information will be held by the Circle.
It had such great potential but overall lacked punch. Common sense explains to me why the programs introduced by the Circle are bad even though they were explained as good, however the story didn't end up showing the real life problems of such systems. The main character, Mae, was weak and so easily influenced that you couldn't respect her. The sex scenes were just odd. The token resistance to the Circle was weak and unrealistic.
My sister just told me that a movie has been made of this book.
The Glittering Court by Richelle Mead / YA / *1/2 / Kindle
This may go down in my reading history as the book I am most embarrassed to admit I read. It was SO BAD. It reminded me of the "Selection" series.
Elizabeth is the member of the royal court. Bored of her meaningless life of never-ending dresses, dances, and social events and pressured to make a loveless marriage, she runs away and takes on the identity of her maid who was selected to join the Glittering Court. The purpose of this court is to raise impoverished girls to the status of ladies that can be married off to husbands in the wild lands of Adoria and have meaningless lives of never ending dresses, dances, and social events and a loveless marriage. WHAT THE???
No world building. Terrible characters. Total objectification of women. Ridiculous plot lines. Token LGBTQ reference required of all teen books now. This book was just so bad.
While typing this I found out this is the author of the VAMPIRE ACADEMY series which explains SO MUCH.
Leave Me: A Novel by Gayle Foreman / A / ***1/2 / Kindle
This book totally reminded me of Anne Tyler's "Ladder of Years". Fun quirky characters. Overworked mom that runs away from her family to find herself. I like the idea that sometimes you just need to see your life from a different perspective.
The Candy Shop War by Brandon Mull / JF / **** / Kindle
Mrs. White is not an ordinary candy maker. Her candy is magic and can help you defy gravity, become invincible, or talk to animals. It also can make you a mindless creature that forgets your life in order to get more. Four friends have an adventure of a life-time as they become involved with - then try to break free from Mrs. White. Fun Juvenile Fiction story that felt spot on for the audience it is intended for. Fun read.
The Chemist by Stephanie Meyers / A / ***
Summary: Mostly fun, slightly ridiculous.
For the record I DO love Twilight. Well, I did. I can't even read it now. But in the day I read it OVER AND OVER again.
The Host is even better.
This one, not so much. I applaud Meyers for writing something else. It would be hard to write something that was a global phenomenon and have people eagerly awaiting your next masterpiece. I think she was wise to wait a few years.
Meyers switches genres and narrative style with this book. This is a spy-crime novel and uses a third person narrator instead of first person. The main character, Alex/Juliana/Oleander/etc is a former government operative on the run. She is in constant danger from unknown assassins that are trying to kill her for what she knows.
The story actually starts out pretty good, but declines rapidly as soon as she kidnaps the wrong person, tortures him, and he falls in love with her. Like huh?
It then turns into this almost ridiculous litany of cool spy gadgets and expensive hide-outs owned by her new friends she meets on the road. It takes away from the emotionally bleak and gripping start of the story.
Apple and Rain by Sarah Crossan / YA / ***
Apple is in eighth grade and has a lot going on. She lives with her over-protective grandmother in England while her mother tries to get a break in Hollywood. The problem is that it has been ten years and Apple is pretty sure her mother is never coming back. She is lonely, has issues with her image, and has a hard time making friends. One thing she can do is write - but is scared to share her creations.
Apple's world is turned upside down when her carefree mother appears back on the scene. Apple is even more surprised to find that she has a younger sister, Rain, who has even more issues than she does.
Apple has a lot of growing up to do as she learns a lot of hard life lessons in a short amount of time.
It was a little clique and had the stereotypical characters but it is hopeful.
2017 SUMMARY!
2017 was such a weird year for me. I didn't read as much as I normally do. I worked out of town a lot more, couldn't find things that interested me, and was just BUSY.
I wasn't as diligent about recording my books, either. I know my final list includes all the ones checked out from our local library or Pioneer, as they each keep a history of my checkouts. If I picked up a book from my own shelf or that the kids brought home from school, it likely didn't get put on the list.
That being said, I recorded 80 books this year.
HARD COPY:27
KINDLE: 48
AUDIO:5
BOOKS FINISHED FROM THE GOODREADS CHALLENGE (I SWEAR I AM GOING TO FINISH THE LIST THIS YEAR):
- Siddharta by Herman Hesse
- Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
- Interview With a Vampire by Anne Rice
- Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
- Moby Dick by Herman Melville
- Watership Down by Richard Adams
(and 1/2 of Don Quixote and 1/2 of The Brothers Karamazov)
With the exception of Vampire Academy I could see why they were classics. I can't say I LOVED any of them, but I am rather proud I made it through Moby Dick. The one I enjoyed most was Watership Down.
FAVORITE AUDIO BOOKS:
- Lassoing the Sun: A Year In America's National Parks by Mark Woods
- Zookeepers Wife by Diane Ackerman
- Flight by Sherman Alexie
*Of these, my favorite is Flight.
BOOKS THAT HAVE STUCK IN MY HEAD (probably because they each made me THINK):
- Monkey Wrench Gang by Edward Abbey
- The Girls by Emma Cline
- Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Blunt
- The Hate U Give - by Angie Thomas
- The Nix - by Nathan Hill
FAVORITE READS OF THE YEAR:
- Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult
- Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk
- The Scythe by Neal Shusterman
SEEDS OF AMERICA 1: CHAINS by Laurie Halse Anderson / YA / **** / Hardback
This trilogy takes place in 1776 and follows the story of Isabel, her sister Ruth, and their friend Curzon. All three are slaves.
The story moves starts in rural Rhode Island, where the death of their mistress means freedom to Isabel and Ruth. The son of their deceased mistress refuses to honor his mothers will, and sells the two sisters to a household in New York. The City is mostly Loyalist and is being invaded by the American rebels. (As a side note, it was really interesting to me to read about New York as I was just walking these streets a few months ago - it was cool to actually know where they were talking about.)
Curzon is fighting with the rebels in the place of his Master. He is promised freedom for this work. Curzon befriends Isabel and Ruth and persuades her that if the country is fighting for freedom, why shouldn't they? Isabel helps pass a few pieces of information gathered from her Loyalist household that aids the cause of Independence. Curzon is eventually captured by the British and is put in jail in New York.
This novel is a sobering peek into the daily lives of slaves. The hard work. The fear of being separated from family. The conflicting orders from different masters. Isabel is smart and protective. She tries to protect her sister Ruth throughout the entire story, only to have Ruth sold away from her.
I know this story sounds like just one depressing event after another but the day to day life in Revolutionary War America told from the viewpoint of a slave was really fascinating. And Isabel was just such a hard worker and so devoted and so HOPEFUL that you were cheering for her the entire way.
The story ends with Isabel being told that her sister was not really sold to the Caribbean Islands but was really sent to their masters plantation in South Carolina. With his knowledge, Isabel runs away, rescuing Curzon from the jail in a totally daring but completely plausible fashion.
SEEDS OF AMERICA 2: FORGE by Laurie Halse Anderson / YA / ***1/2 / Hardback
The story picks up about a year later. Curzon and Isabel have had a splitting of ways as Isabel wants to go to South Carolina and find her sister and Curzon wants to help fight for freedom.
This book is told from the point of view of Curzon and tells about his life as a soldier. He joins a regiment of rag-tag soldiers who end up wintering in Valley Forge.
The book is a fascinating peek at the daily life of a soldier - the deprivations and hard work combined with the desire for freedom from Britain. The story is made even more interesting due to the fact that Curzon is black. Even though the Civil War is another 100 years away, the changes in attitude that finally prompted the war are already beginning to happen - and are probably sped along by men who live, fight, and died together in the mud of New England.
Curzon is eventually discovered by his old master, and is forced to leave his regiment to work as a house slave. He is horrified to find Isabel in the home as well. She had been recaptured and was forced to wear a forged iron collar around her neck as punishment.
The rest of the book follows their actions to work together to escape.
SEEDS OF AMERICA 3: ASHES by Laurie Halse Anderson / YA / *** 1/2 / Hardback
The story picks up again after about another year. Isabel and Curzon have made their way to South Carolina to find Ruth.
Ruth was a young child when she was separated from her sister and was told her sister did not want her. She is a little simple minded and resistant to change. Isabel has to work not only to convince her to run away but also to trust her and rebuild their relationship.
The group knows they have to get North for freedom. This book tells of their journey back into a northern America that is in turmoil. They have to choose sides - Curzon wants to rejoin the fight for freedom - especially as the military has promised freedom for those that fight. Isabel wants to join with the British - who have promised freedom for any slaves that help their cause.
Both quickly find that neither side is all that it promises to be. Trusts are broken. Allies turn. The three friends are taken advantage of at every turn by people on both sides. They suffer and they work and ultimately they prevail.
This series was fascinating and heartbreaking and asks over and over again what is the price of freedom and are you willing to pay it? It was such an engaging story that was ultimately realistic without being overly depressing and hopeful without being saccharine. I really enjoyed it.
THE MAGICIANS by Lev Grossman / YA / ***1/2 / Kindle
I don't know what to think about this book.
It tells the story of a teenager boy, Quentin, who is told he is a magician and is invited to study magic at a school in upstate New York. Sound like a plot you've already heard? The resemblances to Harry Potter are striking but this is not the only parallel. The book has a lot of tie-ins with the Narnia series as well. I can't help but think that the tie-ins were deliberate... kind of like the idea that all stories already exist and we just redo them over and over again? I don't know.... all I do know is that the Harry Potter books and the Narnia books are on the top of my list of books that I adore and that actually changed my life and this book lacked the magical spark of either.
The book covers a LOT of ground - five years of school plus a year or so of post school plus a couple of years adventure in another realm.
I had to pretty much force myself to read the book as I just didn't like the main character. As he didn't really like himself, this also could have been deliberate by the author. The book just felt cold and sterile. There were moments of greatness but you had to really plod through to get to them.
The Swans of 5th Avenue by Melanie Benjamin / A / **** / Kindle
For a book where not much happened, I really enjoyed this book. I read it because it was written by the author of "The Aviator's Wife" which I enjoyed. It is the story of high society in New York in the 50's and 60's. In the center of it all is Truman Capote and his "swans" - the manicured and moneyed friends Truman cultivated for his own reasons. The characters were really nuanced and you got to know them in a deep way. I also enjoyed the cultural references and found myself up looking up different people and events mentioned... like Babe Paley and Truman's famous "Black and White Ball".
Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson / A / ***
This is a short story by an author I really enjoy. She gives a vivid picture of a young girl growing up in Brooklyn in the 1970's. I could feel the heat on the streets, hear the city noises in the night and the slang being spoken, feel the love she had for her friends. It is a story of friendship but also of the dark side of Brooklyn. It gave me a look into a world I don't know much about.
The Women In the Castle by Jessica Shattuck / A / ****
This is the story of three widows whose fates become intertwined in the final year of WWII. There is Marianne, the widow of a Nazi resistor, who is trying to fulfill a promise made to her husband to care for the families of his compatriots; Benita, the wife of her childhood best friend; and Ania, another resistor's wife that is not all she says she is. It tells the story of their lives after their war, their struggles as Germany tries to rebuild, and their fierce loyalty to their own sets of values that did not always coincide. It was a fascinating story of post WWII Germany.
The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley / YA / ****1/2
I read this book a few years ago, and selected it to review for my turn hosting book group. It tells the story of Ada - one of the best literary characters ever. She has never left her apartment in ten years due to an unresolved club foot. When her brother Jamie is sent away from London during WWII to live in the country, Ada sneaks out and goes with him.
What follows is the most delightful story as they adjust to life in the country. It is a whole new world for both children, but especially Ada. Their begrudging guardian, Susan Smith, has a beautiful story of her own. The entire community pulls together during this difficult time in England's history to give the children love, companionship, confidence, and safety.
This is a great story of love, family, and making the most of the life you've been given. Ada is smart, gritty, damaged, loyal, scared, and brave all at the same time. Great book!
The War I Finally Won by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley / YA / ***1/2
I didn't even know this book existed until I went to order a few extra copies of the first book for my book group to use.
While not as purely delightful as the first, it satisfies us all to hear what happened to our precious Ada. She faces new challenges as she must evolve to understand her new place in the world. I love that there is just the right amount of reality (this book does take place during a war after all) with the right amount of hope.
