Megan’s Comments (group member since Jun 23, 2013)

Megan’s comments from the Reading Buddy Style group.

I'm in!

I finished Of Bees and Mist. I found it difficult to get into the characters and the story. It was an ok story, but I was disappointed.

I chose The Hot Zone for Jarred and he chose A Short History of Nearly Everything for me.

I loved The Thirteenth Tale! Hope you enjoy it!

What were your favorite books read this year? Any 5 stars books?

Little Women

In picturesque nineteenth-century New England, tomboyish Jo, beautiful Meg, fragile Beth, and romantic Amy come of age while their father is off to war.

Water for Elephants

Though he may not speak of them, the memories still dwell inside Jacob Jankowski's ninety-something-year-old mind. Memories of himself as a young man, tossed by fate onto a rickety train that was home to the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. Memories of a world filled with freaks and clowns, with wonder and pain and anger and passion; a world with its own narrow, irrational rules, its own way of life, and its own way of death. The world of the circus: to Jacob it was both salvation and a living hell.

Jacob was there because his luck had run out—orphaned and penniless, he had no direction until he landed on this locomotive "ship of fools." It was the early part of the Great Depression, and everyone in this third-rate circus was lucky to have any job at all. Marlena, the star of the equestrian act, was there because she fell in love with the wrong man, a handsome circus boss with a wide mean streak. And Rosie the elephant was there because she was the great gray hope, the new act that was going to be the salvation of the circus; the only problem was, Rosie didn't have an act—in fact, she couldn't even follow instructions. The bond that grew among this unlikely trio was one of love and trust, and ultimately, it was their only hope for survival.

The Golem and the Jinni
Chava is a golem, a creature made of clay, brought to life by a disgraced rabbi who dabbles in dark Kabbalistic magic. When her master, the husband who commissioned her, dies at sea on the voyage from Poland, she is unmoored and adrift as the ship arrives in New York in 1899.

Ahmad is a djinni, a being of fire, born in the ancient Syrian desert. Trapped in an old copper flask by a Bedouin wizard centuries ago, he is released accidentally by a tinsmith in a Lower Manhattan shop. Though he is no longer imprisoned, Ahmad is not entirely free – an unbreakable band of iron binds him to the physical world.

The Golem & The Djinni is their magical, unforgettable story; unlikely friends whose tenuous attachment challenges their opposing natures – until the night a terrifying incident drives them back into their separate worlds. But a powerful threat will soon bring Chava and Ahmad together again, challenging their existence and forcing them to make a fateful choice.

Partners will be randomly assigned. Each partner will chose a book from their partner's to-read shelf (or any other shelf you choose, such as "owned", "ebooks", etc.,) to read for the month.

If you wish to participate for January, please comment below. Partners will be announced on or around December 20.

Please add nominations for the February group read.

Books can be any genre, you may nominate as many books as you wish, or second (or third, etc) any nominations.

Please check the group's bookshelf to make sure you are not nominating a book that has been a previous group read.

Partners are:
Kate and Jess
Karin, Hassam, and Gabriella
Megan and Jarred

Please post your book selections and thought here.

Kate-(view spoiler)[ I was confused about this also. Since the "life" in which Ursula killed Hitler appeared early in the book, I thought the book would end that way. I kind of thought the author was going with the idea that if you were given endless opportunities, eventually you could meet your destiny and profoundly change history and that was the reason Ursula had so many "lives". So, my guess is the same, she will continue to live life after life forever. (hide spoiler)]

Please list your suggestion for a new name for the group.
No guidelines or rules apply, but please nothing offensive.

I'm in!

I'm a few days late, but October was superbusy for me! I really enjoyed Still Alice. It was sad, which I figured it would be. Thanks for the suggestion Katrina!

I thought this one was just ok. I liked Elizabeth's immortal life and her stories, but I found it very predictable.

I read this a few months ago and I remember feeling the same way at first. I enjoyed the book, I think I gave it 3 stars. I loved the concept of this book, exploring different paths one's life could take based on a decision, timing or chance.

The Round House
by Louise Erdrich
3.91 of 5 stars 3.91 · rating details · 30,380 ratings · 4,524 reviews
One Sunday in the spring of 1988, a woman living on a reservation in North Dakota is attacked. The details of the crime are slow to surface as Geraldine Coutts is traumatized and reluctant to relive or reveal what happened, either to the police or to her husband, Bazil, and thirteen-year-old son, Joe. In one day, Joe's life is irrevocably transformed. He tries to heal his mother, but she will not leave her bed and slips into an abyss of solitude. Increasingly alone, Joe finds himself thrust prematurely into an adult world for which he is ill prepared.

While his father, who is a tribal judge, endeavors to wrest justice from a situation that defies his efforts, Joe becomes frustrated with the official investigation and sets out with his trusted friends, Cappy, Zack, and Angus, to get some answers of his own. Their quest takes them first to the Round House, a sacred space and place of worship for the Ojibwe. And this is only the beginning.

In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto
by Michael Pollan
4.04 of 5 stars 4.04 · rating details · 53,768 ratings · 5,849 reviews
Michael Pollan's last book, The Omnivore's Dilemma, launched a national conversation about the American way of eating; now In Defense of Food shows us how to change it, one meal at a time. Pollan proposes a new answer to the question of what we should eat that comes down to seven simple but liberating words: Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. Pollan's bracing and eloquent manifesto shows us how we can start making thoughtful food choices that will enrich our lives, enlarge our sense of what it means to be healthy, and bring pleasure back to eating.

Life After Life
by Kate Atkinson
3.79 of 5 stars 3.79 · rating details · 28,529 ratings · 5,780 reviews
On a cold and snowy night in 1910, Ursula Todd is born, the third child of a wealthy English banker and his wife. Sadly, she dies before she can draw her first breath. On that same cold and snowy night, Ursula Todd is born, lets out a lusty wail, and embarks upon a life that will be, to say the least, unusual. For as she grows, she also dies, repeatedly, in any number of ways. Clearly history (and Kate Atkinson) have plans for her: In Ursula rests nothing less than the fate of civilization.

Wildly inventive, darkly comic, startlingly poignant — this is Kate Atkinson at her absolute best, playing with time and history, telling a story that is breathtaking for both its audacity and its endless satisfactions.

Partners will be randomly assigned. Each partner will chose a book from their partner's to-read shelf (or any other shelf you choose, such as "owned", "ebooks", etc.,) to read for the month.

If you wish to participate for December, please comment below. Partners will be announced on or around November 20.