Best Books of 2017

This poor blog has been ignored for a whole year, but I am back today to post my annual best books list!  You can find previous years here:  2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016.

I read 55 total books this year, which was a new record for me! 

For this list, I only chose from the books I read this year that were also published this year.  And this year's top picks are...

Best Fiction

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine
by Gail Honeyman
My rating:  5 out of 5 stars

This is a lovely book about a unique character named Eleanor Oliphant.  Eleanor has lots of quirks and hilarious commentary about the world around her.  As the story unfolds you learn more about why she acts and thinks the way she does.  It's got great characters and a good story...there is a lot to love here!




Honorable Mention for Best Fiction

Beartown
by Frederick Backman
My rating:  4.5 out of 5 stars

Every review that I have read for this book comments on how different it is from Backman's other novels.  Many were disappointed because they expected something different from this story.  I have never read Backman's other books, so I had no expectations going into this book.   This is a book about a town obsessed with hockey and what happens when a crime is committed by a hockey player.  It reminded me of a darker version of Friday Night Lights, except about hockey not football.  It is a dark and grim story with not much happiness, but I thought it was really good.


Best Young Adult
I have a tie for the Best Young Adult books this year.  These two books compliment each other well, so it is fitting that they both receive my top honors:  The Hate U Give and Long Way Down.

The Hate U Give
by Angie Thomas
My rating:  5 out of 5 stars

I believe that reading helps us to become more empathetic people, as stories (even fictional stories) can help us gain a better understanding of the people in the world around us.  This book, with its ripped from the headlines story about a black teen shot by a white police officer, was a huge eye opener for me.  Growing up as a white girl, I was always taught by my parents that if I was in trouble, then I should go to the police for help.  For the girl in this story, the exact opposite was true.  Her parents had to teach her what to do to avoid drawing attention from the police.  It's sad and heartbreaking to read this story about racism and even more sad and heartbreaking to see the same story happening in the world around me.  I highly recommend this book for teens and adults alike!

Long Way Down
by Jason Reynolds
My rating:  5 out of 5 stars

I was nervous about this book because it is entirely told in verse, like poetry.  I do not like poetry, so I didn't know if I would like it.  But then I started reading and it was so good.  It is poetic, but it also reads like a story.  And I was in awe of how an entire story can be told with so few words.  This is the story of a black teen who is contemplating whether he should take revenge and kill the person who shot his brother.  On one elevator ride, he is forced to confront the ghosts of his past while making a life or death decision about his future.  It is such a clever, inventive way to tell the story.  And the ending!!  You may hate it, but I loved it.  I think it creates a great door to open up a discussion about gun violence and revenge and racism.  It forces the reader to think, "what would I do if I were in his shoes?"  This book is a super quick read...it will only take one hour of your time...but it is a must read!

Honorable Mention for Best Young Adult
I read a lot of young adult books this year, so I had a lot to choose from for this category!
What to Say Next
by Julie Buxbaum
My rating:  5 out of 5 stars

This is just the sweetest book!  It will both warm your heart and break it at the same time.  It's a great young adult romance and an easy read!  It's not as light-hearted and cheerful as the cover appears, but it was a good story with characters that I really loved.

Turtles All the Way Down
by John Green
My rating:  4.5 out of 5 stars

I'm probably biased on this one, because I am a huge John Green fan.  This book didn't fall into the immediate love category for me, but the longer I think about it, the more I greatly appreciate it.  It is an amazing portrayal inside the mind of someone with OCD.  Fascinating and eye-opening.  I felt like the plot was lacking a little, but the raw and real portrayal of mental illness makes it worthy of a read. 



Best Mystery/Thriller

The Good Daughter
by Karin Slaughter
My rating:  4.5 out of 5 stars

I'm a little hesitant to include this one on my list, because I know a lot of people who may not enjoy this book.  It is dark and violent and hard to read at times.  But it was an intriguing story, and I was completely pulled into it and could not stop reading until the end.




Honorable Mention

The Dry
by Jane Harper
My rating:  4 out of 5 stars

This is another good mystery/thriller.  It's a well-written and carefully crafted story that kept me turning pages and constantly trying to guess "whodunit."







Best Science Fiction

Dark Matter 
by Blake Crouch
My rating:  4.5 out of 5 stars

This is a crazy, time travel story that will mess with your head! In a good way!  My brain hurt just trying to wrap my head around the story.  I don't even know how to explain it or describe it.  It's a crazy, sci-fi story but it is also an emotional, thought-provoking story about life and love and the choices we make.  It's a brilliant concept and a quick read...and it will blow your mind!



Honorable Mention for Science Fiction

Invictus
by Ryan Graudin
My rating:  4 out of 4 stars

Another crazy time travel story (I have a weakness for time travel stories).  This one is a young adult novel about a space ship that travels through time.  If it sounds crazy, that's because it is.  But it's also a lot of fun!!  The characters are great!  I am becoming a very big Ryan Graudin fan after reading her Wolf by Wolf books last year.




Best Nonfiction
A Hope More Powerful than the Sea
by Melissa Fleming
My rating:  5 out of 5 stars

Confession:  this was the only nonfiction book that I read in 2017.  I really need to try to read more in the nonfiction genre this year!  But I did truly love this book.  The writing is nothing special.  The prose is very simple and journalistic; it is not emotional or beautiful in any sense.  But this straight forward style helps to keep the story from being sensationalized.  It matter of factly relays the events that happened to a Syrian refugee named Doaa.  Her story is remarkable in itself.  Fancy words are not needed for the story to be make an impact on the reader.  It is a story worth reading, a means to help us grasp and understand the real human stories behind the refugee crisis.

Best Books of 2016

It's time to revive this blog to publish my Best Books of 2016 list.  (You can find my previous lists here:  2013, 2014 and 2015).

It was a good reading year for me in terms of the amount of reading I did.  I met my goal of reading 52 books, which is a record number of books for me!  The most I had read before was 49.  I also had a record number of pages read (thanks to Goodreads for keeping track!):  21,060 pages!  A few more stats courtesy of Goodreads (and because I like them): I gave 13 5-star ratings, 19 4-star ratings, 16 3-star ratings, and 4 2-star ratings to the books I read this year.

This Best of 2016 list is made up of books that I read this year that were also published this year.  (If I were voting for my favorite book that I read this year that was NOT published this year, my pick would probably be 11/22/63 by Stephen King).


Best Fiction

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles (5 stars).  
I was afraid I wouldn't be able to pick a Best Fiction book this year, because I have read a lot of books that I liked but not many that I loved.  Until I picked up this book as my final read of the year.  I guess I just wanted to save the best for last.  This is a lovely, delightful book with an intriguing setting and story and unforgettable characters.  It took me about 50 pages to really get into it, but then it was just so good.  I highly recommend it!





Honorable Mentions in Fiction:
Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult (3.5 stars).  The book is very formulaic and written in typical Picoult fashion, but the subject of racism in modern America and the thought provoking response it evokes makes this worth a read.

Jane Steele by Lyndsay Faye (4 stars).  This gets a mention because it is unique and twisted and a memorable book for me this year.  It's a book about a serial killer turned governess, and it is inspired by Jane Eyre.  It's a bit dark (obviously!) but intriguing, especially through the first (stronger) half of the book. It's got a little mystery, some dark humor and a side of romance all thrown together in the spirit of a Victorian novel.

Best Young Adult Fiction

Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow (4 stars)
This is a dark book about a girl who has been through some horrible things, and then she becomes friends with others who have also been involved with some horrible things.  So there are a lot of horrible things going on in this story.  For some reason, I am drawn to these tragic type stories, and this one completely pulled me in.   Again, this is a dark story and it may not be for everyone, but I did think it was very good.

Honorable Mention in Young Adult Fiction:
The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson (4 stars).  If you prefer something a little lighter in the young adult category, this is a much happier choice.  It's a sweet teen romance but it's also about friendship and family.  It's a little bit too long in my opinion, but still an enjoyable, easy read.


Best Science Fiction

Morning Star by Pierce Brown (5 stars)
This is the third and final book in the Red Rising trilogy.  I was a huge fan of this whole series, and the third book did not disappoint.  The ending was so much fun, and I just loved the way that Brown wrapped everything up.  I've heard people describe this series as "Braveheart in space," which is probably fairly accurate!  This is not my typical genre of choice, but I loved and highly recommend the Red Rising series if you are looking to escape into space for a few books!





Best Fantasy

A Torch Against the Night by Sabaa Tahir. (5 stars)
This is book 2 in the "An Ember in the Ashes" series.  I loved the first book, and I loved this book too.  It's just a good, page-turning series.  With both books, I could not put it down until I finished.  This book has an interesting twist at the end, and I'm curious to see how it plays out in the third book.







Honorable Mentions in Fantasy:

• Blood for Blood by Ryan Graudin (5 stars).  This is the second book in a two book series.  It's an alternative history book with a touch of fantasy, imagining what would have happened if Hitler did not die and if the Allies did not win World War II.  The first book is called Wolf by Wolf, and I would highly recommend them both if this sounds like an interesting premise to you.
• A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas (4 stars).  I thought this was a young adult book, but I think it is more like new adult (geared towards older, more mature young adults).  There are several sex scenes that were more graphic than I would expect in this genre.  Just wanted to start with that warning.  Beyond that, this is a great second book in this series about faeries.  Yes, faeries.  I thought the first book was just okay, but I'm so glad that I picked up the second book because the story totally changes, and it is so much better.  
• Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by JK Rowling (4 stars).  If you are a Harry Potter fan, this is a must read in my opinion.  It is a screenplay and not a book, and it is nowhere near as good as the original books.  But, I still think it is fun to jump back into that world and see where all of the characters end up.

Best Memoir

The Sound of Gravel by Ruth Wariner (5 stars)
This is the story of a girl who grew up in a polygamist community in Mexico, one of her father's 42 children!  It is so interesting and well-written, and while the subject can be difficult to read at times, it is worth the read!






Best Nonfiction

Evicted by Matthew Desmond (5 stars)
I don't read a lot of nonfiction, so I didn't have much to choose from in this category.  But this book is worthy of the title!  It is an eye-opening look at the housing rental industry in America, specifically focused on the city of Milwaukee.  Featuring 8 different families, Desmond gives a detailed account of the great problems with the current rental system and the role evictions play in contributing to poverty.  I finished the book with a great desire to do something to fix this problem and a more sympathetic attitude towards those stuck in this vicious system.  I walked away with a firm belief that a decent place to live should be an inalienable right for everyone in our country.

Morning Star

Morning Star
by Pierce Brown

Genre:  Science Fiction
Published: 2/9/16 by Random House
Pages:  544
Format:  Hardcover

My rating:
4.5 out of 5 stars






Morning Star is the final book in the Red Rising trilogy.  In preparation for reading this, I re-read the first two books.  The first book, Red Rising, was so much better for me the second time.  I liked it the first time, but I loved it the second time.  After my re-read, I was anxious and curious to see how Pierce Brown would wrap up the series in this final book.  I don't read much science fiction, but I have really enjoyed this trilogy!

It had to be a daunting task to write this ending.  It is such a big world and a wild, crazy story that Brown created with this series.  I can only imagine how hard it would be to make everything come together and wrap up in a satisfying way for all readers.  And all the hard work paid off, because this was a great final book and an amazing ending to the whole trilogy.

I won't give away any spoilers in this review, but Brown continues with the chaotic pacing and storyline that he began in the first two books.  Alliances are broken, betrayal is inevitable, and no character is safe.  Brown has proven again and again in this series that he is not afraid to kill off his characters, even beloved main characters!

I was a little uncertain through the first half of the book.  I was liking it okay, but I wasn't blown away and was afraid it would not live up to my expectations.  However, at some point around the middle of the book, my interest peaked and I was hooked the rest of the book.  I especially loved the ending.  The last 75 pages or so more than makeup for the slow start.  I gave this book 4.5 out of 5 stars, but the ending was good enough to bump that up to 5 stars.

One thing I have loved through this series is seeing Darrow's character development.  This is evident in the final book, and I love how he has grown up.  How he sees the good in people.  How he gives second chances to his enemies, perhaps too many second chances.  I love how Brown has blurred the lines of good and bad, especially during times of war.  The good people sometimes do bad things, and the bad people sometimes do good things. In the end, they are all just fighting for what they believe to be right.  These themes of forgiveness, redemption and morality are prevalent in Morning Star, and I found it all to be thought provoking.

I also loved the themes of friendship in this novel.  Some of the best characters can be found in Darrow's friends, and they all play an important role in drawing this story to a conclusion.  I think the final sentence of the epilogue might be my favorite of the whole series, as it highlights the importance of the friendships Darrow made along the way.
 

Wolf by Wolf

Wolf by Wolf
by Ryan Graudin

Genre:  Young Adult/Fantasy
Published:  10/20/15 by Little Brown
Pages:  295
Format: ebook

My rating:
5 out of 5 stars 

I loved this book!  I wish I would have read it last year, because it would definitely have made my Best of 2015 list.  I have been in a major book rut for the last few months trying to find a good book that will inspire me to keep reading.  This book was just what I needed!  Easy to read and interesting, I quickly devoured the book in just a couple sittings.

This book imagines what the world would look like if Hitler had not been killed.  What if the Allies had not won World War II?  What if Hitler and Japan's Emperor Hirohito continued their quest for world dominance?  What if the Holocaust continued for 10 more years with no end in sight?  This alternative history novel begins with this premise and adds a slight touch of fantasy to create an intriguing story about survival, sorrow, resilience and vengeance. 

The main character is Yael.  As the result of an experiment in a Nazi concentration camp, Yael is a skinshifter, with the ability to change her appearance to look like anyone else.  With this unique gift (curse?), Yael imitates the famous Adele Wolfe, a Victor in the Axis tour, a motorcycle race across the world sponsored by Hitler and Hirohito.  Yael'sgoal for the upcoming Axis tour is simple:  impersonate Adele, win the race, gain an audience with Hitler and kill him.

At first I wasn't sure if I liked the "skinshifting" part of this story.  Every other part of the story is set in reality and could possibly have happened.  The "skinshifting" adds a fantasical element which makes the story unrealistic.  But it also makes the story interesting!  With Hitler's extreme emphasis on race and appearance, what if it was possible for a Jew to completely change her appearance and look like a perfect Aryan girl?  What possibilities and difficulties would this ability present?  It's a fascinating look at identity and how appearances play a role in who we are and what we do.

When Wolf by Wolf was over, I was genuinely sad.  Of course, I was eager to read what would happen next.  But I was also sad to have to stop reading a book that I enjoyed so much.  While I am waiting for the sequel, the next book on my reading list is going to be Ryan Graudin's previous novel, "The Walled City."
 

Best Books of 2015

This has been a rough reading (and blogging) year for me.  I haven't blogged or written a review since July!  My goal this year was to read 52 books, and I didn't quite make it.  I finished the year with a total of 49 books read.  However, according to Goodreads, I did read more pages this year than I have ever read before with a total of 17863 pages.

But I really struggled to read this year.  I had to force myself to read many days, and I just didn't enjoy the books like I usually do.  I only gave a handful of 5 star ratings, and a lot more 3 star ratings than I have ever done before.  I'm not sure if this is the fault of the books or myself.  Sometimes I feel like the "goodness" of the book directly corresponds to my mood at the time of reading it.  

However, I did find some good books that I can recommend this year.  I use the following rating system when I review books:

• 1 star = hated it (I usually don't finish books that I hate, so I rarely give 1 star)
• 2 stars = didn't like it (but usually it is worthy of at least being finished)
• 3 stars = it was okay, I liked it but probably wouldn't highly recommend
• 4 stars = I really liked it and would recommend it to someone else
• 5 stars = I loved it and want everyone I know to read it!

I find that a lot of books fall in between the 3 and 4 star category for me, so I've started giving books 3.5 and 3.75 stars too.   

This "Best of" list is limited to books that were published in 2015.  To make it easier to pick my favorites, I have separated the books into categories.

And here it is!

Best Chick Lit:

The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan
My rating = 5 stars

In the world of serious literary fiction, this is not a 5 star worthy book.  But for fun, fluffy chick lit, it was really good!  It is basically a fictionalized version of the love story between Prince William and Kate Middleton.  Except in this book "Kate" is from America.  I devoured the 454 page book in no time at all, and then I was sad when it was over.  If you are looking for a light and entertaining book, I definitely recommend this one!


Honorable Mention:
After You by JoJo Moyes
My rating = 3.75 stars
This is the sequel to Me Before You (one of my all time favorite books!).  I didn't think it really needed a sequel, and this book was not nearly as good as the first.  But it was still fun to read about what happened to the characters.  It got off to a slow start for me, but I thought it got better as the book went on.  If you have read Me Before You, it's worth a read.  (And if you haven't read Me Before You, why are you still reading this?  Start reading now!)


Best Mystery/Thriller

In a Dark Dark Wood by Ruth Ware
My rating = 4 stars

Everyone else will probably put The Girl on the Train here (and I did like that one) but I liked In a Dark Dark Wood too!  And it is not getting nearly as much publicity.  I thought this story was engrossing and suspenseful, but it wasn't super scary or creepy.  I'm not a huge fan of super scary stories, so this is my kind of thriller.




Honorable Mention:
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
My rating = 4 stars
This was the "it" book of the year.  One that everyone (yet again) dubbed the next "Gone Girl."  I still liked Gone Girl better, but this one was good.  I read the whole book in less than 24 hours.  You can read my full review, and my comparison between this book and Gone Girl here.

Best Historical Fiction

Girl at War by Sara Novic
My rating = 4 stars
I like learning about history through fiction, especially when the fictional story teaches me about a part of history that I knew very little about before reading it.  That is the case with Girl at War, a novel about a girl who escapes from the Yugoslavian Civil War in 1991.  She moves to America and experiences life in New York ten years later during 9/11.  The story moves back and forth between those two places and time periods.  I thought the contrast between war in Croatia and "war" in America was thought provoking.  This was a book that my book club read, and not everyone liked it as much a I did. It's a short little novel that could probably benefit from being a little longer.  But the glimpses into this girl's life and her experiences with war were interesting and worth the read.

Honorable Mention:
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
My rating = 4 stars
My favorite kind of historical fiction is novels that are set during World War II.  I've read a lot of them!  While not my favorite WWII novel, The Nightingale is highly readable and one that I would recommend to most people.  Read my full review here.

Best Science Fiction

Golden Son by Pierce Brown
My rating = 4.5 stars
This is the second book in the Red Rising trilogy.  I had mixed feelings on the first book, Red Rising.  But Golden Son redeemed this series for me, and I am now eagerly awaiting the third and final book, Morning Star (to be released this February).  You can read my full review here.





Best Young Adult Novel

All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven
My rating = 5 stars
I just loved this book so much!  It is about teen suicide so it is a difficult subject to read. (On a side note, this must have been the year for books about teen suicide because I read four novels on this subject in 2015 alone!).  However, Niven writes with the perfect balance of wit and humor while still treating the subject seriously and with gentle care.  It was both funny and devastating, and the character of Theodore Finch still haunts me today.  You can read my full review here.


Honorable Mention:
Emmy and Oliver by Robin Benway
My rating = 4 stars
The cover of this book makes it look like a cute romance, and it is!  But it is more than that too.  Emmy and Oliver were childhood best friends, until Oliver was kidnapped by his dad.  10 years later Oliver is found and returned home, and this story explores how time changes people and how everyone adjusts to having Oliver home again.  A cute book with some depth to it as well.  It's a good one!

Best Young Adult Fantasy

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
My rating = 5 stars
For me, this book was unputdownable (though I have a friend who does not share my enthusiasm for this book!).  I read nearly the whole 450 pages in one day!  It is set in a world that is inspired by Ancient Rome and tells the story of two characters on what appear to be opposing sides: Elias, the empire's finest soldier and potentially the next emperor and Laia, a poor slave girl whose sole purpose is to find her brother and exact her revenge on the Empire.  But when Elias and Laia meet, they discover that they both are on the same side with the same goal: to take down the Empire.  I loved escaping into the world Tahir created, and I look forward to continuing in this world and this story with the upccoming sequel.

Honorable Mention:
Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
My rating = 4 stars
I read A LOT of these young adult fantasy/dystopian trilogies.  Red Queen reminds me of a lot of those other trilogies. It's not a highly original story, and in the end it is not all that memorable.  But it fun to read while I was reading it.  And sometimes, you just need something that is fun to read in the moment!

For more book recommendations, here are my previous "Best of" book lists.
Best Books of 2014
Best Books of 2013

Here's to finding more great books in 2016!

Paper Towns

Paper Towns
by John Green

Genre:  Young Adult
Published: 9/22/09 by Penguin Young Readers
Pages:  336
Format:  Paperback

My Rating:
4 out of 5 Stars






It's been at least five years since I first read Paper Towns, and I decided to re-read it before the movie is released this weekend.  Paper Towns was the first John Green novel that I ever read, and I immediately became a fan of John Green's writing.  Green has a distinct formula and writing style, and I've found that people seem to either love it or hate it.  I love it.  I enjoyed Paper Towns quite a bit (both times I read it), although it still falls third on my list of favorite John Green novels (after The Fault in Our Stars and Looking for Alaska).

Paper Towns tells the story of Q, a teen boy who has long been infatuated with his neighbor, the infamous Margo Roth Spiegelman. One night, Margo enlists Q's help in conducting an adventurous night of pranks and payback. The next day, Margo disappears, leaving a trail of clues for Q to follow to find her, that is, if she wants to be found.

Even though John Green's teen characters talk with more wit and sophistication than any teen that I know, I still find his characters to be refreshing and believable.  While they are teens who make mistakes and bad choices at times, and teen boys who are full of dirty trash talk, they are also thinkers who seek answers to life's biggest questions.  I think John Green writes these teenagers better than most young adult authors.  His characters are authentic and thoughtful, fun and good natured, like teens I would have wanted to hang out with in high school, or like teens I will want my kids to hang out with when they get older.  Green has a great talent for combining witty writing with thoughtful insight, and that formula works great throughout Paper Towns.  It will make you smile and laugh, but it will also make you think.

Paper Towns is definitely not an original novel; it shares many striking similarities in both plot and style with Green's first two novels: Looking for Alaska and An Abundance of Katherines. But who cares?  It is fun to read.  The road trip at the end of Paper Towns was probably one of my favorite parts.  While reading it the second time, I kept thinking, how fun and crazy would that have been to go on a sporadic 20 hour road trip with my high school friends?  (I never would have done it, but still it's a fun thought!)

Luckiest Girl Alive

Luckiest Girl Alive
by Jessica Knoll

Genre:  Fiction
Published: 5/12/15 by Simon and Schuster
Pages: 352
Format: Hardcover

My rating:
3.5 out of 5 stars








TifAni FaNelli knows what she wants...a successful career, the perfect skinny body, a rich husband with a new last name.  And she knows how to manipulate people and her body to get what she wants.  With just a few weeks until her wedding, TifAni is close to reaching her ultimate goals. Yet, TifAni is haunted by a secret, tragic past.  With a documentary movie being made to tell her story, TifAni is forced to come face to face with the past and her secrets.

First, I must address the name:  TifAni FaNelli.  Has there ever been a more obnoxious name in the history of literature? Every time I read her name, I was immediately just annoyed.  Perhaps this was purposeful on the author's part; maybe she wanted the readers to be annoyed every time they read her name.  In addition to the name, there are many other things about Ani (she wisely chose to drop the TifAni as an adult) FaNelli that make her unlikeable.

At least at the beginning of the book, she was unlikeable.  As more is revealed about Ani  and her past, I did grow more sympathetic to her character.  I really just felt incredibly sad for her.  I was sad for her superficiality and the immense way that she cared  about what other people thought of her.  From as early as middle school, she was obsessed with altering who she was in order to fit in and be what other people wanted her to be.  And that led to some tragic events and a very miserable existence.  This was a theme with a lot of characters in the story.  Are people really this superficial and shallow?  It felt stereotyped to me, but perhaps there are people who really live this way.  If that's true, I'm sad for them too.

It was also sad to read about the tragic events that happened to TifAni in high school.  What she experienced then helped me to understand why she was the way she was as an adult, thus increasing my sympathy for her character.  I still can't say that I liked her, but I did feel sorry for her at times.  Many other characters in the book suggested that TifAni deserved what she got due to some bad choices that she made.  I disagree with that.  Despite her bad choices, TifAni did not deserve what she got.  The teens at this school were so very vicious.  Are teens really like this today?  Every time I read a book about high school kids today, I am terrified for my own children to ever become teens.

Overall, this was a dark story.  It was a bit too vulgar for me at times, but I did get caught up in the story and wanted to keep reading to find out what happened to TifAni as a teen and what was going to happen to her as an adult.  I thought the end was a little anti-climactic, as I was expecting something bigger to happen.  I don't know that I would recommend this book to everyone, but if you like dark stories with cold, shallow characters, this could be a book for you.

Cinder

Cinder
by Marissa Meyer

Genre:  YA Fantasy
Published:  1/3/12 by Fiewel and Friends
Pages:  400
Format: Harcover

My rating: 
4 out of 5 stars








I have seen this book around a lot the past couple of years, but for some reason never read it until now.  I'm glad I picked it up; it was a fun read!  And now I have to read them all.

I always enjoy re-imagined fairy tales and also YA fantasies...so this one was right up my alley.  Set in the future, it is about a girl named Cinder, a cyborg who can't remember what her life was like before she had her mechanical parts.  She must deal with the injustices of her cruel stepmother and also her society, as cyborgs are not socially accepted. And right before the annual ball thrown by the royal family, Cinder meets Prince Kai and discovers he has some big problems of his own.

While there are variations from the traditional fairy tale, if you know the story of Cinderella, then you know the basic plot of this book.  The twists in the story are very obvious and heavily foreshadowed.  I'm not sure that the big twist at the end was really supposed to be a surprise at all.  I felt like the fun part of reading this book was not guessing what was going to happen in the end but instead seeing how the story would get to that point.  

Now, I'm off to start Scarlet...

Where They Found Her

Where They Found Her
by Kimberly McCreight

Genre: Fiction/Mystery
Published:  4/14/15 by Harper Collins
Pages: 336
Format: Hardcover

My rating:
3.75 out of 5 stars

I'm debating between 3.5 and 4 stars on this one.  It was an easy and entertaining read.  Perhaps more predictable than some mystery thrillers, but still I enjoyed reading the story and trying to figure out where it was going.

Journalist Molly Sanderson is still grieving over a recent miscarriage when she is called to report on a case.  The case centers around a baby found dead near a creek bed.  The case brings up not only old issues for Molly and her grief, but also reveals an old death case that happened at the exact same location and raises new questions.

I found this one to be similar in style and story to McCreight's first novel, Reconstructing Amelia.  There are newspaper stories (written by Molly Sanderson) and online response comments interspersed throughout the narrative.  I loved reading the comments in response to the newspaper articles.  They were ridiculous, but that is exactly what the comments sections are like in real life. 

There are quite a few characters in this novel, and they were all a little too conveniently connected to each other.  It didn't feel completely plausible.  But I'm not really in the mood to pick apart all of its flaws.  I thought it was a fun book to read, and I would recommend it if you are in the mood for a quick and light mystery.

Inside the O'Briens

Inside the O'Briens
by Lisa Genova

Genre: Fiction
Published: 4/7/15 by Gallery Books
Pages:  352
Format: Hardcover

My rating:
3.5 out of 5 stars








I have read all of Lisa Genova's novels, with Still Alice being my favorite by far.  Genova has a talent for shedding light on brain diseases and conditions through fictional stories.  While her writing is not the most beautiful or prolific, she is always able to bring a human side to the science behind the disease.

In Inside the O'Briens, Joe O'Brien is a Boston cop who receives the devastating news that he has Huntington's Disease.  Huntington's is a genetic disease with no cure and no treatment and a guaranteed death sentence.  Each of Joe's grown children have a 50/50 chance of having the disease themselves.  This story explores how Joe and his wife deal with the disease as it progresses, as well as how his children deal with their dad's disease and the possibility that they may face the same fate.

I recently read another novel about Huntington's disease, Five Days Left by Julie Lawson Timmer.  In my review of Five Days Left, I commented that the main character Mara reminded me a lot of Alice from Lisa Genova's Still Alice.  So it was kind of ironic to read this book written by Lisa Genova and also about Huntington's disease.  Because I had read the other book, I was familiar with the symptoms of the disease.  So Inside the O'Briens was not quite as enlightening as some of Genova's other novels.

Inside the O'Briens is told from the perspective of Joe and his daughter Katie.  While I appreciated hearing from the daughter's perspective, I really didn't think Katie was a great character.  I definitely enjoyed Joe's portions of the story more.  It was interesting to see how the physical symptoms played such a big role in his occupation and identity as a tough city cop.

 There were times when the story felt more like a research lecture than a novel.  I think that is one issue I have with Genova's style.  It seems like she finds a disease and then comes up with a story and characters that will help to teach about the disease.  While I do enjoy being able to learn more through her stories, I feel like the actual plot and characters suffer from feeling a little contrived.  

In summary, I would recommend this book to most people.  While not my favorite novel by Genova, it is an interesting look at a fascinating and terrifying disease and how it affects one family.

All the Bright Places

All the Bright Places
By Jennifer Niven

Genre:  Young Adult
Published:  1/6/15 by Random House
Pages:  400
Format:  Hardcover

My rating:
5 out of 5 stars





The book summary for All the Bright Places begins with "The Fault in Our Stars meets Eleanor and Park..."   I'm always annoyed when new books are compared to books that I loved, because I think it sets up unfair expectations for the new book.  However, in this case, I'd say that a cross between those books is a fair comparison.  All The Bright Places does have a lot in common with the plots of Fault in our Stars and Eleanor and Park (and a little bit of Papertowns by John Green too), and it is written with the same wit and sharp dialogue found in the writing of John Green and Rainbow Rowell.  Like Eleanor and Park, Finch and Violet don't quite fit in with the rest of the kids at their school.  Like Gus and Hazel, Finch and Violet both are plagued by a similar affliction.  In The Fault in our Stars it is cancer; in All the Bright Places it is mental illness/suicide.

There are definitely similarities between these stories, but even though it may not be wholly original, I still loved the story found in All the Bright Places.  I read the entire book in almost one setting, even with a horrible migraine.  I could barely keep my eyes open but I did not want to stop until the story was over.  Jennifer Niven said in the notes at the end of the book that she wanted to write a story that was edgy, tough and sad but still funny.  And I think she succeeded.  She also said that this story was based on an experience she had in real life, which I think makes it more touching and real.

The story begins when Finch and Violet first meet.  Both are standing on the ledge of the school bell tower, and both are considering whether or not to jump and end their life.  Finch talks Violet off the ledge (literally) spouting off witty, sharp dialogue that is unexpected given the seriousness of the situation.  Immediately it had my attention.  I am such a sucker for fun, smart dialogue.  Even if teens don't talk this way in real life, I just love reading about them in fiction.  (Reason #1 why I am such a big John Green fan).  I've read other reviews (of both this novel and John Green) that call this pretentious, but I find it fun to read.

Violet is grieving over the death of her sister, feeling responsible for her sister's death and unable to move on with life.  Finch is forever an outcast, plagued by mood swings that range from high to low and obsessed with death and the possibility of taking his own life.  When these two meet, Violet finds a reason for living again while Finch continues to struggle.

I feel like maybe I should include a spoiler alert for the rest of this review.   Although I think it is pretty obvious what is going to happen just from reading the summary on the back cover of this book.  So I'm not sure that I am really spoiling anything that anyone doesn't already know, but if you want to go into this story blind, then stop reading now!

I was not sure what to think about Finch at first.  He is a bit over the top and all over the place.  However, as the story progressed, I grew more sympathetic towards him.  And by the end, I wanted to scream, "Why doesn't someone help this kid??!!"  It was frustrating to read about the people in Finch's life who seemed either ignorant or unwilling to help him...his family, his guidance counselor, even Violet. But at the same time, I think it's probably realistic too.  For many people, especially family, it is probably easier to ignore the problem and just hope it goes away than to deal with it head on.  I felt like the guidance counselor was more interested in protecting himself legally than in truly helping Finn.  In the case of Violet, she is a 17 year old girl with problems of her own and also "in love" with a confusing boy.  It makes sense that she wasn't fully able to understand the seriousness of what was going on with Finn.

While sad and hard to read, Finn's struggle was intriguing to me.  His attempts to stay "here", his refusal to seek help or be labelled, his continued thoughts of death even after meeting Violet, who made him so happy.  I appreciated seeing things from his perspective even though I was so very sad for him and the loneliness of his struggle.  I wanted Violet to be able to "fix" him but his struggles here were far deeper than the ability to be solved by simply falling in love with a girl.

Gone Girl

(I added a new tab at the top called Five Star Reads, a place where I can link to the reviews of some of my favorite books.  However, I've realized that I haven't posted a lot of reviews of my favorite books on this blog, so I'm going to try to catch up on some of my favorites and share them here).

Gone Girl
by Gillian Flynn

Genre:  Mystery/Thriller
Published: 6/5/12 by Crown
Pages:  432
Format:  Hardcover

My rating:
5 out of 5 stars








Wow, I loved this book. I can see how it may not be for everyone. The plot is really crazy, and the characters are not always likeable. But I thought it was so good. I could not put it down, and I neglected much needed sleep and my family in order to read it. I can't explain too much without giving away any spoilers.

The story is told through alternating chapters with two narrators, a married couple named Nick and Amy. In some novels, the constant switching between characters can be annoying, but it was perfectly executed here. It was obvious early on that these narrators were not going to be completely reliable, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading their points of view and seeing the story unfold.

This novel was so well-written. I love Flynn's tone and style. It was smart and witty, totally twisted and even a bit humorous at times. The plot was pretty far-fetched, but that is what made it so great. It was totally crazy and psychotic and often unbelievable, yet Flynn still managed to connect points to a reality that we all can relate to.

I have read a few reviews critiquing the ending as being unsatisfying. I read a few who thought Flynn did not know how to end the novel, so she just stopped writing. I totally disagree. I felt like the ending was the perfect fit to this whole story. I'm not sure if this qualifies as a spoiler or not, but I felt this was much more of a love story than a thriller, albeit a twisted and demented love story. And in a twisted and demented way, this story ended exactly as it needed to end. I think the ending was very purposeful and in connection with the entire storyline.

(For any of my friends who may read this review, just a warning: there is a lot of vulgar language in this book. It may not be for everyone)