#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