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.

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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.

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.

Twofer: Killing Kennedy and The Rosie Effect

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I've heard great things about this book (and O'Reilly's other, similar book Killing Lincoln) for several years now, and I've always wanted to listen to them. Thanks to the beauty of library audiobooks, I now know why everyone loves them so much. I really enjoyed O'Reilly's (and Dugard's) writing style, which made the complicated interpersonal and historical details roll off the pages like a casual conversation. I think the fact that the audiobook was narrated by Bill himself helped. I feel like I learned quite a bit, too, about all the major players in the Kennedys' story; I really enjoyed that he included so many details about all of the people who crossed paths with and/or had anything to do with JFK, rather than sticking just to JFK himself. I really enjoyed it, and I'm excited to listen to Killing Lincoln soon.

taken from Goodreads.com

I read Simsion's first Rosie book, The Rosie Project, at the beginning of the year and loved it. I loved the protagonist's unique voice (adult genetics professor who also lives somewhere on the autism spectrum), as well as the plot (adult genetics professor who also lives somewhere on the autism spectrum has formally decided that it's time to find a wife, and creates a detailed survey that he hands out to as many women as he can). This sequel, though...eh. I didn't love it. Most of it I didn't even like all that much. I loved a lot of the new characters and their relationships with Don, and I enjoyed the ending a lot, but most of the beginning and middle just made me mad. Rosie's all-powerful, alpha woman attitude is not my favorite (putting it mildly), and I hated how she handled her frustrations with Don. To be fair, he would be hard to be married to...but she did marry him. And decide to get pregnant with him. So that kind of seems like her fault, not Don's. That being said, I did love the first one and will definitely still recommend it.

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.

Another Twofer: brief reviews

taken from Goodreads.com

Sequel to Al Capone Does My Shirts, Al Capone Shines My Shoes continues the story of Moose Flanagan. As the middle school-aged son of a prison guard at Alcatraz during the 1930s, Moose and his family live on the island, along with all the other guards' families. Things are finally going so much better for the Flanagan family, until Mr. Capone himself decides it's time to cash in on a favor he secretly did for Moose in the first book. Just as cute as the first one, Shines My Shoes is full of great historically accurate fiction and fun characters. Definitely recommend it (and the first one, and I'm guessing the third one although I haven't read it yet...stay tuned).

taken from Goodreads.com

Going into this one, I had read two Rainbow Rowell books, Fangirl and Eleanor & Park. One of them I liked and one of them I didn't like. So I was curious about how I'd feel about this one (one written for adults and not for young adults, and one that's about a failing marriage, which is the kind of topic I would have very strong opinions about), and I was pleasantly surprised. I listened to it through audiobook, which was also much better than I expected once I realized a lot of the book is dialogue over the phone. I wasn't sure how that would play out via audiobook, but it worked. Much more importantly, though, is that the book was good. It was very interesting. The commentary on marriage was one I didn't agree with start to finish, but it brought up some very good (and, to my surprise) very conservative principles. Rowell provided quite the discussion about why this particular marriage went downhill, and the very common and simple actions that were taken (or not taken) to avoid such a downfall. I wouldn't go out of my way to demand that people read it, but I did enjoy it and thought it was interesting. I'm curious to keep reading Rowell's work (or just Attachments, I guess, because I think that's all I have left at the moment).

Marriage and Parenting: brief reviews

taken from Goodreads.com

JT and I just finished this book after reading it with our small group over the course of the last couple months. Its basic premise is that there are 10 emotional needs that every person needs, although 5 are typically associated with women and 5 are typically associated with men. There is a chapter on each need and a survey in the back of the book for each spouse to take in order to determine which needs they specifically identify the most with. We liked this book; even though a lot of it seemed common sense and straightforward to us, there were certainly a lot of points that made an impact and gave us great starting points for conversation and change in our relationship. There were also a handful of points he made that we didn't quite agree with, but no book is perfect. I definitely think that if you're feeling at a loss or in need of direction in your marriage this is a great starting point. The thing that's helpful about this book, I think, is that even though each chapter just kind of scratches the surface on each issue/need, there are a couple hundred books out there written on each of these 10 needs that you can dive into as needed for a deeper level of help and direction. It's a great starting point, though.

taken from Goodreads.com

I picked this book up a little bit ago after JT heard an interview with the writer on Focus on the Family. After finishing Created to be His Help Meet, I was looking for a parenting book and I started this one. I didn't necessarily dislike this book, but it was kind of "eh." There just wasn't a lot of depth to it and there wasn't anything I read that wasn't either common sense or way over on the other end of the spectrum, taking parenting to an extreme that I don't think is entirely necessary. I ended up skimming the last half of it or so so I could move on. I like the basic argument of the book (that parents need to be intentional and proactive in making their home a comfortable, safe, and warm environment for their children), and pretty much could have gotten that from the back of the book.