A Million Little Ways, Me Before You, and The List

This week's (and last week's, because apparently my goal of two books per week was a little too lofty after all) books are:

taken from Goodreads.com

This was actually my first Emily Freeman book (love her on Hopewriters and love her sister The Nester) and I really liked it. Her encouragement to make art within and throughout all of our daily tasks was so beautiful and unique. She stresses the importance of figuring out how we are meant to create art for our Savior by living our lives, and how that might not mean literal, traditional art but maybe in a more discreet and less obvious way instead. Since I was just diving back into writing when I read this, I found it to be particularly encouraging.

taken from Goodreads.com

So this book has just been turned into a movie and all the [Christian] reviews seem to be pretty condemning (as well as full of spoilers...like, IN THE TITLE of the review, effectively ruining the ending of the book for the person who is in the middle of reading said book and avoiding reviews for the purpose of not having the end spoiled). The reviews are, truthfully, about the movie and not the book, and I have not yet seen the movie so my brief review will only be about the book. That being said, my honest opinion (SPOILER ALERT, because I'm a nice person) is that this was a really good book that didn't glorify euthanasia at all. It explored it as a topic, it did explain the specific character's point of view and all the reasons why he wanted to go that route, but I honestly do not think it glorified it. Every single character in the entire book, other than the character in question, was devastated by his decision. Every single character fought against it till the end, argued with him about the merits of making a different decision, tried their hardest to show him the value of living rather than giving up, and, in the end, were completely and utterly destroyed by his decision. I can't speak for the movie, but this "happy ending" all the reviewers keep talking about doesn't happen in the book. Yeah, she gets a lot of money. But she also loses the love of her life. If you want to discuss other reasons why I think it doesn't glorify it, and why I also think there's value in reading books that make us think and consider another point of view (even if we don't agree with it at all), I would love to discuss it more. But for the sake of time, I'll move on. Honestly, I just liked the book. I loved the characters and I loved her writing style. I was inspired by this book; it was most of the reason I decided to temporarily abandon nonfiction reading and focus on fiction while I try to write my novel. The characters and the writing and the voice in this novel inspired me and pushed me and got my creativity flowing in new and exciting ways with my own novel. It took me from a place where I had been stuck for two years and pushed me into a whole new arena with my writing. I'll always be grateful to this book for that, and I can't wait to read more by Ms. Moyes because of it.

taken from Goodreads.com

This was the second book I added to my Goodreads account. It was probably six or seven years ago. I almost deleted it recently because I figured if I hadn't read it by now I never would. But I did, and I loved it. I got transported back to high school, but I still loved it. A high school that has a list posted every fall of the ugliest and prettiest girl in each grade? Yeah...it makes for an interesting plot. I do think the author got a little overextended with following eight different girls throughout the book; after the first half or so she loses the plots of a couple and focuses more on the same few over and over, but it was still really good. I'd definitely recommend it.

Catching up on book reviews

Hey friends. It's been approximately one million years and 5 books since I've updated you all on what I've read. Some of that was unintentional (finished a couple at once and just forgot to update the blog) and some of it, I'll confess, was intentional ("eh...I'll wait till I have more and just do a big post"). At any rate, I'm back. Here's some very brief thoughts about what I've been reading.

taken from Goodreads.com

I really loved Gayle Forman's original two-part story, If I Stay and Where She Went. Like, really really loved them. So I always kind of had this two-part story, Just One Day and Just One Year, at the back of my mind. Here's the short version of my opinions about this first book: I hated the first 30%, enjoyed the next 50ish%, and then grumbled and rolled my eyes dramatically throughout the last 20%. My sister was visiting me for a long weekend while I read it and I would update her on all the obnoxious, teenagery things that I was reading. She left to go back home before I finished and I called her and left a ten minute voicemail telling her the end in great detail. Her response? "As soon as I heard how it ended I thought 'Oh crap, now she has to read the second one.'" YUP. Gayle, darn you and your cliffhangers. So, yeah. It was fine. Whatever. But I have to read the second one now.

taken from Goodreads.com

I have listened to Shauna on the Relevant podcast for years but really hadn't read much of her stuff until recently. I read Cold Tangerines last year and now I've finished Bittersweet...Bread & Wine will be read soon and JT and I are working our way through Savor together. I've already preordered her new book, Present over Perfect, though, and cannot wait. That being said: I really really love her books and love the depth at which she writes and the things that she's willing to explore and wrestle with...but I also have found that in both this one and Cold Tangerines, there's always a moment about 75% through where I just kind of get bored. Maybe I feel like she's already reached that point where she's said what she needs to say and she's just kind of repeating herself. Regardless of that, I really did love this book. A lot of the subject matter really hit close to home; she spends much of the book describing the pain and emotional journey she and her husband went on in the wake of a miscarriage. I obviously cried a lot of tears over this book as I was forced to remember our own similar journey and recovery. She covers some really hard subject matter with a whole lot of beauty, grace, and encouragement.

taken from Goodreads.com

So you remember Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events from back in the day? There were 13 books that were made into a movie and is now being made into a Netflix television show? Well my brother and I LOVED that series - and read a lot of them together, taking turns reading aloud - and we now officially love this series. It's a prequel to the Series of Unfortunate Events, explaining Lemony's childhood and how he ends up in a position where he's writing about the Baudelaire family. I'd actually already read this one about 4 years ago when it came out, but then time and life got away from me and I'd never read the rest. They're all out now - there are only 4 in this series, which is much easier to handle than 13 - and they're ridiculously easy and quick reads. Also, they're HILARIOUS. So so so funny. I highly recommend them.

taken from Goodreads.com

I read this one because it felt like everyone was reading it, and everyone was loving it. I'm not sure how much I really loved it, to be honest. I liked it a lot, and I fully appreciated the master storytelling and the beautiful writing. Beautiful. But I also didn't miss it when I wasn't reading. I wanted to finish it, but I didn't have this burning desire to see it through. I just kind of liked it, that's all. That being said, it is a really and truly beautiful story with complex and beautiful characters and a fresh perspective on a time in history that is so thoroughly covered in so many ways.

taken from Goodreads.com

Guys, I LOVED this book. I have now read all of Rainbow's work (not counting her brand new book that I have no interest in), and every one of her books I've liked so much more than the last. I kind of liked parts of Fangirl, I liked Eleanor & Park a lot, I loved Landline, and I LOVED Attachments. Very quirky and realistic characters living in a pre-Y2K world where the rules of the internet are fuzzy at best? So. Good. I laughed (a whole lot, sometimes out loud), and I cried. And I super duper loved these characters. Rainbow's gift is dialogue, which I appreciate because I feel like I suck at it. Read this one. All the gold stars and thumbs up.

We Were Liars: a brief review

taken from Goodreads.com

All I really knew about this book was that one of my good friends read it a year ago and liked it a lot. At the risk of accidentally giving away really crucial plot twists, I'll be as brief as possible. The first half of this book was kind of eh. The second half of the book became much more of a little mystery and I got sucked in. THE END IS NUTS. The mostly good kind of nuts. And that's it. That's literally all I can say because otherwise I'll just end up rambling about the entire thing and give the ending away. And I really don't want to do that. So...I recommend it. You should read it, but just know it's a little different. Different, but definitely unforgettable (to take John Green's word from the review at the top of the book's cover).

Here's my updated 2016 reading goals list (remember I don't want to read only these books this year, just want to make sure I do read these):

• For the Love, by Jen Hatmaker
• Good News for Weary Women, by Elyse Fitzpatrick
• Bittersweet, by Shauna Niequist
• Bread & Wine, by Shauna Niequist
• Parenting with Scripture, by Kara Durbin
• Love and Respect, by Emerson Eggerichs
• The Excellent Wife, by Martha Peace
• The Underdogs, by Markus Zusak
• Every You, Every Me, by David Levithan
• Every Day, by David Levithan
• We Were Liars, by E. Lockhart
• Reality Boy, by AS King
• Forgive me Leonard Peacock, by Matthew Quick
• Lindsey Lost, by Suzanne Marie Phillips 
• Belle Porter series
• To All the Boys I've Loved Before, by Jenny Han
• Odds of Getting Even, by Sheila Turnage
• Attachments, by Rainbow Rowell

Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock: a brief review

taken from Goodreads.com

This was one of the Green Valley Book Fair books I mentioned in my 2016 goals post. I can't lie...it's kind of a bummer. I don't really know why I bought it. It's about a kid who is planning on killing his classmate and then killing himself on the day the book takes place...which also happens to be his birthday. It was written well and definitely sucked me in, but most of it was definitely really sad.

Here's my updated 2016 reading goals list now:

• For the Love, by Jen Hatmaker
• Good News for Weary Women, by Elyse Fitzpatrick
• Bittersweet, by Shauna Niequist
• Bread & Wine, by Shauna Niequist
• Parenting with Scripture, by Kara Durbin
• Love and Respect, by Emerson Eggerichs
• The Excellent Wife, by Martha Peace
• The Underdogs, by Markus Zusak
• Every You, Every Me, by David Levithan
• Every Day, by David Levithan
• We Were Liars, by E. Lockhart
• Reality Boy, by AS King
• Forgive me Leonard Peacock, by Matthew Quick
• Lindsey Lost, by Suzanne Marie Phillips 
• Belle Porter series
• To All the Boys I've Loved Before, by Jenny Han
• Odds of Getting Even, by Sheila Turnage
• Attachments, by Rainbow Rowell

Every You, Every Me: a brief review

taken from Goodreads.com

My first book of the new year is one to cross off the 2016 list. I'm glad I can cross it off the list because goodNESS this book stunk. The plot was okay enough, but the way Levithan chose to wrote it just about made me insane. It was very experimental; his friend would send him a picture and he would write some of a book based on the picture, and then his friend would send him another picture and he would write some more. His friend didn't read any of what he was writing and he would never know what pictures were coming next. Kind of a cool concept, except that it just really didn't work out too well. It was infuriatingly ambiguous and vague, and gave no information to the reader until about 90% through. Also, most annoying of all, was his use of the strikethrough, which he used entirely too much and throughout the whole book, and I for one never did really figure out what his intended purpose was for it. I'm a little bummed this was my first ever Levithan book, because I've heard good things about him but this one makes me want to take a while to read another.

Here's my updated 2016 reading goals list now:

• For the Love, by Jen Hatmaker
• Good News for Weary Women, by Elyse Fitzpatrick
• Bittersweet, by Shauna Niequist
• Bread & Wine, by Shauna Niequist
• Parenting with Scripture, by Kara Durbin
• Love and Respect, by Emerson Eggerichs
• The Excellent Wife, by Martha Peace
• The Underdogs, by Markus Zusak
• Every You, Every Me, by David Levithan
• Every Day, by David Levithan
• We Were Liars, by E. Lockhart
• Reality Boy, by AS King
• Forgive me Leonard Peacock, by Matthew Quick
• Lindsey Lost, by Suzanne Marie Phillips 
• Belle Porter series
• To All the Boys I've Loved Before, by Jenny Han
• Odds of Getting Even, by Sheila Turnage
• Attachments, by Rainbow Rowell

Catching up on book reviews

Whew. Once again, it's been a while since I've blogged. I haven't done a ton of reading in that time, but I have finished a handful and am going to catch up on the reviews in one post. (I just looked back at my last post and am noticing a theme.)

taken from Goodreads.com

I've read quite a bit of Sharon Draper's books before (here, here, and three others I read before I blogged), and always have mixed feelings about them. This one was probably in my top two. It's about a young girl with cerebral palsy so severe she cannot walk or talk. Everyone around her thinks she is also mentally retarded as well, and she spends most of her life unable to defend or explain herself. This one was good, and also genuinely hard to read at times because of the content; I can't imagine being in her place. It's a good YA choice, especially for teaching about people who are different than us.

taken from Goodreads.com

I can't really say much about this one without giving a lot away, but I will say that I definitely recommend it. Zusak, also the author of The Book Thief, is one of my new favorites. The writing is beautiful, the dialogue is hilarious, and the characters are incredibly endearing. He also keeps you guessing and confused as you try to figure things out, which is fun. I can't wait to read the rest of his books.

taken from Goodreads.com

I'm really bummed to have to write what I'm about to write, but I just didn't love this book. I love Gary Schmidt...my favorite ever book in the whole world is Okay for Now, and some others that are very high on the list are Trouble and Lizzie Bright. This man is everything I want to be in a writer. This book was pretty much "eh" though. Oh well. I guess everyone's allowed a couple of bummers in their career.

Go Set a Watchman: a brief review

taken from Goodreads.com

The world just about shut down this summer when Harper Lee's previously unheard of second novel was released. As a big To Kill a Mockingbird fan, I was obviously excited....but also a little skeptical about some of the circumstances surrounding the release (it just didn't make a lot of sense, did it?). I didn't want to rush out and buy it, but borrowing it from the library sounded good. An audiobook read by Reese Witherspoon didn't hurt either. My verdict: it's good! I enjoyed it a lot. (For the record, I wasn't really skeptical about whether it would be good, just whether Lee really wanted it released after all these years when she's in her 90s.) It was a little different at the beginning because so many characters have changed and/or are gone, but overall I really did like it. I also appreciated the interesting discussions about race...although there was a huge uproar when it first came out because "Atticus is a racist!", I think I tried to come into the book with open eyes, and what I saw was a legitimate and difficult look at race. I don't think any of the characters come out at the end perfect, and no one side is absolutely right. I think Lee did a great job of showing that there's more than one view to the topic, and that everyone has a different reason for feeling the way they do. I might still have doubts about its publication, but I can say that I recommend the read.

And the Mountains Echoed: a brief review

taken from barnesandnoble.com

Several years ago, I read Hosseini's The Kite Runner, and enjoyed it as much as the next guy (or slightly less, maybe; I enjoyed it, but it wasn't my absolute favorite). But then more recently I listened to the audiobook version of his second book, A Thousand Splendid Suns, and loved it to pieces. I was excited, obviously, to snatch his third book, And the Mountains Echoed, on audiobook too. But I had to restart this book four separate times because I was so confused. I will say, though, that I think this is only because I was listening to it on audiobook while trying to cook dinner and keep dogs out of the kitchen and appease my screaming one-year-old who was clinging to my leg. This book has lots of different characters and lots of different story lines (that do connect to each other) and lots of different places/times in history. There's a fair amount to pay attention to, but once I was able to focus and make sure I was working hard to keep everything straight, it started getting a lot easier to remember all those connections. And then I fell in love with this book. It is brilliantly beautiful, and the web Hosseini weaves of family generations, relationships, and consequences is perfect. I loved this book...I think I do still love A Thousand Splendid Suns slightly more, but I really loved this book. It's beautiful, heartbreaking, and full of redemption. So one more time I'll say it: read Hosseini's books.

No Country for Old Men: a brief review

taken from Goodreads.com

I saw this movie years ago and really enjoyed it, so when I heard someone mention the book on a podcast I figured I should check that out at some point. And I wasn't disappointed. Not by the book itself, (writing was incredible, characters were super interesting, social commentaries were spot on even though it's a couple decades old and takes place a couple decades before that) and not by the audiobook (which boasts an incredible reader). I really enjoyed this book, and can't wait to watch the movie again. I also can't wait to look into McCarthy's other books.

Twofer: two brief reviews

I slacked on writing a review again, so I have two different book reviews to write tonight. One I loved loved loved, and one I super duper didn't like at all.

taken from Goodreads.com

Oh my goodness. I loved this book. I loved this book so much I put it in my top 5 books ever. I loved the characters - the sweet, sweet, lovable characters - and I loved the twists and turns, and I loved the commentary on books and book people and I loved the whole thing. Not to be too dramatic (unless I've already crossed that threshold), but this was the kind of book for me that buries itself down deep in my heart and that I know I'll read many more times in the future. Sigh...so good. Also, as a small sidenote: something that I really appreciate is when a book or movie that is about a certain thing does a good job with that thing (translation: Jack Black's character in the The Holiday is a composer for movies, and the score for The Holiday is fantastic). Well this is a book about really good books, and it's indeed a really good book. I know I've given you absolutely nothing about plot or any information, and that's kind of on purpose. I don't want to spoil any of the surprises for you, and it's hard to give you much of a plot synopsis without doing that. So I'll just say this: read this book. Please read this book. Good golly, I'll probably buy it for you for Christmas to make sure you read this book.

taken from Goodreads.com

In contrast...eh. This book was surprisingly bad. I feel like I'm not allowed to really say that, because it's a classic. And it's Ray Bradbury. But goodness. I was bored out of my mind and when I wasn't bored out of my mind I was confused. There were good moments and good points made, and definitely some great commentaries on what the world could (and probably already has) easily become...but aside from that, whew. It was 4 CDs of pure effort for me. Sorry if that makes me a terrible former Language Arts teacher, but I'm just telling you the truth. But hey. I feel more well rounded, I suppose.

Al Capone Does My Homework: a brief review

taken from Goodreads.com

Al Capone Does My Homework is the third and last of the Al Capone/Alcatraz series from Gennifer Choldenko. It was my least favorite of the three, but it was still super cute and I liked it a lot. Moose's dad has become the Assistant Warden, which means that Moose feels a whole new weight of responsibility on his shoulders as he attempts to protect his father. Al Capone makes a cameo just like in the other two books, but this time it's to help Moose. I really like all three of these books, and highly recommend them; they're great historical fiction for middle schoolers.

This is Where I Leave You: a brief review

taken from goodreads.com

And just like that, all of the books that I had intended to read during the calendar year are crossed off my list. I meant to set the bar a lot lower this year to give myself some grace post-first baby, but it seems I set the bar just a tad too low. (Although I should point out that I read most of these by having them read to me while I did my chores, fed my daughter, and drove all over the place, so it's possible I still would have been working on getting them read in December otherwise.)

This is Where I Leave You (recently turned into a movie that I'm really excited to see, especially given the cast list) tells the tale of an extremely dysfunctional family that comes together to sit shiva following the death of their father. For seven days, these adult siblings and their mother must sit in chairs and mourn while everyone they've ever met comes to bring them food and share in their grief. They all have their own (fairly severe) issues and all of those issues come out in full force when the family is stuck in close quarters for over a week.

Good things about this book: it made me laugh a lot. I really enjoyed almost all of the characters, and I enjoyed how the author gave each of them a considerable amount of depth as the book progressed. I thought the overall plot was sweet and addressed many real-life issues that people have (although I sure hope no single family has all of those real-life issues at once like this one does). Bad things about this book: good gracious I did not need to read about that much sex. I get it...I'm an adult and I am fine with reading about adult things. But I think I've just read way too much adult things recently and I need to cleanse my pallet with some Young Adult for a while. Also, the sex in this one was specific. And detailed. But enough about that...I also thought that a lot of the life-changing, reevaluate your life moments in the book were still a very wordly version of shallow. Most of those moments were really disappointing to me; I just didn't think the characters made much progress even though they had all kinds of deep, serious talks and deep, serious moments. And that's kind of a bummer, I think. Also, I hated the end.

With this book behind me, I'm excited to start a new group of books. I do have a list of books I want to get to soon, but it's not a firm list like this one was. Even though I had made that list of books I genuinely wanted to read, I always kind of felt bummed when I finished a book and knew the next one I would read had already been picked. I like being a little more free with what I'm in the mood for. So you and I will both have to wait and see what I end up reading this summer.

Crash and Monster: two brief reviews

Since I finished two books at the same time (one on Kindle and one on audiobook), I'm just going to write their reviews in the same post.

taken from goodreads.com

I picked this audiobook up from the library because Jerry Spinelli is a big deal and I thought I'd probably heard of the book before. I'd somehow only ever read Spinelli's Stargirl, and although I didn't hate it, I also didn't necessarily love it. Crash, though, I really loved. A lot. It was a really cute book, and the fact that the person reading the audiobook was incredible. Loved it.

Crash is your typical middle school bully/star of the football team. Pen is your typical middle school nerd/free spirit/star male on the cheerleading team. Crash makes it his life mission to make Pen's life miserable for years, but Pen's spunky, carefree attitude simply cannot be broken.

This book reminded me a little bit of a middle school version of something Laurie Halse Anderson would write. Reading a book from the perspective of a bully was really uncomfortable at times, but it also made a huge impact. I loved the characters, loved the dialogue, loved the little plot twists, and loved the heartwarming lessons learned. Plus, it's a very short book. I knocked out the audiobook in a day. That's always nice.

taken from goodreads.com

In contrast to the low expectations I went into Crash with, I went into Monster with super high expectations. Also in contrast to how much I loved Crash, I did not love Monster. It had been on my radar for years and I always thought it looked like such a crazy plot that I would love getting into. When it came time to read it though...eh. It wasn't. It wasn't a very crazy plot and I didn't love it. In fact, it was hard to get into at all.

Steve Harmon is a 16-year-old boy on trial for his involvement in an armed robbery that also resulted in the murder of the shop owner. He and two other boys were supposedly working together, and are all on trial. The book follows Steve through the trial, both in and out of the courtroom.

I love law and order-type shows and I think the ones that focus on younger people are especially interesting. Since the book is called Monster, I thought that this was going to be about a deeply troubled young man who had done some unthinkably awful things that have landed him on trial. I expected to be wowed by the horror of it all as I followed his trial through his eyes. This isn't at all what the book is about, though. It's also not the opposite of that, which would be a book about an innocent boy who was in the wrong place at the wrong time because he has some of the wrong friends and is now just thrown into the system without thought because he's black and from the projects. That book would have also been an interesting read. It wasn't either of those things, though; it was a book about a boy who did in fact grow up in a loving family on the poorer side of town who definitely seems to be innocent but never actually explains what his involvement/lack of involvement was in the robbery, who does question how on earth he got into this mess but also calls himself a monster and wonders if everyone knows something about himself that he doesn't know.

This was really confusing, to be honest. I'm reading a book from this kid's own perspective, and I don't even know if he did it or not. I don't even know if he was minimally involved or if he was plucked off the street and put on trial despite the fact that he was nowhere near the store at the time of the robbery. I have a hard time with books like that, that don't just say what they mean and mean what they say. He certainly seems innocent based on how scared and confused he is by everything that's happening around him, but why on earth is he calling himself a monster and questioning himself so deeply? Why would anyone question their own moral standing if they knew they were innocent? I get that he's a kid, but...still. I would have been fine reading a social commentary on the injustices of life for black teenage boys, and I would have been fine reading a shocking and grim look inside the mind of a teenage sociopath, but this wishy washy, weird middle ground was boring and hard to get excited about.

Also, fun fact: it's written in the style of a movie screenplay, because Steve is interested in making films and is using his time in jail and at trial to document everything for a movie. Interesting approach...super sucked to read. Following stage directions and screenplay shorthand required much more effort than I wanted to give, and since I didn't know it was going to be written that way it kind of annoyed me.

The Girl on the Train: a brief review

taken from goodreads.com

The subtitle of this post should actually be: a super brief review because this is a book club book and I'm saving all my talking for book club because OHMYGOSH do I have a whole lot of talking to do about this book and actually talking about it would spoil the plot for you so just read it.

That should be the subtitle. But I figured maybe that's a little too long.

It's true. This is indeed a book club book and our meeting isn't for several weeks so I'm going to respect that and keep any specific opinions and OHMYGOSHs to myself. Here's the basic plot though, told in a super choppy way in an attempt to leave all spoilers out:

Rachel rides the same train to and from London every day. On her ride she sees the same couple outside their home and has a little made up version of who they are that plays in her head as she passes them every day. In her fantasy they're Jess and Jason, but in real life they're Megan and Scott; when Megan shows up everywhere on the news because she's disappeared, Rachel becomes obsessed with figuring out what happened. Meanwhile, Rachel's ex-husband Tom and his new wife Anna are bugged that Rachel keeps drunkenly calling and harassing them...but it also quickly becomes a little more complicated than that.

The short story: I freaking loved this book. Ate it up. Did all kinds of guessing and trying to figure it all out. In the end, I did kind of figure it out but I didn't even care because it was still super good. I'm not the first person to make this comparison at all, but it's a little Gone Girlish, but as Shauna Niequist said, "in a good way." Translation: it has all the crazy (well, slightly less crazy actually, because Gone Girl is just straight up bananas) and all the mystery and thrills and sociopaths but I wouldn't feel bad recommending it to someone. If you want the long version of my thoughts...read it and then grab coffee with me sometime. I've got lots to say. (But in all honesty it's mostly just a bunch of "OHMYGOSHTHISPART".)

Oh and P.S., they're already starting to work on the movie and I have several casting suggestions. I'm waiting for the phone call.

A Long Way Down: a brief review

taken from goodreads.com

With another book completed on my 2015 reading goals list, I have to admit I'm rethinking my approach to reading entirely. But more on that in a minute. First, let's talk about this book:

Nick Hornby's A Long Way Down is the story of four complete strangers who meet each other on New Year's Eve at the top of the same building that they were all intending to jump off of. They chat, they decide to come down off of the building together, and they make a pact to wait until Valentine's Day to make any kind of decision. Thus forms a super weird, super unlikely group of friends that gets together for coffee, for pick-me-up chats, and even once for a vacation.

Just like lots of the books I've read recently, I added this book to my ever-growing list of books to read because it was going to be made into a movie and I thought the plot sounded really promising (also, Aaron Paul is in the movie version, and I am just crazy about Aaron Paul). I thought it sounded like a super predictable plot, but a predictable plot that I could wrap my heart around: four strangers stop each other from committing suicide, and form an unlikely but strong bond that helps them heal from all their respective problems and find a new appreciation for life. That sounded like a great book to me. Except, spoilers ahead, that's not really what happens. They do form a little bond, but they're all so different that they actually kind of hate each other and continue to do so through the end. They do help each other find a new appreciation for life, sort of, but...honestly they're all still pretty miserable, grumpy people in the end. They're not jumping off the building, (yay) but they're not happy. They're not excited about grabbing life by the horns. They're not made whole by a newly formed love for the family and friends in their life, therefore giving them reasons to live. They're still alive, but when they talk about why they're not jumping, none of them really have reasons.

And all of that, I've got to be honest, makes me a little nuts. Because yeah, it's probably more realistic, and it's definitely less predictable, but at some point I want to feel like I'm getting something out of the books I'm spending my time reading. I don't mind predictable and unrealistic every once in a while if it means it's not a super depressing bummer. I don't mind sappy and romantic and feel-good if it means I get to avoid a thousand f-words and feeling incredibly sad about the hopelessness of fictional characters. And after all of that, I didn't even really enjoy the book. I don't get too bothered by language and hopelessness and craziness in books if I enjoy them, but there have been so many books that I've chosen to read recently because they were on some Buzzfeed list and I don't even like them. Meanwhile, I've got a lot of books staring me in the face that I can't wait to read, and I'm going to read them. Thanks for the suggestions, pop-culture, but I'm gonna do my own thing for a while.

And by the way, the trailer for the movie (which I'll still watch because, Aaron Paul) looks like exactly what I thought the book was going to be. So they either rewrote the plot for the movie, or they're big fat liars just like whoever wrote the synopsis for the book on the internet.

Here's where I stand on my 2015 reading goals list:

• Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand
• Monster, by Walter Dean Myers
• Dash and Lily's Book of Dares, by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
• The Rosie Project, by Graeme Simsion
• Eleanor and Park, by Rainbow Rowell
• Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?, by Mindy Kaling
• Yes Please, by Amy Poehler
• A Long Way Down, by Nick Hornby
• This is Where I Leave You, by Jonathan Tropper
• Wild, by Cheryl Strayed
• Serena, by Ron Rash
• Prisoner of Azkaban, by J.K. Rowling
• Goblet of Fire, by J.K. Rowling
• Order of the Phoenix, by J.K. Rowling
• Half Blood Prince, by J.K. Rowling
• Deathly Hallows, by J.K. Rowling 

Only two left - both of which I'm genuinely excited about - and then we're starting over with a whole new list, most of which are getting pulled straight off my own bookshelves. 

The Deathly Hallows: a brief review

taken from goodreads.com

Well friends, I have finally and officially finished the entire Harry Potter series. The really exciting part is that those books were on my 2015 reading goals list, and finishing them all puts a huge dent in the list; I actually only have two and a half left to go. I know I've said it before and I'm also pretty certain I'll say it many more times, but audiobooks are the way to go. More specifically, audiobooks that you put on your phone so you can put your phone in your pocket and listen to books all day long while you're cleaning the house or washing dishes or feeding your baby or going for a walk (all without headphones, I might add), are life-changing. It has been for me, anyway. It's meant that I can be reading at least two books at once (one on audiobook, one on my Kindle, and one or two non-fiction hard copies for various Bible studies I'm in) and that makes me happy.

Am I stalling? Kind of, yeah. I don't really want to write my real feelings about this book. Not because I absolutely hated it, because I didn't. But I will be completely honest, (because I guess that's the idea of this) I did not love it. I actually didn't love the whole series. I liked the first four quite a bit, was bored to death by the fifth, liked the sixth okay, and barely survived the seventh. Someone very close to me who I love very much and may in fact be a blood relative told me that "every page of this one is gold." I...just...didn't agree. I actually felt like most of the pages didn't need to be there at all. But more on that in a minute.

You all know the basic plot, right? Because most of you have read the book before, and are just waiting to see why on earth I have anything negative to say about it so you can write mean things in the comment section? Okay cool. So I'll skip the plot overview and go right to some good ol' fashioned bullet pointed thoughts. I've broken them up by things I liked and things I didn't like (because there were things that I liked! I'm not dead inside!).

Things I didn't like:

• First and foremost, I should say that I had an epiphany about half-way through this book when I realized I just don't like this genre. At all. I like isolated books that kind of go in this fantasy/magic genre but they are very few and very isolated. As a general rule, I just don't really enjoy any of this stuff: the magic and the things you can do with the magic and the overarching bad guy and the good versus evil epic and the inevitable battle scenes. It's just not my taste and I'd much rather watch a movie with any/all of that than read a book about it. So before reading the rest of my thoughts, remember that: I honestly just don't find joy and entertainment in the things that make these books go 'round. That's not Rowling's fault.
• Harry and his friends really do seem to have the Jason Bourne/John McClane/Chuck Norris thing going on, don't they? All the metaphorical bullets fly at them all the time, and they always always get away. Even when they get hit and knocked unconscious. Even when he's pinned under the snake and she's got him by the throat and Voldemort is in the window. Even when he dies, he gets the chance to come back and kill Voldemort anyway. (Yeah, I know he didn't really die. And I also know that the same thing can be said for any protagonist in any action-packed plot. But I'm saying it about these guys.)
• I didn't really feel like I had a true understanding of who Voldemort is. I mean, I knew really well who he is as a person (all his childhood, his background, the whys and the how-comes), but I didn't have a solid handle on how big of a bad guy he is. This might sound like a non-issue and not worth getting upset about, but it's helpful for me (someone who apparently doesn't love fantasy) to have a sense of grounding when reading about other worlds or lifetimes; is he a local British terror, like a Son of Sam? Or is he a world-wide, well-known enemy like Hitler or bin Laden? That's helpful for me to have a grasp on how powerful and scary he really is...and I never really got that. Sometimes he seemed like he was pretty much THE bad guy of this magical world, but then other times all the schools from other countries came to Hogwarts for the Triwizard Tournament and none of them are as impressed by the Dumbledores and McGonagalls because they have their own versions. Does that mean they also have their own Voldemorts running around wreaking havoc? Or is ours the only one?
• Harry is just a complete idiot. I saw so many things before he did (pages and sometimes chapters before), and I just clearly revealed how dumb I am when it comes to these books. I just...ugh. Harry is an idiot. Enough said. 
• This book is so incredibly long. I feel like I spent most of my life listening to it. And most of the time all I thought (and occasionally said out loud with my fist in the air) is that if she could have just eliminated either the horcruxes or the hallows the book would have been so much better. And like 400 pages shorter. Seriously, lady...we're going after horcruxes...no, wait, a certifiably insane man just told us all about hallows for the first time and that sounds good so we'll switch gears completely and go after the hallows...except now that we think about it, Dumbledore did sound pretty serious when he told me to go after the horcruxes above all else...but now Dobby is dead and I'm super sad so I'll decide to go after the hallows...but ten minutes later I have to make a decision about whether to attempt to break into Gringots or not so I'll firmly decide on horcruxes...but maybe the hallows are important...PICK A LANE, WOMAN. I was driving back from visiting my parents yesterday on Interstate 81 listening to this book, beating my head against the steering wheel. And I kind of get the fact that in the end they both ended up being really important, but honestly it was all so chaotic and confusing and would have worked just as well with only one of them. (I'm going to go ahead and guess that this is the moment where all criticism and backlash that you've all been holding in will be released.)
• Copy and paste the same thing as the above bullet, but instead this time have it be about how one minute we trust/love/worship Dumbledore and the next we're pretty certain he was a horrible person. And then repeat. 
• Why were curses and curfews and Dementors needed to keep Hogwarts air-tight if Dumbledore's Army members could just apparate from one place to another (like, for example, out of Hogwarts and into Hogsmeade)? Seems like maybe that's all kind of a waste of time and energy. 
• Hidden among the many, many 5 star reviews of this book on Goodreads.com, there is one solitary 1 star review. I read it and it made me laugh, not because I agreed with everything she said, but because I did agree with some of it and because she pointed out the stupidity of some of the things I actually did like about the book. Like the fact that Snape is redeemed in the end and you realize he's super awesome...except the only reason why is because he was in love with Harry's mother for years and years and years after she died and because he killed Dumbledore out of mercy (and the white doe, and helping him get the sword...yeah, I get it). She also pointed out that after all this time and everything we've seen these characters go through, to have both Tonx's and Lupis' deaths be brief afterthoughts seems a little ridiculous. They deserved more than that. 

Things I did like:

•  The transformation of Creature, especially the moment during the final battle when he appears in the crowd, yelling about how he's supporting his master who is a friend of the house elves. 
• The humanization of the Malfoy family. Not Bellatrix, who is a she-demon 'till the end, but Lucius, Narcissa, and Draco. When Draco goes missing at the end, Lucius and Narcissa are no longer cold, hard Deatheaters; they're just parents, plain and simple. Obviously, it was a change that came after being publicly humiliated by Voldemort, but in the end they cared only for the safety of their son. Seeing them broken and terrified for something so genuine was a little touching, really. 
• The epilogue. There were parts of it that could have bordered on cheesy (every Potter and Weasley child being named after a dead Hogwarts hero, first and middle names) but it could also just as easily be endearing and sweet. I enjoyed it. Truthfully, this is the stuff I liked the most in these books: the befores and the afters. The chapters that took place at the beginning of each book where Harry gets brought to the Weasley's house and Molly is shooing them out of the kitchen and Fred and George are pulling pranks and they all go school shopping in Diagon Alley. I liked the "normal" parts that mirrored what real life looks like: the characters and the dialogue and the relationships and even the teenage dating drama. I might not have liked the plot too much but I did love the characters, and I enjoyed seeing them all get wrapped up nicely in the end. 

So those are my thoughts. I'm sure I had other thoughts (both on the pro and the con side) but I have since forgotten them. And really, this post is long enough as it is. Do I still have friends? Am I still allowed to come to Book Club? I promise not to use the Marauder's Map blanket ;)

Here's where I stand with my 2015 reading goals list:

• Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand
• Monster, by Walter Dean Myers
• Dash and Lily's Book of Dares, by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
• The Rosie Project, by Graeme Simsion
• Eleanor and Park, by Rainbow Rowell
• Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?, by Mindy Kaling
• Yes Please, by Amy Poehler
• A Long Way Down, by Nick Hornby (currently reading)
• This is Where I Leave You, by Jonathan Tropper
• Wild, by Cheryl Strayed
• Serena, by Ron Rash
• Prisoner of Azkaban, by J.K. Rowling
• Goblet of Fire, by J.K. Rowling
• Order of the Phoenix, by J.K. Rowling
• Half Blood Prince, by J.K. Rowling
• Deathly Hallows, by J.K. Rowling

Wild: a brief review

taken from goodreads.com

Like many of the books I'm reading right now, this book was added to my Books-to-Movies list last year sometime, and I challenged myself to read it before I saw the movie. It was one of those books that just kept showing up everywhere, and every time I saw that hiking boot on the cover I got more excited and intrigued to finally read it. Well, I've read it now, and I didn't love it nearly as much as I'd hoped. I didn't hate it, and I'm still interested in watching the movie, but...I had some issues.

After Cheryl's mother dies and her marriage falls apart (due almost entirely to her multiple affairs and heroin usage), she decides to escape to the Pacific Crest Trail, hiking from southern California to Oregon. If you read many of the negative reviews on Goodreads, there are a whole lot of people who are upset with her complete lack of knowledge prior to her starting her journey; she bought books about the trail but didn't read them, didn't go on any hikes to prepare, and didn't even practice lifting or wearing her pack before the morning she set out. I wasn't as annoyed with that, although it does hurt her credibility quite a bit. It could be argued that she is that much more impressive because she did it and survived despite her lack of research....but...it could also be argued that a lot of the issues she had along the way (severe dehydration due to a lack of proper planning, a pack that was far too heavy, boots that were too small and therefore destroyed five of her toe nails) could have all be avoided if she had even the slightest clue of what she was doing.

The parts that really bothered me centered more around who she is as a person and the decisions she made along the way. When I read Mindy Kaling's book last week, all I could think about the whole time was how much I would love to sit and have a conversation with her in person; when I read this book, all I could think about was how I just don't like her. I'm deeply impressed with the fact that she hiked as much of the PCT as she did, and by herself at that, but that's about where it stops. The incredible selfishness with which she lives her life is infuriating. (Unavoidable spoilers ahead...) The scene in which Cheryl and her husband are meeting with the notary to finalize their divorce, she cries and pleads with the notary to believe that she still loves her husband. She chose to cheat on him (many, many times), she chose to spiral completely out of control, she chose to tell him and then spend months trying to decide whether to stay together or get divorced, but never once said anything about the marriage counselor they talked to or the work they put into fixing their problems...and then she cries and wants everyone to know how much she loves him? I just don't understand this. I don't understand calling it quits with someone, who you claim to still love, without doing any work at all to fix the problems first.

The part of her story that bothered me much, much more, though, was the abortion she decided to have right before beginning her journey on the PCT. Getting pregnant wasn't part of her plan and she thought she needed this time in the wilderness to discover herself and grow, I get it. She's probably right in her assessment that she was not in a great place to become a mother. But what if her journey to self-discovery and growth wasn't supposed to take place on the PCT? What if it had happened through an unplanned pregnancy that turned into a life changing opportunity to raise a beautiful son or daughter? Or what if, even better still, that unplanned pregnancy was supposed to be her opportunity for change and self-awareness while also providing a loving couple the chance to raise the child they couldn't have on their own? She could have chosen this incredibly self-sacrificing journey in place of hiking the PCT or just delayed her trip by a year (and actually spent that year doing some homework on backpacking and getting a little more prepared for her trip), but she chose instead to eliminate the problem and move on with her life. It was barely even a thought; there was one sentence stating her discovery of her pregnancy and one half sentence mentioning the abortion. "I got the abortion, and..." It was mentioned as an afterthought, and I almost stopped reading the book at that point. I just...it just makes me sad. The lack of consideration or respect for this incredibly huge thing just breaks my heart. And honestly, it made me really, really mad.

When I was in high school, my brother and I talked a lot about how we were going to hike the whole Appalachian Trail together sometime. We said it casually, as if we'd be able to wake up one morning and say "let's do that thing we're always talking about today." At that point, we'd never hiked more than a handful of miles at a time and had never camped overnight anywhere other than our own backyard, but it seemed totally doable to us. If I've learned anything from reading Wild, it's that my brother and I were complete idiots back then. I enjoyed her writing style, I enjoyed the things I was able to learn about backpacking, I didn't enjoy the language or sex (seriously...if you can't get your point across without the f-word showing up so many times, maybe you should just try again), but overall I'm glad I read it. I don't know that I can say with confidence that I liked it, but I also can't say that I hated it. I'm just glad I read it, have an educated opinion about it, and can cross it off the list.

Here's my updated 2015 reading goals list:

• Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand
• Monster, by Walter Dean Myers
• Dash and Lily's Book of Dares, by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
• The Rosie Project, by Graeme Simsion
• Eleanor and Park, by Rainbow Rowell
• Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?, by Mindy Kaling
• Yes Please, by Amy Poehler
• A Long Way Down, by Nick Hornby (currently reading)
• This is Where I Leave You, by Jonathan Tropper
• Wild, by Cheryl Strayed
• Serena, by Ron Rash
• Prisoner of Azkaban, by J.K. Rowling
• Goblet of Fire, by J.K. Rowling
• Order of the Phoenix, by J.K. Rowling
• Half Blood Prince, by J.K. Rowling (currently listening on audiobook)
• Deathly Hallows, by J.K. Rowling

Labor Day: a brief review

taken from Goodreads.com

I finished the last book I read, Someone Like You, in the middle of the night, and clearly needed to decide right that second what book I would read next. Since I'd already bought Labor Day a little while ago and it was just sitting waiting for me on my Kindle, it seemed like a logical choice. And here we are.

Joyce Maynard's Labor Day was written in 2009 but really made a splash this past spring and summer when it became a movie starring Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin. (I only first heard of this book, actually, when it showed up on a Books Turning to Movies list back at the beginning of the year and thought the plot looked good; I made my own little list of books I want to read before I see the movies and this one made the cut.) Young teenage Henry lives with his reclusive mother after his father left them for a new family that lives across town. Henry's mother has been beaten down by the experiences in her life and has developed a fear of everything outside of their home. They make trips to town every couple of months to stock up on frozen and nonperishable foods, and it's during one of those trips that they cross paths with Frank. Recently escaped from prison and in need of medical attention, Frank asks for a ride home and soon finds himself the house guest of Henry and his mother for the entire Labor Day weekend. Henry has a front row seat to the transformations in his mother as she opens up and softens in the presence of Frank, their instant romance defying typical reasoning. The longer Frank stays in their home, the more complicated Henry's feelings towards him become as he sees the danger in letting him stay as well as the incredible impact he has made in the lives of both Henry and his mother.

I've been excited to read this one for a long time, but it just kept getting pushed farther down the road. I tried to put it on hold from the library a couple of times but was never able to get it read when it would actually appear on my Kindle so it kept disappearing. I finally just broke down and bought it (I think it was like $4) and it sat waiting for me. Along the way I heard many positive reviews from friends who had read it, and my excitement for the day I would finally read it kept building. All of that being said: here are my thoughts. It's honestly a little bit off-putting, the way Frank and Adele instantly fall in love. I'm not someone who can really point too many fingers (married within seven months of meeting each other? Yeah, that's us) but with these guys it's from the very first scene in the department store. Once you get past that small detail, though, I have to say that this book is wonderful. Beautifully written, Maynard weaves the reader through so many character elements in a mere 250 pages it's almost hard to emotionally digest it all. Such simple characters upon first impression, all three provide so many opportunities for social commentary and discussion. Henry's struggles with identity as a high school boy without much of a relationship with his father is my favorite; it's heartbreaking to read his deeply honest thoughts and confessions about everything he is missing out on by not having that male role in his life to talk through his tumultuous time of life. As a small disclaimer I must say that there is a shocking amount of sex in this book (shocking because I wasn't really expecting any at all for whatever reason), but it doesn't actually go into graphic details. Just comments on the fact that it's happening. I would definitely recommend this book, though, and can't wait to see the movie at some point.

Paper Towns: a brief review

taken from johngreenbooks.com

When I reread John Green's masterpiece The Fault in Our Stars a couple weeks ago, I decided it was time to finally get the two Green books I haven't read yet crossed off the list. I've wanted to read Paper Towns and An Abundance of Katherines for a long time, but it just hasn't happened. At $5 each on the Kindle, it was kind of a summer read no brainer.

Quentin Jacobsen has lived next door to Margo Roth Spiegelman, his childhood best friend and current object of his love from afar. As they grew up they also grew apart; Quentin now spends his time with the other band and gamer geeks while Margo comfortably resides at the top of the social food chain as Queen Bee. When she suddenly appears in his bedroom window one night in the spring of their senior year and asks him for a favor, he happily obliges. Quentin expects their relationship to be back to their childhood version of normal the next day at school, but instead finds out that Margo is inexplicably missing. He launches himself - and his friends - into a full fledged investigation into the mystery of Margo Roth Spiegelman.

So here's the thing: I really love The Fault in Our Stars and I really love Looking for Alaska. I really love John Green. I think he's an incredible writer and I've made that pretty well known. Love him, love his style, love the way he writes characters, love his wit, etc. etc. But I was a little disappointed in this one. For the majority of the book, all I could think about was that Quentin and Margo were basically exactly the same as the main characters in Looking for Alaska, which was a bummer because of how great Green is at writing characters. I also felt like, even though I was interested in pushing through and finding out the answer to the mystery, the majority of the book was kind of treading water. It didn't seem like much was progressing in the plot, and every time Quentin would get excited about a new lead it would actually be a false alarm. That might be realistic, but it's a little frustrating in a book.

All of that being said...the last 30% of the book was pretty great. I really loved the portrayal of friendship and adventure that's depicted, and it's the funniest part of the book by far (in my opinion). Overall, I would definitely say that I liked it, I just didn't love it as much as I expected. I'm still excited to get Katharines read soon, though!

The Great Gatsby: a brief review

taken from www.npr.org

Yep, this was one of the books that somehow slipped through the cracks of both my public education and my personal life. I bought it at some point because it's obviously a classic worth owning, but hadn't read it yet. I actually taught about this book while student teaching 7th grade Social Studies (as part of my master's thesis project, no less), but it turns out you don't need to have read the book to be able to tell some kids why it was important to the American art and literature scene. I think the fact that this is one of those books that everyone assumes I've read makes it that much more satisfying to cross it off my 94 book challenge. Because now people can assume away and it's actually accurate.

(Just in case someone reading this also hasn't read this American classic either:) F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby is narrated by Nick Carraway, who decides to become a New York broker and move into a house on Long Island, which just happens to be next door to Jay Gatsby's mansion. Nick soon becomes very aware of Gatsby's loud, spirited parties, where hundreds of strangers show up on a regular basis to enjoy his music, alcohol, and company. Everyone knows Gatsby, or at least feels as if they do, and have much information to supply about the mysterious man...whether any of it is actually true Nick can only guess. As time passes and Nick develops a strange friendship with Gatsby himself, the mysteries just seem to grow. When he reveals that he has feelings for Nick's (married) cousin Daisy, with whom he shares a past, things start to spiral out of control for everyone.

This book wasn't really what I expected. I'm not sure what I expected, just that this wasn't exactly it. I enjoyed it as a whole - some of the details of Fitzgerald's writing style frustrated me at times - and I felt very intrigued with what would happen next throughout the entire plot. It's a quick, fairly easy read if you're looking to add a little classic literature into your life, and as an added bonus it's a good read too. There is definitely much discussion about friendship, marriage, money, and the pursuit of power intertwined within the entirety of the plot, leaving you with some pretty distinctively clear answers by the end of the book. I wouldn't say I loved it, but I would recommend it for sure.

And just for kicks and giggles, here's the trailer for Leo's version (which I plan to see very soon):