Ann A’s Comments (group member since Apr 18, 2010)

Ann A’s comments from the Challenge: 50 Books group.

#59-My Life So Far
I've always liked Jane Fonda, and found her auto-bio riveting. 5*

#58-Sounder
Sad classic Newberry winner. 3*

#57-The Orphan Master's Son
Not sorry I read this ambitious novel, but didn't enjoy it. I just couldn't "buy into" certain aspects of the plot, and didn't care for the narrative style. 2*

#56-The Color Purple
Didn't love the entire book, but the parts that were good were VERY good. 4*

#55-Last Scene Alive
Fun, light mystery. 3 1/2*

Got to hear/see Alexander McCall Smith last month. He's a delightful man - and hilarious!

#54-In Cold Blood
My goodness, what an engrossing, frightening book. Having read this and "The Devil in the White City" in the same month, I'm off true crime for awhile - am afraid of bad dreams and that I'll start suspecting everyone of a "dark side"! 4*

#53-The Silver Linings Playbook
Overall very good, but I subtracted 1/2* for a few plot elements I didn't like. 3 1/2*

#52-The Moonstone
Liked this a lot - now looking forward to "The Woman in White", waiting on my Kindle. 4*

#51-McCarthy's Bar: A Journey of Discovery In Ireland
Not Bill Bryson, but still an enjoyable read. 4*

#50-Tolstoy and the Purple Chair: My Year of Magical Reading
Love reading about people reading great books! 4*

#49-The Sense of an Ending
Barnes is yet another author I'd like to read more of. Sigh...4*

#48-Well-Schooled in Murder
It's annoying that the GR search feature is not working properly at the moment - have to enter ISBN numbers to find certain books. Hope they fix it soon.
Anyway...I wish George had fewer characters with extreme "deviant" behavior, but I'm hooked on her mysteries anyway. They are well-written and engrossing. 4*

#47-The Bell Jar
Plath made me live in this story, even when I didn't want to. I'd like to read some of her poetry now. 4*

#46-The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America
Fascinating and disturbing. 4*

#45-Murder at the Vicarage
The first Miss Marple mystery, and it's a good one. 4*

#44-Bridge to Terabithia
Good, but thought the end "wrapped up" too quickly. 3*

#43-Beautiful Ruins
Probably my favorite book so far this year. 5*

Leshawn wrote: "I love the books you've read this year! Such a great collection! Don't lament the time spent reading, the other projects aren't going anywhere."

You're right, Leshawn. And I doubt I'll look back on my life and wish I'd read fewer books!

KJ wrote: "I was just going to say anything by Bill Bryson! I am in the middle of In a Sunburned Country right now and I LOL at least once every page or two. While I was reading A Walk in the Woods there wa..."

Ditto on Bill Bryson. Recently read my 4th by him: The Lost Continent: Travels in Small Town America, and it's hilarious.