#45: The City of Ember

We also listened to The City of Ember on audio book on our ride to Wisconsin.  I really liked this book.  It's a story of two kids were are assigned work tasks in Ember.  While working they find a secret paper with instructions.  They fill in the missing parts of the paper to find a way out of Ember.

Mason read this series and said the next book is just as good.  I can't wait to listen to the next one when we have another long car ride.

#44: A Wrinkle in Time

We listened to A Wrinkle in Time on our way to Wisconsin.  I watched the movie with the kids a few months ago, but really didn't remember to much of it.  The book was very interesting.  I like books that make kids think and it made me think as well.  The book wasn't too scary, but I remember some of the movie images being scary.

#43: Lone Wolf

I have a love/hate relationship with Jodi Picoult books.  I usually love that they are an addictive, quick read, but I usually hate that 2 sides are always pitted against each other.  Sometimes I can pick the "right" side and sometimes I can't.  I usually end up being disappointed in the story as a whole.

Lone Wolf was about a man who studied wolf habitats and lived in the wild with wolves for 2 yrs.  He was involved in a car accident with his daughter and ended up on life support in a vegetative state.  His son and daughter are arguing about whether or not to keep their father on life support or to take him off and donate his organs.  We learn a lot about the lives the the family members and of course some secrets.

This book was okay, but not one of my favorite Picoult books.  I think this was one where I was pretty disappointed in the ending.

Now reading:  The Japanese Lover by Isabel Allende
And listening to:  A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

#42: Station Eleven

Wow.  Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel is one of the most unique books I've ever read.  I can't say that I loved it or it's one of my favorites, but it was just such an interesting story.

Describing this book is kind of difficult.  It's a story of survival in a world that has been hit by a deadly flu pandemic.  The story has several main characters, but they all are some how connected to an actor named Arthur Leander.  Throughout the book we learn how the characters met Arthur.  The name of the book comes from a comic book series about Dr. Eleven that Arthur's wife creates.

This story had love stories, heartbreak, death, survival tactics, friendship, and more.  Very impressed by this book, especially since it was a Library book club pick and usually I don't have much luck with those.

Up Next:  Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult

#41: The Historian

My mom loaned us The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova on audio book.  We needed something to listen to on our way back from Wisconsin in November.  We finally finished the book on our way back from Iowa City on Friday night.

Now my take on audio books is that I would much rather read the book myself.  I cannot stay awake during audio books no matter how much I love the story (Harry Potter for example).

This book is about a family's history in relationship to Dracula.  There are several narrators during the book, which could have gotten very confusing in an audiobook, but luckily there were several different actors reading the different parts.  This made it a little easier to keep track of time, location, narrator, etc.

In the story the presence of a mysterious Dragon book shows up to different characters at different times.  The characters then tell of how they found the book and go on searches to find out more information about Dracula.

The book was interesting, but a little complicated in audiobook format for me since I fall asleep and miss some parts.  I liked the story, but I think I would have liked it a lot better had I read it in book format and actually been able to spend more time picturing the characters.

#40: Skipping Christmas

Skipping Christmas by John Grisham is a book about Luther and Nora Krank.  Their daughter joins the Peace Corps and won't be home for Christmas this year.  Luther looks at how much they normally spend during Christmas and decides they should skip this year and do something else instead.  Throughout the book we see the reactions of all the friends, neighbors, and community members who can't believe anyone would want to skip Christmas.

Wesley told me he saw the movie Christmas with the Kranks and it is based off this movie.  I haven't seen it yet.  I picked the book because we are doing a holiday/winter themed book for book club.  I had this one on the shelf and hadn't read it yet.

The book was ok.  It was an interesting story and I agreed with Luther's general idea.  I just feel the reactions of the other characters were a little far fetched.  I don't think one family skipping Christmas would have that big of an impact on the rest of the neighborhood.

Up Next:  Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

#39: Did You Ever Have a Family

I finished Did You Ever Have a Family by Bill Clegg a few days ago.  This is the story of a woman named June who loses her family in a house fire right before her daughter's wedding.  Throughout the book, we meet new characters and learn what kind of a connection they have to June and the wedding or fire.  It was a good story with some interesting characters, but nothing really stood out to me making it a remarkable story.

#38: Girl Underwater

Girl Underwater by Claire Kells is a book about 3 members of a swim team who are taking a flight back home to Boston over Thanksgiving Break.  During the flight, something goes wrong with the engine and the plane crashes in a lake in the Colorado Rockies.

The story is told in flash backs and present time.  We learn struggles that Avery, Colin, and 3 small boys went through after the plan crash.  We also learn the struggles that Avery is facing after recovery.

There was nothing that screamed at me that this was an excellent book, but I just found myself very addicted to the story.  It's been awhile since I found a book I "couldn't put down", but this was one of them.  I read it really fast and liked the writing style.  I feel like there could have been more details about the rescue and other areas, but overall I really enjoyed reading it.

Up Next:  Did You Ever Have a Family by Bill Clegg

#37: Uniquely Human

One of the books I picked for a thankful theme was Uniquely Human:  A Different Way of Seeing Autism by Barry Prizant.  I chose this because I work in the higher needs Special Education room at work and we have several children on the autism spectrum in our room.

As with all non-fiction books, but felt bored at times.  This one was really important to me, so it did keep me interested the entire time.  There were lots of interesting stories in it and things that reminded me of the students in our room, one boy in particular.

My favorite chapter in the book was called "What it takes to Get it".  "Get it" refers to the way people interact with autistic people.  It said that some of the best "Get it" people are the 1 on 1's and other in the children's lives, who truly understand how to connect with them.  Prizant made it clear that having special licenses and training, does not always make you better qualified to work with these children.  This just really hit home as I feel we sometimes have specialists coming in the room who just upset the children even more.  I guess it just made me truly thankful to the teacher and other associates in our room who truly "get it" and make the lives of our students more enjoyable.

Overall, I found the book interesting.  I don't know if there were any new points brought up that we haven't tried, but it was comforting to know that there are other stories out there of people similar to our students who ended up leading very successful lives.

Up Next:  Girl Underwater by Claire Kells

#36: The Martian

While traveling to Wisconsin, our family listened to an audiobook version of The Martian by Andy Weir.  We went to this movie when it came out and really enjoyed it.  Thought it would be a good one to listen to.

It was good, but we should have checked the language first.  ;)  The first sentence had about 3 "f" words in it.  And the rest of the book had it countless times.  Luckily the only word Norah picked up on was "shit".

It was still a very good story.  Wesley asked why he cusses so much and we said "If you were stuck on Mars, you probably would too".

I loved the story.  This is the first time I didn't fall asleep during an audio book.  This is really surprising since it had a lot of boring science talk.  I think it's probably because I had seen the movie and somewhat knew what was happening.  I was also picturing Matt Damon the whole time.  :)

Great story.  The boys want to read the book again when they are a little older.

#35: What Alice Forgot

I finished What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty last night.  I really enjoyed Big Little Lies by her and liked The Husband's Secret as well.  I was really hoping for the same type of story in this book.

The book started out interesting.  Alice woke up on the floor of the gym with a head injury.  She thought she was 29 and pregnant with her first child, but really she is 39 and has 3 children.  Her head injury caused her to forget the last 10 yrs of her life.  It was interesting to she how Alice had changed as a person over the past 10 yrs.  You could tell by people's reaction to her, that she was not the same person she used to be.

There were some clues given to tell us that there were important parts of her memory missing.  The biggest were her husband Nick, her sister Elizabeth, and a friend named Gina.  I kept waiting for a big twist in the book like in her other 2 books, but I don't feel I got it.  I thought the story behind Gina was going to be some huge shock, but it just kind of fell flat.  There was no "whoa I didn't see that coming" like in the other books.

The book was an interesting concept, but just wasn't as good as I thought it would be.

Up Next:  Uniquely Human by Barry Prizant

#34: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

I finished I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou last night.  I was looking for a book with a "thankful theme" in it for book club.  I don't think is exactly what I was looking for, but I still enjoyed the book.
I'm really surprised that I haven't read anything by Angelou before.  I am a sucker for stories on race relations.  They make me so mad while I read about them, but I always feel uplifted by the people who struggled through these times and were able to come out on top.
In this book, Maya talked about her life from ages 4-17 yrs.  She talked about growing up with her grandmother and uncle in Stamps and then being moved around with her parents in Missouri and California.  I really liked hearing about her life and seeing how these memories made her become a great author and civil rights activist.
I look forward to reading more by Maya Angelou.

Up Next:  What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty

#33: Confessions of a Shopaholic

I finished a quick read this morning, Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella.  This was a book left in our free little library that I hadn't read before.  I was looking for a quick, easy read while laying on the couch, and this was perfect.

It's the story of Rebecca "Becky" Bloomwood, who is a journalist for Successful Saving magazine.  The irony in Becky being a finance journalist, is that she is completely in debt due to her shopping addiction.  She loves clothes, makeup, shoes, etc.  She especially can't pass up sales or gift with purchase offers.  The farther Becky gets in debt, the worse her shopping addiction gets.

There were lots of funny happenings in the story.  I couldn't help but like Becky even though her world is falling apart.  Overall this was a fun read.

Up Next:  I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

#32: The Talisman

I FINALLY finished The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub.  It started out interesting, but very slow for me.  It's a story of a boy named Jack who needs to end west to California to help save his mom who is dying of cancer.  The trick to his travel, is that he will travel through other worlds, aka "The Territories" to save her.  In the Territories, his mother is the Queen, who is also dying.  So in order to save his mom and the Queen, he needs to go to California and find the Talisman.

I was really interested in Jack's travels, but honestly this book was way over my head.  Some things I understood about his traveling, but it ended up getting a little too Sci-fi for me.  Jack met very interesting people and creatures along the way.  Some too unbelievable to even mention so I won't ruin the book for you.  I felt it did get a little gory towards the end too.

I don't know if this book was meant more to be horror, suspense, or sci-fi.  It didn't really scare me, it just kind of confused my mind.  It was okay, but I wouldn't recommend it as a must read.  It never really got good enough for me to "not be able to put it down".

Up Next:  Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella
I need some light mindless reading after that big confusing book.  :)

#31: Bel Canto

I finished Bel Canto by Ann Patchett this morning.  I recently started reading Patchett's books and liked several of them.  This one was an inter library loan and had to be finished by today.

I'm not going to lie, this book was VERY slow for me.  It's about an Opera singer giving a performance at a private residence when the house is taken over and all guests are claimed as hostages.  Since this was a birthday party for a government official, their were lots of important people present as well as a translator.

During the story, we learn back ground information about several characters.  We also learn that every one speaks different languages, so it's important that the have the translator for communication as well as mediation.  There are a lot of characters, so I was a little confused about who was who at certain times.  Sometimes the people were referred to by their position and other times by their names.  Over time I did get all the characters straight.

About 3/4 of the way in, I really liked the story.  Characters were starting to "come out of their shells".  It was interesting to see the interaction between the hostages and captors.  The end was very sad too.

Overall a good book, but a slow moving one.

Up Next: The Talisman by Stephen King/Peter Straub

#30: Run

I recently started reading Ann Patchett's books as a suggestion from Lindsey.  I really liked the first 2 I read, but Run, just didn't do it for me.  It was an okay story about 2 boys, Tip and Teddy, who were adopted by the Mayor.  There was a back story of a statue that looks like their adopted mother Bernadette, who died when they were young.  The main story starts when they are leaving a political speech and Tip almost gets hit by a car.  A woman knocks him out of the way and she gets hit instead.  This leaves the woman's daughter with nowhere to go, but home with the Mayor and his family.

It was an interesting enough story, there were just some things that were hard to understand.  I didn't feel like any of the characters really showed much emotion during the story.  There were a few tears from the girl, and some mention of sadness and guilt, but there was so much more that could have been felt by the readers.

I am excited to finally get to read Bel Canto soon.  I hope this will be another book I love by Patchett.

Up Next:  The Girls of Atomic City by Denise Kiernan

#29: THe Husband's Secret

I had heard really good things about the The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty.  I read her other book, Big Little Lies, and really liked that one.  This one was finally available at the library, so I was excited to read it.

Let me just start by saying that these are the only 2 books by Moriarty that I have read, but they were just too similar.  She definitely has themes in these 2 books that make them seem almost too clique (twins, unsolved murders, food, sex).  They just all felt too similar.

I will say that I was hooked at the book at first.  I didn't want to put it down, but then I could start to guess everything that was going to happen.  Cecelia finds a letter from her husband saying to open it after he dies.  She debates whether to open it and when she asks him about it he starts to act weird.  Once Cecelia learns his secret, she has to decide whether to help him hide it or tell.  After I learned more about the secret I kind of just wanted the book to be over.  And then the hot cross buns talk, I wanted to gouge my eyes out.

I think if I hadn't read the other book recently, I maybe would have liked this one more.

Up Next:  Run by Ann Patchett

#28: The Magician's Assistant

I just finished The Magician's Assistant by Ann Patchett.  This was the story of Sabine.  She was the assistant and wife to a magician named Parsifal.  Parsifal was gay and in love with a man named Phan who died.  Parsifal married Sabine, who was like a best friend to him.  At the beginning of the book, we find out that Parsifal died of an anuerysm.  When the will is opened by the lawyer, Sabine learns some secrets about Parsifal's past.  The biggest secret is that his mother and sister is alive while he told Sabine he had no family alive.  Sabine learns more about Parsifal's secrets while meeting his family and having dreams at night containing Phan and Parsifal.

I was really hooked on this story at the beginning.  I couldn't wait to find out the big secret of Parsifal's past.  Once I heard the secret I was very sad.  There was so much struggle for Parsifal's family.  I enjoyed meeting all the characters.  I also liked that Sabine was able to be so comfortable around the family she never knew existed.  I found the end to be a little predictible, but it was a very good story.

Up Next:  The Husband's Secret

#27: State of Wonder

State of Wonder was the first book I read by Ann Patchett.  This author was recommended to me by Lindsey, who has a pretty similar taste in books to me.

State of Wonder is the story of Dr. Marina Singh.  Marina's co-worker, Anders Eckman, was on a work trip to the Amazon jungle.  After a few months in the jungle, Marina and her boss receive news that Anders has died.  They have to break the news to Anders' wife and she wants someone to go back and find his possessions and body.  Marina is volunteered as the new person to head to the jungle.  She is to find out more about Anders' death and to find out how the research is going that her college professor, Dr. Swenson, has been working on for years.

In the jungle, the doctors are faced with many troubles: lack of supplies, no communication, no transportation. etc.  They also encounter scary snakes, insects, cannibals, and more.  In addition to all these troubles and fears, Marina also learns the true story behind Dr. Swenson's research.

This was a very interesting story.  I can safely say I am terrified to visit the Amazon jungle now.  I am looking forward to reading more books from Patchett.

Up Next:  The Magician's Assistant

#26: Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

I saw Lindsey give this book lots of praise, so when I saw it for sale at the Book Shoppe in town, I had to buy it.

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews is the story of Greg Gaines, a high school senior.  Greg is just trying to get through his life and high school without being noticed.  He doesn't really have any good friends except Earl, who he likes to make films with.  The story is written in a screen play type of way, which makes it kind of unique.

Greg's senior year is off to a good start until his mom makes him befriend a girl he went to Hebrew school with who gets cancer.  Greg and Earl befriend Rachel and even share their movies with her.

The story, which should be super sad based on subject matter, is actually funny in some parts.  We see the life of a high school boy just trying to fit in (by not fitting in).  We see him use humor to be himself.  We also see how doing something good for someone else, doesn't always make your life immediately better.

As Greg points out, this is not some cancer love story.  I don't want to spoil the story for you, so I just recommend you read it.

Currently Reading: State of Wonder

#25: Unbroken

I've got some book blog to catch up on due to vacation.

Before leaving for vacation, I started reading Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand.  This is the WWII story of Louis Zamperini.  This was a book that I had heard great things about and really wanted to see the movie.  In the beginning we learnined about Louie's childhood and his racing career.  I found all his troubles and how he got into running very interesting.

Then Louie had to go to war.  I knew this book was about war, but I found the beginning of the war stories very boring.  It was really hard for me to stay interested in the book.  I've heard people say that if you can't get into a book the first 100 pages, you should give up.  This is what I wanted to do at some points, but then Louie and 2 other crew members crashed over the Pacific Ocean and found them selves on an inflatable life raft.  This was the turning point for me where things started getting interesting again.

We learn how they survived on the raft with stories of food, sharks, storms, hunger, thirst, etc.  So many emotions were also shown for the men during this time.  I also found the rest of the story very interesting.  Louie suffered so much during the war and after, but was still able to inspire others.  A truly remarkable story that I am glad I finished reading.

#24: Big Little Lies

Last night I finished Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty.  I have heard mixed reviews on this book, but I really liked it.  I found the characters really interesting and was really wanting to know what would happen next.  I also thought the timeline and suspense was good.
We knew right away that there was a murder at Trivia Night, but didn't know who was killed until the last few chapters.  Along the way I was trying to guess which of the characters was murdered and I never guessed it until it happened.
I loved the conversations with the police in each chapter too.  It really gave some of the side characters more personalities.  I recommend to anyone looking for a different kind of "crime/suspense" book.  It was really more a story on friendship and understanding.

Up Next:  ?  Maybe Unbroken since all the other books I want are checked out.

#23: House Rules

I always say I'm not going to read any more Picoult, and then I get sucked into another one.  I just took a really long time to read my last book, so I need a quick read and thought a Jodi Picoult book would be the perfect thing for me.  Usually I get sucked into them and finish in a few days.  I briefly looked at the shelf at the library and found one about a boy with Aspergers.

House Rules is about an 18 yr old boy named Jacob who has Aspergers and is obsessed with crime scenes.  He is accused of murder when his social tutor goes missing and is found dead.  It was interesting to see how Jacob acted when questioned about the murder.  Some of the behaviors he showed we very perfect for an Aspergers child/adult.  I really liked Jacob and was interested in most of the characters in the book.

What I didn't like about the book, was that it was too predictable.  Usually there is some moral dilemna or shocking twist in the end, but this one just seemed to drag on.  It seemed like we knew exactly what happened towards the begininning.  There wasn't a huge shock at the end and I didn't feel torn on which side to be on in the book.  I also didn't like how we really didn't see what the jury decided at the end.  So as far as Picoult books goes, this wasn't my favorite.

Up Next:  Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

#22: The Goldfinch

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt was a story of a boy named Theo.  He is faced with lots of challenges in his life after a tragedy in his childhood.  He steals a painting during an art museum bombing and every thought in life he has is related back to the painting.  

I really liked the idea behind the story and liked Theo, but things just never worked out as they should for him.  He becomes a very unstable and addictive person who just can't seem to get on the right track.

The story was good, but really long.

Up Next:  House Rules by Jodi Picoult

#21: Hollow City

Hollow City, by Ransom Riggs, is 2nd book in the Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children series.  We go through more "loop" adventures with Jacob, Emma, and all their friends.  This time they are trying to save Miss Peregrine and the other head mistresses in London.

I really love the pictures that go with this book and all the side show descriptions.  I really think that the book wouldn't be that interesting without the accompanying photographs.

I can't wait to read the next book to see what happens....

Up Next:  The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

#20: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

I have been waiting to read this book a long time.  I loved the "creepy" old photos that were used to go along with this story.  I felt it was a unique way to read the book.  Some of the pictures really brought the descriptions to life.

I book starts out with Jacob trying to decide whether he believes all the adventures/stories that his grandpa told him about growing up.  He later finds some clues that his grandpa left for him and decides to go exploring the island with the children's home his grandpa grew up in.  Lots of adventures and surprises are in store for Jacob.

Like I said earlier, I really like the photos and descriptions.  I really enjoyed most of the characters in the book too.  I'm not really into sci-fi and and monsters, but I loved the mysteries surrounding the story.  It's not a book for everyone, but I enjoyed it.

Up Next:  The sequel, Hollow City by Ransom Riggs

#19: Paper Towns

I was reading a book called A Case of Curiosities from my bookshelf.  I was ok, but a little slow.  I realized I could actually go to book club this month, so I decided to read the book they are reading, Paper Towns by John Green.  I will go back to the other book later.

Paper Towns started out kind of interesting.  The characters were really unique and I liked the conversations and interactions that had.  I also liked how interesting and mysterious Margo seemed.

I was still interested when Q started to look for Margo.  It was a fun little treasure hunt, but then much like Q's friends, I started to get bored with it.  I really just wanted the book to speed along and find Margo.  And don't want to give away spoilers, but once she was found, totally boring.

Anyway, this was no The Fault in Our Stars.  Good characters, but kind of boring book overall.

Up next:  Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children 
PS. Finally.  I have had this on reserve since before Spring Break :)

#18: A Load of Hooey

I read A Load of Hooey by Bob Odenkirk a few days ago.  This was one of the books I received from the McSweeney Book Club that Levi ordered for me.  I didn't really know who Bob Odenkirk was, but it turns out he is Saul on Breaking Bad.  A plus I saw when first opening is that I received an autographed copy of the book.

This book was a series of short stories/poems.  It's done in a very sarcastic tone.  I didn't really get the humor in some of the book.  Some was kind of borderline offensive, but that seems to be the theme with comedians nowadays.

There were a few stories/poems towards the end that I enjoyed.  I really enjoyed the "Obituary for the creator of Mad Libs" and the story about getting a tattoo.  I found these really funny.  I liked the one about "the gluten free future" as well.  The rest of the book was just kind of blah for me.

Currently Reading:  The Case of Curiosities by Allen Kurzwell

#17: The Girl on the Train

I finished The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins.  I had really good things about this book.  While I really enjoyed the book, but I didn't have that "I can't put it down feeling" like I do with some books.  I felt it was a little slow moving at first.  I would read a little at night, but fall asleep.  Once I got about 170 pages in it finally hit me.  Boom.  I did not want to put it down last night and stayed up reading until past midnight to finish it.

It's about a girl named Rachel who rides the train every day past her ex husband's house.  Instead of looking at his house, she focuses on a different house and imagines the lives of the couple who lives there.  One day she notices something unusual and then things spiral even more out of control.

I felt that I really couldn't trust any of the characters in this book.  All of their lives seemed so messed up.  You were constantly left wondering who was telling the truth and what could happen next.  I had my guesses about what happened to Megan in the book, but my thoughts on how she disappeared kept changing throughout the book.  I agree that this was a page turner, but not right away.  Good crime/mystery book.

#16: House of Sand and Fog

I just finished House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dunus III.  This is the story of 2 people, Kathy and Mr. Behrani, fighting over a house.  Both feel they are the legitimate owner of the house and things get really complicated when Kathy has an affair with a police officer who tries to help her get the house back.

I really didn't like any of the characters in this book.  I thought they were very self centered and greedy.  I wanted to like Kathy, but her affair with Lester made me despise her.  I felt sorry for Behrani at times, but he was just too focused on money.

I think this book had a good story line, but it just made me really mad.  Everything the characters did drove me crazy.  I especially hated the ending of the book.

I didn't care for the characters at all, but I kind of want someone else to read this book just to see what they think of it.

Up Next:  The Girl on the Train

#15: These Things Hidden

I finished These Things Hidden by Heater Gudenkauf yesterday.  I read Gudenkauf is an Iowa writer and I loved her book The Weight of Silence.  I recently read another book by her, so I was hoping to find another one I love as much as The Weight of Silence.

These Things Hidden was the story of Allison who went to prison for killing her baby.  It follows the story of her sister who helped her give birth and some other characters.  I started out liking the book.  It was a pretty quick read, but about 1/2 way through I was able to guess what happened.  While I do love a good twist, this one was pretty predictable.  Some of the characters were interesting, but I feel like they were a little generic or cliche.

I liked the book alright.  I guess nowadays, I feel like too many authors are taking on a Jodi Picoult type of style.  It was good, but not great.

Up Next:  House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III

#14: The Shipping News

After a long few weeks, I finally finished The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx.  I found the first 100 pages or of this book to be the most boring reading imaginable.  I didn't like the writing style, subject matter, or characters.  I think I wanted to give up on this book several times, but I made myself stick with it.  I'm not sure exactly when I changed my mind about this book.  I don't remember if I actually started liking it or just sucked it up to finish it.

The characters I did like in the book are Wavey and Herry.  I think that maybe once those characters were introduced more, I had to see what would happen in the book.  I think they are the only reason I finished the book.

My biggest complaint in this book is that there seemed to be so many things left unanswered, such as characters and boats/housing disappearing, family feuds, etc.  I don't know if I wasn't understanding the writing, or if these things really were just ignored.

I would give the beginning of this book about 1/2 star.  I kind of liked the end, like last 40 pages.  I think ideally I would give this book 2 1/2 stars and not recommend it to anyone.  I feel like after reading this, my mind just has a big question mark in it.

Up Next:  These Things Hidden by Heather Gudenkauf

#13: Unlikely Warrior

Last night I finished the book Unlikely Warrior by Georg Rauch.  It's an autobiography about being A Jewish Soldier in Hitler's Army.  I read the back of this book at a book fair and just had to purchase it.  I was really intrigued to see what war would be like for a Jewish soldier.

While I found this book to be well written and give lots of details about the hardships and emotions Rauch went through during the war, I think the title is a little misleading.  We find out towards the beginning that he is supposed to be promoted to a higher position and that is when he goes to the authorities and tells them he is part Jewish.  The reason the title is misleading, is because Rauch doesn't even think of himself as Jewish.  One of his grandparent's was Jewish, but his family never practiced Judism.  Yes, his family helped the Jews and were against Hitler's war, but I really wouldn't consider him to be a Jewish soldier.  I think being Jewish was maybe brought up twice in the whole book.

I did like his story though.  It really made you feel all the hardships everyone was going through.  The lack of food and water, destruction, loss, etc was all so sad.  And all for 1 man's thoughts.  Most of the soldiers in the book on both sides of the war did not agree with the war.  It still amazes me as I read WWII books, how many people opposed the war, but how few tried to stand up to Hitler.

A good read if you like WWII stories, but not really about being Jewish.

Up Next:  The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx

#12: The Lost Symbol

On the way home from our Christmas trip to Wisconsin, we finished our audio book.  We started The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown on the way home and listened to a few hours of it.  Ever since then, we have been listening to a few chapters here and there during car rides.  We finally had almost finished and brought the last disc inside last night to finish.  The Lost Symbol is the 3rd book in the Robert Langdon series (we listened to them out of order).

In this book, Robert is called to Washington DC to lead a lecture with his friend Peter Solomon. When he arrives, he learns this was a set up and that Peter is in danger.  We follow the story of the Solomon family.  Peter is the Director of the Smithsonian and a Mason.  Katherine, Peter's sister, is an important Scientist.  We learn some background on their family, with lots of accomplishments and hardships.  We then learn that Robert has been helping Peter to hide a symbol for the Masons and start to learn lots of secrets about the Masonic Brotherhood.

I was very interested in the story at the beginning.  It seemed to have lots of action right away.  Towards the middle things got really exciting.  Our whole family was wanting to learn what happened.  Finally in chapter 120 or so we learned the huge twist.  I liked the story at this point, but then the audio CD seemed to drag on for another 1 1/2 after we learned the twist.  It really didn't seem to come to a conclusion.  It also just seemed like lots of rambling at the end.

While I still liked the book, I felt it was a little long and rambly in some spots.  This was the least favorite of the Robert Langdon series for me.

#11: The Alchemist

A few years ago someone told me I should read The Alchemist  by Paulo Coelho.  They said it was their favorite book ever.  I waited awhile and then bought it for Levi for Christmas this year.  He read it and said it was okay.  We sometimes don't have the same taste in books, so I thought I might enjoy it more than he did.  I was wrong.
This book was just so boring.  Levi said the beginning was slow, but I kind of liked the beginning.  It was during the desert wandering that my mind started to wander.  I couldn't really focus on the book and just kept drifting to other thoughts.  Or I would fall asleep while reading.  I can't really tell you half of what happened, because I don't really know.
I liked maybe the 1st 1/4 of the book and the very end.  There was just too much in the middle that I "missed".

Up Next:  Unlikely Warrior by Georg Rauch

#10: NPH Autobiography

I love Choose Your Own Adventure books and I love Neil Patrick Harris, so I could not pass up this book when I saw it on the table at the library.  The book is titled:  Neil Patrick Harris Choose Your Own Autobiography. This book was written in a Choose Your Own Adventure format and gave details of Neil Patrick Harris' childhood, career, love life, family, and more.  NPH also through in some fake stories just for fun.  I learned some more things about NPH and was reminded of some of my favorite things about him.

The only thing I didn't like with this format, was that I may have missed some good stuff.  I came to endings twice while reading.  I wanted to see a few things that were mentioned that I missed the first time, like meeting Elton John and a letter from Sarah Silverman.  So after the 2nd ending, I just went back to the beginning and read all the footnotes and choices and skimmed most of the pages.  I may still have missed a few pages, but I think I read most of the book.

It was one of my favorite Autobiographies, as it was really entertaining.  Lots of jokes and great descriptions.  I especially laughed at the footnotes and his jokes about Dustin Diamond.  Overall a great read for any NPH fan.  :)

Up Next:  The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

#9: What Color is Monday?

I just finished the book What Color is Monday? How Autism Changed One Family for the Better by Carrie Cariello.  Working in the Special Education room in our school has made me very interested in learning more about Special Needs students and especially Autism.  Combine that with binge watching Parenthood on Netflix and I am an emotional wreck.

I am EXTREMELY fascinated with the minds of the autistic.  I love how they all learn differently, have different struggles, and have unique talents.  As Carrie describes in this book, each autistic person is like a snowflake, all similar but essentially unique.  This is so spot on.

Reading this book, I could see some similarities to the 2 boys in our classroom, as well as with Max on parenthood.  There are deep mysteries behind the minds of people with autism and I think Carrie did a great job of sharing her joys and struggles of raising her son and incorporating him into the family.

I've already recommended this book to everyone at work.  If you are at all interested in learning more about Jack Cariello, be sure to read What Color is Monday?

Up Next:  Choose your Own Autobiography by Neil Patrick Harris

#8: Mr. Gwyn

Mr. Gwyn by Alessandro Baricco is one of the books I got from my McSweeny book club.  It is the story of an author, Jasper Gwyn, who decides he no longer wants to write books anymore.  He instead tells people he wants to be a copyist.  He later comes up with the idea of "writing portraits".  To do this he finds his first model, a young girl named Rebecca.  He has her pose naked in a studio for 4 hrs everyday.  Instead of drawing her portrait, he writes a story about it.  He then starts doing this for other people, but no one is supposed to know it is him who is writing the portraits.  Things go well for a while and then Mr. Gwyn disappears.  Rebecca tries to figure out what happens to him.

I thought the intro into this story was a little slow and hard to understand.  Once the character of Rebecca became more prominent, I felt more involved in the story.  It was a unique idea and I liked the ending a lot.

There was also a bonus book at the end of this story called Three Times at Dawn that was mentioned as a novel in Mr. Gwyn.  I liked this one a lot.

Up Next:  What Color is Monday?  by Carrie Cariello

#7: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

I just read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.  I have never read this before, and I don't think I've ever seen the whole Disney movie.

The first thing I noticed when reading this book is that kids must have been a lot smarter back in the 1800s.  This book was written for a 10 yr old girl, but I had a hard time understanding parts for it.  This is probably mostly due to the "old English" that is used in Classic novels.  There were some words I was not familiar with and had to look up.

I can't say I enjoyed this book.  I thought with all the characters it would be really exciting, but it was just kind of boring for me.  There was a lot of description of characters and of Alice growing and shrinking, but I didn't feel there was much action.  I also didn't like how rudely the characters and Alice spoke to each other.  Just didn't feel like something a 10 yr old girl would do in an unfamiliar world.

I'm glad I finally read this book, but overall I found it quite disappointing.

Up Next:  Mr. Gwyn by Alessandro Baricco

#6: Eats, Shoots & Leaves

I just finished Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss.  This book was mentioned to me by Wesley's allergist, who has an obsession with punctuation while dictating his allergy notes.  This is a book about using correct punctuation and some of the history behind it.

While I find myself, somewhat interested in grammar, I can't say I am a true "stickler" as Truss calls them.  There are certain grammar errors that make me cringe, and others that I may glance right over.  In this book, Truss talks a lot about apostrophes and commas.  She also gets into other areas, such as colons, semicolons, and hyphens; that I am not as familiar with.  (I just read the book and I still don't know what should come after hyphen.)

I found some of the book entertaining and some kind of boring.  It had some like little facts that I never knew.  Did you know Starbursts were orignially called Opal Fruits?  She also seemed to have a lot of slams at American punctuation.  While I know there are lots of people who don't use grammar and punctuation correctly in America, I don't think she should say it's wrong just because we don't do things the same as the English people.  Towards the end she actually gave Americans some praise for their formal letter punctuation.

Anyway.  This book was interesting.  I can see why Dr. Brown would refer to it as "his favorite book that he really wouldn't recommend, because it's kind of boring".  If you are at all interested in grammar and punctuation- you should give this a read!!  (Note to self:  limit use of explanation points and dashes.)

Up Next:  Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

#5: Yes Please

Yes Please by Amy Poehler is full of details about how Poehler became an actress and all of the people who helped her along the way.  It is also filled with some back ground of her childhood, advice, and testimonials of friends.

There were a few laugh out loud moments (for me this was mostly during the Parks and Recs chapter), but mostly it was just a lot about life in general.  There were a lot of details about friends and fellow actors, the UCB, SNL, shows, and her kids.  I especially loved the chapter about her boys and their moon hunts.  She briefly describes that she went through a rough patch when getting divorced, but she never really said anything bad about Will Arnett and the way she thanked him made me tear up.

There were a few parts I didn't like (like the sex and drug chapters), but that's hollywood and I guess we can't expect everyone to be perfect.

Overall I liked the book, but I still think I liked Tina Fey's book better.  :)

Up Next:  Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss

#4: The Silkworm

The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith (aka JK Rowling) is the 2nd book in the Cormoran Strike series.  I really loved the 1st Strike novel.  I think I finished it in less than 2 days.  While I was really intrigued with The Silkworm, it just read kind of slow for me.  There was a lot going on in this novel, so maybe it was just a little too much to read fast.

In The Silkworm, Cormoran's detective business is booming due to all the hype over him solving the Lula Laundry case.  This time a woman named Leona Quine comes to him looking for help to find her husband, writer Owen Quine, who has gone missing.  Mrs. Quine simply thinks her husband has went away for some quiet time due to a fight with his publisher about his newest novel.  We later find out that Quine has been murdered in a very gruesome manner.  Cormoran and Robin are on the case to find out all the details before the police.

This book was filled with tons of characters.  I had a hard time keeping all of them straight in their lives and in Quine's novel.  In the end another twist of who really committed the crime.  While I didn't like this one as much as the first, I'm still looking forward to more adventures for Cormoran and Robin.

Up Next:  Yes Please by Amy Poehler

#3: Five Minutes Alone

Five Minutes Alone by Paul Cleave is book #4 in a series.  It's about a detective named Theodore Tate.  He is recently back on the police force in Austrailia after being in a coma.  We learn that his wife and daughter were in an accident a year ago.  His daughter died and wife keeps forgetting the present and reverting back to the day the daughter died.  There is a whole lot of background that is probably given in the previous books.

In this story, Tate's previous partner, Schroder, is no longer on the police force.  He has a bullet in his brain and decides that the last thing he wants to do is give victims five minutes alone with the criminals who destroyed their lives.  What starts out as a "good idea" takes a turn and innocent people start to die.

We know who the "Five Minute Man" is from the start, but the story is still interesting.  I found the story a little hard to read.  Kind of confusing, but maybe because I missed some stuff in the other books.  It also described wounds in a lot of detail which was hard to read at times.  It was an interesting story, but not sure I liked it enough to read the other books in the series.

Up Next:  The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith

#2: Little Mercies

I first heard of Heather Gudenkauf when I lived in Ohio and read the book Weight of Silence about two girls who go missing in Iowa.  I really liked that book and especially loved reading an Iowan author.  When I was looking at the new release section at the library, I saw a new book by Gudenkauf and thought I'd give it a try.

Little Mercies was the story of Ellen Moore, a social worker for DHS in Iowa.  The story is set in Cedar City, IA (maybe a combination of Iowa City and Cedar Falls?).  The story opens with Ellen forgetting to set the alarm.  The whole family is rushed to get to everything on time and while she is driving to a meeting she gets a call from one of her child clients.  She makes a detour to help the girl and then the unthinkable happens, changing her life forever.

Intertwined with Ellen's story, is the story of a 10 yr old girl named Jenny.  She lives with her alchololic father in a string of rundown apartments and hotels.  They are hoping to make a new start in Dubuque, IA, but arrive at a problem right before the bus leaves.  Jenny ends up finding herself in Cedar City, IA.  The book switches through both stories throughout the book

I liked the story.  I just felt it was a little too predictable in some parts.  It almost had a little bit of a Picoult flare to it.  It wasn't as good as the Weight of Silence, but I think I would still read more books by Heather Gudenkauf.

#1: The Cuckoo's Calling

I finished The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith last night.  Galbraith is a pseudonym for JK Rowling.  The Cuckoo's Calling is the first book in the Cormoran Strike series.  Strike is a private detective in England.  Both his business and love life are failing, but he gets a great new start when Robin joins his office as a temporary secretary.  The day she joins, he gets asked to help prove that supermodel Lula Landry did not commit suicide, but instead was murdered.

I really liked the characters of Strike and Robin.  They had such a unique way of working together.  I also loved the voice of Strike.  He was really grumpy and rude at times, but he was also funny and definitely good at his job.

I had a hard time putting the book down.  I really wanted to figure out what happened.  Several times I thought I had it figured out, but I really didn't know what happened until the very end.  I can't wait to read the next book in this series.

Up Next:  Little Mercies by Heather Gudenkauf