Showing posts with label 2015. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2015. Show all posts

Saturday, February 21, 2015

Early 2015 Quickie Reviews

Okay folks, starting 2015 off with some fantastic reading!  I went on a beach vacay with my momma and we spent the entire time beaching it and reading (my favorite kind of vacation)!  I read quite a few books during this time and most of them were fantastic.  Here's a quick rundown:

The Red Tent by Anita Diamant - this was one of those books that's been sitting on my TBR forever and I FINALLY got around to it!  So glad I did - what a fascinating woman-centered look at a well-known Old Testament family. 4.5/5 stars.

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel - what a unique dystopian literary fiction novel.  The book jumps between the past and the present illustrating the differences between society before and after the Georgia Flu.  Fascinating characters and imagining of a desolate American landscape. 4.5/5

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr - Gorgeous!  I absolutely loved this book - great characterization, lovely prose, unique take on WWII, etc.  Definitely read this if you haven't done so already! 5/5 stars

First Frost by Sarah Addison Allen - y'all know I love me some SAA so I was really excited to read her latest - and it didn't disappoint!  This book is actually a sequel of sorts to her popular Garden Spells.  It was fantastic to get involved with the Waverley family again.  This novel was all that readers expect from SAA: cozy, Southern, foodie, magical realism goodness! 4/5 stars

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins - this book is being called the new "Gone Girl" so I thought I'd give it a try and it was great!  Gotta love a good unreliable narrator thriller :) 4/5 stars

Paper Towns by John Green - such a fun book and I wanted to read it before the film comes out.  Loved the cast of characters and I think it could actually make a good movie too!  4/5 stars

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng - this was actually my least favorite of all of my reads.  It could be because I wasn't a fan of the characters (especially the parents) - as often that will cloud my opinion.  Unfortunately, it just didn't live up to the hype for me.  3/5 stars.

Aaand, I am partway through another book but as I'm still not finished I'll leave it off the list.  Phew!  Lots of reading!  Anyone have any beach vacations coming up?  If so, what books do you plan to bring along?

Saturday, January 10, 2015

TBR list from Bloggers' Best of 2014 Lists

So 2014 was not my best reading year - lots of weddings to celebrate (6!), travel (between me and the hubs we went to Park City UT, New Orleans, Nashville, Las Vegas, UP Michigan, Louisville, and Chicago), and delving deeper into my jewelry making did some real damage.  With all of those distractions, I didn't feel as though I had read enough and with enough variety to create my own best of 2014 list.  That didn't stop me from excitedly perusing other bloggers' end of the year lists.  This, of course, caused much book coveting and below is just a smidge of my TBR list that I gleaned from all of those "Best of 2014" lists:

The Martian by Andy Weir - I initially ignored all of the rave reviews about this book because it didn't sound like something that would interest me...but it's appeared on soooo many "best of" lists that I think I need to step out of my comfort zone and try this one.

The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu - I've been wanting to find another fantastic sci-fi novel and, based on all of the international acclaim, this sounds like it may be the one!

The Pearl That Broke Its Shell by Nadia Hashimi - a debut novel that has received lots of rave reviews...and I seem to be a sucker for an Afghanistan setting.

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jaqueline Woodson - I've wanted to read Woodson previously but it sounds as though this is her best work yet!


In the Kingdom of Ice by Hampton Sides - a non-fiction page-turner...sign me up!

The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North - a Groundhog Day-esque plot line that must be extremely compelling to make so many "best of" lists.

What about you folks?  See anything from the end of the year lists that really catches your eye?