Annual reading challenge 2018- Join in on the Fun

[KrazyPete]

#2 "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand
This is the biography of an Olympic runner who became a bomber and was shot down over the Pacific in WWII. I think I just love a good survival book. I thought the whole section adrift in the raft was amazing. Now, I need to go rent the movie.

Also Read:
Black Panther: A Nation Under Our Feet Vol. 1
Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat: A Calvin and Hobbes Collection

 

[Simba's Mom]

#2 "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand
This is the biography of an Olympic runner who became a bomber and was shot down over the Pacific in WWII. I think I just love a good survival book. I thought the whole section adrift in the raft was amazing. Now, I need to go rent the movie.

Thanks for that! I just added it to my "to read" list at the library when it's available.

 

[disneychrista]

#5 - Darker by EL James (50 Shades Darker from Christians perspective)

#6 - Divided in Death by JD Robb (book #18 of the Eve Dallas, In Death series)

 

[Christine]

#7/20 - Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan: This is another book that got high marks from several different review sites. I'm not sure what's wrong with me, but I found it "just okay." There were a lot of parts that just didn't hold my interest that I had to speed read through, and other parts that I did enjoy. There was a lot going on in this book. I first thought it was about the main character solely, but it spun off into long passages about her father's life, her gangster friend's life, but stopped short in describing one or two other interesting characters such as the main character's friend Nell. There was also a lot of history in this book about the Navy during this time period, Navy diving, and the merchant marines.

 

[K and K's Mommy]

#7/20 - Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan: This is another book that got high marks from several different review sites. I'm not sure what's wrong with me, but I found it "just okay." There were a lot of parts that just didn't hold my interest that I had to speed read through, and other parts that I did enjoy. There was a lot going on in this book. I first thought it was about the main character solely, but it spun off into long passages about her father's life, her gangster friend's life, but stopped short in describing one or two other interesting characters such as the main character's friend Nell. There was also a lot of history in this book about the Navy during this time period, Navy diving, and the merchant marines.

I would review this book the exact way you did!

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Book 3 of 20: The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

In the summer of 1956, Stevens, a long-serving butler at Darlington Hall, decides to take a motoring trip through the West Country. The six-day excursion becomes a journey into the past of Stevens and England, a past that takes in fascism, two world wars, and an unrealised love between the butler and his housekeeper.

Stevens focuses on the dignity of his job over all other things, leading to ignoring the world around him outside of the things that occur within Darlington Hall. He ignores his own morality and goes to the point of denying their existence, leading to inevitable regret.

A tale of dignity, memory, loyalty, and self-discovery. 4 out of 5 stars.

 

[tiggrbaby]

#11/90: Victoria and Abdul by Shrabani Basu (4/5) (nonfiction)
Interesting to learn more about Queen Victoria during this time period.

#12/90: The Tumbling Turner Sisters by Juliette Fay (4/5) (period fiction/vaudeville)
Told through the eyes of two sisters who ended up in a family act.

 

[KrazyPete]

#3 "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coehlo
Some people see a motivational poster and their outlook on life is truly improved. If your Instagram feed is full of sepia tone landscapes overlaid with inspirational sayings, this book is for you. I can see how someone might find this book invigorating but for me, it was just okay.

 

[kimblebee]

#9 The Litigators- John Grisham..typical book from him

#10 (in progress) The Confession- John Grisham

 

[Cogswel_Cogs]

#3 "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coehlo
Some people see a motivational poster and their outlook on life is truly improved. If your Instagram feed is full of sepia tone landscapes overlaid with inspirational sayings, this book is for you. I can see how someone might find this book invigorating but for me, it was just okay.

I do agree with you. I think the best thing was the story in the beginning was really let down afterward

 

[rigs32]

My February books:

8) China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan (3 stars)

Not as good as Crazy Rich Asian in terms of plot, but I still enjoyed the writing style.

9) Hidden Figures: The Untold True Story of Four African-American Women Who Helped Launch Our Nation Into Space by Margot Lee Shetterly (2 stars)

The title makes this sound great, but oh my goodness it was a slog. Only about 10-15% of the book is actually about NASA. The story jumps around so much I couldn't keep track of the subjects of the book and there's no talent in crafting a gripping narrative here. I finished it just to say I finished it, but I should have quit before wasting all that time.

10) A Midsummer Night's Scream by R.L.Stine (2 stars)

As a kid in the late 80s and early 90s I read a lot of the YA horror books (pre-goosebumps) and thought this would be similar. If it was, then I read a lot of terrible books in my youth. The characters made terrible decisions and I couldn't tell if that was because they were myopic teens or to further the plot.

11) Being a Dad is Weird: Lessons in Fatherhood from My Family to Yours by Ben Falcone (3 stars)

I listened to this audiobook and it's more of a memoir of the author than his father. It was..... fine. Glad it wasn't longer.

With only four books this month, I need to pick up the pace! But I'm also partway through a few more so I'll have a big March or April as I finish them off.

 

[Tiggerish]

Tambourines To Glory: A Novel by Langston Hughes. This book is a classic, first published as a play and then the poet/author had it published in 1958 as a novel. The themes include, church, religion, love, betrayal, and forgiveness. Mr. Hughes has a masterful control of the English language and the speech patterns of 1950's Harlem. It was a quick read but oh, so much laughter despite the tragic end.

11/52

 

[scrhsa]

#5 of 10

The Astronaut Wives Club by Lily Koppel

It read like a high school book report. Love the subject matter and I did learn a few things I didn't know but it just felt like she just took what was on wikipedia and tried, but failed, to put some flare to it. I do think the wives deserve to have their stories told!!

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

#2 Night Shift (Midnight Texas #3)
Charlaine Harris

At Midnight’s local pawnshop, weapons are flying off the shelves—only to be used in sudden and dramatic suicides right at the main crossroads in town. Who better to figure out why blood is being spilled than the vampire Lemuel, who, while translating mysterious texts, discovers what makes Midnight the town it is. There’s a reason why witches and werewolves, killers and psychics, have been drawn to this place...

I really loved the characters in this series but the stories themselves were ho-hum. I think that Harris is really good at making interesting characters, but she has lost her touch with the story telling. I liked the TV series based on the series better than the books themselves. I wish the books followed that story arc.

 

[Tiggerish]

This Life I Live by Rory Feek. Autobiography. Some might recognize the author as a Nashville songwriter or from his bloggings of his wife's battle with cancer. This book was a surprisingly easy read - Mr. Feek is a good storyteller who gets his message across without being overly preachy. To quote from one of the editorial reviews, "A gifted man from nowhere and everywhere in search of something to believe in. A young woman from the Midwest with an angelic voice and deep roots that just needed a place to be planted. This is their story. Two hearts that found each other and touched millions of other hearts along the way."

12/52

 

[tiggrbaby]

#13/90: What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty (4/5) (contemporary fiction)
An Australian woman wakes up from a head injury, forgetting that she has three children and is in the process of a divorce. I enjoyed this one almost as much as Big Little Lies.

#14/90: As Bright as Heaven (5/5) (historical fiction/Spanish flu/WWI)
Written from the perspective of several female characters. It involved romance and heartbreak.

#15/90: The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson (3.5/5) (British historical fiction/WWI)
I almost abandoned this as it was too romance-y for me in the beginning, but got better as it went along. I might have been more into it if I had read it before the previous book!

 

[willowsnn3]

#9/50

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
This combination of slave memoir, fantasy, and historical fiction is a novel of rich literary complexity. Having just celebrated her 26th birthday in 1976 California, Dana, an African-American woman, is suddenly and inexplicably wrenched through time into antebellum Maryland. After saving a drowning white boy there, she finds herself staring into the barrel of a shotgun and is transported back to the present just in time to save her life. During numerous such time-defying episodes with the same young man, she realizes the challenge she’s been given: to protect this young slaveholder until he can father her own great-grandmother.

 

[scrhsa]

#6/10

Lilies of the Field by William Edward Barrett

The enchanting story of two unlikely friends, a black ex-GI and the head of a group of German nuns, The Lilies of the Field tells the story of their impossible dream--to build a chapel in the desert.

Love, love, love this book. Short but sweet. It is now on my list of top five favorite books!!!

 

[tiggrbaby]

#9/50

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
This combination of slave memoir, fantasy, and historical fiction is a novel of rich literary complexity. Having just celebrated her 26th birthday in 1976 California, Dana, an African-American woman, is suddenly and inexplicably wrenched through time into antebellum Maryland. After saving a drowning white boy there, she finds herself staring into the barrel of a shotgun and is transported back to the present just in time to save her life. During numerous such time-defying episodes with the same young man, she realizes the challenge she’s been given: to protect this young slaveholder until he can father her own great-grandmother.

Just put in my request at the library!

 

[Tiggerish]

The Girl With Seven Names - Escape From North Korea by Hyeonseo Lee with David John. Autobiography. Vivid descriptions of life in North Korea and a compelling story of how she escapes into China and then spends ten years on the run and hiding within China, because China returns North Korean refugees to North Korea. Eventually, she makes it to South Korea which in fact welcomes and supports North Korean refugees. Once safe, she battles to help her mother and brother make their escape also. Then she becomes an advocate for human rights. It was an amazing read.

13/52