#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.