Show Us Your Books link-up

I am happy to be joining Steph and Jana’s monthly Show Us Your Books link-up to share my December reads.  With the craziness of the holidays, I got very little reading done in December.  So, here in order from least to favorite are my December reads.

All book cover photos and titles are linked to goodreads.com.

2 Stars:

Armada by Ernest Cline – I was excited to receive Armada from Blogging for Books.  I had such high hopes after reading Ready Player One, which I was so pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it.  Oh how you have disappointed me Mr. Cline with this book!    Armada was just too video-gamey/space-oriented for my tastes.  In short, main character Zack, has to help fight an alien invasion of Earth…..yeah, not my type of book.  My husband also had read this and we both thought it was pretty blah.

3 Stars:

Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff – This book tells the story of the relationship of Lotto and Mathilde over the course of 24 years, with the first half told by Lotto and the second half told by Mathilde.  The two meet in 1991 at the age of 22 and manage to stay married despite the doubt of some of their friends.  Lots of secrets are discovered as the story unfolds.  This book was a finalist for several book awards, including a nominee for the 2015 Goodreads Choice Award for Fiction.  This book was sooo slow for me.  I was almost ready to give up when Jana noted that the eventually book picks up.  So I kept reading and agree that the second half is definitely better than the first.  However, there are so many better books out there that I wouldn’t recommend this read.

4 Stars:

Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter – I think prior to this book, I had only read one other of Slaughter’s books.  Prior to reading this book, I knew it was disturbing.  That it was, with graphic violence and disturbing scenes.  This book was suspenseful and kept me wanting to read more.  The story revolves around sisters Claire and Lydia. The two sisters have been estranged since the disappearance of their sister Julia more than 20 years ago but end up reuniting with the unexpected death of Claire’s husband.  There are lots of twists and surprises and those who like a good psychological thriller will enjoy this book.

5 Stars:

Fallout by Ellen Hopkins – This is the third book in the Crank series.  I have owned this book for awhile now and read the first two ages ago.  In trying to organize and decrease the clutter in my house, I’m trying to read more books off my own shelves.  I am a big fan of Hopkins who writes YA books in poetry form.  This book takes place many years after the second book.  It is told through the points of view of Kristina’s three oldest children.  Through their stories, we are able to see the devastating effects that their mother’s meth use has had on their lives.  If you are interested in this book, start with Crank, the first book in the series.

I am linking up today with Steph and Jana for a special edition of Show Us Your Books….the best of 2015 edition!  I debated whether to list the best books read each month.  In the end, I decided to just post the best of the best.   According to goodreads, I’ve read 82 books this year (didn’t meet my goal of 100 books).   I read LOTS of 4 star books that were really good.  However, the following eleven books are the ones that I rated 5 stars this year.  The books are listed in the order in which they were read this year.  I only commented on the lesser known books.  Most of these books are or have been on best seller lists and you probably have read or are planning on reading them and know what they are about.  I am looking forward to checking out everyone’s posts and adding books to my to read list on goodreads!

All books are linked to goodreads. 

The Girl You Left Behind by Jo Jo Moyes

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

The Girl On the Train by Paula Hawkins

Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichel – This was actually a re-read for me.  The first I listened to it on audio book.  This past year I read the book.  It’s Reichel’s memoir as a food critic for the New York Times.  If you like food and wonder what it’s like to be a food critic, I recommend!

Confess by Colleen Hoover – If you have never read a Colleen Hoover book, I highly recommend.   I fell in love with her books after reading Slammed.

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

The Longest Ride by Nicholas Sparks

The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay –  This is a YA book that I had heard good things about and I don’t know why I waited so long to read.  Soooo, soooo good!

The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult – This book is a few year old. Picoult is one of my favorite authors and I just got to reading this book a couple of months ago.  This book deals with issues of the Holocaust in both the past and the present.  It’s told in Picoult’s usual storytelling style, through the different characters’ points of view.

One For the Murphys by Lynda Mullaly Hunt – This is actually a middle grade chapter book.  However, it’s a good, tug at your heartstrings type of read that I think anyone can appreciate.  Carley Connors has been sent to a foster family after an accident leaves her mom hospitalized.  She meets the Murphys, a family with three boys. After a rough start, Carly feels like she’s finally found the perfect family.

Fallout by Ellen Hopkins – This is the third and final book in the Crank series.  The story, written in poetry form as all Hopkins’ books are, is told through the points of view of three of Kristina’s five children.  They each have different last names, live with different guardians and depict the effects that drugs can have on a “family.”

I am linking up again with Steph and Jana for their monthly “Show Us Your Reads” book link-up. I am looking forward to reading everyone’s book posts and adding to my TBR list!  Here are the books that I read in November in order from least to most favorite:

3 Stars:

George by Alex Gino – I first heard about this book from Lisa @ expandng when her online book club was reading this.  While I didn’t get it read in time to join her book discussion, our family finally finished reading it together this month.  I plan on doing a future post on this book, so I’m going to refrain from commenting too much on it here.  However, I can say that I was a little disappointed and expected a better book.

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo – This is a non-fiction book that I had heard a lot of great things about.  Kondo is a Japanese cleaning consultant who walks readers through organizing and simplifying using The KonMari method.   It was just not inspiring to me and I could not join in talking to my things and thanking them before disposing of them.

Please Don’t Come Back from the Moon by Dean Bakopoulos – This author came highly recommended from Jana, so I decided to give him a try.  From what I could tell, this is the author’s first book so I chose to read this one.  One summer, several fathers left their families and went “to the moon” where they are never heard from again.  Wives and children are left to deal with the aftermath of these men abandoning them.  The book follows Michael Smolij and his friends through the years as they rebuild their lives and try not to follow in their fathers’ footsteps.  Overall, I found the story very hard to get into, a little strange and thought it was just so-so.

4 Stars:

Calling Me Home by Julie Kibler – This book tells the story of an unlikely friendship between an 89 year old white woman, named Isabelle, and a middle-aged African American single mom, named Dorrie, who is her hairdresser.  The two embark on a road trip where Dorrie learns about Isabelle’s past, which included a relationship with a black man during the 1930’s, when mixed race relationships weren’t tolerated.  This book had been on my TBR list for awhile and I’m glad that I finally picked it up from the library and read it.

The Expats by Chris Pavone – This is another book that has been on my TBR list for what seems like forever (I’m trying to read through the oldies on my goodreads list!).  Kate and Dexter Moore move to Luxembourg with their two young sons, when Dexter gets a new job.  They end up meeting another American couple abroad who they become friendly with, though Kate becomes suspicious of them.  Soon, Kate is discovering secrets about her husband, their “friends”  and a possible crime.   I listened to this book on audio and the storyline really kept my interest.  It was a bit difficult to keep track of the timeline of the story though, since it seemed to jump back and forth in time.

Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers – This is a young adult book that I listened to on audio.  To finish the title, it could read Some Girls Are Really Mean!  Regina Afton used to be part of the popular crowd.  But when she ends up being the target of a rumor, her “friends” abandon her and she becomes a social outcast.  Her ex-best friend seeks revenge on her for something that she didn’t do.  Through the severe bullying that she entails, Regina comes to terms with her past behavior.  I found the ending pretty anticlimactic and was hoping that Anna would learn some kind of lesson and get what she deserved.  The audio version was really good and I think hearing someone read this helped make me more empathetic to Regina’s angst.  It’s very sad that bullying like this really occurs.

5 Stars:

One For the Murphys by Lynda Mullaly Hunt – This is a middle grade chapter book.  It tells the story of 12 year old Carley who is sent to a foster home after an accident leaves her mother hospitalized.  She meets the Murphys, a family with three boys.   After a rough start, Carley feels like she finally found the perfect family  This book gets 5 stars for making me cry.  This book is heartbreaking and makes me appreciate what I have and makes me want to be the best mom I can.

It is time once again for the Show Us Your Books link-up with Steph and Jana.  I didn’t get in as much reading this month as I would have liked, but that’s life.  Luckily, I enjoyed most of what I did end up reading.  I’ve ordered the books in order from least to most favorite.  I’m looking forward to reading what everyone else has read this month and adding to my TBR list!

3 Stars:

Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari – This is a non-fiction book in which comedian, Ansari takes a look at modern romance and how dating today is different from the past.  I found it interesting and it made me appreciate that I’m not dating in today’s modern age!

3.5 Stars:

Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy – This YA book is about Willowdean Dickson, who’s mother gave her the nickname Dumplin’, when she was little.  Willow knows she’s overweight and owns it, even with a mother who runs the local beauty pageant.  But when Bo, a coworker at the local fast food joint where she works, shows interest in her, she begins to doubt herself.  While I enjoyed the body positivity message of the book, I didn’t connect with any of the characters and found Willow to be a bit hypocritical of others.

4 Stars:

Because of Mr. Terupt by Rob Buyea – This is a middle grade chapter book that I had heard good things about.  It’s about a 5th grade class that is transformed by Mr. Terupt, an inspirational teacher, who impacts all of his students.  The story is told through the perspectives of seven different students, in alternating chapters.  The book was due back to the library before my daughter had a chance to read it, but it’s one that I think that she’d like.  There’s a second and recently released third book in this series that I would like to read.

The Red Thread by Ann Hood – Maya runs an adoption agency helping families adopt baby girls from China.  This book tells the story of six couples trying to adopt children and the women in China who are giving up their daughters.  This book has been on my bookshelf for awhile and I’m glad that I finally decided to read it.  I really enjoyed this book.  Being adopted from South Korea, this book gave me more insight into both sides of the adoption process.

Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling – I read Kaling’s Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? and wasn’t impressed.  I feel like I need to reread that book because I enjoyed this one so much!  As I read it, I could imagine Kaling’s voice reading it to me.  It was a humorous and fun read.

5 Stars:

?

The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult – Picoult is one of my favorite authors.  I’ve read almost all of her books.  This book has been sitting on my bookshelf for ages and I finally decided to read it.  The story is really thought-provoking and deals with the Holocaust, friendship and forgiveness.  Sage, a 24-year old baker, befriends Josef Weber, an elderly gentleman who visits the bakery where she works.  He eventually asks a favor of her, which she is not sure she can help him with, after she discovers information about his past.

What have you been reading?

I’m happy to be participating again in Steph and Jana’s monthly Show Us Your Books link-up.  I love finding out what everyone’s been reading and my to read list grows tremendously after this link-up!  I was on a big psychological suspense reads kick this month!  Here are my August reads sorted by rating:

2 Stars

Truth or Die by James Patterson & Howard Roughan –  I don’t know why I keep reading Patterson’s stand-alone books!  This book was a page-turner as usual, but the overall story was disappointing.  Trevor Mann’s girlfriend, a newspaper journalist is killed in a mugging.  However, he doesn’t think it was a chance shooting and attempts to find her murderer. I prefer his Women’s Murder Club and Alex Cross series and should just stop reading these stand-alone books!

3 stars

Eight Hundred Grapes by Laura Dave – Georgia returns to her family vineyard in Sonoma a few days before her wedding to discover her fiancé and family all have secrets they’ve been hiding.  There were some interesting facts about winemaking that I learned, but overall, this was just an okay read for me.

In the Unlikely Event by Judy Blume – Blume was one of my favorite authors when I was growing up.  I remember really enjoying her adult novel Summer Sisters.  I thought this book was just okay.  I found it interesting that it was based on actual events.  However, there were a ton of characters to keep track of and the storyline didn’t really interest me.

Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll – This book has been on the New York Times best seller list for several weeks.  I put it on hold at the library and I finally received it after waiting what felt like forever.  I had seen this book dubbed as “the next Gone Girl,” which apparently is the standard to which every new psychological thriller is now compared to.  I had also read several negative reviews of this book prior to reading.  Not sure if those reviews subliminally affected my opinion of this book, but I wasn’t very impressed.  After experiencing tragic events in high school, Ani Fanelli has now reinvented herself into a woman who seems to have it all.  She revisits those painful memories and we find out what happened in the past as she is interviewed for a television special about the events that happened long ago.  Reese Witherspoon is going to be producing this the movie version of this book, which Lionsgate  has acquired.  I of course, will watch it, regardless of the fact that I didn’t like the book so much.

Missing Child by Patricia MacDonald – Patricia MacDonald is not a new author to me.  I’ve read three other of her psychological suspense type novels.  This was one of my least favorite books of hers.  Caitlin’s stepson Geordie goes missing one day after she drops him off at school.  This story is the search for the boy, with fingers even being pointed at Caitlin.  Just an okay read for me.

Sister by Rosamund Lupton – While I was at my new job training, I got into a book discussion with another woman who highly recommended this book after discovering that I liked psychological suspense books as much as she did.  The book is set in England and is written in letter form from Beatrice to Tess.  When Beatrice’s sister Tess is missing and then found dead, it is ruled as a suicide.  Beatrice knows her sister would never kill herself and she flies to London to try to figure out what happened to Tess.  Through her own investigation Beatrice discovers there’s a lot about her sister that she didn’t know.  This was an okay suspense type read for me.

Those Girls by Chevy Stevens – I loved Still Missing which was my first introduction to Chevy Stevens.  This is now my third book of hers that I’ve read and unfortunately, it disappointed.  Three sisters end up on the run after an attempt to avoid their father’s abuse turns bad.   They create new identities and lives in order to survive after additional tragedies occur.  Again, another just okay read.

4 Stars

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline – Blogger friend Lisa from Expandng had recommended this book to me.  This was a monthly selection from her online book club Page Turners.  After reading the synopsis, I didn’t end up reading it, because based on the summary, it just didn’t sound like my thing.  And this is why I love book recommendations and link-ups like this.  She read it for the book club and has since highly recommended the book.  I decided to give it a try and I was so pleasantly surprised!  I’m not a big sci-fi fan, but I enjoyed the game show premise of the book as well as all of the 80’s references.  This one was even passed along to my husband to read, who also gave it a big thumbs up.  We were excited to find out that Steven Spielberg will be producing this into a movie, which is supposed to premiere sometime in 2017.
5 Stars

The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay – This book has been on my “want to read” list for what seems like forever.  I’m not sure what took me so long to read it, but am so happy that I finally did!  This is a young adult, coming of age story that is beautifully written with very likable characters.  Nastya Kashnikov starts a new school with a hidden, tragic past.  She ends up forming unlikely friendships with Drew and Joshua, two friends with very different personalities and lives.  Relationships form and secrets come as the story unfolds. I can see this book being made into a movie.

Today I’m linking up with Steph and Jana for their Show Us Your Books monthly link-up.   I love seeing what everyone’s been reading and love to add new books to my to be read pile!  Having the summer off has made for lots of reading time!  I got nine books read in July.  This month I’m sharing my books by how I rated them.

3 stars:

14th Deadly Sin by James Patterson & Maxine Paetro – I am still enjoying this series by Patterson.  While this isn’t thought provoking, quality literature, I enjoy the fast-paced suspense of his books.  Plus, fourteen books in now, I enjoy the characters of the Women’s Murder Club.

Disney After Dark (The Kingdom Keepers #1) by Ridley Pearson – The kids and I listened to this children’s chapter book on CD on one of our drives up to Rhode Island.  My daughter has read four of the books in this series and had been trying to get me to read the first book.  This first book focuses on five young teens who need to battle villains at Walt Disney World to save the park.  This series is aimed for middle school readers and is a bit dark if I must say.  There’s a part where the dolls of the It’s a Small World ride come to life and try to attack the kids!  Even though the series is aimed at older readers, she enjoys “scary” books like the R.L. Stine’s Goosebump series.  While I probably won’t be reading any more in this series, I’m okay with her enjoying them.

The Knockoff by Lucy Sykes and Jo Piazza – This is what you’d expect of typical chick-lit.  When Imogen returns to work as editor-in-chief of Glossy magazine after a six month medical leave she discovers that her former assistant Eve is trying to take over.  Eve is much younger and more tech-savvy with different ideas on how the magazine should be run.  This was a mindless summer read but nothing to write home about.

Re Jane by Patricia Park – This book has been advertised as a Korean American retelling of Jane Eyre.  I’m not sure that I’ve read the classic Jane Eyre and if I have, I didn’t remember it.   It was interesting to learn more about Korean customs and traditions and the struggles of a young woman trying to live in two cultures and feeling like she doesn’t really fit in either very well.  Regardless, this book was only okay for me.

The Rose Effect by Graeme Simsion – I really enjoyed the first book The Rosie Project.  While this book had the occasional humorous bits, overall it was only an okay read for me.

The Rumor by Elin Hilderbrand – This is a summer read, set in Nantucket, like Hilderbrand’s previous novels.  Long-time friends Madeline and Grace end up being the topic of a rumor, as the title suggests.  This book is filled with infidelity, friendship and deceit.  An okay summer beach read.

4 stars:

Little Street Bakery by Jenny Colgan – I was pleasantly surprised by this book.  While I thought it would be a traditional chick-lit type book, it had a bit more substance.  When Polly’s marriage fails she packs up and rents a small flat above a bakery in the isolated sea town of Polbearne.  She ends up turning to baking which brings her income and helps her forge friendships.

Where They Found Her by Kimberly McCreight – I read McCreight’s Reconstructing Amelia and enjoyed it.  This book focuses on the body of a dead infant that was found in the woods as authorities try to figure out whose baby it is.  This book was a suspenseful page-turner with lots of twists.  I even gave it to my husband to read!

5 stars:

The Longest Ride by Nicholas Sparks – I don’t know why I waited so long to read this.  Luckily, the movie came out recently and I want to see it, but I won’t usually watch the movie until I read the book!  I’m a sucker for a good love story and a happy ending which Sparks is excellent at providing!  There are two parallel love stories occurring throughout this book.  I thought the bull riding and horses in this book would be a turn-off, but I really enjoyed this book.