Reading seemed somewhat of a struggle this year. Although I finished 161 books, I also quit more books than I ever have. It was hard to find a book that really pulled me in and had me thinking about it after I had read it. And I think some of these books got 5 stars just because I was thrilled to read something interesting. My first 5 star wasn't until April.
5. A Piece of the World by Christina Baker Kline - an imagining of the life of Christina Olson, the muse for Andrew Wyeth's
painting, Christina's World. At a young age, Christina was struck with a
painful, debilitating disease. She lived her entire life on the farm
pictured in the painting always doing what was expected and not what she
desired. I really liked the way this book flowed.
From my blog post of May 28
4. Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys - four young people, different nationalities, are thrown
together in a desperate rush to get to a seaport ahead of the advancing
Russian army. But even refuge on a ship doesn't bring safety. Told from
all four viewpoints, you gradually get to know and care about them.
From my blog post of April 9
3. Glass Houses by Louise Penny - the 13th Inspector Armand Gamache begins in a courtroom with the
inspector on the witness stand. He is recounting the events that
occurred in Three Pines a year ago, beginning with the appearance of a
mysterious person clad in black who stands on the village green. We then
go back and forth in time as things gradually unfold. The author
handles the buildup in tension wonderfully, I couldn't wait to get to
the end. Everything is on the line for Gamache including his career and
family. Just a little bit of niggling irritation as the jumps in time
were sometimes confusing. And I do get tired of the police corruption
angle but that's not the focus.
From my blog post of Nov 26
2. A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles - in 1922, Count Alexander Rostov is condemned to house arrest at the
Metropol, a luxury hotel, for being an unrepentant aristocrat. But he
can't stay in his suite, he must live in a small room at top of the
hotel. Here he lives as the decades pass and those in political power
rise and fall. He begins to make friends with employees who previously
had been acquaintances. And he makes friends with a young girl with a
quick mind who will have a great impact on his life. Little bits of
subtle humor and beautiful writing.
From my blog post of July 16
1. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman - Eleanor Oliphant has very poor social skills and lives a
solitary life, usually speaking to no one at all on the weekends. She
has good reason for her lack of skills which is very gradually revealed.
She suddenly develops a crush on a band singer and begins to take an
interest in her appearance to be worthy of him. In the meantime, she
develops a friendship with the sloppy IT person at her work when they
witness the medical emergency of an elderly man. Funny, sad, hopeful,
and angry were some of my feelings as I read this.
From my blog post of July 30
Eleanor won out over Count Alexander because her story touched me more. I thought of her often.
Sunday, December 31, 2017
Dec 24 - 31, 2017
American Fire: Love, Arson, and Life in a Vanishing Land by Monica Hesse - the true story of a series of 80 plus fires set in Accomack County, Va during 2012/13. An already impoverished area, the arsons and subsequent trials stretched resources thin. The author, a journalist, made the story read like fiction with a few facts thrown in, making for a compelling read.
4 stars
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Travels with Rachel: In Search of South America by George Mahood - George and Rachel's honeymoon trip to Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. With little preparation and minimal supplies they spent six weeks visiting ancient towns, the Amazon jungle, the pampas and salt flats using mostly local transportation. Told with his usual flair for comedy and willingness to poke fun at himself. A quick, fun read.
3 stars
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Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones - Liesl is a plain girl and lives her life in the shadow of her beautiful sister and talented brother. All her life she's heard stories of the Goblin King and his search for a bride. Then her sister is taken by the GK and in order to save her she agrees to marry him. I'm quite ambivalent about this book. The writing is lovely but it takes forever to get to the point. There's lots of writing music, talking about music, and playing music. And then Leisl wants the GK but he doesn't want her, then he does but she doesn't, then she does but he doesn't. It's a YA book, can you tell? And yet...the ending left me unsatisfied and I've put the second book on my TBR.
3 stars
4 stars
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Travels with Rachel: In Search of South America by George Mahood - George and Rachel's honeymoon trip to Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. With little preparation and minimal supplies they spent six weeks visiting ancient towns, the Amazon jungle, the pampas and salt flats using mostly local transportation. Told with his usual flair for comedy and willingness to poke fun at himself. A quick, fun read.
3 stars
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Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones - Liesl is a plain girl and lives her life in the shadow of her beautiful sister and talented brother. All her life she's heard stories of the Goblin King and his search for a bride. Then her sister is taken by the GK and in order to save her she agrees to marry him. I'm quite ambivalent about this book. The writing is lovely but it takes forever to get to the point. There's lots of writing music, talking about music, and playing music. And then Leisl wants the GK but he doesn't want her, then he does but she doesn't, then she does but he doesn't. It's a YA book, can you tell? And yet...the ending left me unsatisfied and I've put the second book on my TBR.
3 stars
Tuesday, December 26, 2017
Dec 17 - 23, 2017
Artemis by Andy Weir - Jazz Bashara lives on the moon. Sounds cool, but she's too poor to enjoy the lifestyle and makes her living as a porter and smuggler. Then she's hired to sabotage some equipment and finds herself in the middle of a fight to control Artemis, the city on the moon. I was really expecting to like this, I loved The Martian by the author. But this book is filled with a smart-mouth, snarky woman (she acts more like a teenager) who makes lots of sexual comments and thinks she's pretty cool. And there's lots of science and welding. Which I skimmed as fast as possible. I only finished because I wanted to know how Jazz got out of her mess.
2 stars
2 stars
Sunday, December 17, 2017
Dec 10 - 16. 2017
Final Girls by Riley Sager - Quincy Carpenter is a Final Girl, she's the only survivor of a brutal knife attack that left all her friends dead. Forcibly linked by media outlets with two other Final Girls, her world is rocked when the oldest Girl commits suicide and the second turns up on her doorstep. Quincy has no memories of her trauma and would like to keep it that way. Because she has a niggling doubt about her own role in it. I blazed through this one, it really kept my mind whirling. Dabs of language, sex, and violence.
4 stars
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A Royal Experiment: The Private Life of King George III by Janet Hadlow - Americans know this king as the one fought against in the Revolutionary War and for his madness. The author takes a look at his family life, one that he was determined would not be like previous generations, known for infidelity and coldness towards their children. He was very purposeful in the qualities he looked for in a wife as he wanted to form a warm family life. He and his wife, Caroline, had 15 children, 13 of whom lived to adulthood. Unfortunately, George wasn't quite able to live up to his own ideas, growing colder towards his children as they grew up and wanted to live their own lives. And his descent into madness altered the way the queen viewed him. This was a very long book and I was only able to read about 50 pages at a time. The writing was good but there were just so many people. I don't think I ever got all the princes figured out and which was the duke of what.
3.5 stars
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Reykjavik Nights by Arnaldur Indridason - a prequel to the Inspector Erlender novels. This goes back to the very beginning of his career as a policeman. He's working nights as a traffic cop and begins dwelling on the drowning death of a homeless man he's acquainted with. His unofficial investigation leads him to believe it was murder. This was rather a plodding book, Erlender goes through several suspects and there is some repetition. A low
3 stars
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Her Last Day by T.R. Ragan - Jessie Cole became a private investigator primarily so she could search for her sister, missing for the last ten years. When reporter Ben Morrison comes to her with the idea of doing a story about her search, she reluctantly agrees. Ben lost his memory in a fiery crash ten years ago and it may have something to do with her sister. Meanwhile, the whole city is on edge because the Heartless Killer has struck again. The book switches back and forth between these two stories with a couple of subplots in between. Too graphic when the Killer is the focus. And I didn't warm up to the two main characters. For me, the writing wasn't stellar. Once again, I'm in the minority on Goodreads.
2 stars
4 stars
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A Royal Experiment: The Private Life of King George III by Janet Hadlow - Americans know this king as the one fought against in the Revolutionary War and for his madness. The author takes a look at his family life, one that he was determined would not be like previous generations, known for infidelity and coldness towards their children. He was very purposeful in the qualities he looked for in a wife as he wanted to form a warm family life. He and his wife, Caroline, had 15 children, 13 of whom lived to adulthood. Unfortunately, George wasn't quite able to live up to his own ideas, growing colder towards his children as they grew up and wanted to live their own lives. And his descent into madness altered the way the queen viewed him. This was a very long book and I was only able to read about 50 pages at a time. The writing was good but there were just so many people. I don't think I ever got all the princes figured out and which was the duke of what.
3.5 stars
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Reykjavik Nights by Arnaldur Indridason - a prequel to the Inspector Erlender novels. This goes back to the very beginning of his career as a policeman. He's working nights as a traffic cop and begins dwelling on the drowning death of a homeless man he's acquainted with. His unofficial investigation leads him to believe it was murder. This was rather a plodding book, Erlender goes through several suspects and there is some repetition. A low
3 stars
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Her Last Day by T.R. Ragan - Jessie Cole became a private investigator primarily so she could search for her sister, missing for the last ten years. When reporter Ben Morrison comes to her with the idea of doing a story about her search, she reluctantly agrees. Ben lost his memory in a fiery crash ten years ago and it may have something to do with her sister. Meanwhile, the whole city is on edge because the Heartless Killer has struck again. The book switches back and forth between these two stories with a couple of subplots in between. Too graphic when the Killer is the focus. And I didn't warm up to the two main characters. For me, the writing wasn't stellar. Once again, I'm in the minority on Goodreads.
2 stars
Sunday, December 10, 2017
Dec 3 - 9, 2017
The Unicorn in the Barn by Jacqueline K. Ogburn - Eric Harper still resents the fact that his family had to sell his grandmother's house and part of their land to take care of her medical costs. But when he follows an injured unicorn to their barn his life changes. I loved the unicorn but I think my favorite character was the talking cat. A charming children's book with some illustrations.
4 stars
4 stars
Saturday, December 2, 2017
Nov 26 - Dec 2, 2017
Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz - an homage to Agatha Christie and cozy English village mysteries. The story starts with Susan Ryeland reading the manuscript of author Alan Conway's latest book. She doesn't like the author much but does like his books featuring Atticus Pund, a German detective. We then read the book within the book, Magpie Murders. But that book ends suddenly just when Atticus is about to reveal all. And when Alan Conway is found dead it looks like there won't be an ending after all. I was really looking forward to this book but have to admit I was a little disappointed. I had a real problem with the book in the book, there were many characters introduced all at once and I found the story a little disjointed. I put the book down several times thinking I would quit. But things picked up about halfway when we get back to the"real" world. I guessed the murderer in the "real" book, but was quite surprised at the solution to Magpie Murders. Anthony Horowitz is the creator of Foyle's War and a writer for Midsomer Murders.
3.5 stars
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Glass Houses by Louise Penny - the 13th Inspector Armand Gamache begins in a courtroom with the inspector on the witness stand. He is recounting the events that occurred in Three Pines a year ago, beginning with the appearance of a mysterious person clad in black who stands on the village green. We then go back and forth in time as things gradually unfold. The author handles the buildup in tension wonderfully, I couldn't wait to get to the end. Everything is on the line for Gamache including his career and family. Just a little bit of niggling irritation as the jumps in time were sometimes confusing. And I do get tired of the police corruption angle but that's not the focus.
5 stars
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Cast Iron by Peter May - the sixth in the Enzo Macleod series. Enzo is still working his way through a set of cold cases he took on as the result of a bet. This one is the murder of a young girl 20 years ago. Everyone thinks she was killed by a man in prison for other murders but he denies it. I don't find Enzo a likeable man, he seems to be a serial womanizer with a messy personal life. I think I may have started a previous book in the series and disliked him so much I quit. This is a series that definitely needs to be read in order. The mystery part was okay but I liked few of the people.
3 stars
3.5 stars
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Glass Houses by Louise Penny - the 13th Inspector Armand Gamache begins in a courtroom with the inspector on the witness stand. He is recounting the events that occurred in Three Pines a year ago, beginning with the appearance of a mysterious person clad in black who stands on the village green. We then go back and forth in time as things gradually unfold. The author handles the buildup in tension wonderfully, I couldn't wait to get to the end. Everything is on the line for Gamache including his career and family. Just a little bit of niggling irritation as the jumps in time were sometimes confusing. And I do get tired of the police corruption angle but that's not the focus.
5 stars
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Cast Iron by Peter May - the sixth in the Enzo Macleod series. Enzo is still working his way through a set of cold cases he took on as the result of a bet. This one is the murder of a young girl 20 years ago. Everyone thinks she was killed by a man in prison for other murders but he denies it. I don't find Enzo a likeable man, he seems to be a serial womanizer with a messy personal life. I think I may have started a previous book in the series and disliked him so much I quit. This is a series that definitely needs to be read in order. The mystery part was okay but I liked few of the people.
3 stars
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