december reads

Well, the last time I did one of these was in February! I am very overdue. So far this year I've read 36 books, so I won't review the majority of those, but here's what I read from November until now:

Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling / I really wish Mindy Kaling and I could be friends. I enjoyed this one and her first book, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? a lot. It's a quick read, and if you're a fan of Mindy, then it's a must read, as well.

The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith / Of course, we all know now that Robert Galbraith is really J.K. Rowling, but I try to read the Cormoran Strike series with an unbiased mind. This one wasn't as good as the first one, but it was entertaining. It was definitely a lot creepier, and while I figured out who the murderer was fairly quickly, I kept reading to figure out exactly how they did it. Looking forward to reading the next in the series.

Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll / This was one of those books that everyone kept raving about, and while it was entertaining, it wasn't the greatest. It seemed very cliche and over the top. I can always tell if a book is a little too soap opera-ey if when I'm describing the events to Matt it sounds ridiculous. This one was filled with every imaginable teen drama. Plus I could not STAND the main character, and I would like to personally berate any reviewer who compares TifAni (ugh, that name) to Amy Dunne in Gone Girl. Just...no.

After You by Jojo Moyes / When I found out there was a sequel to Me Before You, I was very excited. I liked getting back into the world of Louisa, but I don't think the author should have written a sequel. The first book stands well on its own, but if you've read Me Before You, then you have to read this one.

The Beautiful Bureaucrat by Helen Phillips / This book appeared on a to-read list of 2015, and when I read the synopsis, it sounded pretty interesting and I love dystopian novels, so I decided to give it a read. I was surprised at how short the book was, and felt like it could have been a little longer, to flesh out the characters a bit. That said, I don't know if I could have handled it being longer - it almost seemed like a really bad fever dream, or an episode of The Twilight Zone. I figured out pretty quickly what exactly Josephine's job was, but there is a twist that I didn't see coming. It's very Kafka-esque, so if you like his books then I think you'll love this (I'm just "meh" when it comes to Kafka). If you want a really good dystopian novel, read The Handmaid's Tale. Now.

The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver / I am a very big fan of Barbara Kingsolver. I've read almost all of her books, and The Poisonwood Bible is one of my all-time favorites. This one was a good read, and I also thought it was still pretty topical, even though it was written almost 10 years ago.

Cinder by Marissa Meyer / This is part one of the Lunar Chronicles series, and I picked it up on the recommendation of a friend. I can't believe it's been flying under my radar for so long. It's a fairy tale retelling turned on its head, which for me is like candy. I went through a stage in high school where I read every fairy tale retelling I could find. (My favorite? Daughter of the Forest. SO GOOD.) It's YA, yes, but it's so entertaining.

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer / Part two for me wasn't as entertaining, mainly because I just don't care for Scarlet or Wolf all that much. But, instead of each book focusing just on the main title character, Cinder from the first book is still featured prominently in this one, which I enjoyed.

Cress by Marissa Meyer / I think this one is the longest of the three, so it took me awhile to get into it. The action sequences are fast-paced and fun to read, but it being YA, it's very predictable. This series is great when you need a break from "heavier" reading. 

Fairest and The Age of Miracles are up next. What are you reading?

P.S. You can see all of my past reads here.

february reads

I haven’t done one of these in a while (the last one was back in October), so here we go! 

The Vacationers by Emma Straub / This is very much a summer read, so if you are escaping the cold winter and relaxing on a beach somewhere, I suggest you bring this along. The characters are somewhat annoying, but that’s the point.

Unbroken: A World II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand / This book was just...wow. It’s an incredible (true!) story that is very inspiring and emotional. I haven’t seen the movie, but I can bet that the book is WAY better.

Sisterhood Everlasting by Ann Brashares / The final installment of the “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” books. I’ve been reading these books since I was in high school, and it was time that I finish the series. This one was super sad and very heart wrenching.

Astonish Me by Maggie Shipstead / Confession time: when I was a little girl, I wanted nothing more than to be a ballerina, mainly because of the shoes (I guess I’ve always had a thing for shoes). An entertaining story about a dancer, with a slight twist at the end.

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart / This book kept coming across lists as a to-read book of the year, and while it was a quick read and entertaining, I didn’t think it was OMG AMAZING, you know?

The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd / I really enjoyed this one. I like historical fiction, especially when it is loosely based on real person’s life, and so I pretty much breezed through this. It is an Oprah book club pick, which comes with all the stigma attached to that, but she honestly picks some really good reads!

A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra / This was another one that kept getting rave reviews, but I had a hard time getting through it. The storyline is almost too bleak. It’s one of those stories where everything is connected, though, which redeemed it a bit for me.

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes / So many tears. I highly recommend it – it would be a good one to read in a book club, especially with the topic it addresses.

Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Anne Fowler / I thought it would breeze through this one, but I had a hard time getting into it. I love learning about the lives of past authors, but for some reason I just couldn’t get excited about this book. I don’t know where the disconnect was.

What are you reading?

october reads

image by Bonnie Barton from @flashesofstyle

I read five books this month, which is one a week, so I’ll give myself a virtual high five for that. With the holidays coming up I don’t know how much I’ll be able to read, so I've been devouring books this month. I lucked out, and every book I read this month I enjoyed, which doesn't happen often!

The Round House by Louise Erdrich | I learned a lot from this book about Native American tribes and their jurisdiction, which was interesting. The book tells the story of 14-year old Joe, whose mother is brutally raped. She remains silent about the identity of her attacker, and so Joe and his friends take it into their own hands to find out who committed the crime.

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach | This is the perfect book to read in October, since it’s about dead bodies. I enjoyed this book, surprisingly. I don’t do well with gory imagery, but this book did a good job of handling the subject without getting too graphic, and it was humorous at times. The author brought up some interesting points about the morality of using human remains for science, and really made me think.

Not That Kind of Girl: A Young Woman Tells You What She’s “Learned” by Lena Dunham | I may be in the minority by saying that I really do like Lena Dunham. I am well aware of why people don’t like her, but I love the show Girls and therefore reading her…book (I hesitate to call it a novel, memoir, or even collection of short stories – it isn't organized well enough to be called any of them) seemed like the next step. I did enjoy it, but I felt like it was a bit all over the place, which I guess lends itself to her mental state.

The Unchangeable Spots of Leopards by Kristopher Jansma | This book has been labeled as “F. Scott Fitzgerald meets Wes Anderson” by The Village Voice, which I think is an accurate description. The writing is phenomenal, and the narrator, whose identity is never truly revealed, is unreliable, as is the story, which changes over time. I LOVE novels like this. After I finished, I wished that I knew someone who had read it too, so we could talk about it. It’s one of those books.

Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt | I enjoyed this one, but it is sad, so make sure you are prepared to cry. Multiple times. The pace of the novel was somewhat slow, but the author does a very good job of capturing the voice of a 14-year old girl. If you like coming of age novels, you'll like this book.

I’m going to dive into Written in my Own Heart's Blood next, which is part of the Outlander series (which is amazing, by the way). It's over 800+ pages, so it will take me quite a while to finish!

P.S. Happy Halloween! We're spending this Halloween at home, passing out candy to the kiddos in our apartment complex. This is the first year that we'll actually have trick or treaters, so I'm excited! Last year Matt and I dressed up as Amy and Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory, ha!

september reads.

I've been trying to read a book a week, and in September I almost made my goal, and so I wanted to share a few of my current reads. I do most of my reading on my lunch break - I'll eat my lunch at my desk before my actual break and then go sit in my car (or in the local library, if it's hot) and read for a solid hour. It is glorious and one of the best parts of my day.

Though sometimes reading for just an hour has its downfalls, like when I was reading A Storm of Swords by George R. R. Martin and my lunch break was up - right at the end of the Red Wedding chapter. I went back to work and sat at my computer like a zombie, while in my head I kept thinking "OMG WHAT THE HELL DID I JUST READ?!"

Anyway, below are the books that I read this month:

Where'd You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple. If Wes Anderson ever quit film making and decided to write novels, it would be something like this book. A quirky story told through an unconventional narration style of letters, documents, and emails. I sailed through this book and enjoyed it, especially Bernadette's musings of Seattle and the techie, hipster culture.

Gold by Chris Cleave. I was intrigued by the subject matter of this book, since it is about two Olympic track cyclists and of course Matt is a cyclist. I felt like I came from a good background to really understand it. Though when I explained the plot to Matt I realized how much of a soap opera it sounded, so that spoiled it a bit. I still liked it but I would like to read Little Bee, which I heard was much better.

The Dog Stars by Peter Heller. The writing style of this book drove me crazy. Even though the subject matter should have sucked me in immediately (a post-apocalyptic Colorado where 99% of the human race has been taken out by a flu-like virus), it look awhile for the story to pick up and it wasn't until I was halfway through that the book really started to get interesting.

I am currently in the middle of The Round House by Louise Erdrich and I'm enjoying it greatly.

Yay for books!

My Top 10 Must Read Books

I thought one of the first posts to get my blog started off would be to recommend some of my favorite books to readers. If you know me even remotely well, you know that I am an avid reader, which is putting it mildly. I usually read three books at once, and have an ongoing goal with myself to read a book a week (this usually doesn’t happen, but hey, a girl can dream, right?).

If you go to the bookstore with me and we amble over to the fiction section, there is a 99.9 percent chance that I have read at least one book on each of the shelves – maybe two, three, four, or even five.

I complied a list of my top ten must reads, books which I have read numerous times over and never get old.

Happy Reading!

The Secret History | This is my all time favorite book, hands down. It’s about a group of Classics majors at a tiny liberal arts college in Vermont who commit a murder of one of their friends and how they deal with the guilt and grief that come as a result.

Harry Potter Series | If you haven’t read the Harry Potter series by now, seriously, what are you doing? I don’t think I need to explain the plot, but here goes: an orphaned boy with a curious lightning bolt scar on his forehead discovers he’s a wizard.

I Capture the Castle | If you are looking for a good coming of age novel, this is it. Cassandra lives with her father, stepmother, and older sister in a crumbling castle in England and dreams of love.

The Poisonwood Bible | I am a big fan of Barbara Kingsolver’s books, and I think this one is her best. It tells the story of a missionary family in the 1950’s who move from Georgia to the Congo. The five women of the family narrate the story: mother Orleanna, and her daughters Rachel, Leah, Adah, and Ruth May.

Pride and Prejudice | I am a HUGE Jane Austen nerd (I mean, we share the same birthday), but Pride and Prejudice is her best novel (Emma is a close second). If you’re going to read a romance novel, this is it. Also – Mr. Darcy. Need I say more?

To Kill a Mockingbird | If for some reason you never read this in high school, drop what you’re doing and go read it now. Atticus Finch is one of the best literary characters in history.

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius | The memoir of Dave Eggers, which follows his experience as the guardian of his younger brother following the death of his parents.

The Bell Jar | I have always been a little intrigued by Sylvia Plath, which I feel is super cliché for a white, 20-something girl to say. Her poems are so beautiful, and her semi-autobiographical novel is haunting.

The Portable Dorothy Parker | Dorothy Parker was quite a character, and her short stories and writings are a must-read.

I would like to give you all some more recommendations! Leave me a comment with some books that you have enjoyed and I will compile a personalized list of some other titles for you to enjoy.