Kirsten
This book seemed to get a lot of negative reviews so I was unsure if I should read it, but I was glad I did. It is a YA book, and I think some of those YA aspects might turn off some readers. If silly teenage romantic musings in the middle of the alien apocalypse are not your cup of tea then maybe avoid this one. But I didn't really mind it. I probably would give this one 3.5 stars, knocked down a notch from 4 stars because I was kind of disappointed by the ending so my last impression of the book is a little less than the majority of the book which I would probably rate 4 stars. I tend to be a fan of the post apocalyptic genre, and this one was a quick interesting read. Definitely a page turner. Not a fine piece of literature but a good entertaining book.
I read this the first time in high school. So did I actually read it? Not totally sure. After reading “Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald” it piqued my curiosity to read it again, for real, as an adult. It's a classic! It has tons of 4-5 star ratings on my friends list. But it really didn't do anything for me. I do feel like by the end I began to appreciate it as the story developed and everything came to a head. But the first 3/4 of the book was pretty uninteresting to me and I was just glad that the book was short. I had expected more like reading a second time I'd have a great new appreciation for it, but not so much. I can probably understand more thoroughly now how/why it is considered a classic, but doesn't make me think it's a great book personally.
I loved Life After Life and was excited to read this book, but was sorely disappointed. This held none of the charm of Life After Life. And with the addition of Teddy's daughter, who was wholly unlikeable even if she was justifiably traumatized by something in her childhood, it just was not a pleasure to read. Maybe my expectations were too high, but I wouldn't recommend this one.
I like a good survival story and was interested in the premise of this story about a man, Mark Watney, who goes on a NASA mission to Mars and ends up being stranded there as the rest of his team believes he is dead and have to escape themselves before a storm overtakes them all. Most of the story is told in the form of mission logs written by Watney. His voice is very entertaining and definitely helped the story but I will admit my eyes started to glaze over a bit at some of the technical parts. I mean it makes sense, he's an engineer and he has to figure out how to work with what he has to survive on Mars for years until he can potentially get rescued, but I just wasn't that into it. My husband on the other hand, who is a computer scientist/engineer, loved it - definitely up his alley. So overall it was good but not great for me.
To me this was a historical fiction book that really read much more like non-fiction. It's a very “meta” kind of book looking at what goes through the author's mind when writing historical fiction. What parts are really based on fact, which parts are invented, how they choose what to put in or change etc. Otherwise the portions about Heydrich read like non-fiction vs a traditional historical fiction novel where it is made into more of a story. And I guess I just got something other than what I was expecting.. But overall I gave it 3 stars for being something a little different, and the subject matter being interesting as I hadn't known anything about Heydrich or his assassination even though it wasn't necessarily totally my cup of tea.
I liked this one though it wasn't nearly as good to me as The Surgeon. I think probably because it spent a lot of time on extraneous things, like Maura and Jane's personal lives. I mean I guess it's character development, but it took away from building any suspense in the actual murder mystery part. It was still a quick read and relatively entertaining, but not as good as I'd hoped.
I received this as an ARC via the Goodreads first reads program.
I thought this book sounded interesting, but though it is billed as a thriller it really wasn't at all “thrilling” to me. To be honest, I only made it half-way through the book. Maybe the story picks up in the second half, but after reading 170 pages I decided to abandon ship because it was starting to become a chore for me to read. I can't pinpoint exactly what it is that made it difficult for me to engage in this book. I could see things that maybe were supposed to be exciting happen, someone dies, hackers infiltrating the CIA, maybe there's a mole, etc., but I felt no actual tension or sense of urgency around it. Maybe if you are already into hacking and Edward Snowden and the CIA it would be interesting, but the author did not succeed in making me care about it.
This book starts off feeling a little bit cheesy. I wanted a lighter read, but was wondering if I would regret choosing this one. The story is based on a world that is inhabited by humans and dragons after a pact has been made for peace between the two, with the dragons able to take on a human form and live among humans. The protagonist is Seraphina, who discovers that she is half-dragon with some peculiar abilities and has to hide this from the rest of the world. While there is supposed to be peace, humans are still largely afraid of and disgusted by dragons. There is a murder, plots to undermine the peace treaty, and of course a love story thrown in. I was intrigued with Seraphina's inner world and the author's depiction of dragons. In the end I really liked this book and by the last 50 pages I couldn't put it down.
I got this book as part of a giveaway on Goodreads.
This is a collection of 28 short stories, very short stories mostly between 3-10 pages. Most of these stories really focus on human relationships within a somewhat supernatural or just out-of-the-ordinary context. Described as darkly comic, but I don't know that I found anything really that humorous in this book. It actually struck me as more serious, like these stories are all kind of bizarre but the underlying thoughts and emotions of the characters are real and I ended each story with a “this-is-supposed-to-be-meaningful” vibe.
It may be just me, not a regular short-story reader, but I had a hard time getting really interested in any of the stories with such a brief glimpse. And I didn't feel like a lot of the characters had their own unique voice. I gave this 2-stars not because it was bad, but because as Goodreads puts it, “it was okay”. It is a quick read, and definitely something where if you read just one of the stories you can get an idea of if this collection will be your cup of tea or not.
Torn between 2-3 stars. At the end of the book Martin writes how the book he was writing was getting too long so instead of telling half of all of the characters' stories he decided to tell all of half of the characters stories. He split it geographically with this book focusing mostly on Kings Landing. The problem for me was that this was all generally not interesting. Basically all of the chapters are Jaime, Cersei, Samwell, some Sansa, a very little Arya. No Tyrion, no Bran, no Jon, no Daenerys. I guess I will just look forward to the next book because it will have all of the interesting characters and none of the boring ones.
I liked this book, but there was something lacking for me. The moral dilemma of finding a baby in a boat with the father dead. Deciding not to report it and keep the baby. All of the repercussions that brings. I think it makes for interesting discussion, but I did sort of feel like I was being emotionally manipulated. It was all too in-your-face for me. I'd give this 3.5 stars, rounding down to 3 because it was not as good as the other 4-star books I've read this year.
From the reviews it seems this one is love-it or hate-it. Though apparently more love-it with a 4.43 rating. I fall on the love it side, though I didn't think this was the most amazing book ever, I did find the story interesting and entertaining and kept me wanting to read the book throughout the whole 700-something pages. I never got to a point where I was saying okay okay, get this book over with. There are some ups and downs with each chapter being told from the viewpoint of a different character, and some characters I liked more than others, but none of them were bad. (I wasn't that into the Daenerys storyline personally.) I do hope to watch the series now
I really enjoyed this book. I'm not usually a big non-fiction reader, but the topic interests me and I'm generally sympathetic to Pollan's viewpoint. Maybe that's why I liked this one so much. It definitely gave me some food for thought and made me think about how and why I eat the way I do. It's one of those books that sparks discussion at the very least. And I will say it has inspired me to look more into buying food from local farmers markets etc. Generally I am all about saving money but it has made me reconsider my ultra-frugal-ness and see how feasible it would be to make some changes to get better quality nutrition.
I decided to read this one after finding out it was written by J.K Rowling, but also sounds like a book that I would find interesting anyway (unlike A Casual Vacancy which I didn't attempt). I really liked this book overall. It was the first book that I've read in a while where I really felt sucked into the story and compelled to keep reading. I like the characters of Strike and Robin and the fact that they don't have a romantic relationship - I hope it stays that way personally. I get kind of tired of a romance having to drive every story. There wasn't anything that really blew me away but it was overall just a really entertaining read and I enjoy Rowling's prose that just seems to flow so naturally. My only criticism is I wasn't really a fan of the way she ended it with a big “and here's how and why you did it!” speech. It seemed a little over the top. Maybe if the exposition wasn't quite so long it would've worked but it came off as a little silly to me. Still I'd give this a solid 4 stars.
This book was not quite as interesting as I thought it would be. I heard a lot of rave reviews about the Netflix show, but I think the show must be very loosely based on the book, because there isn't much of a real cohesive story in here that a series would be based on. A lot of varied snippets about her time in prison which got somewhat repetitive to me after a while. However, I do think this book had some redeeming qualities: getting a glimpse into the prison system. I think mostly all I know is from TV or movie depictions and this gave a more realistic picture and helped me understand all of the issues surrounding our prison system, drug sentencing, rehabilitation services, etc. in a way that I would not have previously. I think the key is just don't go into it thinking it will be like the show.
I read this book 2 months ago and forgot to write a review at the time. I picked it up from the library on a whim, but it did not pay off. This is a collection of short stories, and I found the majority of them to be really uninteresting. The only story I liked was the one about the women in the silk factory. Sometimes the ideas were good but the execution was just lacking to me. I'm not a short story reader so maybe I'm just not used to the style, but I was just thankful the stories were short to get them over with.
I think the premise of this book was very interesting. As a mother of a 15-month old girl, I already see all of the pink and princesses marketed to young girls. There are a lot of contradictions and complexity to the issues, like not wanting your daughter to only play with Barbies and Princesses, but also not wanting her to think that “boy” toys are better than “girl” toys etc. Unfortunately, I don't think the author handled this very well. I feel like there were 2 books here - the book that was about her research into “girlie-girl culture” and the book about her struggles raising her daughter. And mixed together, the whole thing to me just became muddled. I felt as if maybe she had something to say, but ended up saying nothing. Maybe it's because she doesn't know what the conclusion is herself. Which is fine. It just wasn't a very satisfying read, especially from something I had high hopes for.
I got Sparrow Migrations as part of a Goodreads Giveaway.
This was a quick and enjoyable read. It has intertwining narratives that focus on 3 separate families each with their own struggles. A child with autism. Infertility. Infidelity. Each of these three stories is impacted and really set into motion by the “Miracle on the Hudson” crash. I feel like with all that happens in each of these stories it's hard to give a synopsis. But I'd say this is one of those books that is really all about relationships and family dynamics. The book had me engaged and I found myself wanting to just read one more chapter, and then one more chapter. This was a relatively light, easy read for something that is not very light subject matter. It didn't knock my socks off, but it was a good solid read.
Shadows and Wings begins showing Lara as a young girl living in Australia and her close relationship with her Opa. Tomas, Lara's Opa, moved to Australia from Germany after World War II, but his early life has always been kept secret from his family. Until he dies, that is, and Lara receives a box with various items that hint about his past and she decides to try to learn the truth. The story begins with Lara, but then has a long section in the middle that is told from the point of view of Tomas as a young man, and then back to Lara.
The book starts off slowly and although it is beautifully written, I was getting a bit tired of Lara's story initially. Once the focus shifted to Tomas's story though, I was hooked. This book was the best of all worlds, being well written, and an interesting page-turner, and also meaningful and giving you something to really think about at the end. And that boring beginning section? Once I finished the book I found myself wanting to go back and re-read that whole section in particular after everything I learned about Tomas to get a new perspective on how all of his experiences affected him in his new life in Australia.
I would highly recommend this book. I feel like sometimes, if a book is published independently there is a bias where you think well, it wasn't good enough to be picked up by a major publisher. I can state that this definitely is not the case with Shadows and Wings. From other reviews I saw that the publishing of this book was funded by Kickstarter and through looking there and the author's website I found that in fact several publishers were interested but weren't sure where it would “fit” to sell or wanted her to change the ending, etc. Well I'm glad she didn't change the ending to please publishers or get it to sell better because I think it ended pretty perfectly as it is.
I received this book for free through the Goodreads FirstReads program.
Set in 17th century China, this starts out as the story of, guess what: Peony. In Love. But once Peony dies of her love-sickness things start to get interesting. This was a quick, entertaining read, but what made this stand out to me was the depiction of the afterlife according to Chinese mythology. Love to learn something new wrapped up in a delicious fictional story.
I received a copy of Mocky's Revenge from a giveaway in the Goodreads First Reads program.
Mocky's Revinge is an experimental work of fiction with a unique point of view. Rather than just being narrated by a child, this book is “written by” 8-year-old Carrie Ann. The story is Carrie writing her own “fair and not bi-assed” novel about what happens over the course of one eventful summer.
It all takes place in Ohio in 1985 and begins with Carrie's uncle Mocky, a gay French professor living in Columbus, coming to stay with Carrie's family during the summer to make amends with his dying father, Carrie's Papaw. The other central characters include Carrie's mother Lori, Lori's “dummer in dirt” boyfriend Roy, and Carrie's “pre-Madonna” sister Mariah. It is an interesting look at family relationships, prejudice, and revenge from the eyes of a child.
Some people may find the style, with all of Carrie's misspellings etc., to be a distraction, but for this work I think it serves its purpose. It does slow you down a bit at times, but it is a short book (which also makes sense given the premise), and serves as a good reminder of Carrie's youth. Carrie seems to be very bright and well spoken, which written normally might make her seem older in readers' minds. Though I did find myself a little taken out of the story at times wondering “is that really how an 8 year old would write?”. (I am not really sure, not having a lot of experience with 8-year-old's writing.)
To be honest, though, my favorite part of the book is in-between the main narrative Carrie inserts these little stories that she has written that are pretty hilarious. A nice diversion from her “serious” story. Overall, a good quick read. 3.5 stars.
This book is a collection of true stories told by neurologist Harold Klawans about his experiences as an expert witness in medical malpractice suits that took place in the 1970's and 1980's. This book gives interesting insight both into the medical and legal side of each story, which I think is unique. Klawans is often compared with Oliver Sacks who more famously and popularly writes in this genre. I attempted to read Sacks's [b:The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales 63697 The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales Oliver Sacks http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348080976s/63697.jpg 882844] and honestly just couldn't get into it, which surprised me. I just prefer Klawans's writing style and have also read his books [b:Strange Behavior: Tales of Evolutionary Neurology 1354001 Strange Behavior Tales of Evolutionary Neurology Harold Klawans http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347627472s/1354001.jpg 1343700] and [b:Defending The Cavewoman: And Other Tales Of Evolutionary Neurology 1354002 Defending The Cavewoman And Other Tales Of Evolutionary Neurology Harold Klawans http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1182946849s/1354002.jpg 1343701], which I enjoyed. I first was introduced to [b:Trials Of An Expert Witness: Tales Of Clinical Neurology And The Law 1589955 Trials Of An Expert Witness Tales Of Clinical Neurology And The Law Harold Klawans http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1266841043s/1589955.jpg 1582949] as an undergraduate and absolutely loved it. I was taking some sort of neuropsych/ethics class and the professor gave excerpts from this book as reading assignments. I was so fascinated I got the whole book from the library to read. Reading it now years later, I can't say I'd give it that same 5-star review I did previously. I think partly since going to graduate school and working in a medical setting, so much of what was so exciting and interesting learning something new is, well, no longer new. Also I did not recall the somewhat racist comments regarding foreign doctors sprinkled in there every once in a while. I got the vibe of “this patient didn't get appropriate care... well she had that asian/arab doctor who talked with an accent. wink wink”. I guess that attitude was okay in 1991? Rather off-putting. But aside from that, the book is still very good and I would recommend it to others.