Challenge: 50 Books discussion
Finish Line 2017
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Connie F's 2017 book challenge
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Good luck with your 30 or 50 or however many you end up at! We certainly won't kick you out just because your goal isn't the name of the group :)
2.
***This was a pretty good book but there was just something missing for me. I didn't really care about any of the characters that much. I've been listening to audiobooks & following along in the book or ebook and I'm not sure if my lack of caring about the characters comes from the person who narrated this audiobook. Many of the plot lines were a little predictable, but the main one I didn't really see coming. This is a pretty fast paced book and if you like young adult fantasy novels, you'll probably like Red Queen. I will read the 2nd book to see where the story goes.
3.
****This book is our February book club pick. I read and listened to the audio book. I saw a lot of 2 star reviews saying they didn't like the characters - maybe it's because I listened to the audiobook even while I followed along with the ebook and the narrator was fantastic and was able to bring the characters to life and make them very likeable. Even Charles who made horrible decisions at times (well all the characters did, but isn't that true to life - we all do stupid things at times), but his true affection for his children made him kind of endearing. Yes - they were rich and didn't have an inkling about the real world - except Babs who had grown up poorer than dirt in Taiwan, but there are times in the book that each character gets it. I really enjoyed this book - it's not fast-paced, it's not a plot driven book - it is a character driven novel. If you enjoy character driven books and like to see diversity in your reading (I enjoyed the Chinese/American family dynamic with the interspersed Chinese -even though the author didn't provide translation - you got the gist of what they were saying in Chinese by the next line or two of dialogue), you may like this book.
4.
****I think this book was more of a mystery than a horror novel. The novel switches between stories - one in the early 1900s - Sarah & Gertie's story, to present day - Ruthie & Fawn's story and how they tie together. There is the slightly annoying trope that something happened in the past and now in the present something weird is happening to the people living in the same home...but that didn't really bother me too much in this book. I enjoyed Jennifer McMahon's writing style and the book is pretty fast-paced. A couple of the plot surprises in the book I figured out before - but the story as to what happened to Ruthie & Fawn's mom (and their mom's ultimate role)- I didn't figure out until it was revealed in the book. I enjoyed this book and if you like Stephen King or Dean Koontz you may like this book!
5.
** or a CThis book was the pick for our February book club. Not a book I would've bothered to read otherwise. I'm not a big memoir reader and I'm really not into religion or books about religious people. I will say that I really liked Denver (the homeless man) and his story. I found the fact that there was essentially still slavery in the 20th century on plantations was incredibly interesting. Ron and Debbie. Well Ron - I felt wasn't really a nice person - he did or said things that he felt he should - and not because he was really sincere (although he did seem to recognize this at times). Debbie - I didn't feel like her story was told in a way that I could really identify or care about her. If you are religious and like memoirs about other religious people - you may like this book. On a side note - I've been listening to the audio book together with reading the physical book & the audio book for this book does not contain the whole book. It's only 3 hours long and excludes about 1/4 to 1/3 of the book.
6.
*** or B-Solid book, great character development. Khaled Hosseini is just a fantastic writer. He put this book together almost like a collection related short stories. The book starts with an Afghan tale (which I had to muddle through) however you will see the connection as the story gets started. The author weaves the stories of a group of people through the generations and how their lives or actions have touched someone else in this novel finally bringing together the action that happened in the 1st couple chapters into the last couple chapters. Although this was my least favorite Khaled Hosseini book - it was still a good read.
7.
** This book just didn't work for me. It was very short (which I actually liked) but I just didn't care about any of the characters. Although I thought the premise of the story sounded interesting -what happens to the kids who come back from Neverland or whatever their respective fantasy world was - but like so many books this one just fell short.
8.
4 1/2 *The only reason it isn't 5 stars was I felt it was a little too long and there were some parts that were a little confusing - although I think that's the way the author wanted it - he wants you to think. I love the way Jonathan Safran Foer writes. There were parts in this book where I literally laughed out loud. The dialogue between the characters was fantastic. The 2 older sons I felt said things that were a little beyond what someone their age would say. Other than that this book was very, very good.
9.
***This book is about, obviously, The Widow. She was married to a man who had been accused of a sensationalized crime. This book was told from multiple points of view, from the Widow, the reporter, the detective and one chapter, the dead husband. This book is my March book club read for one of my book clubs. I did enjoy this book - I both read and mostly listened to this on audio book. The narrators were just "meh" but I still enjoyed the story. It's a bit of a mystery so if you like mysteries you may like this book!
10.
****This is the 2nd book in the Illuminae Files sci/fi series (not sure if it's a trilogy or not. The way this book ends - it sounds like there is at least one more book to follow.) In keeping with the first book, this book is written like a investigative dossier. You are reading interview excerpts, IM excerpts, emails, investigative reports and journal excerpts from the main female protagonist. I still really enjoyed this style of writing. Something I found interesting about this book was that I thought that it would be a continuation of the first book, but instead it tells the story of the people on the Heimdall, I think it's like a space station, during the same time as the attack on the Karenza (the planet attacked in the first book). You have all new characters in this book, but some characters are connected to characters in the first book.
I listened to the audio book, while following along with the book. This was a great way to read this book. Unlike other books - I didn't listen to the audio unless I had the book in front of me. I also recommend you get the actual book or if you want an ebook, read it on your Ipad or another type of tablet that will show the pictures in the book clearly. This is a young adult novel - written at a level teenagers can enjoy it and the main protagonists are all teenagers. However, the dialogue between all the characters is entertaining. I recommend this book for anyone even if you're like me where scifi & fantasy are not in your comfort zone.
11.
*** This is a mystery/thriller about a woman who moves into a very stark minimalist house at a very low rent in exchange for taking care of the house and taking part in surveys about living in the house. The book is a dual perspective from Jane and the girl who lived in the house before Jane, Emma. Something happened to Emma while she lived in the house and Jane is trying to figure it out.
The author did a pretty good job of creating several different scenarios as to what happened to Emma and how. So I was continuing to guess what happened until nearly the end. This really wasn't a page turner (although I mostly listened to this in audio form and I didn't think the narrators were that fantastic, maybe if I had mostly read the book it would've been a page turner!) It was definitely more of a character study and I didn't find any of the characters to have much in the form of redeeming qualities.
12.
****1/2I loved this book. I don't know why, but I love books about art or artists. This was a wonderful book about a friendship between Sharon Kisses and Mel Vaught. They meet freshman year at college where they are getting a degree in fine arts. Both love animation. They graduate and form a partnership making animated movies. There were a couple twists in the book I wasn't expecting (since I went into this book blind, only knowing it was a book about female friendship). Ultimately, this is a story about family: the one you're born into and the one you choose and create for yourself and learning to forgive and accept family for who they are.
13.
**This book is about a group of high schoolers who are just the normal kids - not the Indie kids (or the heroes in YA fiction that save the world from a number of unknown disasters like vampires, werewolves, soul sucking ghosts etc.) They are just trying to live their lives until graduation hoping that the Indie kids don't blow up the high school again before they get to walk for their diplomas. This was my first Patrick Ness book - and it was meh. Given that it wasn't really a plot driven novel - the character development should have been more and it wasn't. I just didn't really care about any of the characters in this book. A trope I hate in the YA genre is how all the parents are jerks and idiots. Although I have liked a lot of YA novels in the past - this one just fell a little flat for me.
14.
****1/2I both listened to this on audio book and read the physical book. I really like Lisa McInerney's writing style. I loved the audiobook (the narrator was excellent, great Irish accent and she did a good job on slightly differentiating each character by style of speech or slight changes in the tenor of her voice). The character development was very good, I definitely cared about what happened to most of the characters. This is not necessarily a page turner - because it's more of a character driven novel, but I found myself continuing to think about the book after I put it down. It follows 5 characters whose lives intersect after a murder. The novel highlights the downtrodden in Ireland and the choices or absence of choices that affect these characters' lives. At the end of the book the author used the final few chapters to go in depth on a couple things that happen earlier in the book where she keeps the audience in the dark (which I figured she'd just leave it as something you just use your imagination as to what really happened). So that was interesting how she went back to that to then let you in on the specifics of those plot points. If you like a good character driven novel with intersecting storylines, really good character development I think you'll like this book. I highly recommend both the book and the audiobook!
Thanks for the detailed description, Connie. I've been thinking of reading along with an audio, as I'm lost listening to . I'll check out the book too, as this is the type of book I enjoy! & I appreciate an excellent narrator!
Great!
15.
*First off, I need to be honest - I'm not a fan of memoirs and the only reason I read this book was for my book club. There's a saying that everyone has one novel in them - I don't think that' true. I don't like memoirs because most people who write them are not good writers. Many times what an individual finds funny or poignant in their own life, or that they think their life is so interesting - to most readers - it isn't. That being said, another thing to note is, I don't have kids so I really just didn't care about anything Amy Chua had to say in this book. However, I do think that many parents are way to lenient with their kids. I've had several meals out ruined because some rude parent thinks their baby's screaming "because that's just how she communicates" is so cute and everyone else should just endure it in public.
Chua has stated that this book is a satire - but I'm not sure if this incredibly intelligent law professor understands satire - or obviously doesn't seem to know how to write it (or read it as it came off sounding the same pretentious, judgmental and condescending way on audio as it comes across as the written word in the book) "Tennis was very respectable -- it wasn't like bowling." or "That's one difference between a dog and a daughter...A dog can do something every dog can do...and we applaud with pride and joy. Imagine how much easier it would be if we could do the same with daughters! But we can't; that would be negligence."
As an adult in her 30s she would have arguments with her 10 year old daughter, that by her own account, would last for several hours - making everyone's life miserable (her husband, both daughters and even her parents). She would say things like "...nurturingly [I] said to Sophia, "Don't blow this. Everything turns on your performance. The justices aren't coming to New Haven to hear a high school talent show..." She called her daughters garbage, ungrateful etc. and threatened to burn all their toys if they didn't practice their instruments . She makes them practice for sometimes 5 hours a day. She doesn't leave even an hour a week for her girls to have friends or do fun things with kids their own age - because she has them playing instruments, doing hours of math practice tests etc. At one point she would go and get her daughter Lulu from school for an hour or two (during classes she didn't find valuable, like gym) to bring her to her violin teacher for an extra hour of practice.
This book is riddled with Chua's obvious judgmental and condescending opinions of Western life (which by the way Amy - you're Western - born & raised in this country). She comes across as if she thinks emotional abuse is some sort of pseudoscience and totally ignores the fact that "According to the journal Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry, there are over 300,000 suicides in China annually; thus China accounts for more than 30% of the world's suicides." She admits that she is not happy and that happiness isn't something she thinks is important - she constantly tries to excuse her verbal abuse of her children by saying things like "When I look around at all the Western families that fall apart - all the grown sons and daughters who can't stand to be around their parents ... I have a hard time believing that Western parenting does a better job with happiness."
The author loves to play the martyr. She says things like, "Western parents have it so much easier..." "unlike my Western friends I can never say 'As much as it kills me, I just have to let my kids make their choices and follow their hearts....' then they get to have a glass of wine and go to a yoga class, whereas I have to stay home and scream and have my kids hate me" But the truth is - on all counts you can do that - you've chosen not to.
Now, she waits until one of the final chapters to admit that "My father was the black sheep in his family. His mother disfavored him and treated him unfairly." "The result was that my father hated his family - found it suffocating and undermining - and as soon as he had a chance he moved as far away as he could..." Why did she claim his treatment was unfair but her treatment of her daughters, particularly Lulu was fair? Why does she still cling to the belief that the Chinese way is far superior to the Western way?
As I said above, the author sounds judgmental & condescending throughout the book, but she even goes further in making sweeping generalizations of an entire culture as well as adhering to the sterotypes. At times she sounds racist, ignorant and whiney. You would think that since this is a book on how she chose to raise her children - you would get at least a small sense of who they are - but you don't. You have no idea what Sophia or Lulu truly like, don't like or want. All in all - I really didn't like this book. Chua is not a very good writer and her story isn't very interesting (at least not the way written).
16.
**This book is one of my bookclub's April pick (I probably would not have read it otherwise). Not sure how I feel about this book. The writing was good - but it was confusing. Mostly, it was memories of an old woman who has dementia, about her aunt she knew as a child. But a lot of the story took place before this old woman was born, so it was confusing how it could be a memory. Also, there were times it was difficult to tell who was being talked about because the author would be talking about one character and go into another character without letting you know - eventually you would figure it out. I'm sure this was intentional (maybe because Mahboubeh has dementia and it's how her brain worked), I'm just not sure if I like this style of writing. The story was o.k. It takes place in a Jewish city in Iran back in the early to mid century 1900s. It is a story of jealousy, sacrifice, and betrayal - focusing on the oppressiveness of the marriages and treatment of women in general in that time and in Iran. The lack of choices for women and the fact that their worth was based on whether they could have children.
17. In a Dark, Dark Wood ***1/2This was a good book. I was really looking for a scary book - but this wasn't scary. It's more of psychological thriller. I enjoyed the author's writing and the character development was quite good. Although the main protagonist was really annoying at times and I hate when books, movies or t.v. are so predictable with characters talking to the police without lawyer tropes. However, when I thought the story was spoiled for me after reading the blurbs on the back of the book cover - the author added a little twist. She did a good job at keeping me guessing. Although I knew the murderer was one of 3 people I did keep guessing until it was revealed.
18.
****Although I had been hoping for a book with a protagonist I could completely identify with, single in your 40s, never married, no kids - I didn't get that in this book, however I loved this book. The author has wonderful prose and the protagonist, Andrea, can be a real smartass - which I did identify with. The book's chapters jump around in different times of Andrea's life. So one chapter she's 13 and then the next chapter is present day and she's 40. You get a good feel for who Andrea is - and at times she's pretty unlikable - but if we all got to see the real person behind the people we know - we'd all probably be pretty unlikable at times. I was disappointed that what I had heard about this book - that it was about a professional woman in her 40s who's single and unapologetic about it wasn't really what I got. Although she was unapologetic about it - the author did the annoying thing of explaining that she must still be single because of something from her childhood. Even though I didn't really identify with Andrea the way I'd hoped, the author is a really good writer, I found the book fast paced. Some of the side characters in the book could have been developed a little more, but other than that this was a really enjoyable read.
19.
**First off - I have to admit - I'm not a fan of memoirs. However, I like Anna Kendrick and find her Tweets hilarious, so I was really looking forward to this book. Now, I mostly listened to this on audio cds and it was narrated by the author - so I thought it'd be great. Unfortunately, I was underwhelmed by this book and I found the author's voice to be a bit grating. I will say that I enjoyed the beginning of the book before she goes to Hollywood. I never knew she had the career on Broadway she had as a child. Once she got to the part of the book about Hollywood, some of the stories came across as a whiny celebrity, complaining about nonsense. Now - it could've been that the stories were supposed to be tongue & cheek but her narration missed the mark (or quite frankly, it could've been me and I just didn't get the sarcasm or cheekiness). If you like memoirs you might enjoy this book more than I did.
20.
****It's 1987 and Clark, Alf & Billy NEED a copy of Playboy with Vanna White!!! Mayhem ensues! Cute coming of age novel. It sort of lost me a little about 3/4 of the way through (because of my disappointment in the characters' actions) but it picked back up!
21.
***This is a magical realism love story that tackles real world issues like war refugees, immigration, & nativism. In many places I felt like Hamid's writing was choppy and did not flow, making the book a little difficult to read. I think he did try to show various sides of an argument and the many difficulties involved with immigration and refugee situations.
22.
***The final book in the Darker Shade of Magic trilogy. I liked the 1st book the best out of the 3. This book was an o.k. read (although I mostly listened to it on audiobook). About the audiobook - it had a male & female narrator and instead of them reading the male or female parts - they switched reading chapters and so they would read all the parts during the chapters they read. It would have been better if the female narrator read the female parts and the male read for the male parts. Just my opinion. I did enjoy the last few chapters where she wrapped up the stories of the different characters. Also, you get a deeper look at several characters other than Lila, Kell & Rhy. I really enjoyed the chapters about Holland's past. If you liked the first 2 books in the trilogy - you'll like this book as well.
23.
****1/2This was an excellent book. It's a mystery and the author does a fantastic job of keeping you guessing. Just when she points you in one direction and you think you know what happened, she reveals another possibility for you to think about. There is one main mystery, but there are also 2 other minor mysteries taking place in this novel. Sadie is a London detective who is forced to take leave. She travels to Cornwall to stay with her widowed grandfather and while there, stumbles upon a 70 year old cold case, which she then embarks on solving. The book tells Sadie's story in current day and also the story of the family who were involved in the cold case back in 1933. The characters were nicely developed so that you cared about what happened to them. I'm not sure how I feel about the resolution of the story- I feel that it was a little contrived which is what kept me from giving this book 5 stars. Although it wasn't out of the realm of possibilities - I was a bit disappointed in the reveal. However, I still highly recommend this book.
Thanks for your detailed description of this book, Connie. I'll give it a try!
24.
*This book was heavily promoted & touted by the publisher, book magazines & reviews as being one of the must reads of 2017. I was extremely excited to read it - and needless-to-say, very disappointed in it. This novel tells the story of Selin and her first year at Harvard and summer after that freshman year. Now I'm a bit socially awkward - but Selin takes the cake on socially awkward & boring. The dialogue between the characters was stilted and boring (there's that word again). I listened to the audio book as well as read along with the physical book. The author narrated the audio book and I think that was a mistake. Her performance was flat and her whole narration was monotone and lackluster. I don't know what else to say about this book other than it was boring!
25.
***1/2Another memoir! I'm not a huge fan of memoir's but I heard a snippet of Alec Baldwin's audiobook and thought I'd like it. I only listened to the audiobook. I like Alec's narration - he did a good job. The early chapters of the book I found to be the most interesting. He seems to accept responsibility for some of the things he's done for which he's been criticized ie. the infamous voicemail left to his daughter. Unfortunately, there were a couple celebrity whinefests - but on the whole - those were pretty minimal. I did like how, for the most part, he was very complimentary of most of his costars - which I liked. If you like memoir's you'll probably like this book - I recommend the audiobook so you can hear Alec tell his story in his own voice!
26. A Gentleman in Moscow ***This was just an O.K. read for me. It is a book club pick. The writing is very good, as is the character development. The story was just a little bland for me.
27.
***Just another meh read. The writing was fine. This was a bit of a dark novel. It deals with abuse, physical/emotional/sexual. I did enjoy the storyline of how healing a relationship with an animal can be. There have been some complaints about this story being the typical "great white hope" family comes in to save the poor person of color- but that's not at all what I got from this story. All the characters in this novel are deeply flawed and all make bad decisions. The author even addresses the fact by having Ginger acknowledge that she has racist/prejudice thoughts occasionally. Although at times the story is a bit predictable, the writing was good, as was the character development. I'm not sure if I think this novel should be in the running for the Bailey's Prize for Women - but it has value.
28.
****This is another book club pick and I really liked this book. Although - at my age I do sometimes have a difficult time with the angsty teenaged drama - this was a very entertaining read for the most part. It is considered a diverse book, as there are 2 main characters (and several supporting characters) who are gay. I do feel that this book could be seen as problematic with it's stereotypical portrayal of one of the main gay characters. Also, the constant mention of how big (code for fat) this character was, and some insulting things said about girls. I realize that this book is about teen boys and many of the things they said or think in the book are what teen boys think - so I'm not sure if these should be considered problematic or not, anyway - they were noted. However, the writing was great, the character development was really good. Even though the angsty teen boys at times were very unlikeable - you still somehow manage to like them in the end and care about what happens to them throughout the story. One thing I particularly liked about this YA novel was the good relationships both Will Graysons had with their respective parents and that the authors didn't follow a trend in YA to make the parents stupid. All-in-all, I really liked this book.
29.
***Interesting WWI story of a stray dog found on the streets of Paris by an American Soldier, James Donovan, who forged a loyal friendship during WWI and went on to become heroes of the Battle of Meuse-Argonne by giving the dog messages to run coordinates and information back to the lines.
**Short story about a reporter who was embedded in Afghanistan in 2001 and returned 9 years later to find that the good will she saw from the Afghans in 2001 when the Taliban were defeated in Northern Afghanistan had been squandered by political indifference and incompetence.
**I did not find anything in this article to even be memorable. I read it this morning and then read the other two listed above and can't recall much of what I read in this first short article.
I'm counting these 3 short non-fiction articles as one book (together they total about 154pp)
30. The Underground Railroad
****This was a very good book. Well written, pretty good character development and a good story. I don't really understand the symbolism of making the underground railroad into a real railroad - maybe that's something I should research. However, the story of Cora, Cesar, Lovey and all the others is heartbreaking. I'm embarrassed to say, that although we all know about slavery in this country, I never really thought about it and I don't recall that we were really taught about the atrocities of slavery in school. Maybe I was just too young to grasp the horrendous situation and now as an adult I can have a better grasp of the reality of slavery. I mostly listed to the audio cds for this book and the narrator was very good. I recommend this book
31.
****Very well-written story. Good plot and character development. This was one of those books where I really didn't like any of the characters but I still enjoyed the story. The author never tells you the name of the narrator you only know her as the 2nd Mrs. De Winter. She's a bit young and naïve with very low self-esteem who marries a man almost twice her age. She moves back to his estate, Manderley, in Cornwall and the story of what happened to his first wife begins to unravel. Although I guessed what was going to happen most of the time - the ending was a bit of a surprise.
32.
***Pretty good story. The author does a pretty good job of stringing you along until she wants let you know what happened - and when you think you know what happened she gives you a little twist. This book is my book club's July book. I doubt I would've read it otherwise as I'd never heard of it. I enjoyed the story and finished it in a day.
33.
***Well-written, non-fiction book about the conflict/civil war in Syria. The author has covered several civil wars including Bosnia, Chechnya and Sierra Leone. Although I was hoping to get a better understanding of the conflict in Syria, this book was more about the human experience and suffering during a war - not from the soldiers point-of-view, but the civilians, which I think as Americans who haven't had a war fought on our soil since the civil war over a 100 years ago, we often neglect to think about the suffering of the civilians in a war torn area.
This wasn't the best non-fiction book I've read - I tend to prefer those non-fiction books that read like a novel, whereas this book was written by a journalist and it has that feel to it. But it is worth the read!
34.
****This is a collection of short stories translated from Spanish. I'm not a big short-story fan, but I really liked this collection. The author does a wonderful job of making you feel like you are in Buenos Aires or other areas of Argentina. I felt the smothering heat and humidity, the scariness of living in a sketchy area of town etc. The collection is dark and weird. The first short story was my favorite. I did feel like the last few stories were a little weaker than the beginning of the collection, but I still enjoyed this collection and recommend it to anyone.
35.
*****Wow! What can I say about this book?! My first 5 star read in a few years. It is a poignant, funny and sometimes sad story of Ove (pronounced Oova) and how you never really know someone or all the events in their lives that have shaped them into the person they become.
This is the story of Ove, a 59 year old curmudgeon, the story of his life as a boy and his life with his wife. The chapters alternate between present day Ove and his annoying encounters with is neighbors and mangy old cat and then it alternates to tell a story from his past.
I thoroughly loved this book and all its characters. It made me laugh out loud at times and even cry a couple times. I can't recommend this book enough. This is the August pick for one of my book clubs. My other book club is reading Britt Marie Was Here (another book by Fredrik Backman) for June. I'll know after reading Britt Marie if Mr. Backman will assume the position in my mind as one of my favorite/must read authors. I'm hoping he does!!!
36.
****I saw this book described as a collection of connected stories, somewhat like the author's previous book, Olive Kittridge. That's not at all what I got from this book though, it is solely a novel about Lucy Barton, who while in the hospital for an extended stay in the 1980s, her estranged mother comes to be with her and through their conversations and Lucy's memories, you find out a little about Lucy's life, her poor upbringing, estrangement from her family, and her relationship with her husband and children. I enjoyed this book. It was a quick, easy read, under 200 pp. If you liked Olive Kittridge, you will probably like this book as well. I will probably pick up the author's new book which are stories about many of the people Lucy and her mother speak of during this book.
37.
****Eleanor Oliphant is a bit of a socially awkward outcast, although she seems to be accepting of this fact, at times she also seems oblivious to her own social awkwardness, which lead to some humorous moments in this novel. The story unfolds slowly and as it does Eleanor's life unfolds for you. Eleanor starts to open up to new relationships and friendships, trying to become more of the type of person she wants to be and inevitably has to deal with the darker past that shaped her personality.
This was a well-written, thought provoking novel, with good pacing and character development. No matter how weird Eleanor is, I found her charming in her own right and cheered her on to the end of the story.
38.
****Well written story about an archaeologist and her finding Neanderthal bones lying next to the bones of a modern human. The book switches between the story of the Neanderthal, Girl and the family, and the story of the archaeologist who finds the bones. I really enjoyed the story of Girl, the archaeologist, not so much.
39.
****Retelling of the Shakespeare play Othello. Osei is the New Boy, a black boy from Ghana, son of a diplomat who had moved around a lot because of his father's job. The story takes place in the early 1970s at an elementary school in Washington DC. Dee, the white girl at school who is asked to show O around, and falls for him in one day and the playground politics that ensue once the all white classmates realize the popular white girl likes the new black boy. Really well written book.
40.
****1/2Mrs. Creasy has disappeared during one of the hottest summers in Britain, 1976. Nine year old Grace & Tilly think that if they find God they'll find Mrs. Creasy. Through their investigation and questioning of the neighbors, many secrets of the neighborhood begin to come unraveled, including a secret that the whole neighborhood is hiding. This is a very well written, character driven novel. Part coming of age, part mystery, part comedy. If you enjoyed books like Wish'n & Hopin' by Wally Lamb - you'll enjoy this book. :)
41.
*****Fredrik Backman writes curmudgeonly older people very well and then surrounds them with a fantastically funny cast of characters that start to bring them out of their set-in-their-ways shells. After walking out on her marriage, Britt Marie moves to the City of Borg in order to take a job running the recreation center (her first job since she got married over 20 years ago). While there, Britt Marie is talked into coaching the local football (soccer) team, becomes friends with Somebody - who owns the pizzeria/car repair shop/post-office, rents a room from Banks - a visually impaired former footballer, and the kids. Britt Marie steadfastly cleans everything with Bicarbonate of Soda (Baking Soda) and Flaxin. Along the way, this cast of characters touch and change Britt Marie's life in ways she never imagined.
42.
****When she was told "never call yourself a feminist since feminists are women who are unhappy because they cannot find husbands" she decided to call herself a happy feminist. Later, when she was told feminism was unAfrican, she decided to call herself a happy African feminist. After being told that calling oneself a feminist meant that they hated men. She decided to be called a Happy African Feminist Who Does Not Hate Men and later a Happy African Feminist Who Does Not Hate Men and Who Likes to Wear Lip Gloss and High Heels for Herself and Not For Men. One of the most important points she makes in this speech is how misunderstood the words "feminism" and "feminist" are in every culture. She makes some very valid points throughout this speech and it should be read by both men and women. I am always very saddened when I hear other women say "I'm not a feminist" as if somehow believing in gender equality is a bad thing. Because that's ALL that feminism means - is that you
believe in gender equality.
****I wanted to complete Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's writings on feminism. This is a short book (63pp) from a letter she wrote to her friend who had just had a baby girl and asked the author how to raise her feminist. This was a very quick and easy read as with all of Adichie's other writings. She's thoughtful and thought-provoking throughout. She mentions that she has always preferred the prefix Ms. to Mrs., because like Mr. it can apply to someone single or married. I wholeheartedly agree with that point of view. I worked for a church once and when I addressed an envelope to Ms. so and so, the pastor balked and said I should put Mrs. I really felt that it was his lack of touch with the current world, but I now think it had to do with the deep, ingrained patriarchal views in which we were all raised.
43.
**This was a book club pick and not one I would have ever read. Although I think the subject matter of immigrant/race relations in the United States is very important, there was just something really lacking for me in this book. I never really cared about any of the characters in any of the 4 stories. It did, open my eyes to a few things that immigrants have to endure when the come to or live in this country, but other than that, I found myself speeding up the audio to just get the book finished.
44.
****1/2Compelling autobiography of growing up in war-torn Congo in Africa and then as a refugee, coming to America and the war-torn hallways of American Middle & High Schools. This was an extremely well-written, fast read. I also listened to the audio book while following along in the ebook. The author narrated the audio book and did a really good job. There were a couple issues I had with the book, basically comments the author made that I felt were unnecessary or a bit on the ungrateful side and since they were something that I continued to think about after I finished the book, I didn't feel I could give it a 5 star rating.
45.
*****I had to think about what I wanted to say about this book. It's a lyrical, poetic coming of age novel following Harriet "Ari" from the age of 6 to 17. It tackles very serious and dark subject matters in such a profound and at times hopeful way. You know that Ari is going to be alright and come out on top in her life. This book made me laugh out loud at times and, many times, made me shed a tear. I will definitely look for more books by Heather Tucker. Definitely a 5 star read for me!
46.
*** 1/2I love Wally Lamb, and I loved Wishn' & Hopin. This isn't my favorite Wally Lamb novel, but I did still enjoy it. Like usual, I didn't read the synopsis of the story and had no idea that it included magical realism. When I got to that part I really thought I wasn't sure if I wanted to continue to read the book - but I'm so glad I did.
47.
*** 1/2"Marlena" is a novel that can take you right back to 15, a time when you were impressionable and friendships were the most important thing in your life, when you were unsure of yourself and your body and all you want to do is fit in somewhere, anywhere, enough so that you may fall into a situation or a friendship that really isn't good for you. This book, in some ways, reminded me of "The Catcher In the Rye" because of the stupid, self-sabotaging decisions teens can make.
This story is about Cat and her 10 month friendship with Marlena. Cat is an adult, living in New York and she receives a voicemail from Marlena's brother, Sal, who is in New York and wants to speak with her. The voicemail sends her back to that year and her friendship with Marlena. The book alternates chapters between Cat's present day life in New York, and how her relationship with Marlena and the decisions she made at 15 have in many ways shaped her life today & then back to telling you the story of that year in Silver Lake, Michigan.
This novel tackles difficult issues like sexual abuse, alcohol and drug abuse in adults & teens, including the manufacturing and sale of Meth in rural areas. I can't say I "enjoyed" this book, because the subject matter is not enjoyable, but it is a very well-written and compelling novel. I wish Goodreads would give us the option of 1/2 stars because I actually give this 3 1/2 stars and do recommend this novel.
Challenge: 50 Books
Books mentioned in this topic
Elmet (other topics)Artemis (other topics)
My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry (other topics)
We Are the Ants (other topics)
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius (other topics)
More...
Someone on booktube had an interesting 2017 reading goal which I think I will make one of my goals and that is to read something/anything every day. Even if it's just 1 page. I have this habit of reading more than 1 book at a time. So last night I just read 3 pages in one book to finish the chapter and then 4 pages in the other book (again to finish the chapter).
1.
This was an o.k. book. It is for a younger audience and I think if I found an adult book with this sort of story line I might have enjoyed it a little more. The writing was very young and easy. The protagonist was a young girl (16 I believe) who is kidnapped and held in a cellar with several other girls as this man's "family." Being 16 her thought process was very young and hard for me to identify with. Kind of a taken from the headlines plot. I read YA when I'm having a hard time getting into anything because they are usually easy reads, which this one was, but just a meh story. I did like how the author used multiple narrators throughout the book so you got several points of view.