2015 Book Survey

Hey everyone!

I did this survey last year and thought I'd do it again this year! I found the survey through Ginger (last year) but originally posted here. :)

Number Of Books You Read: 62
Number of Re-Reads: 16
Genre You Read The Most From: Fantasy YA, I think

 

1. Best Book You Read In 2015?
Somehow not as hard this year? I still read a lot this year, but I think most were just OK. I think two of my favorites were Moloka'i by Alan Brennert and The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?

Mennonite in a Little Black Dress by Rhoda Janzen. I only kept reading because I loved her mom.

3. Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read in 2015?
Maybe Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs. I read two memoirs by brothers right in a row - Burroughs' brother's first -- Look Me in the Eyes by John Elder Robinson. Robinson has Asperger's syndrome. When I read Burroughs' book second, I was amazed to hear about his childhood and how much his brother didn't notice or didn't include in his own book. It was interesting.

4. Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did) In 2015?
I strongly suggested Pat and Anna read The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater. I know Pat did, I don't know if Anna did.

5. Best series you started in 2015? Best Sequel of 2015? Best Series Ender of 2015?
THIS IS SO MUCH AT ONCE. I only started a couple of series in 2015 that I chose to continue reading, so I guess I'd say Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson. It has a lot of weird religious stuff in it, but not specifically a certain religion. I thought it was a good "chosen one" type of hero story. I'm going to skip sequel and say the best series ender was probably Bitterblue, finishing the Graceling series by Kristin Cashore. I also like Winter by Marissa Meyer but at the same time thought everything wrapped up too neatly.

6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2015?
I was going to say Jojo Moyes but that was technically in the end of 2014. I guess there's no one I really discovered this year whose work I'll seek more of. I really did like The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, but it looks like her only other published work is a series of ten-sentence short stories and I'm not sure I'm into that.

7. Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone?
My True Love Gave to Me is a book of short stories, which I haven't really read since my classes in creative writing. They're all YA contemporary or fantasy, though, which is my normal. Cloud Atlas is out of my normal wheelhouse, I guess.

8. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year?
Winter by Marissa Meyer

9. Book You Read In 2015 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read in 2016?
Harry Potter. Always. ;)

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2014?
Vivian Apple at the End of the World by Katie Coyle

11. Most memorable character of 2015?
Rachel from Moloka'i by Alan Brennert

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2015?
Moloka'i by Alan Brennert

13. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2015?
Moloka'i by Alan Brennert (I really liked this one!)

14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2015 to finally read?
Moloka'i was really on my list forever because none of my libraries had it! I also had Life of Pi forever before I read it.

15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2015?

Nothing sticks out -- I don't think I'm really a note taker.

16.Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2015?
According to Goodreads, and not counting rereads, longest was Winter by Marissa Meyer at 824 pages. Shortest was Delirium Stories, a collection of short stories from characters in Lauren Oliver's Delirium series, 208 pages.

17. Book That Shocked You The Most
Didn't we already do most surprising?

18. OTP OF THE YEAR (you will go down with this ship!)
(OTP = one true pairing if you aren’t familiar = favorite couple pair)
Simon and Baz, I guess? From Carry On by Rainbow Rowell. I also really liked lots of the couples in My True Love Gave to Me, edited by Stephanie Perkins

19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year
I'm not sure I have one for this? Maybe Penny and Simon and Baz, also from Carry On. That's the only friendship that's sticking out.

20. Favorite Book You Read in 2015 From An Author You’ve Read Previously
Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

21. Best Book You Read In 2015 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure:
I don't think she actually recommended it, but I remember Kate reacted strongly to Girls Like Us by Gail Giles, so I checked that one out

22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2015?
I don't think I have one? Maybe a boy from My True Love Gave to Me. North or Russel, maybe?

23. Best 2015 debut you read?
I don't even know which books I read are debuts. I'm not book-bloggy enough.

24. Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year?
Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

25. Book That Put A Smile On Your Face/Was The Most FUN To Read?
My True Love Gave to Me 

26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2015?
Moloka'i, most certain.

27. Hidden Gem Of The Year?
Not sure what this question means?

28. Book That Crushed Your Soul?
Made You Up by by Francesca Zappia  and, obviously, Moloka'i

29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2015?
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

30. Book That Made You The Most Mad (doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t like it)?
The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton

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I'm going to go ahead and skip this section since I'm not a strictly "book" blog and I was a ish blogger this year. Weeeeeeeeeee!

1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2015 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2016?
I need to freaking finish two books I started this year and didn't push through - Stephen King's On Writing and I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb. Actually, I want to give up on that one, but I've read so much of it already...

2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2016 (non-debut)?
The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater

3. 2016 Debut You Are Most Anticipating?
I don't really know about debuts before they happen

4. Series Ending/A Sequel You Are Most Anticipating in 2016?
The Raven Boys series

5. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging Life In 2016?
Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

6. A 2016 Release You’ve Already Read & Recommend To Everyone:
I am not that privileged. 

If you're a big reader -- tell me your answers for a couple of these!

Book review: My Name is Brett

My Name is Brett by Brett Ray

Description from Brett's website (below) can be found here along with other responses from early readers. 

My Name is Brett: Truths from a Trans Christian is the story of a transgender Christian finding his name, voice, and strength. The book holds humorous stories of his upbringing, tough stories of addiction, and the stories of hope he has found in his transition. It centers on his journey toward his name—Brett—and how foundational finding and being called Brett is for “naming” the big truths in his life. A transition is never easy, and the book refuses to water down the difficult complexities of being transgender. But, it simultaneously refuses to deny the continually regenerating hope found in loving family, friends, recovery, and in the ability to tell one’s story honestly and boldly. Most simply put, My Name is Brett: Truths from a Trans Christian is a love story; it’s a love story about a man finally falling in love with himself.

Disclaimer: Brett is a friend of a friend and sent me an advanced reader's copy of his book in exchange for me reviewing it here and on other platforms.

More and more, transgender men and women are stepping into the public eye. Most recently, Caitlyn Jenner famously came out, but before that, the world was already getting to know Janet Mock, Laverne Cox, Geena Rocero and more wonderful transgender celebrities.

I've previously read and reviewed Janet Mock's memoir, but Brett's book, My Name is Brett, is the first I've read from a trans man. I was excited to get to hear his perspective on his transition and his life as a Christian, trans man.

Brett's book is an honest retelling of his thought process throughout much of his transition -- from the day he realized he was transgender, through picking his name, through the days when he would forget his own name and be corrected by friends. This play-by-play of his transition makes My Name is Brett an awesome read for anyone who knows someone transitioning or knows someone who is transgender and wants to understand more what that process feels like.

Though Brett's experiences are only his own, and not truly representative of the entire trans community, his story conveys the importance of supporting trans people in whatever way they need support. His story shows how calling someone by their right, true name can be a life saving act. It allows cis (non-trans) people a peek into the mind of someone transitioning and allows us to have true understanding and empathy for someone going through something we may never experience ourselves.

Brett's story also tackles the tough topic of the physical changes someone may or may not choose to go through as they transition. As you hopefully know, it's rude to ask someone about their physical transition -- it's a very personal topic! -- but Brett shares some of his thoughts and feelings behind his choices.

I was moved by Brett's story, by the affect a supportive person could have on his transition and his mental health, and by his ability to understand and empathize with his family and friends' varied reactions. Although a gender transition is a very foreign experience to any cis person, Brett's story makes it relateable and close to home. His honesty and openness made the emotions of transitioning real to me, even though I've never experienced anything like it.

I would recommend My Name is Brett to anyone who wants to know more about the experience of transitioning -- even if you're not a person of faith, even if you're not transitioning, even if you don't know anyone who has.

My Name is Brett officially comes out (haha... see what I did there?) September 9. If you're in the Durham, NC area, he's having a release party September 8 and you can get an early copy! Brett's book is not officially on Amazon yet, but I'll update this review when it is -- it will be available hard copy and in kindle version.

Thoughtful comments and responses only please! :) I don't worry about my normal readers, but if anyone were to post hateful content, it would be deleted.

Must-read books

I made Pat start reading a book I love love love.

(Ok, so I can't actually make Pat do anything. But I did set it on the table in front of him and say "I think you should read this next" and when he finished his book he started reading it next because I told him to.)

And now I have the same kind of nervousness I did when he asked to watch my favorite movie, You've Got Mail, and I had to sit there and watch it with him and sneak glances and gauge his reaction to all my favorite scenes, lines, facial expressions.

(I do have favorite facial expressions in that movie, thank you very much.)

But today, I was thinking about how you can't really predict what someone will think of a book.

I made the mistake of reading the Goodreads reviews for a book I finished recently. I was hooked on it, gave it four stars, couldn't put it down. And it had about a bajillion negative reviews. Some were on point, just things that hadn't really detracted from my enjoyment -- like, yes, it's a flaw in the book, but I still enjoyed it a lot. And it made me question whether my four stars were overkill and was it really a good book and good lord people have told me they read books just because I've reviewed them and then what if they hate them and what will they think of me??


One more anecdote -- another book I love love love is The Book Thief. Love it. In my second year in grad school, someone made a second attempt at starting a book club. (The first attempt had failed the year before after discussing exactly one book.)

The first book the New Book Club picked was The Book Thief and I was stoked. I reread it in preparation. I went to the discussion meeting, which took place in a bar because duh, and discovered everyone had hated it. Most people didn't even finish reading it.

In my head today, before I started thinking all of this, I was making a list of books I think all people should read, or at least start to read and they can put it down if they want. The book I've asked Pat to read, The Scorpio Races, would be on my list. So would the Harry Potter series, though I know plenty of people who don't really like HP.

What would be on your list? Have you known people who read your faves and hated them? I'm curious!

(Pat has not yet finished the book -- he's studying for the CPA tests and doesn't have much time for reading these days, but he'll likely pick it back up after his tests are done.)

Book review: I Was Here

I Was Here by Gayle Forman

Description from Goodreads (below) can be found here along with other reviews. Add me on Goodreads!

Cody and Meg were inseparable.
Two peas in a pod.
Until . . . they weren’t anymore.

When her best friend Meg drinks a bottle of industrial-strength cleaner alone in a motel room, Cody is understandably shocked and devastated. She and Meg shared everything—so how was there no warning? But when Cody travels to Meg’s college town to pack up the belongings left behind, she discovers that there’s a lot that Meg never told her. About her old roommates, the sort of people Cody never would have met in her dead-end small town in Washington. About Ben McAllister, the boy with a guitar and a sneer, who broke Meg’s heart. And about an encrypted computer file that Cody can’t open—until she does, and suddenly everything Cody thought she knew about her best friend’s death gets thrown into question.

I Was Here is Gayle Forman at her finest, a taut, emotional, and ultimately redemptive story about redefining the meaning of family and finding a way to move forward even in the face of unspeakable loss.

First things first: this book deals with suicide. So, if that's something you shouldn't be reading, don't read this book. And maybe also check this out, if you need to.

And also maybe be careful who you recommend this too. (lookin at you Kate) (not because you wouldn't be careful, just a heads up)

Moving on: I Was Here is the story of Cody, who was left behind and shocked when her best friend committed suicide. She didn't see it coming, even a little bit, and begins to question everything about her friendship with Meg, her life, herself.

Parts of this book are really intense. Cody is so shocked that she takes a lot of steps to understand Meg's mindframe -- to try to find the why of Meg's suicide, and it takes her to really dark places. I related to Cody's questioning of how she could not have known this about her friend, questioning how well she actually knew her friend.

Some parts of the book, though, I felt were too light. The relationships that form in the wake of Meg's suicide felt shallow to me -- I wanted more from their development, wanted to see more how that was happening. I think death can bring people together in weird ways, but I Was Here seemed to make people close really quickly in the way that can happen after a death without acknowledging that it's kind of weird and quick and different from normal. So while a lot of the emotions were really intense for me, I didn't always buy the relationships.

I'm trying not to say too much so I don't give anything away. I liked the book, but I think it could have been better.

Have any of you read I Was Here? What did you think?

App review: Nike Training Club

Hi friends!

A million years ago, Julie from PBFingers posted about the Nike Training Club app, and I immediately downloaded it. Ok, so a million years is an exaggeration, but it is not an exaggeration to say that it took me at least six months before I ever actually did a workout from the app.

Now, though, I've been using it for over a month. Not super consistently -- I've done about 7 workouts on the app -- but enough to know that I should have started using it forever ago. So I wanted to share it with you all in case you're looking for something to up your workout game.

Before I started using the app, I had been out of shape for all of those six months, but I was starting to get base level fitness back on the elliptical and bicycles in my apartment complex's little gym.

(RIP gym. Just found out they're closing it for the next month. So sad.)

I wasn't challenging myself in any way -- I was just putting the time in, but no effort -- and realized pretty quickly it wasn't doing much for me.

So, I tried the Nike Training Club app.

Nike Training Club has several workout categories. When you choose a category, it then asks you to indicate your fitness level. I chose beginner.

After that, you can scroll through workouts. The titles don't really tell you a whole lot, but they do show how long the workout is.

  

Once you choose a workout, it takes you to this screen that shows the time and any equipment you need. You can also click that center icon and see a list of all the exercises. I've found that the equipment list isn't always totally accurate. One of the workouts I've been doing requires a step for tricep dips, and I don't have a step.

When you're looking at the list of exercises, you can edit some of them, not all. So in the picture below, I can choose between burpees and froggers (both are awful) but there's not an alternate for the alternating side lunges.

Each individual exercise has both photos with instructions and a video you can watch to make sure you're doing the exercise right. You can look at all of them ahead of time (I recommend it!) but if you're in the middle of the workout and you forget what the move is, you can watch the video again.

Each individual exercise has a timeframe. There is audio to prompt you from one move to the next. The audio also gives you reminders and hints on how to complete the exercise -- like to keep your weight in your heels on lunges.

It sprinkles in 30-second recovery periods and sometimes gives you 10 seconds in between to get to the next position -- so to go from squats, where you're standing, to pushups, where you need to be on the ground.


OVERALL THOUGHTS
I really enjoy using this app (using the word "enjoy" loosely). Yes, I could do all of these exercises without the app, but the app challenges me to do ones I wouldn't choose myself, it times me, and it makes me do more than I would naturally do in 30 minutes without direction. And it definitely got me to stop just putting in the time and start challenging myself again.

The one complaint I have is the lack of modifications. When I've taken fitness classes, often they'll says something like "If your legs are feeling really tight, bend at the knee a bit more" or "if your lower back is lifting off the ground, stabilize your back with your hands" or anything like that. And, as I said, there are a few where I (surprise!) didn't have the equipment. For most, I can modify on my own -- I've been working out long enough to know a few modifications, and I will sub in weights for a medicine ball, do the exercise without equipment, or sub in a different activity that works the same muscle group. So my experience with this type of workout does help.

There are a couple yoga workouts on here, but you have to have a pretty good grasp of yoga positions to do them, because if you need to watch the video while you're doing the workout, it pauses the workout -- so you can't follow along like you would with a DVD. There's also a 15-minute stretching routine I have yet to try, but might need eventually.

Finally, the biggest endoresement I can give is that these workouts make me sore every day. I think as I'm getting better, I'm able to push myself harder, so that means even though I've been using it a while, it'll keep challenging me -- do more push ups this time. Move from modified push ups to real push ups, etc.



Have any of you used this app or others to expand your workouts? I'd love more recommendations!

Because apparently all I write about anymore is books

I thought I'd do a look back at 2014 in books.

Yes?

(If your answer is "no," please feel free to click away now :)

I'm using a survey I found through Ginger but originally posted here. :)

Number Of Books You Read: 81
Number of Re-Reads: 21 (holy wow!)
Genre You Read The Most From: Contemporary YA, I think? Some realistic fantasy thrown in there?

 

1. Best Book You Read In 2014?
Holy cow that's hard. I think my favorite that wasn't a reread was probably The Host by Stephanie Meyer or one of the Raven Boys books by Maggie Stiefvater

2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?

I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak

3. Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read in 2014?
Maybe Raging Star, by Moira Young. It ended the Dust Lands series in ways I did not expect.

4. Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did) In 2014?
Probably Fangirl, Rainbow Rowell. I loved Fangirl. Also got my mom and little sister to read the Lunar Chronicles series, Marissa Meyer.

5. Best series you started in 2014? Best Sequel of 2014? Best Series Ender of 2014?
THIS IS SO MUCH AT ONCE. I'll just say two best series(es?) were The Raven Boys, Maggie Stiefvater and The Lunar Chronicles, Marissa Meyer.

6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2014?
Rainbow Rowell

7. Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone?
I read pretty broadly, so that's a tricky one for me. I don't read much that isn't YA, though, and I read and loved One Plus One by Jojo Moyes.

8. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year?
The Dream Thieves, Maggie Stiefvater

9. Book You Read In 2014 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read in 2015?
Any of the Harry Potters since I plan to re-read them as soon as I get back to Colorado

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2014?
Blue Lily, Lily Blue, Maggie Stiefvater and The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender, Leslye Walton

11. Most memorable character of 2014?
I feel like this survey is definitely affected by what I've read more recently, because everyone from the Raven Boys series is sticking out. Before that, though, probably Cinder from the Lunar Chronicles.

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2014?
The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender, Leslye Walton

13. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2014?
Redefining Realness, Janet Mock

14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2014 to finally read?
Cinder. I judged it too harshly by the description and didn't think I'd like it. Clearly, I did!

15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2014?

Nothing sticks out -- since I read mostly during my commute and mostly library books, I don't have much opportunity for note taking. Or maybe I'm just not a note taker. 

16.Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2013?
Longest was Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, 870 pages according to Goodreads

Shortest was Finding Cinderella, 90 pages according to Goodreads

17. Book That Shocked You The Most
Didn't we already do most surprising?

18. OTP OF THE YEAR (you will go down with this ship!)
(OTP = one true pairing if you aren’t familiar = favorite couple pair)
Maybe Cath and Levi from Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. Or, let's be real, Ron and Hermione from Harry Potter. I also really like the idea of Blue and Gansey in The Raven Boys.

19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year
Cath and Reagan from Fangirl.

20. Favorite Book You Read in 2014 From An Author You’ve Read Previously
The Host by Stephanie Meyer

21. Best Book You Read In 2014 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure:
The Host  and One Plus One

22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2014?
All the boys in The Raven Boys.

23. Best 2014 debut you read?
I don't even know which books I read are debuts. I'm not book-bloggy enough.

24. Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year?
If we're just talking new books, I loved the world building in Stardust by Neil Gaiman. Slowly, slowly revealed. But, if we're counting rereads, always always Harry Potter and The Hunger Games

25. Book That Put A Smile On Your Face/Was The Most FUN To Read?
Probably Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins. 

26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2014?
The Host. I think it's the only one.

27. Hidden Gem Of The Year?
Not sure what this question means? But I'll use it as a chance to plug The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater. More people should read that book.

28. Book That Crushed Your Soul?
Maybe Allegiant by Veronica Roth, but not for the reason most people were crushed by it.

29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2014?
Fire, Kristin Cashore. Sequel to Graceling. I really like that world.

30. Book That Made You The Most Mad (doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t like it)?
I was mad at Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin. I thought it had a great premise but it was just a really annoying book.

.

I'm going to go ahead and skip this section since I'm not a strictly "book" blog and I was a ish blogger this year. Weeeeeeeeeee!

1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2014 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2015?
I have Bitterblue, the third in the Graceling series, on my Kindle, so I'll probably end up reading that first in 2015.

2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2015 (non-debut)?
Sarah Dessen's next, Saint Anything, because, Duh.

3. 2015 Debut You Are Most Anticipating?
Again, I'm not ingrained enough in the bookish world to really track debuts and whatnot, but I did see a description for Vivian Versus the Universe, which I originally saw called Vivian Apple at the End of the World, and it looks pretty good.

4. Series Ending/A Sequel You Are Most Anticipating in 2015?
The Raven Boys and Cinder series(es?)

5. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging Life In 2015?
Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

6. A 2015 Release You’ve Already Read & Recommend To Everyone:
I am not that privileged. 

Hope you all are doing well. Hopefully I'll post soon with a life update. Holidays were kind of weird in these parts, but Pat comes to visit for a week tomorrow, so I'm really excited about that!

If you're a big reader -- tell me your answers for a couple of these!

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Book review: Mary Poppins

Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers

Description from Goodreads (below) can be found here along with other reviews. Add me on Goodreads!

From the moment Mary Poppins arrives at Number Seventeen Cherry-Tree Lane, everyday life at the Banks house is forever changed.

It all starts when Mary Poppins is blown by the east wind onto the doorstep of the Banks house. She becomes a most unusual nanny to Jane, Michael, and the twins. Who else but Mary Poppins can slide up banisters, pull an entire armchair out of an empty carpetbag, and make a dose of medicine taste like delicious lime-juice cordial? A day with Mary Poppins is a day of magic and make-believe come to life!

I'm not sure how I got to be 25 years old without reading Mary Poppins. But after seeing Saving Mr. Banks, I wanted to read the original story.

The original Mary Poppins is not the Mary Poppins of the classic Disney movie, that's for sure. It's hard to treat the story as the original since I've seen Mary Poppins as the movie character as long as I can remember.

But Mary Poppins the original is more stern. She's vain. She has no time for your nonsense.

Still, the story manages to be just as magical as the movie, maybe even more so since book-Mary isn't really likeable, but makes every day incredible.

Some scenes from the movie are straight from the book, but I have a feeling the movie has some invented scenes or stole scenes from books later in the books. I don't intend to read more of the series now, but maybe someday when there are small children in my life, I will read it to them.

It's not the most entertaining children's book to read as an adult, but I had fun reading it and comparing it to my memory of the movie. So, if you're curious too, it's worth a read!

Have any of you read Mary Poppins? What did you think?

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Book review: We Were Liars

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

Description from Goodreads (below) can be found here along with other reviews. Add me on Goodreads!

A beautiful and distinguished family.
A private island.
A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy.
A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive.
A revolution. An accident. A secret.
Lies upon lies.
True love.
The truth.

We Were Liars is a modern, sophisticated suspense novel from National Book Award finalist and Printz Award honoree E. Lockhart.

Read it.
And if anyone asks you how it ends, just LIE.

I'm not sure there is anything new to say about this book. It's been talked and written about so much since it hit shelves last May. But, just in case you haven't heard of it yet, here are my thoughts.

I've read E. Lockhart's work before, but didn't realize it until after I read We Were Liars -- none of her other work has stuck out to me. But this book was everywhere this year, so I put my name on the list for it at the library and waited behind more than ten people.

It's a short, quick read. It focuses on the teenage children of some very well-off New Englanders and their relationships as they grow and change during summers shared on the family island (yup, family island -- I told you they were well-off). They call themselves the Liars. The narrator, Cadence, suffered an injury a couple summers before the telling of the book that caused her amnesia, and she spends her summer trying to unravel the truth behind her injury and trying to discover what her family isn't telling her.

While the circumstances of these teens' lives make them difficult to relate to (again, family island), most of the emotions in the book were familiar to me.

I shot through this book -- it's only a couple hundred pages and easy to read. And then I wanted to read it again immediately. I didn't (because I only had it for a couple more days from the library) but I will want to reread this one eventually. When Cadence finally figures out what her family isn't telling her, it leaves you wanting to go back through to see if you can pick up the clues she was missing.

The hype on this book is HUGE -- and I think this might be a case where it does the book a disservice -- hard to not be looking for the twists, and hard to live up to the hype. But it was a good book, and I recommend it! I gave it three stars.

Have any of you read We Were Liars? What did you think?

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Book review: Shiver

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Description from Goodreads (below) can be found here along with other reviews. Add me on Goodreads!

For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf—her wolf—is a chilling presence she can't seem to live without.

Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human… until the cold makes him shift back again.

Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It's her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human—or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.

Shiver was an experiment for me. Forever and ever ago, I tried to read Shiver on audio and hated it. I quit reading more than halfway through the book because the characters finally annoyed me so much. A while later though, I read and loved The Scorpio Races and, when I went on Goodreads, realized they were by the same author. 

Um, what? 

So I decided to give Shiver another try, but this time actually reading it rather than listening to it.

Shiver still isn't my favorite book, and I still don't love the characters, but I enjoyed it much more when I read it. Shiver is magical realism -- everything in the world is the same as our world... except the tiny little thing of the main character, Grace, falling in love with a werewolf. 

It's definitely the story line that kept me going, rather than attachment to the characters, but I'll probably finish out the series. I gave Shiver three stars.

Have any of you read (or listened to) Shiver? What did you think?

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Book review: Stardust

Stardust by Neil Gaiman

Description from Goodreads (below) can be found here along with other reviews. Add me on Goodreads!

Hopelessly crossed in love, a boy of half-fairy parentage leaves his mundane Victorian-English village on a quest for a fallen star in the magical realm. The star proves to be an attractive woman with a hot temper, who plunges with our hero into adventures featuring witches, the lion and the unicorn, plotting elf-lords, ships that sail the sky, magical transformations, curses whose effects rebound, binding conditions with hidden loopholes and all the rest.

Either at the very end of high school or the very beginning of college, I watched a movie called Stardust with two of my best friends from high school. We knew little about the movie except that it was a fairy tale for grown ups. I think we didn't love it initially, but then we watched the bloopers, and then we loved it.

Fast forward many years and I discovered Stardust the movie was based off Stardust the book, which was written by Neil Gaiman, an author I'd heard loads about but whose work I'd never read.

Gaiman does an amazing job leading you through a world where you slowly notice more and more magic. The book truly feels mystical and magical and brings you into its world.

I loved Stardust the book. The movie followed the storyline of the book pretty well, so there weren't a lot of surprises (until the end, at least -- it's a bit different), but the book was (as most books are) so much more emotional and heartfelt. I loved it. 

If you're interested in trying audio, the author narrates this one himself and it is exceptionally well done. Highly recommended! I gave it four stars.

Have any of you read (or watched) Stardust? What did you think?

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Book review: A Monster Calls

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

Description from Goodreads (below) can be found here along with other reviews. Add me on Goodreads!

The monster showed up after midnight. As they do.

But it isn't the monster Conor's been expecting. He's been expecting the one from his nightmare, the one he's had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments, the one with the darkness and the wind and the screaming...

This monster is something different, though. Something ancient, something wild. And it wants the most dangerous thing of all from Conor.

It wants the truth.

I heard a LOT of wonderful things about this book before picking it up and it didn't disappoint. 

Conor is a young kid dealing with a really tough situation. As he's struggling to just make it through every day life, a monster starts appearing. It incites him to do some awful things and then disappears, leaving Conor both with the consequences and wondering if the monster is even real.

I don't want to say too much, because if this book hasn't been spoiled for you, I don't want to be the one who does. But it was very well written, very emotional, and something I think a lot of kids could relate to.

If you're interested in trying audio, this one is narrated by the man who played Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter movies and it is very well done.

Have any of you read A Monster Calls? What did you think?

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Book review: A Practical Wedding

A Practical Wedding by Meg Keene

Description from Goodreads (below) can be found here along with other reviews. Add me on Goodreads!

Getting engaged is exhilarating…until it sets in that a wedding costs three times what you thought, and takes five to ten times the effort it reasonably should. And then there are the expectations: from calligraphy invitations to satin chair-covers, all those things that Must Be Done or everyone will be Horribly Offended. Or will they?

A Practical Wedding helps you create the wedding you want—without going broke or crazy in the process. After all, what really matters on your wedding day, what you’ll remember ‘til you’re old and gray, is not so much how it looked as how it felt. In this refreshing guide, expert Meg Keene shares her secrets to planning a beautiful celebration that reflects your taste and your relationship. You’ll discover:

The real purpose of engagement (hint: it’s not just about the planning) How to pinpoint what matters most to you and your partner DIY-ing your wedding: brilliant or crazy? Affording a wedding without having to cut your guest list How to communicate decisions with your family Why that color-coded spreadsheet is actually worth it Wedding Zen can be yours. Meg walks you through everything from choosing a venue to writing vows, complete with stories and advice from women who have been in the trenches, the Team Practical brides. So here’s to the joyful wedding, the sensible wedding, the unbelievably fun wedding! A Practical Wedding is your complete guide to getting married with grace.

Okay, so definitely not a typical book I'd review on my blog. BUT. A few weeks (months?) ago, Genna recommended this book, and I loved it so I thought it deserved a plug on the blog.

Guys, I haven't planned that much for my wedding yet and I've already had several stressful moments, or moments where I felt pressure about different aspects of the wedding and how they should go or what people would expect or whatever. I'm not someone who has been planning my wedding for infinity or who feels I have to stick to traditions (shmaditions). But there were still things I was thinking that probably shouldn't have been on my mind even a little bit. Like, if we have a ceremony in a different place than our reception and the ceremony is really short, people will be annoyed that we made them go all the way out there.* 

*totally not a thing I should worry about. I know. I knoooow.

But this book? Totally down to earth and calming. Reassuring. Reminded me that as long as our wedding is what me and Pat want, it will be a perfect wedding.

If you're engaged, or if you're planning a wedding or reception, or if you have a friend who is and is stressed out, I highly recommend this book.

Thanks for the tip, Genna!

Book review: The Host

The Host by Stephanie Meyer

Description from Goodreads (below) can be found here along with other reviews. Add me on Goodreads!

Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away. The earth has been invaded by a species that take over the minds of human hosts while leaving their bodies intact. Wanderer, the invading "soul" who has been given Melanie's body, didn't expect to find its former tenant refusing to relinquish possession of her mind.

As Melanie fills Wanderer's thoughts with visions of Jared, a human who still lives in hiding, Wanderer begins to yearn for a man she's never met. Reluctant allies, Wanderer and Melanie set off to search for the man they both love.

Featuring one of the most unusual love triangles in literature,The Host is a riveting and unforgettable novel about the persistence of love and the essence of what it means to be human.

I am not afraid to admit that I read the entire Twilight series. It and its author, Stephanie Meyer, have gotten a bad rap. (Not saying it’s deserved or undeserved.) But I heard great things about Meyer’s other book, The Host, from many people, including my little sister, so I had to give it a shot.

I LOVED it.

The Host is set in the future, several years after an alien society has taken over earth. The aliens use human bodies as Hosts -- they do not live on their own on earth outside of the human bodies they take. When they take a body, the person inside essentially just goes away…

For most people.

The Host is the story of Wanderer, an alien, and Melanie, the person whose body Wanderer takes -- a person who doesn’t disappear.

It’s hard to say much without giving anything away. The interactions between Melanie and Wanderer are awesome -- Laugh out loud funny occasionally and heartbreaking at other moments. There’s tension and romance and life-or-death suspense. I found myself crying in public as I finished this book on the bus.

It is maybe a liiiiittle long… in the same way as when you leave a movie and think, well that lasted longer than it needed to but still love it. I gave it five stars.

Have any of you read The Host? What did you think?

Book review: Landline

Landline by Rainbow Rowell

Description from Goodreads (below) can be found here along with other reviews. Add me on Goodreads!

Georgie McCool knows her marriage is in trouble. That it’s been in trouble for a long time. She still loves her husband, Neal, and Neal still loves her, deeply — but that almost seems beside the point now.

Maybe that was always beside the point.

Two days before they’re supposed to visit Neal’s family in Omaha for Christmas, Georgie tells Neal that she can’t go. She’s a TV writer, and something’s come up on her show; she has to stay in Los Angeles. She knows that Neal will be upset with her — Neal is always a little upset with Georgie — but she doesn’t expect to him to pack up the kids and go home without her.

When her husband and the kids leave for the airport, Georgie wonders if she’s finally done it. If she’s ruined everything.

That night, Georgie discovers a way to communicate with Neal in the past. It’s not time travel, not exactly, but she feels like she’s been given an opportunity to fix her marriage before it starts . . .

Is that what she’s supposed to do?

Or would Georgie and Neal be better off if their marriage never happened?

I love Rainbow Rowell because I LOVE Fangirl. So I decided to read all her books. Obviously.

Landline was… ok. I enjoyed it while I was reading it, but I never quite got sucked into it. I didn’t super relate to Georgie, the main character. A huge issue in this book is that Georgie’s husband, Neal, has slowly become more and more unhappy in their marriage. And while I know that happens and I know that it’s not always something fixable or avoidable, there were so many ways Georgie could have been there for Neal and she wasn’t. So when she was suffering through this book because of his unhappiness, I was unsympathetic.

There were pieces of this book I really enjoyed, though. I loved the flashbacks to how Neal and Georgie first got together -- they blended in well with the present-day action and were totally sweet. I also loved Georgie’s relationship with her mom, her mom’s husband, her sister, and their pugs.

In the end, def. not my favorite of Rowell’s, but still enjoyable. I gave it three stars. Now I just need to get my hands on Attachments!

Have any of you read Landline? What did you think?

Book review: January First

January First by Michael Schofield

Description from Goodreads (below) can be found here along with other reviews. Add me on Goodreads!

A brilliant and harrowingly honest memoir, January First is the extraordinary story of a father's fight to save his child from an extremely severe case of mental illness in the face of overwhelming adversity.

At six years old, Michael Schofield's daughter, January, was diagnosed with one of the most severe cases of child-onset schizophrenia that doctors had ever seen. In January's case, she is hallucinating 95 percent of the time that she is awake. Potent psychiatric drugs that would level most adults barely faze her. January, "Jani" to her family, has literally hundreds of imaginary friends. They go by names like 400-the-Cat, 100 Degrees, and 24 Hours and live on an island called "Calalini," which she describes as existing "on the border of my world and your world." Some of these friends are good, and some of them, such as 400, are very bad. They tell her to jump off buildings, attack her brother, and scream at strangers.

In the middle of these never-ending delusions, hallucinations, and paroxysms of rage are Jani's parents, who have gone to the ends of the earth to keep both of their children alive and unharmed. They live in separate one-bedroom apartments in order to keep her little brother, Bohdi, safe from his big sister--and wage a daily war against a social system that has all but completely failed them. January First is the story of the daily struggles and challenges they face as they do everything they can to help their daughter while trying to keep their family together. It is the inspiring tale of their resolute determination and faith.

I have been intrigued by this book for a long time, but my old library didn’t have it. But my new one does!

January First is the story of the author’s struggles to figure out what is happening in his daughter’s mental health. January, his daughter, is anti social, shows violent tendencies, and is incredibly intelligent. She also has imaginary friends she insists are very real and changes her name daily. After the birth of Schofield’s second child, January’s behavior becomes exponentially worse.

This book was terrifying and fascinating. Schofield catalogs experiences with many mental health professionals, January’s reactions to the various drugs they prescribe, and their inability to find anything that works. It’s so scary to imagine someone you love behaving and suffering the way January does. I definitely got invested in this story, hoping for a happy ending for Schofield and his family.

One complaint/caution I have about this book is that it is only one man’s perspective. He has awful interactions with health professionals and I had to remind myself regularly that the way a person views a situation is not always the whole story. Schofield has a tendency to paint the health professionals as the bad guys. I like to hope they were acting in what they thought was January’s best interests.

Overall, I thought the book was terribly interesting and gave it four stars.

Have any of you read January First? What did you think?

Book review: Roomies

Roomies by Sara Zarr and Tara Altebrando

Description from Goodreads (below) can be found here along with other reviews. Add me on Goodreads!

It's time to meet your new roomie.

When East Coast native Elizabeth receives her freshman-year roommate assignment, she shoots off an e-mail to coordinate the basics: television, microwave, mini-fridge. That first note to San Franciscan Lauren sparks a series of e-mails that alters the landscape of each girl's summer -- and raises questions about how two girls who are so different will ever share a dorm room.

As the countdown to college begins, life at home becomes increasingly complex. With family relationships and childhood friendships strained by change, it suddenly seems that the only people Elizabeth and Lauren can rely on are the complicated new boys in their lives . . . and each other. Even though they've never met.

National Book Award finalist Sara Zarr and acclaimed author Tara Altebrando join forces for a novel about growing up, leaving home, and getting that one fateful e-mail that assigns your college roommate.

If any of you lived in a residence hall in college -- do you remember the terror of meeting your roommate?

When I first went to college, Facebook was not a big thing yet. My roommate and I talked on the phone once before moving in together -- the night before I moved, actually -- and emailed a bit about fridges and microwaves. The emotions of walking into that room for the first time are still fresh in my mind, and living with my roommate was a huge factor in how I experienced my first year of college.

Roomies is about that -- about that first contact with your future college roommate, about figuring out if you’ll still be who you are once you move across the country or state or county and live on your own. Figuring out if you can live with this other person who you may not have a choice about living with.

There’s a lot more going on in Roomies too -- each of the girls are dealing with family issues and figuring out what it means to leave the people in their lives behind. There’s romance and friendship troubles and all the wonders of being a teenager.

I enjoyed Roomies! It was a fun story and a story I’d never read before. Full disclosure: I won this book fo free in a contest, but I honestly truly enjoyed it. Four stars!

Have any of you read Roomies? What did you think?

Book review: Anna and the French Kiss

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Description from Goodreads (below) can be found here along with other reviews. Add me on Goodreads!

Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris--until she meets Étienne St. Clair. Smart, charming,beautiful, Étienne has it all...including a serious girlfriend.

But in the City of Light, wishes have a way of coming true. Will a year of romantic near-misses end with their long-awaited French kiss?

This book has SO MUCH HYPE around it. I’ve seen its picture about a million times on Tumblr. I knew going in that it would be fluffy and romantic and I was not disappointed!

The characters are really fun and the blooming romance made my stomach jump when it was supposed to. The characters are a little shallow -- not too much background or depth -- except for the two main characters, Anna and St. Clair. Their histories are present (while maybe simplified a bit). All in all, I thought the relationships were realistically portrayed -- romanticized a little bit, but still totally believable -- and I got invested in the story.

The book and storyline are simple -- if you’re looking for a story with Life Lessons and Depth, this isn’t for you. But if you want something fun to read on the bus to work, totally a great choice. I gave it three stars!

Have any of you read Anna and the French Kiss? What did you think?