You may have noticed that I’m reading a few more YA books than usual. Guilty. Now that #1 is in pre-school he comes home with all these book orders and I can’t resist. I’ve also noticed that when I graduated from University (Go Cougs!) I shortsightedly got rid of my ‘frivolous’ reads and now that my kids are getting ready for real books I am sad that I gave away all my hardcover Harry Potters… So I’ve been trying to get current on what good middle grade or YA books are out there. Read More »
I Read a Lot of Books
I read a lot of books. Sometimes I review them.
Tip and the Gipper: When Politics Worked by Chris Matthews
No secret. I LOVED Reagan. Loved. Him. Sure I was about a month old when he was elected to office, but he was my first president. I always had an interest (some would say unnatural) in politics. I remember watching the Oliver North trials by choice! Not the average activity of choice for a little kid. Whenever I see that there is a new book out featuring the Reagan presidency, I gobble it up. I was a bit skeptical because Chris Matthews is not well known for fair minded political reporting, but it had REAGAN on the cover so I couldn’t resist.
The Zodiac Legacy: Convergence by Stan Lee and Stuart Moore art by Andie Tong
I have been looking for books that might interest my son when he gets a bit older. As his interests right now include super heroes, I thought this might be one to check out. I am pleased I did. Read More »
Women of Faith in the Latter Days: Volume One, 1775-1820 edited by Richard E. Turley Jr. and Brittany A. Chapman
I’d actually read several excerpts of this book and following volumes and had wanted to sit down and read the entire book. I also hope to get to the rest of the volumes when time permits. Read More »
W.A.R.P The Reluctant Assassin: Book 1 Eoin Colfer
YA sci/fi fantasy isn’t always my go to fiction choice. Lately, though, I’ve started reading a bit in order to find things that I’d like to read with my kids once they get bigger, or things that they’ll be able to read when they want to. I am a book buyer. Some say hoarder, but hey, I like books. Read More »
The Liar’s Club by Mary Karr
How to review a book of this nature? It is basically like casting judgment on someone’s life and what they have gone through. I’m in a memoir phase lately, which in and of itself is a bit of a surprise. I’ve always maintained that if you write an entire book about yourself you should definitely have done something mildly noteworthy. Is having a crappy childhood, and equally crappy adolescence noteworthy?
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Paper Valentine by Brenna Yovanoff
This isn’t the sort of book that I usually pick up, or at least, supernatural YA books don’t always appeal to me, but I was pleased to find that Paper Valentine is no mere YA book.
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Black Chalk by Christopher J. Yates
So, the tag on this book said, “A new Stephen King, albeit with a British Accent” and I thought. Oh. Gag. I don’t dislike Stephen King, it just isn’t my thing. BUT, my husband had read about this book somewhere and I am always looking for a good new thriller/suspense type book to read so I kept an open mind. Read More »
The Killer of Little Shepherds: A True Crime Story and the Birth of Forensic Science by Douglas Starr
I’m sure I’ve talked before about how my husband thinks I am extremely macabre what with my reading of murder books all the time… I can’t help myself. I love history and there is also something about looking at the horror of a murderer and what makes them tick. It is like standing close to a monster, but not getting eaten. Read More »
C is for Corpse by Sue Grafton
Yes, back to the BEGINNING of these Sue Grafton books. For those who don’t remember, I am not reading these in any order other than the order that they come into my hands. I think the first of the Alphabet Murder books I read was N is for Noose. I’ve acquired various others along the way. One day I’ll get through all of them, perhaps before she writes Z. Read More »
The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place Book 5: The Unmapped Sea by Maryrose Wood
Okay, I’ma ’bout to get nit-picky. Between books four and five they changed the style and design of the cover art which is no surprised as they changed artists. They also went from the deckle edge paper to regular old straight edge paper… UGH. It appears from her website that future releases of the books will have different cover art most likely using the current artist. I am not a huge emoticon user, but let me describe my face right now. I am frowning. My eyebrows are furrowed. Basically, my face is the annoyed emoticon. Read More »
Hocus by Jan Burke
Confession: I am somewhat behind on my reviews. I read this one so long ago that I couldn’t exactly remember what it was about. I had to begin re-reading. Within a few minutes I remembered it all. I tend to think more favorably of books a while after I’ve read them, so my review might be tainted by that. Read More »
A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler
I don’t exactly recall how this book came into my orbit… and how I randomly ended up with a large print edition? Very interesting. Or maybe it was a gift because I started taking sewing classes last year? Either way, it had nothing to do with sewing and was a nice little read. Read More »
Ordinary People by Judith Guest
I will admit, this is one of my favorite as a movie. I love a good miserable tragedy that ends with an unsatisfying whimper. I assure you, I’m not being sarcastic, I also really enjoyed it as a book. I picked this book up from the “FREE” bin at a second hand book store because, why not? Though–I rarely say this–I liked the movie better. Read More »
To Be a Runner: How Racing Up Mountains, Running with the Bulls, or Just Taking On a 5k Makes You a Better Person (and the World a Better Place) by Martin Dugard
Another running book. Get ready. Read More »
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
I try to limit my fantasy to the YA variety. Fantasy isn’t my favorite genre and all the adult fantasy writers seem to think that series containing 12 books are where it’s at. They also take several years between books. I am looking at you George RR Martin. Read More »
The Perfect Mile: Three Athletes, One Goal, and Less Than Four Minutes to Achieve It by Neal Bascomb
Spoiler alert* Roger Bannister got to the four minute mile first, and I’m assuming you know that if you’ve been alive the last 60 yrs or so. I assume Bascomb also knew that you’d know the outcome before he even started this book and that was his challenge. How to make common knowledge into a bit of a nail biter? How to mimic the feelings of watching an actual race? Bascomb manages to do just that, and to recreate an era of sports before ‘doping’ and big money endorsements. Read More »
Empire of Sin: A Story of Sex, Jazz, Murder, and the Battle for Modern New Orleans by Gary Krist
Jazz, scandal, murder? Sounds like a book for me… sadly, it was only okay. Read More »
World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks
This book was a pleasant surprise. Normally, I don’t get into Zombie post apocalyptic books (I’m looking at you, Cormack McCarthy), but this was written in such an interesting way that I couldn’t resist. Read More »
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
I’d never heard of this book, but my well read friend sent it for Christmas and I was intrigued. I went into the book with no background information and was pleasantly surprised. Gilead is the name of a town in Iowa where Congregationalist minister, John Ames, is preparing to die. Read More »
The Good Women of China: Hidden Voices by Xinran
Spoiler alert. This book is depressing. SUPER depressing. I purposely saved this gem for a time when I am not pregnant because I knew I would not be able to handle it in a highly charged emotional state. That being said, I still cried. Read More »
The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman
What makes a good fiction book? That is a difficult question. Does it entertain? Does it educate? Does it evoke a strong emotional reaction? The Light Between Oceans is not a book that I would typically choose for myself but as I discussed my reaction to the non fiction book An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination by Elizabeth McCracken with a good friend, she brought over the Stedman book and wanted to see what I thought. They both deal with women who have lost children and there the comparison ends. Read More »
Ten Big Ones by Janet Evanovich
I have three kids aged 3 months, 2 years, and 4 years. Even at University I managed to do my school work and still read for pleasure. Whenever I feel like I am slipping behind and not reading, I crack out of few of these books. I enjoy Plum series because they are easy to read, don’t require 100% attention, and the bright colors are a favorite of the 2 year old. She likes to stack and unstack and pull them off the shelves. Read More »
Hard Eight by Janet Evanovich
So, I am clearly reading my way through the Stephanie Plum series. Though, after this book, I decided to take a little break. I have read too many too soon to really appreciate the books as they should be read. Read More »
Hot Six by Janet Evanovich
Another Stephanie Plum book and things are as crazy as ever in Trenton, New Jersey. Read More »
The Secret Place by Tana French
It is no secret among my friends and relatives, as far as genre fiction goes, Tana French is one of my favorites. I deliberately saved this one for my hospital stay with the birth of my third child. Tana French and I have a little tradition. She produces new books at the same rate that I produce new children. I hope she stops pretty soon because I can’t keep this up forever! Read More »
The Longest Race: A Lifelong Runner, an Iconic Ultramarathon, and the Case for Human Endurance by Ed Ayres
So, spoiler alert, I would like to one day run a marathon. Until I am back to my spritely running form, I have decided to read one book a month about running in order to keep my enthusiasm up and learn a thing or two. I don’t have a lot of runner friends that READ about running, so getting good recommendations has been mostly trial and error. As previously stated, I don’t like to read reviews prior to reading a book because I don’t want to taint my own feelings. I had already started this one when I added it to my goodreads.com profile. Unfortunately, I caught a glimpse of some negative reviews so this might feel like an apologist essay. If so, I apologize (do you see what I did there?). Read More »
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand
Though I have vowed to cut back on my WWII reading, this book came highly recommended from nearly all my non fiction reader friends. I thought I’d read it before it became a movie and a weirdly watered down Hollywood version replaced the memory of the actual book. I am glad I did. Read More »
High Five by Janet Evanovich
This is the fifth installment in the Stephanie Plum series. And I am not going to lie, it was hard to suspend my disbelief at times. Generally, the plots are implausible, but this one was just too much. Read More »
12 Years a Slave by Solomon Northup
This book was written in 1853 about a free black man who was kidnapped and transported south to live as a slave for 12 long years. I’ve read other memoirs written in the same time frame, and I have to say that I don’t love the style of personal narratives written at the time. So that dislike of the way this memoir was written is reflected in how much I was able to enjoy the book as a whole, if one can enjoy reading about the utter misery of another human being. Read More »