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October 2016 Moms
ladyshark311
member
Book Challenge! Week of 5/23
ladyshark311
member
This is the first official post for the book challenge group! If anyone needs me to post the original list here let me know and I can.
Title of Book:
Author:
Category from Book Challenge:
Review/Thoughts:
I am just about finished with mine and will post later today or tomorrow, so excited to share my review! I will make a new post each week that way each thread isn't too long and is easy to go back and look at each week. I believe someone had a spreadsheet they were going to make with the titles and such, I forget who that was but if you are reading this please remind me!!
Happy Reading!!
Title of Book:
Author:
Category from Book Challenge:
Review/Thoughts:
I am just about finished with mine and will post later today or tomorrow, so excited to share my review! I will make a new post each week that way each thread isn't too long and is easy to go back and look at each week. I believe someone had a spreadsheet they were going to make with the titles and such, I forget who that was but if you are reading this please remind me!!
Happy Reading!!
Re: Book Challenge! Week of 5/23
A book you own but haven’t read
A book that was made into a movie
A book you picked solely because of the cover
A book a friend loves
A book published this year
A book by an author you’ve never read before
A book by an author you love
A book at the bottom of your “to-read” pile
A book with a color in the title
A book set somewhere you’ve always wanted to visit
A book you started but never finished
A book with a female heroine
A book you learned about because of this challenge
A book with a blue cover
A book you were “supposed” to read in school but didn’t
A book “everyone” but you has read
A book from the library
A book you loved…read it again!
A book that is more than 10 years old
A book based on a true story
A book picked for you by your spouse, SO, child or BFF
A book set on a vineyard or farm
A book written by a celebrity
A book set in your favorite season
Title of Book:
The 9th Girl
Author:
Tami Hoag
Category from Book Challenge
A book by an author I've never read
Review/Thoughts:
I didn't really read this one; I listened. We travel a lot and audiobooks are our travel tradition. Audible had a bogo sale on select titles, and we picked this because we have several road trips coming up and need as many titles as possible. I was interested in the story, but it wasn't very believable. For our audiobooks, we do a lot of mystery because it's a genre that keeps DH interested too. We've listened to Gone Girl, Dark Places, Girl on the Train, Sharp Objects, The Good Girl, The Life We Bury, and Pretty Girls in the past year. I would recommend anything from that list, but while this kept me interested, it lacked the complex characters that the books above had. It read like a cheap mystery and that's pretty much what it was. Characters were very stereotypical. It was heavy on the gore in areas but light on the plot. I don't think I'd read or listen to this author again.
Title of Book:
The Never-ending Story (original German version)
Author:
Michael Ende
Category from Book Challenge:
A book that "everyone" has read. Actually since starting this book I've learned most Germans have only watched the movie (cheaters!) but the story is well known and embedded in the culture.
Review/Thoughts:
ETA THE BUMP DELETED MY ENTIRE REVIEW WHEN I POSTED, AAAAAHHHH!
DS#2 due 25 April 2019
Go Set a Watchman
Author:
Harper Lee
Category from Book Challenge:
A book you own but haven’t read
Review/Thoughts:
Its been years and years since I read To Kill A Mockingbird but I didnt feel like that hindered my enjoyment of this book. It was a fairly quick read for me since I've been having trouble sleeping and would read it at night. I t say there was anything overly fantastic about it but it was easy to get through and entertaining enough.
Title of Book: The Passenger
Author: Lisa Lutz
Category from Book Challenge: Book published this year
Review/Thoughts: I’ve read all Lisa Lutz’s other books and have mostly enjoyed them. They’re light, quick reads that have kept me entertained. This book was not as good as her previous books. It’s a thriller about a woman on the run from some dark secret in her past. Through flashbacks and emails, we get most of the story, but the ending (and the “big reveal”) is a bit anticlimactic. I’d say it’s a good book to read if you want a “fluffy” thriller without a lot of blood (though there is some violence), but it’s certainly not required reading.
Author: Cormac McCarthy
Category from Book Challenge: A book from an author I've never read/ A book made into a movie
Review/Thoughts: Really good so far. My SO is also reading it with me, he's an English major so of course he introduced me to this book because of its Pulitzer prize and his love for how original the author is. The author himself is known for not using proper grammar (he said he doesn't want to mark up the pages.) so reading it can be a bit confusing at times. It starts off really mysteriously and I just found out there's a movie made out of the book so I'll be excited to watch that after.
SO and I have been together: 5 Years+
BFP: 03/10
First Baby: 10/20/2016
Author: Lev Grossman
Category from Book Challenge: a book by an author I'd never read before (although to be honest, I'm just going to read what I feel like and not follow the list)
Review/Thoughts: I've only read the first book of this trilogy, and I'd heard it was really good, plus they're making a television series. I was really disappointed. The first probably 3/4 at least of the book seems like exposition, and early on seems to shamelessly rip off Hogwarts. I don't like any of the characters, bleak modern types who abuse substances and don't have real relationships. When the real action finally starts, it's decently engaging and even demonstrates the relevance of some seemingly pointless earlier occurrences, but then it keeps going too long and gets ridiculous. Then the end is a shameless set-up for the next book.
I did like the way that magic is depicted somewhat like a science (I think they outright say it's not in the book, but still). I would not recommend this book, especially not to anyone not familiar with the genre. However, I will probably read the next two installments anyway.
Author: Alice Hoffman
Category from Book Challenge: A book with a female heroine
Review/Thoughts: SO had told me about Mount Masada years ago and I completely forgot what it was about. Towards the end of this book I realized it was about Mount Masada (my pregnant brain completely missed that part of the description????) and I started to lose it (SO walked in on me sobbing). I loved the characters in this story, they were developed so well from beginning to end. There was a mysticism to this story that I found interesting. I loved that the book had very strong female characters and all very different from each other... each one of them flawed and beautiful. I can't wait to read another Alice Hoffman novel.
SO and I have been together: 5 Years+
BFP: 03/10
First Baby: 10/20/2016
By the 2nd/3rd books, I remember just thinking how brilliant Lev Grossman is. Very creative thinker.
Outlander
Author:
Diana Gabaldon
Category from Book Challenge:
A book with a blue cover
Review/Thoughts:
I am still working through this one. So far I'm really enjoying it. I'm hoping that I can finish it by next week.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/10LkD8fykZnT-_w7KnUkuDqwK5HwXy0CnzrlnemLOHE8/edit#gid=0
BFP #1: 7/15/15, SB: 11/14/15
Rainbow baby DS born 9/29/16!!
BFP #3 3/26/18 | Due 12/3/18
Title of Book: Moloka'i
Author:
Alan Brennert
Category from Book Challenge: Book that is more than 10 years old
Review/Thoughts: Pretty good, just kind of waiting for something MAJOR to happen. It's about the leper colony in Hawaii, so it's like, "Yes, I know you have leprosy, NOW what happens?"
BFP #1: 7/15/15, SB: 11/14/15
Rainbow baby DS born 9/29/16!!
BFP #3 3/26/18 | Due 12/3/18
Author:
Pamela Druckerman
Category from Book Challenge: Book you started but never finished
Review/Thoughts: Interesting to see how people have babies and raise babies in other countries, in this case France. They offer a wine list and fresh bread in the hospital? Yes please!
BFP #1: 7/15/15, SB: 11/14/15
Rainbow baby DS born 9/29/16!!
BFP #3 3/26/18 | Due 12/3/18
I am just about done my first one and I am liking all the reads so far and some great new books to pickup, I think we are going to have a spectacular list at the end of this!
@kmolleltz My DD (she's 15) bought me that for my birthday because I am crazy about "To Kill a Mockingbird", I haven't read it yet but it is in my ever growing stack. It was one of the most thoughtful gifts she has gotten me so I am really hoping I like it just so SHE isn't disappointed!
Title of Book: The Plague
Author: Albert Camus
Category from Book Challenge: A book I own but haven't read
Review/Thoughts: I'm not very far into the book yet, since it's been a busy week! So far, so good, though. I read The Stranger in college and for some reason fell in love with it. I don't know. It's not some amazingly awesome work of fiction that everyone loves or anything. But for some reason I really liked it. So I decided to get another Camus work. It's been on my bookshelf for seriously, I don't even know how long. I thought now would be the perfect time to start it up!
Author: Brandon Sanderson
Category from Book Challenge: Book by an author you love
Review/Thoughts: I finished this monster more quickly than I thought I would, I have a habit of being absorbed by a book that I'm really hooked by. This one definitely qualified!
Words of Radiance is the second book in his Stormlight Archive. The first book, The Way of Kings, was also fantastic but not optional if you're going to read WoR. They are weighty books (clocking in at 1300 pages each) but so worth braving the length. I like that details from the first book were woven into the second, and that minor details became major plot turns or points as more about the world and the characters was revealed. The ending was very satisfying, even though it is part of an ongoing series. Unfortunately most of this book was based around my least favorite character's story, but as Sanderson is planning to dedicate one of each of the books to a major character (although not leaving out the other story lines, just shifting emphasis) I am glad that this one was still as engrossing as it was, and also that this character is out of the way! Now I must wait, as the third book is not yet written.
I picked Brandon Sanderson as an author I love because I have recently been obsessed with his books. I had taken a pretty lengthy hiatus from fantasy in lieu of my usual sci fic and spec fic. I enjoy Sanderson because he doesn't mess around with getting into his stories - there is rarely much world building and scene setting, the action begins immediately and the world unfolds as we go. For the Stormlight Archive there is much more world to figure out - the magic, the environment, etc, is not explained immediately - but I don't necessarily think this is a negative thing. I also like that he has a healthy mix of characters. Although the genres are getting better, there has been a distinct lack of strong and well written female characters in fantasy and sci fic. Sanderson does appreciably well here.
I'm taking a quick break to reread a favorite (Anathem, by Neal Stephenson) then I'll be starting Stephen King's 11/22/63 for the Book You Own But Haven't Read category.
He's been on my list so long, maybe now it's time I gave him a chance. Thanks for the review.
Title of Book: The Windup Girl
Author: Paolo Bacigalupi
Category from Book Challenge: A book at the bottom of your “to-read” pile
Review/Thoughts: It was an interesting read, but the story is a little bit chaotic. The characters are spot-on, and the world (an imagined future Thailand) has a strong atmosphere. It's not an uplifting book but it makes you think about the direction our world goes in.
Author: Laura Dave
Category from Book Challenge: A book set on a vineyard or a farm
Review/Thoughts: This book was an incredibly easy light read from the first page which I really enjoyed. It takes place on a family owned vineyard and what I really enjoyed are the parts of the story where she discusses her Father's love for the soil and how he tends to the vines. There was a bit of a love story tied in but not the typical romantic overly mushy sort, it was a bit more realistic and for the first time I really had no idea what would happen to the main character and her fiance, normally I can predict the ending when reading a rom-com sort of novel. The author really does a fantastic job of painting the landscape with her words and there were many lines that are good takeaways for anyone in a relationship or at a crossroads and unable to make a decision. I would consider this a great summer read, nothing crazy intellectual and I plan to pick up her other books as well.
Title of Book: Defending Jacob
Author: William Landay
Category from Book Challenge: A book that you read and loved
Review/Thoughts: I really enjoyed this book when I read it, and this time I read it out loud to my husband. I enjoyed seeing his reactions about it and talking it over with him. It's a very interesting premise ("What would you do if you thought your son might be murderer?") and led to some lively chats. :-) Not a "light" read per se, but a good one!
Author: Jojo Moyes
Category from Book Challenge: It really falls into half of the categories, but the reason why I decided to read it now is because they made it into a movie (comes out next week).
Review/Thoughts: Everyone I know that read this book has absolutely loved it. I have to say it is very well written, and an enjoyable read. Unfortunately for me, someone at work accidentally ruined the ending prior to me evening cracking the spine, but it was completely accidental (she was talking to the co-worker that is lending me the book, and was talking about the part that got her emotional, which was the ending, not realizing the conversation I was having right behind her ended just in time to hear what she was saying). With that in mind, I didn't find it as emotional as everyone else, but nonetheless, I finished the book in 2 days and that is a very fast read for me. I would still recommend this book
Title of Book: Cover Her Eyes
Author: P.D. James
Category from Book Challenge: A book that is more than 10 years old (first published in 1962)
Review/Thoughts: I ran out of Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple novels, so I was looking for another mystery series to pick up. Goodreads recommended this book as similar in style. I found the book entertaining and I will likely continue the series as filler between more challenging books. It wasn’t as good as the Miss Marple series, but it was the author’s first murder mystery, so I think it was a good first effort.