Challenge: 50 Books discussion
Finish Line 2018
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Connie F's 2018 challenge
52.
How to Walk Away****I don't read a lot of contemporary fiction, but I really enjoyed this audiobook. The narrator, Therese Plummer, did a fantastic job. This was the first Katherine Center book I've read and I'll definitely pick up more. I don't like book reviews that are summaries of the book - so I'll just say that this book is about overcoming obstacles - both physical and emotional - all the while doing so with a sense of humor. There were some good quotes in this book like "if you don't know what to do for yourself, do something for someone else." Being able to do something for someone else takes your mind off yourself and your problems and gives you purpose and after her accident, Margaret needed a purpose to go on. Katherine Center created a flawed, but likeable family who come together after a tragic accident. The books prose is very convesational and flows well and the pacing was quick. If you're looking for a good contemporary novel or if you like Liane Moriarty, you may really like this book
53.
The Perfect Mother**The baby of a woman whose a member of a new mommy's group goes missing and how that affects all the women in the group is pretty much what the story is about. The Perfect Mother was perfectly MEH! This was an o.k. genre book, but not much else. I don't think it really brought anything new to the table. The book lacked character development and was a strictly plot driven story, unfortunately the plot left little to be desired.
54.
Heart Berries: A Memoir***This is a memoir by Terese Mailhot, who grew up on the Seabird Indian Reservation in the Pacific Northwest, and deals with her difficult childhood, racism and how that shaped her sense of self and self-esteem, bad relationships and mental illness. I've been looking for a story or memoir that deals with growing up as an indigenous person in North America in present-day without all the ridiculous romanticism we are inundated with whenever we read about Native Americans, and this memoir does just that. It's really in-your-face and truthful about all the feelings and situations that came with growing up on a reservation, dealing with racism, poverty, abuse (both child abuse and abuse in adult relationships). Although I felt the prose was very choppy with short sentences, I think the story and the message was still quite important, relavent and heartbreaking. (I also listened to the audiobook and I think the narrator made the short, choppy sentences a little worse then when I just read them myself). The narrator, Rainy Fields didn't do the book justice, her narration was really without feeling and very staccato.
55.
The Blinds***This book was not what I expected. I expected it to be a a police investigation/murder mystery. Not really, you find out whodunnit pretty early on. The premise of this book is it's a town created by scientists of criminals and some people who have testified against some really bad people who may be looking for them. Everyone volunteered to have their memories stripped, so no one knows whether they were criminals before or if they were innocents. 3 murders take place and the story goes from there. Character development was o.k. Plot was interesting and at least for me original and it didn't really follow any type of formula. The book could've used some editing, but it was still an enjoyable escape from reality.
56.
Happiness for Beginners****Another fast-paced contemporary from Katherine Center. Helen is 32, divorced and decides to go to Wyoming and take on a survival hike for 3 weeks. Jake is her little brother's best-friend and also on the same survival hike. What I like about Katherine Center's books, she doesn't go too sappy with the romance. There's much more to her stories than that. There were a couple laugh-out-loud moments in this book. There was the typical miscommunication between the parties, which I assume is supposed to create tension in the story, but for me those moments just caused me to roll my eyes. Luckily they were few and far between and the rest of the story was pretty good.
57.
Tin Man*****Tin Man is an exquisitely beautiful story of love, loss, grief, loneliness and friendship. "And in the fleeting moment in which he met them, he realised that it wasn't the woman, Annie, wo held this small group together, but the man with scruffy dark hair." Tin Man is the story of Ellis, Michael and Annie and takes place from 1950 to 1996. Sarah Winman wrote an atmospheric and beautiful story with some times lyrical prose: "It was still a world of shyness and fear, and those shared moments were everything: my loneliness masquerading as sexual desire. But it was my humanness that led me to seek, that's all. Led us all to seek. A simple need to belong somewhere." The story is told from two points of perspective - Ellis and Michael. The first half of the book is Ellis and the 2nd half is Michael. If you're so inclined, I highly recommend the audiobook in which Winman performs the narration and did so to perfection.
58.
Three Things About Elsie***1/2Finally, I finished this book. Now to be fair, it wasn't the story or the writing for the reason it took me so long to read this book. In all honesty, I switched to audiobooks last year because I fall asleep when I read - so I was reaching more for my books that had audiobooks I could download from Playster or the library. However, I do feel that this book would've been better with some editing down. The book was 453 pp and it probably would've been better with about 100 pp trim. That being said, I think this story was poignant and a very important topic, which is how we treat the elderly and what it might be like getting old. Florence has fallen and is waiting for someone from the home to find her, while waiting she begins to remember parts of her life, in particular parts involving a man who showed up at their home that she thought was dead. There are 3 Things About Elsie, but I figured out number 3 pretty early on. I'm not sure if the author had wanted that to be a big reveal at the end, I presumed she did, since she waited until the end to reveal it - but this was still a sweet and moving story about someone with dementia.
59.
Little Fires Everywhere *****While reading this book I thought I'd give it 4 stars, but as I continued to think about it I realized that this book had some fantastic character development, a really well developed plot, was compulsively readable and at the same time delved into such topics as racism, women's/mother's rights and abortion to name a few, and did so in a completely satisfying way, at least for me. Ng showed both sides of most issues, she tantalized you with a portion of a story that a character might get (not seeing both sides) and then she takes you down the backstory to show you the whole story. How only having a snippet of information affects one's decisions and opinions and with the whole story how your opinions change. I liked Everything I Never Told You, but I loved Little Fires Everywhere. I think Ng grew as a storyteller in this novel and I came away feeling that she had given me all I needed with each character and story arc.
60.
The Imperfectionists*This book wasn't for me. I bought the e-book back when it came out and there was a lot of buzz about it but never go around to reading it until now (it's a book club pick). I mostly listened the the audiobook though and have to say, if I was just reading it - I doubt I would've finished it. It seemed to me a bunch of disjointed interconnected short stories. Just not my cup of tea. There were too many characters and the bouncing back between present day (at the time 2007) and the past in the 1950s got a little confusing. The last couple of chapters I did find quite compelling (and disturbing). The writing was good, the idea was good and at the time written- timely, but I just didn't feel the execution worked for me.
Connie wrote: "59. Little Fires Everywhere *****While reading this book I thought I'd give it 4 stars, but as I continued to think about it I realized..."
This is a great book, and everyone in my book club loved it -- a rare occurrence.
61.
This Could Hurt ****I had just finished reading another book with a similar plot which didn't really work for me so I when I started this audiobook/ebook I wasn't sure if I was going to like it. However, as the story went on I found that the writing, in particular the character development, was really good. The story is about the 2008 crash of the economy and what happened in the HR Department to this particular company facing those challenges. But more than that, it is about the relationships of the employees in that HR Department. The character interactions and growth really make this story work and having lived through the 2008 economic crisis the story seemed really relevant. I'll definitely read another book by Jillian Medoff.
62.
The Passenger ***Jo/Tanya/too many aliases to list here - is on the run. Her husband fell down the stairs and died and she runs (you find out later why). Anyway, along the way she takes on other identities as she tries to get her life together, but trouble just seems to find her. This book was a really fast-paced fun read for the first 75-80% of the book then it jumped the shark. The author did a good job of keeping up the suspense/mystery as to why the main character Jo/Tanya was living her life on the run. The author delved out the information slowly so you could start to get a picture of what happened, and then she rushed through the ending really abruptly and parts of the story just became so absurd. There's a whole storyline that's just dropped at the end. I thought about giving it 2 stars but I was really entertained until the last 30 or so pages so I left it at 3 stars. I mostly listened to the audiobook which was narrated by Madeleine Maby and she did a good job.
63.
Miss Burma **This was a bit of an odd book. There were parts of the story that I felt the writing and story were really compelling and kept me reading, but then it would get so bogged down, convaluted and didn't seem to go anywhere. The character development was really lacking and felt very superficial, which kept me from caring about any of the characters (or really feeling anything for them). Because of this, the book felt way longer than its 368 pages. I knew nothing about Burma (now Myanmar) before, I just wish the book felt a little less like a dry history lesson.
64.
The Blood Miracles***The Blood Miracles is the follow-up to Lisa McInerney's The Glorious Heresies (which I really liked). I'm not a huge fan of book series but I picked up this book because Ryan was my favorite character in The Glorious Heresies. It's now 5 years later and Ryan is now a 20 year-old drug dealer, still dating his girlfriend and still somewhat estranged from his father. The book follows Ryan's life over a few months up to around turning 21. Ryan is both Iris & Italian who speaks fluid Italian and his boss, Dan, needs him for a drug connect in Italy. As with The Glorious Heresies, this book isn't really a page-turner, but a deeper character study of Ryan, and shows how the loss of his mother to suicide when he was quite young and then being raised by an abusive father in a downtrodden neighborhood have affected his life and the decisions he's made. Unlike the first book, Blood Miracles is all about Ryan and you don't get a whole lot of character development in the bit players of the novel. It was still a good book and as usual I both listened to the audio-book and read the physical book - the narrator, Shelley Atkinson, narrated both The Glorious Heresies and this book and did a great job.
65.
Into the Water3.5 stars. I enjoyed this book more than Girl on the Train. Yes, there is a big cast of characters (over 10 points of view) but I didn't have any problems following the story, and I mostly listened to this on audio. This is not a thriller or suspenseful in any way. I think there was some pretty good character development of the 3 main characters, Jules, Nel & Lena. Paula Hawkins slowly built this mystery up until the final sentence. You get this large cast of characters and several of them are possible suspects with their own motives. I thought I knew who dunnit, but the last sentence of the book let me know I was wrong!
66.
The Anomaly ****This is a really fast-paced sci-fi thriller. Like most thrillers, it's very plot driven with a smidge of character development. I thoroughly enjoyed the ride. I don't want to give much away from the plot - so I will say that points in the novel Rutger had me right there with his writing, at times I felt claustrophobic. Again, this is science fiction, so the base of the plot is thoroughly implausible - but just let go and go with it. I think you'll enjoy the ride too. I mostly listened to the audiobook which was narrated by Brandon Williams who did a great job at the narration. If you're looking for a quick summer read, I highly recommend this book.
67.
How to Be Safe **This book is hard to categorize. It's starts inside the mind of a school shooter, minutes before he goes to the school. You then get the point of view of a disgruntled, recently fired teacher, Anna, who is a person of interest, before they know who the shooter was (which later in the book makes no sense). The book tackles some pretty serious issues in our society. Obviously, school shootings and gun control- but also misogyny, cults, religious zealots, and the affects of social media on the court of public opinion. My problem with the text, is that I'm still not sure whether the author wanted this to be a serious novel about any of these issues or if it's a satire. He went from really heady relevant and poignant topics in one paragraph, to seemingly making fun of our societies worries about safety and gun control in the next. Anna, whose head you are stuck in for 99% of the story, was a bit bland and had some mental health issues, which at times the author was addressing and at other times he seemed to mock. I mostly listened to this on audio and the narrator, Amy Landon, wasn't my favorite narrator. I'm not sure if is was her interpretation of the text or the writing style, but her narration felt stilted and choppy in places. There was some pretty good writing at points of the book, but I never felt like this was true novel - so this was just a meh read for me.
68.
The President Is Missing **1/2The story is a fast-paced thriller and the plot is very current and something we all really should be worried about - cyber-terrorism. If you read Bill Clinton's autobiography, you'll know he can be a bit wordy and he does the same in this book. If you don't like his politics and you can't put that aside, you may not like this book. My criticism with a lot of books (thrillers in particular) and movies etc., is the unrealistic qualities they give to their hero/heroine. Sorry I don't know anyone who is good at everything, loyal to a fault, and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. You get a little bit of that in this book. And as said above, it could've used some editing down. All-in-all, the story was pretty well put together, the pacing was good and he did keep me on the edge of my seat in many areas and I kept wanting to listen to the audiobook to see where this was going. I think for a first effort in fiction, it was pretty good. If you're in the mood for a current thriller, you could do worse.
69.
The Marsh King's Daughter ****Very fast-paced thriller taking place in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan about a woman whose mother was kidnapped by her father. She's raised not knowing that her father is her mother's kidnapper. The story switches between past and present. I think the novel was constructed well, I didn't notice any lapse in pacing, it is told with only one POV, that of Helena. To a degree, this novel reminded me of My Absolute Darling where you get a picture of what it's like for an abused child and the feelings they have for their abuser and the confusion this can cause. I mostly listened to the audiobook which was narrated by Emily Rankin who did a fantastic job. I highly recommend the audiobook!
70.
The Sense of an Ending ****1/2This was an excellent book by Julian Barnes that made me think....a lot. It's a very short book, only 150pp. There's a love triangle, suicides, a bit of a mystery, and the story of an older man coming to terms with is life, as it is now and as he was as an adolescent and young adult. Did he allow life to happen to him or did he live it. This is definitely a character study of the main character, Tony, but enough of a plot to keep you interested. Not a lighthearted summer read, but one of the better books I've read this year. It certainly made me think!
71.
Elizabeth Is Missing****I enjoyed this book. You spend over 300 pp in the head of Maud, or Mops, who is 82 and suffering from Alzheimer's. Her thoughts are jumbled between her past, remembering the disappearance of her sister, and her present and the disappearance of her friend Elizabeth. Elizabeth is missing and no one believes Maud. I listened mostly to the audiobook which was narrated by Davina Porter who did great job, even making her voice sound younger when she was young Maud, and older when she was 82 y.o. Maude.
73.
Us Against You*****I heard some people say about Beartown that they didn't want to read it because they don't like books about sports. This is the follow-up to Beartown and neither of these books are really about sports. This book is about community, relationships, marriage, rape, the aftermath of rape, how an incident can cause people in a community to take sides, what we allow athletes to get away with, how society blames women, loyalty, friendship, poverty, homosexualty, politics etc. I guess if you don't like books about any of those subjects, then don't read either Beartown or this book. Fredrik Backman again made me laugh out loud at points of the story and crying through the end of this book. He writes great, quirky side characters, like Kira's co-worker who at one point exclaims "Men! You know why you can never rely on men? Because they love men! No one loves men as much as men do, Kira! They can't even watch sports if it's not being played by men! Sweaty, panting men fighting against other men, with ten thousand men in the stands, that's what men want. I bet you they'll soon invent a type of porn featuring nothing but men but aimed at heterosexual men who don't really get turn on by men but don't think women are actually capable of having sex properly!" He also has two really great female friendships in this book as well as male friendships. I also listened to the audiobook and Marin Ireland who does a fantastic job (she also narrates Beartown). When I first started this book, I thought I'd give it 4 stars because he does regurgitate what happened in Beartown for the first 40 or so pages, but he takes you through so much more in this book!
74.
Circe****.754.75 stars. This is the second Madeline Miller novel I've read and I thoroughly enjoyed this one as well. Really well written novel with pretty good pacing. The audiobook was narrated by Perdita Weeks who did a really good job and I enjoyed her reading of this story. I know nothing about Greek mythology, so these retellings are extremely interesting to me. the only minor complaint I have is there are so many people mentioned in both this book and A Song of Achilles, they are hard to keep track of, and there could've been a little editing down but all-in-all this book was a great read. (less)
75. Sight
***This book is relatively short, under 200 pp and I thought I would sit down and crank it out on a Saturday. However, I found this wasn't a book I could read in one sitting so when I came back to it I would read 10 pp and then do something else of an hour or so and then back for 10 more pages. I found I started to enjoy the book more when I did this. At first, I really didn't like it - however I found some real gems in her writing and some of the thoughts our unnamed protagonist had were quite meaningful to me so I did increase my rating to 3 stars. This book deals with relationships and understanding and finding meaning in life. In particular the relationship between parent & child at all stages of life from conception to old age. Interwoven with the narrators story were 3 historical stories - that of Wilhelm Rotgens discovery of the x-ray, Sigmund Freud's development of psychoanalysis and his relationship with his daughter Anna, and finally John and William Hunter and their work with Jan Van Rymsdyk regarding the anatomy of the pregnant body. I found I enjoyed the narrator's story and then would be taken out of that into the historical passages. I didn't really feel the Wilhelm Rotgens story worked for me. I found it quite boring. However, I get the parallel, our narrator is trying to find answers and looking inside one's own body, especially as she's pregnant. I felt the Freud story meshed best with this novel and I enjoyed it the most of the 3, and then the final historical aspect of this novel, that of the Hunters and Van Rymsyk also worked and was interesting. The author uses little punctuation and at times that works and at other times the sentences were difficult and I had to reread them to figure out what she meant. But as I stated earlier there were some real gems in this novel - like when she's thinking about how her children will perceive or remember her she writes "I wonder what they will keep of me later; what off-cut memories will remain to be re-stitched, their resemblance to myself a matter of perspective. I want only what I think we all want: to come off as better than I ought, more generous, more sure - kinder than I know myself to be..." Later when she is thinking back on a time of her Grandmother and mother's relationship one summer and says: "It is only now that I can see these few days for what they were: my grandmother's only way of taking care, my mother's only way of being cared for..." I really found an insight she had to a picture of Freud with his daughter when she says: "...finding resolution at last in his relationship with Anna, whose faith in his work was absolute, a form of love, tying him to her as much as her to him - was something which Freud appeared unable either to notice or to anticipate; and I find in this a particular sadness, that a man so concerned with the possibility of understanding might remain in this case so blind." So an o.k. read with some really beautiful writing interspersed!
76.
Still Lives **This had art, murder and mystery, some of my favorite things in a book, but still just a meh read for me. The "I'm a civilian and I'm gonna investigate this murder by myself" trope is old. Nothing new here.
77.
Jaws**If I love a movie and find out it was based on a book, I'll read the book. Books give much more insight into the characters. This book was o.k., but the movie did veer from the book. Both Brody & Hooper come off as jerks in the book, not very many redeeming qualities in either character. Brody's wife also is not very nice and there's a whole story line that is not in the move with respect to Brody's wife. The ending is also different. I do want to mention that if you read this book, remember it was published in 1974 and there are some racist and sexist views. Also, Benchley does not know how to write women. There is actually a point in the book where a woman is talking about her sexual fantasies and her fantasy is rape. Not only is that offensive, it's a dangerous view to hold. It's a very small part of the book, but I wanted to note it's in there. Not a bad read, but not a very good one either. I recommend you stick with the movie.
78.
A Thousand Acres ***I've never read King Lear, but this is said to be a modern day retelling. It's told through the POV of Ginny one of the daughters who were given their father's farm property. After Ginny & Rose's father signs the property over to them and their husbands all fabrics of their families seem to fall apart. This story started out a little slow and I highly recommend to listen to the audiobook narrated by C.J. Critt who did a really good job. Her narration kept me in the story until it picked up which is about 1/3 of the way in (100 or so pages in). After that buildup of the story secrets come out and things start to get more interesting. If you like fast-paced or plot driven novels, this may not be the book for you. However, if you like a good family drama, this may hit the spot.
79.
Reservoir 13 **Not for me. No plot to speak of, just 13 mundane years of life in a sleepy little English village after a young girl goes missing. I like character driven novels if done right, but this book had so many characters and there was so little going on in their lives it was hard to keep track of them.
80.
I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer ***1/2At times this non-fiction book reads like a novel, at times it's a little heavy on the facts. All-in-all though, an interesting read that kept me engaged. Michelle McNamara's team gives the reader the background of the crimes and some insight into not only the victims and their families, but also the investigators (police & civilian internet sleuths alike). The narrator of the audiobook, Gabra Zackman, kept the text interesting and kept me invested in the book. If you're looking for an interesting true crime non-fiction novel, you may like this one!
81.
There There ****A novel by Tommy Orange a Native American writer about modern Native American life in Oakland, California. This novel has a cast of many characters who all end up interconnected and at the end everyone coming together crossing paths at the PowWow. This is a well-written compelling novel about the difficult lives of modern Native Americans. Not really a pleasant story, but very compelling. There is a large cast of characters, with the chapters alternating between characters. Some stories are more easily remembered, but I found myself at the end of the book having to go back and review who some of the key players in the final chapters were. This book was wonderfully narrated by Darrell Dennis, Shaun Taylor-Corbett, Alma Ceurvo, and Kyla Garcia.
82.
The Tattooist of Auschwitz ****Historical fiction based on interviews the author had with Lale Sokolov. Lale was a Slovakian Jew who reported to a work camp upon the request of the Nazis. There he was picked to be the tattooist who tattooed the numbers on the wrists of all Jews entering Auschwitz (known to the be worst concentration camp run by the Nazis). While there, Lale meets Gita and falls in love. The story is quite compelling and readable. I felt the author kind of played down some of the atrocities committed at Auschwitz. Although Lale's position as the tattooist allowed him some freedom none of the other Jews had, it seemed he was able to walk around quite a bit, which I was surprised by that fact. Lale did what he had to do to survive, it's unfortunate that he spent the rest of his life scared to talk about his time at Auschwitz because he thought many would believe he was a collaborator.
83.
Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City ****Very interesting non-fiction book about eviction statistics and the effects on people, in particular families. The author followed several families and single people through the low income rental world, as well as a couple landlords who are allowed to exploit the poor with the help of local government agencies. Eye opening that in Milwaukee rent in the worst neighborhoods was only slightly lower than rent in the suburbs.
84.
The Girl From Blind River***For the most part - not just the same ole, same ole thriller storyline. There is a lot of talk about poker and cards, which I found interesting even though I know nothing about either. Character development was lacking a bit and the plot was a bit drawn out and then all of the sudden it's over - so a bit of a slow burn. Decent read.
85.
Night****Very fast-paced short novel telling Elie Wiesel's own story at the hands of the Nazi's in Auschwitz at the end of WWII. He tells this story in heartbreaking way, you are in his shoes wondering how would you deal with that situation, the burning of children, death, destruction and violence all around you. How would you deal and how would you come out of it if you lived.
86.
Dawn **Elie Wiesel was an excellent writer, this story didn't do much for me however. I know he was trying to get the reader inside the head of a terrorist. Let you see their background, in this case Jews who survived the concentration camps of WWII and how those experiences would help them justify their own actions, like executing a British soldier or someone whom they considered their enemy. It was a book that made me think and I'm not sure if the author wanted the characters to be sympathetic, but I found I didn't have any sympathy for them. No matter what happens to a person, to inflict injury or violence on another human being cannot be justified. (less)
87.
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas *****Another exceptional book by John Boyne. The Heart's Invisible Furies was one of my favorite books last year and this book was really a great read for me. Boyne takes a difficult time in history (WWII and Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland) and tells the story through the Commandant's 9 year old son. Boyne writes a thoroughly likable and naïve Bruno, with some very funny moments yet not trivializing the tragedy of WWII. I highly recommend the audiobook which is narrated by Michael Maloney who does a superb job. You get a bonus interview at the end of the book with the author to get some insight into his writing of this story and his answers to some of the criticism it's received.
88.
All the Missing Girls ***This was a pretty good mystery/thriller. I may have given it 4 stars but I'm not a huge fan of the story working backwards. I found it a bit confusing and it took me out of the story while I figured stuff out. Also, there were several places in the book where the main character said something like she just found this out - then you get further into the story (working backwards) and you find that she knew this detail - so that didn't work for me. The pacing and writing were pretty good, it kept me interested. I mostly listened to the audiobook and the narrator, Rebekkah Ross, did decent job and kept me in the story as much as a novel going backwards could.
89.
The Russian Five: A Story of Espionage, Defection, Bribery and Courage **I was never a fan of hockey until I saw the Russian Five play. They were a joy to watch - not dump and chase hockey - but almost a ballet on ice while passing a little puck. Anyway, the stories are interesting - the Red Wings actually helped 3 of the players defect from the Soviet Union and then Scotty Bowman traded for the last 2. If you aren't a HUGE fan of hockey you may not like this book. I have to be honest - I skimmed a little in the last 1/4 of the book. But still an interesting read and bit of nostalgia to boot!
90,
The Smell of Other People's Houses ***This is YA fiction, so it's a pretty easy read. It alternates chapters between 4 young kids. The setting is Alaska, but unlike other books that take place in harsh climates like Alaska where it actually becomes a character in the novel, that doesn't happen in this book. There is some good character development in this book - but I didn't feel like the author went deep enough - maybe there were too many characters and not a long enough book. I'm not sure. The narrators of the audiobook are Jorjeana Marie, Erin Tripp, Karissa Vacker, Robbie Daymond, who all did an adequate job. All-in-all not a great book but still a nice little read.
91.
The Winter Horses **This is a very young YA novel taking place during WWII. For that reason, it's a very quick read. The story is o.k., but I didn't find myself very invested in any of the characters. Maybe I've read too many WWII books in a row. The book sounded fascinating, a Jewish girl on the run and trying to save the last 2 wild horses from being killed by the Nazis. I just felt the execution of the story was lacking for me and that may be because this is a YA novel geared towards a very young audience.
92.
Little Nothing ****I got this book in a book box and I wasn't sure if I would like it. It's literary fiction but it's also a fairytale, which I'm not a huge fan of fairytales. I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It's extremely imaginative and the story has a lot of twists and turns. The narrator of the audiobook, Saskia Maarleveld, did a fantastic job. I highly recommend this book.
94.
The Incendiaries ***This book didn't meet my expectations. It was good, but I don't think it deserves the hype it's getting. It's another book that seemed to take forever to figure out what was going to happen. The story addresses issues of college age kids with respect to grief, feelings of guilt, religious fanaticism. Character development was pretty good, plot and pacing are just o.k. - it seemed to take a long time for things to happen.
95.
Whistle in the Dark***This was just an o.k. audiobook. The story did seem to go n and on and on. The author did keep me guessing as to what's happening. It was a quick read and an o.k. mystery.
96.
The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher **I'm not a huge fan of short stories, but I wanted to give Hilary Mantel a try, and this was just an o.k. read. I like more character and plot development than what you get in short stories. Her writing was good. The short story The Heart Fails Without Warning was probably the best story in this book. She addresses anorexia in an 11 year old. The first story is about some British ex-pats living in the middle east and the last story is a fictional account of someone trying to assassinate Margaret Thatcher back in the 1980s. The rest of the stories left very little impression on me as I can't even tell you what they were about.
97.
Dusk or Dark or Dawn or Day**I am not a fan of this author. She is a YA author and that's obvious in the writing style - I think her writing is just a little too simple for me. Obviously, with these shorter (barely over 100 pp) novels you just can't get the character and plot development that I prefer. I really thought that the plot of this book was quite unique, it just fell flat.
98.
Snap ***This was an interesting Thriller / mystery novel that is well written, the characters were pretty well flushed out, the plot was okay, the pacing was pretty good but definitely not Man Booker quality writing, but if you're looking for a decent Thriller you may enjoy this one.
99.
Neverworld Wake***It's been a while since I read Night Film so I wasn't disappointed with this book, like I see many other readers saying in their reviews. I thought the idea behind the plot was very imaginative and inventive and it pulled me along. The pacing was good and there weren't any areas in this novel that bored me or dragged along. That being said the writing style is obviously YA and geared for that younger audience, which may be why some people who loved Night Film feel like the writing in this book was totally different.
All of the characters were not that well developed which makes it difficult to care what happens to them. Also, there are times in the book I feel like the author pulled out things that were the exact opposite of what had been written earlier in the book, just to make the story work (if that makes sense - I don't want to give too much away). It didn't feel like this was supposed to be an unreliable narrator so I didn't feel like the end made much sense. I still enjoyed the book, however, and recommend it if you're looking for a quick, imaginative read.
100.
I Remember You ****If you're looking for a good ghost story - I really enjoyed this one. It written by an Icelandic author and is set in Iceland. I really enjoyed the plot on this one as it was a bit understated and just a good old fashioned ghost story. The two main characters were pretty well developed. The plot was a bit intricate to get the connections, but I thought the author did a good job of tying the different storylines all together at the end.
Challenge: 50 Books
Books mentioned in this topic
The Keeper of Lost Things (other topics)More Happy Than Not (other topics)
Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging (other topics)
Invisible City (other topics)
The Air You Breathe (other topics)
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This is another psychological thriller told from the point of view of the crazy a.f. Mike who obsesses over ex-girlfriend V (Verity). In the same vain as You by Caroline Kepnes, you are in Mike's head the whole book. Also like You, you have the unlikeable female that the protagonist is obsessing over. The constant crazy inner dialogue of Mike gets a little tedious and the ending left some questions. Overall, the book was entertaining just not anything really new or spectacular.