January 2020 - Stars and Wars Theme

[Sarah]

If the two chosen books are not to your liking, you can read another book that fits this month's theme of 'Stars and Wars. Lot's of possibilities with this one. Here are just a few examples: the word 'star/s' or 'war/s' in the title, stars on the cover, set during a war, set amongst the stars. Do let us know how the book fits the theme.

In order to receive a badge you must:
1. have read the book before or during January 2020.
2. discussed it in this thread. Discussion must be more than "I read the book and I liked it". Discussion requires something more substantial and analytical of what you read, for example, thoughts, opinions, impact it had on you, what was your favourite part, was it what you expected it to be like etc. You may also like to review the book and post a link to the review in this thread. Please refer to our group spoiler policy for further information.
3. Report that you have read AND discussed the book in the reporting thread (include a brief summary of what you thought of the book).

General Rules:
1. Please mark your spoilers with the spoiler tags along with mentioning what stage of the book you are at so other's don't get a nasty shock. Chapter numbers/titles are generally best as they are the same across all formats and editions. See our spoiler policy
2. The book may be combined with the Year Long Challenge, Topplers, and Monthly Challenges.

Happy reading!

[Margo]

Sarah, do you think The Fated Sky is acceptable for this theme? I have read the first book of that series. It is set partially in space (i.e. among the stars). If that's too vague a connection I'm sure I can find something else.

[Sarah]

Margo wrote: "Sarah, do you think The Fated Sky is acceptable for this theme? I have read the first book of that series. It is set partially in space (i.e. among the stars). If that's too vague a..."

Sounds like it fits to me .

[Marie (UK)]

I think I will read The Chaos of Stars if you think it fits

[Kristie, Moderator]

Marie (UK) wrote: "I think I will read The Chaos of Stars if you think it fits"

One of the examples she gives for fitting the theme is "the word 'star/s' or 'war/s' in the title," so I'd say your book fits perfectly.

[Sarah]

Marie (UK) wrote: "I think I will read The Chaos of Stars if you think it fits"

Yep. What Kristie said. Read away .

[Kristie, Moderator]

I am reading Dread Nation for the monthly theme. It has stars on the flag on the cover. I am also discussing it in the buddy read thread. I wasn't sure I'd have time to join the buddy read, but I'm glad I did. This is the first book I've read by Justina Ireland and I'm really enjoying her writing. The story is an interesting mix of civil war alternate reality and zombie tale.

[Kristie, Moderator]

I finished Dread Nation. I really enjoyed the writing and the story, but don't recommend it to anyone that doesn't care for incomplete stories. It is a series where the story is not wrapped up in the first book, but continues throughout the series. I really hope it turns out to just be a duology or trilogy. I tend to peter out after reading several books in a series where the story lingers on. So far, this is a story that I'd like to continue with.

[Janice, Moderator]

I bailed on The Map of Salt and Stars and am going to attempt to read The Name of the Star. I hope I have enough time. I just started a long audiobook and this month is disappearing quickly.

[Canadian Dragon]

I read These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman, This one meets the stars expectation as it is a book that first begins on a spaceship but an accident sends it out of orbit and unto an unknown planet. I enjoyed this book, this is the second time I have read it, this time on audio. It was better in the sense that each chapter was narrated by each of the main characters. Unfortunately it is still not a favorite of mine only getting three stars. I found the main characters dislikable because they keep mentioning themselves with faults throughout the whole book. It became tedious to hear continually that he is a dumb soldier.(In his words).
I will probably not continue this series even though it was ok.

[Renee]

I read the The Giver of Stars. It fits the stars requirement. This book was a very enjoyable read. It takes place in turn of the century Kentucky. It is the story of Three women delivering books by horse back. Each woman is strong in different ways. It is a beautiful book

[Janice, Moderator]

I started The Name of the Star for the theme and I'm about 15% in.

So far, there's not much to discuss. Rory is originally from New Orleans area and is settling into school in England. Right now, she's more enthralled with having to wear a tie as part of her school uniform than about a body that has been discovered murdered in Jack Ripper style. Oh the first world problems!

I got this audiobook from Sync's summer free offerings. It is a site for Young Adults, so I shouldn't be too surprised. It's just that sometimes a book labelled as YA can be maturely written and that's what I'm hoping to discover.

[Jayme, Moderator]

I started The Giver of Stars and as I'm reading it I'm having a hard time not comparing it to The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek which I read last year. Both books are about the WPA program during the Great Depression to bring books to the people living in Kentucky in the remote parts of the Appalachian Mountains. The Giver of Stars seems to be a "lighter" read, but I want to wait until I'm a little further in to decide.

[Renee]

I loved Giver of Stars. I wanted more. I think I will pick up The book Woman of Troublesome Creek. Thank you Jayme

[Janice, Moderator]

The Name of the Star is growing a bit more on me. The mystery has become more the focus instead of school life. I learned that the title of the book is actually a biblical reference! A Dictionary of The Holy Bible states, "the star called Wormwood seems to denote a mighty prince, or power of the air, the instrument, in its fall." Wasn't Wormwood a character in The Lord of the Rings, too?

[Jayme, Moderator]

Renee wrote: "I loved Giver of Stars. I wanted more. I think I will pick up The book Woman of Troublesome Creek. Thank you Jayme"

The Book Woman... is a really good read. it is a bit more intense in theme than The Giver of Stars - racism, discrimination, and domestic violence - but it's done really well.

[Jayme, Moderator]

I'm really liking The Giver of Stars. It does hit on some of the same themes as The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, but it seems gentler in it's approach. I like the characters, but it seems pretty predictable in what will happen.

Up to chapter 8 - My guess (view spoiler)[ is that Bennet and Alice are going to split. I'm not sure if he's gay, but something isn't clicking since they aren't sleeping together or are physical. I don't think that matters because I bet she ends up with Fred - not just sure how yet. (hide spoiler)]

[Jayme, Moderator]

I finished The Giver of Stars and enjoyed the story. (view spoiler)[ It was an enduring story with a nice tidy resolution for all the main characters. I ended up giving it 3 stars (wish it could have been 3.5) because it seemed to me to veer away from the plot and history of the Pack Horse Librarians somewhere in the middle of the story and focused more on relationships which is fine, but I just wanted a little more substance. The characters were either good or evil and really didn't have a lot of nuances which would have made them more interesting, but overall it's a good book and would make a perfect beach read. (hide spoiler)]

[Janice, Moderator]

I finished The Name of the Star. I ended up giving it 4 stars because I would have loved it when I was a teen. It had everything for the YA - school issues, peer issues, romance, mystery, and ghosts. I thought the ending was a little abrupt, but it obviously sets it up for the remaining books in the series.

[Marie (UK)]

Renee wrote: "I read the The Giver of Stars. It fits the stars requirement. This book was a very enjoyable read. It takes place in turn of the century Kentucky. It is the story of Three women del..."

I really loved this book i remember giving it 5 stars - it is a while since i read it but i can still feel the landscape and the people she described in my mind.. This was my review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Marie (UK)]

Jayme wrote: "I started The Giver of Stars and as I'm reading it I'm having a hard time not comparing it to The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek which I read last year. Both books ..."

I haven't read the other book you talk about a while back i vetoed reading any book with Girl or woman in the title as i had several that were just awful. However i might put this onto my on-day list

[Marie (UK)]

Well it is 2223 on 31st January and I have finally gotten around to reading my book for this theme.
The Chaos of Stars. This book is available on Scribd - I get such value for money out of this service.
304 pages

It took me a while to get into the book which is written in 3 narrative lines.
the first is a descriptive element that identifies the various Egyptian gods in the narrative. It details their position in what appears to be a "court" of gods with Isis & Osiris being "king and Queen". (view spoiler)[There are some really bad relationships and life seems always to be on the edge of disaster in the way that the author is telling the story almost as a modern day parallel. whilst maintaining the setting in the Land of the Gods (hide spoiler)]
The second line took me a long time to work out just what it was. This was responsible for the fact that i didn't seem to be getting into the book that well. (view spoiler)[ Essentially this is Isadora's dream diary, once i got this, and I apologise if i was just being slow, the whole things seemed to weave together. (hide spoiler)]
The third part of the narrative is set in modern day San Diego where Isadora is sent to live with her brother (Sirus) partly because her attitude is getting right up her mother's nose and partly because her mother perceives danger in Isadora's future. (view spoiler)[ This is almost a young adult style storyline of what happens there, The friendships she forms and how they help her to identify just what is happening at home. However it is more than this. I think the author is trying to explain the emotional roller coaster that teens and their parent go through just learning to live with and listen to each other and I think she did that well (hide spoiler)]

Overall I enjoyed this book it requires concentration to keep everything straight I would class it as mythological retelling and Young adult as MPG