I tend to read a lot of non fiction, so I am inevitably behind on good fiction reads. This was recommended to me via a social media request by several of my trusted reader friends and it did not disappoint. I laughed. I cried. I cringed. I hated everyone and loved them all at the same time. Read More »
I Read a Lot of Books
I read a lot of books. Sometimes I review them.
Wonder by R. J. Palacio
My friend/neighbor both a book reader and elementary teacher highly recommended this one. She teaches 5th grade and swears by this book so I felt I had to read it. It is a sweet story that involved lots of tears and can see why she requires her class to read it together. Read More »
Girl Waits with Gun by Amy Stewart
For regular readers of this website (hi, Mom), you are aware I have a thing for Amy Stewart books. I’ve read about worms, how to make alcohol from plants, killer bugs, etc… So when I saw she had a fiction book coming out that wasn’t about natural earth science, I was intrigued. I honestly did not expect to like it. Read More »
Best Boy by Eli Gottlieb
This is another audiobook, so I’ll review the content as well as how I enjoyed the audio narration. I’d seen little blurbs for this book on my internets and had wanted to read it for a while before it was on sale on my audible account (speaking of which, I am reminded of credits that I need to spend…). I am particularly interested in books of this nature as they deal with a subject that I am interested in. What does life look like for mentally disabled adults once their parents have passed away? Read More »
The Zodiac Legacy: The Dragon’s Return by Stan Lee and Stuart Moore
In my quest to find engaging books for my own kids to read as they get older… I keep reading middle grade or YA books, even though they aren’t my favorite genres. I just want to let you know up front that if you like the aforementioned genres, you’d probably give this book a higher grade than I did. Read More »
Midwinterblood by Marcus Sedgwick
Sometimes it is hard to know if I’ve judged a book harshly or not… Midwinterblood falls into that category. Read More »
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
Warning, I listened to this one via audiobook, and it may have tainted my perception of the book in its entirety. I typically enjoy Neil Gaiman, so I went into this book prepared to really enjoy it, which also might color my view. Do not misunderstand, I didn’t hate this book, I just found it disappointing. Read More »
The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
Fiction books are tricky things, sometimes. For example… sometimes I hover on the grade should it be A- or should it be B+? I enjoyed it. The characters were engaging and well rounded… but does it answer those big questions, or does it have big ideas like I feel an A book should have. The Rosie Project encouraged me to think of larger concepts without trying to hit me over the head with them, which I loved. Read More »
Mudbound by Hillary Jordan
I honestly don’t remember how this one came into my consciousness. I don’t believe anyone recommended it and I think vaguely I read the synopsis of the movie version and thought that it sounded like an interesting book? Either way, I got it from my old friend Amazon and the rest is history. I really enjoyed this book and it isn’t the sort of fiction that I tend to like. So often I read books about race relations in the deep south pre civil rights movement and I have to roll my eyes so often (I’m looking at you, The Help). Read More »
The Trespasser by Tana French
French and I have had a pretty serious thing going on since I read one of her books while I was in the hospital delivering my first child in 2010. Then I read another in 2012 while I was in the hospital with my second child. And again in 2014 with my third child. Well, her new book came out and I was nowhere near having a kid, so I had to break our streak and read The Trespasser. I was initially pretty thrilled because I knew this book would follow Antionette Conway who I enjoyed in the last book and wanted to delve more into what a partnership between her and Stephen Moran would look like. Read More »
The Song of the Quarkbeast: the Chronicles of Kazam Book Two by Jasper Fforde
Jasper Fforde loses no steam with his followup to The Last Dragonslayer. In the last book we discovered a few things. The Mighty Shandar is kind of not a nice person. Jennifer is a berserker. Big Magic is back. Read More »
The Last Dragonslayer: The Chronicles of Kazam Book One by Jasper Fforde
I have a love/love less relationship with Jasper Fforde. One of my favorite books ever Shades of Grey (not to be confused with 50 Shades of Grey) was written by Jasper Fforde. I started out strong with the Thursday Next series, and loved the Nursery Crime series and was fully expecting to read all the books in the Shades of Grey series, only there have been no more books. Read More »
Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew’d by Alan Bradley
If you recall we last left Flavia de Luce on her way back to England after a brief sojourn at a Canadian boarding school. I must admit, I was excited to see where the series would go once Flavia returned. But I am getting ahead of myself. Read More »
Patricia, the Beautiful by Katheryn Kimbrough
These books are not getting any better. Lets start with that. Read More »
Margaret, The Faithful by Katheryn Kimbrough
Another bad book brought to you by the Saga of the Phenwick Women. I honestly am glad I only have four of these books in total in this series and this is number three so we are ALMOST finished I promise! Read More »
Jane, the Courageous by Katheryn Kimbrough
You’ll have to read my review of Augusta, the First to get the back story on this series of books and why they are fundamentally terrible, but let me just tell you why THIS particular book is terrible. Read More »
Augusta, The First by Katheryn Kimbrough
This book was SOOOOOO bad. Ugh. Really. It was awful. My baby brother (who turns 32 this year!) got this for my birthday last last year. Correction, he got the first four books in the series (more about this series later) at a used book store for a dollar. He had the gaul to leave the price tag and when I called him on it he said he just wanted to show me what our friendship was worth. Thanks, Jason. In retaliation, I didn’t get him anything for his birthday, so there is that. Read More »
Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton
Okay, I am warning you right now this is the first book in what looks to be a YA fantasy series so it could go on forever. I didn’t know that when I bought this book. I was hoping for a quick little one off. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) this book was good enough that now I am going to have to continue reading the series. The problems of a person that reads a lot of books… Read More »
The Dressmaker by Rosalie Ham
I saw a trailer for the movie version of this book a few years after the movie was in theaters. As usual, I thought, hmmm… looks like an okay movie, but I bet the book is better. Having never seen the film, I can’t promise I am correct, but the book was fine. It wasn’t wonderful, but entertaining enough. Read More »
S is for Silence by Sue Grafton
Rarely do I feel so viscerally about a Grafton book. Generally they fall on the good sort of okay scale don’t make me regret the time spent on them, but are very forgettable once they are done. Read More »
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
Full disclosure, this is usually the type of book that I really dislike. The characters are awful, I mean AWFUL. Flawed, and petty, and one dimensional, but for whatever reason I really enjoyed it. Possibly because all the characters are loathable so I wasn’t rooting for or against any of them. Read More »
Listen, Slowly by Thanhha Lai
So, I am not Vietnamese, but I am multi cultural. My mom is Chilean, so I understand what it is to float between two cultures, to be American and something else. I’ve rarely read a book, fiction/non-fiction/YA/Adult that captures so well what it means to embrace the beauty of two different cultures to understand what it means to be a person. Read More »
Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
Oh, yes I did. Yes I DID pick out a cheesy/romantic book to read. Did I read it in a day? Yes. Did I cry? Yes. How did I fall into this trap, you ask? That is a very interesting question. Read More »
Uprooted by Naomi Novik
Guys, this book was good. Also, let me put it out there THIS IS A STAND ALONE BOOK!!! Hallelujah! Finally! Read More »
Merlin’s Keep by Madeleine Brent
Take a trip with me to nostalgia town. Really, I first read Madeleine Brent the summer before I turned 13 and I thought they were the BEST books ever. Back in that time my idea of romance came from Jane Austen and Louisa May Alcott. Then I discovered Madeleine Brent, Victoria Holt, Mary Stewart, and Georgette Heyer. They were my Jr. High staples, and for a LONG while (longer than I’d like to admit) I would re-read my favorites each year.
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The Girl Who Soared Over Fairyland and Cut the Moon in Two by Catherynne M. Valente
I’ve been vocal about my support for Valente and her work but I can not lie to you, this last book took me way too long to get into. I just didn’t find the story as compelling no matter how prettily it was written. Read More »
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
Fun back story, because I know you come for the back story. My husband bought me this book (it has been on my to-read list… a VERY long list) from a used book store for Christmas two years ago. Inside there is an inscription “To my sweet Love Jo, I hope you’ll enjoy this book… and many more that I plan to give you :) Always yours, Oren Liberman” Then there was some Hebrew (?) and it was dated Feb 9th 2015. So… the detective in me goes to work. Jo could either be I guy or a gal, I am assuming Oren is a man, a man who plans to give many more books and likes to write smiley faces. What happened to Oren and Jo? A mere few months later this book was in a used bookstore being purchased by my guy who likes to give me books. Did one of them die? Was there a falling out? Was Jo using Oren for the books? Cold, Jo, so cold. Read More »
The Haunted Bookshop by Christopher Morley
If I had to pick one word to describe The Haunted Bookshop it would be “charming”. As I was reading it, I felt struck that the old fashioned whimsey could be captured in a play, or in old movie musicals the kind that star Gene Kelly and have a fair amount of tap dancing. Anything that evokes Gene Kelly tap dancing is okay for me. Read More »
The Quickening Maze by Adam Foulds
Another Man Booker finalist. I distrust them but keep reading them. The Quickening Maze is an interesting book that I found well written and compelling. Notice I didn’t say it was enjoyable, because I find it hard to enjoy mental illness, and Foulds deftly created a world that indeed felt like a maze. Read More »
M is for Malice by Sue Grafton
It seems like Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone is always getting involved in uncomfortable family dynamics in these books.
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