Where We Belong by Emily Giffin

Seriously considering just using Goodreads instead.

I had a hard time focusing on this one. May go back and read it again later. Because it's important. I'm just at a crazy point in my life right now, and my mind has been elsewhere.

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

This is my 8th, and last, book for summer reading. Catgory: Mystery.

(Who knew it was also a video game?)

I had originally picked up a different book. I started its pages and realized it was incredibly similar to the book I had just finished reading, and was therefore uninteresting.

The name Agatha Christie came to mind. I'm not sure how the name was planted there. Obviously, when considering great mystery writers, hers is a heavy-hitting name. This was the first book I had read of hers.

It will not be the last.

I appreciate my local library, for challenging me to expand my horizons. The next books I will read will all be similar in some aspects: love, women, happy endings. But my library has inspired me to read action, biography, and mystery, to name a few. (I should be doing this on my own, but honestly - I wouldn't).

Getting on: this book is excellently crafted. Perhaps not so much, to a different mind. But I was guessing until the very end. A classic "who-done-it".

It read every bit like an old black and white movie, and I loved that.

Recommended.

The Blue Cotton Gown by Patricia Harman

I was really, really into this book.

I've never really felt ok with the way I am. I am too emotional, too dramatic, take things too seriously, too erratic. I am organized and frustrated. I am silent and loud, colorful and pale.

This author was too.

And people have never understood why I've always been drawn to quiet, rock solid people.

I need a calm in my storm.

She kept referring to her husband as her metronome, and that thought resonated with me so completely - I was riveted.

Where he said "it's fine", she worried. Where she exploded, he remained calm. They each loved tirelessly, and passionately. They merely reacted to life situations in different ways.

I understood.

A Practical Wedding by Meg Keene

I've been having a lot of conversations in my head lately about practicality. Are things necessary, or important?

I am not engaged or planning a wedding. I hope to, someday.

This book offers a lovely peek into what is important about planning (the feeling, the committment, the love, two people molding their lives into one, sharing joy with close friends and family).

And gently reminds us what is not important: spending extravagant amounts of money, favors, lavish food, lots of people, perfection. Tradition, even.

All these things melt away to the baseline of what a wedding is about: the beautiful beginning of a marriage. A celebration of two people's love for each other. And entry into community as one unit, holding hands and willing to face the world.

The if two people are truly in love and ready to committ the rest of their lives to each other, the day will showcase their amazing joy and will spread to everyone present. Nothing else matters.

Screw expectation.

I will refer to this book again, should I ever be in the appropriate situation.

Miss Dempsey's School for Gunslingers

It's a western. Surprisingly entertaining, for what it was. Book #5, down.

The Next Always by Nora Roberts

I am proud of my love for book series.


It shows I enjoy committment and seeing something through until the end. Longevity. And above all, sappy love stories.

I was surprised at the language in this novel. Granted, it has a lot of guys as main characters. Guys who work construction. Of course brothers are going to rib each other. It was, surprisingly, legit.

I read a review of Nora Roberts recently, citing that she always had strong women for lead characters. I appreciate this, as well. She reaches a crazy amount of readers, so why not spread the good cheer that is "I am woman, hear me roar"? I concur wholeheartedly.

That little housewife in the midwest needs to know she has a voice.

So, again, I've fallen for a series. The next book is on hold at my local public library, just waiting for me to pick it up and devour.

Ah, but I've got miles to go until then. I'm in the adult summer reading club. I've got to get a move on.

I chose the option of reading 8 books from 10 different genres, instead of 20 from my own choosing. I need to read faster and more frequently.

I am halfway through. What am I reading right now? A western.

Yeehaw.

Deadlocked

Updating from my phone for the first time! rather strange.

I don't see why everyone was so upset, upon reading reviews of this book. Yes, the series has gone on forever and yes, it probably needs to be ended. Yes, it's getting painfully obvious who Sookie is destined to be with. BUT, of the last few Harris novels I've read (in this series), I found this one to be an entertaining read. Harris did not go into as much tedius backstory as she has in the past (for which am grateful). I found this particular installment full of down-home, backroots Sookie happiness. Maybe a little forced at times, but...

What? I liked it.

And thus ends this post. Don't text and blog, kds.

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

I kept wondering how historically accurate it was (obviously not 100%, but perhaps pretty close).

I loved it, then I was bored, and I finally finished.

Maybe I just have a short attention span.

Leaving by Karen Kingsbury

Yeah, yeah. I know. I wouldn't recommend it. It's too sugary.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

I don't recommend reading this on a Nook. You lose a lot of the photographs and can't read the inscriptions; I'm guessing that's what really makes this book.

The Evening Hour by Carter Sickels

I'm not sure how I came across this book; it may have been in one of the monthly book rags we get. It may have just floated across the desk at some point. It had a West Virginia sticker on it, so I was intrigued.

I'm not sure what kept me reading. The writing isn't bad - I was in the story, but not held captive. I put it down for a few days and wasn't sure if I would pick it up again.

It was downright depressing in some spots. I'm glad it's over, in a way.

It is set in rural, (probably) southern West Virginia and is about a late 20-something guy that sells, but doesn't do, drugs.

It just seemed so...real. Because it was. It is. The mountain people, the people of the land and of the faith and of the hills, versus Big Coal.

Very political. Lots of grit.

But I think, what I connected with most, was the disassociation with yet simultaneous acceptance of personal religion. Not religion, but with a relationship with God. Cole, the main character, struggles determinedly with ghosts - mostly those involving reconciling his vision of the Father with those he was told. He was told how to feel God, how to experience Him, how to talk to him, how to return to and repent. But this was not the way Cole convened at the Master's table. Cole found God in the hills and within his family (when he could learn to forgive himself, and them) and inside 'the old people', as he called them. It's a beautiful understanding of finding God in your own personal way.

This is a portrait of West Virginians, enslaved by being uneducated. It is harsh, it is not unfair, but it is still gentle and kind. Sickels' watercolors bleed together on the page and for the first time, you think that maybe someone is painting an accurate, yet unhostile portrait.

Refreshing. Beautiful, delicate art.

Real Marriage: The Truth about Sex, Friendship, and Life Together by Mark and Grace Driscoll

I didn't read all of this. I didn't have time to. It's nonfiction. It has some good advice.

To my non-Christian friends, yes, it is a Christian book. I know this is really difficult for you, but if you can get over the "Christian-y-ness" of it, it has a lot of good stuff. I promise. Seriously. And risque stuff. Really!

Of course, the Bible has a lot of wisdom in it as well. But that's another story, no?

For someone trying to turn from their selfish relationship ways, this probably isn't a bad idea for a read. *cough*

Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult

I have been waiting for this one for months, it feels like.

What to say? It's Jodi Picoult. I really wish she'd edit her pages so that I couldn't  skip ahead further down the opposite page and ruin everything, but hey. We can't have it all.

Maybe because I anticipated this one so much, it left me a little blasé. I was drawn in; I wanted to finish. I was a little put off by some of the characters' thought processes ('people don't really think like this').

The ending was nice and tidy and calming.

The pictures throughout, specifically in the end, kind of ruined it for me as well (I feel like I'm complaining too much, but I just want to be honest and run the scope between what I was expecting and what I received). I get the transition; I get what she was trying to do. Use a lot of hypotheticals and quotes in the air and feel-good mythical consistency.

It almost felt like she was trying too hard.

I kept waiting for the hippie lawyer to "hear" something from the not quite dead father/turned wolf and for it to come out what had really happened on that bed between gay son and father (yes, I know: twisted).

Let the old legends speak for themselves. I love myths and old stories and people who truly believe in whatever they believe in. You started with a beautiful story about the sacredness of life vs living life to the fullest (or quantity of years vs quality of years).

If the daughter is immature, make her a brat from the beginning. Don't make her seem well-adjusted and rounded and then spring ill-fitting character qualities. It rubbed the wrong way.

Make me believe. Give the son more substance. I didn't feel the conviction in his decision to stay once he had returned. It was almost as if he was a minor character, 2d, of little importance. 

Don't paint in watercolor and expect your audience to see  high definition intensity.

It just isn't going to happen.

50 Shades of Grey by E. L. James

WELL!

Who would have thought?

I've been busy. Very busy. And, quite frankly, reading has not been a top priority for me lately.

A coworker and I began talking about how apparently 'in the now' this book was - it was all over television shows and magazines (I hadn't heard of it). So we both decided to have a go.

It was sluggish, painful reading.

Yes, there's a lot of untoward physical activity. If you're not into that - just don't go there. Trust me. It's a lot to handle. It was blatantly obvious why this book has only been available as an ebook - because most people would be embarressed if they were caught reading it by someone who knew what it was.

The writing is painful, as well. You thought Steph Meyer was bad? Try her hoard of fan-fic writing followers.

HOWEVER:

I was amazed at the ending. Truly, I felt something at the end. I won't give away what happens, but I was shocked - the last few pages of the book actually held some feeling, emotion, and grit.

I might read the other two, some other time. Maybe.

The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff

Ok. So. I stopped reading this book like a week ago, but I keep forgetting to update!

I got more than halfway through, and then lost interest. I always feel slightly guilty when that happens, but feel that spending my time doing things I actually want to do is vastly more important (as in: not forcing my way through a book that doesn't excite me at all). There are far too many books in the world to waste time on one you don't want to read. So say I.

However, I was into this book. I really, really was. I find the church of LDS and its followers fascinating, wonderful people. This book was exceptional in that it held multiple points of view and still managed to retain its cohesiveness. I love that. I loved that the present-day plot was more than supplemented with historical backstory.

My problem was that, maybe, it had too much past and not enough present. I can tell you exactly where I got bored and lost interest. The 19th wife was starting her speaking tour when I had to stop. There was some commentary on how much of the story she wrote was fabricated or theatrical in order to entice readers - so as a reader, you're thinking "yeah, that is probably bull"...and then it goes right back into the pages of the book in question.

I liked the gay kid and his plight. I liked his little crude teenage sidekick. There just wasn't enough of them. I'm sure, if I'd stuck it out, they would have been there, solving things in the end. But I didn't need quite as much history to get there. In my humble opinion.

So there you have it. Onward...

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

It's been a month. Really? That's crazy. I promise I've tried and failed to read books between then and now. Life just...gets in the way. And the fact that unless a book is good, I probably won't finish it.

This book was good. I liked the darker elements, and I loved the fantastical atmosphere and tone of writing.

It's been too long to give 'right after' impressions.

I'll just say I thoroughly enjoyed getting lost in a different, yet similar world.

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Perfection?

There's really nothing more to say.

The beauty of the breakdown at the end floored me. And the sigh at the end was perfect.

That's all.

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

I didn't like this one as much as the first. The Games were shorter, which meant there wasn't as much action. The lead character annoys me at times with her blissfull ignorance, but I must remember this is written for a Young Adult audience (who don't always make those connections right away).

I was never frustrated with the story, and found it wonderful. Truthfully, I'm glad this book differed from the first, with fewer time spent in the arena. It would have been cumbersome, otherwise.

I look forward to finishing the trilogy.

The Hunger Games by Suzanna Collins

Wow.

There's not much else to say.

I have been avoiding this series for a while. I even checked this book out once or twice before, but never quite got around to getting in to it. I read a couple pages but that was it.

This time, however, I devoured the book whole.

I got tripped up in the writing maybe twice, where I was aware I was reading and not viewing a particularly intense real thing. But this could be just because of the points where I was forced to start or stop at. Generally, I was so engrossed - I couldn't tell I was reading. It was very difficult to put down. That is the mark of a great book (when you get so lost in the words that you forget where you are, and what you are doing).

It's such a simple book, in some ways. Deceptively so. It is written at a standard level, not difficult to read, but not so simplistically that it is any less enticing. This is a book the masses could read (and are, obviously). It's not so much the plot or the characters, but the sense of movement throughout. Fluidity is engaging. The main character is simplistically flawed, but not so much that it detracts. The main pulse of this story is the movement - when actions happen, it's almost as if you were waiting for them to - they are not a surprise, but it's really the journey that carries the reader. Not what happens or doesn't happen to whom.

Excellent read.

I went to Books A Million last night to pick up the second book. I didn't want to wait on the library ...it could be days! What ever shall I do? I didn't go through with the purchase at the end. So we shall see.

But very, very good.

The Kingdom of Childhood by Rebecca Coleman

It always unnerves me when I identify with a crazy character. I don't care if they're crazy because they just killed somebody or they're crazy for another reason...if I can find something similar between myself and a fictional character (that is clearly fictionalized because of their shortcomings), it bothers me. Or, maybe it's not so much the  fact that I find something in common with them as much as it is the fact that I don't fault them for their problems. Their huge and impossible Bad Things don't bother me as much as I feel like they should. I'm accepting, apparently, much more than I used to be. Or understanding. Or I've just lived more and realize that everyone has Big Ugly things they aren't proud of.

 I wasn't as shocked by this book as I wanted to be. Lots of big, terrible things happen. A teacher sleeping with a student. A bad marriage. Language. Sex. Drugs. Crazy people. I took it with a sigh and a shake of the head. I'm changing. Because, I think, deep down, everyone is like that. Everyone has things they are ashamed of, not proud of, whatever. Things they don't want other people to know. Or - habits. Or...whatever. Everyone has ...somethings. Maybe it's an adult perspective to be lenient, accepting and understanding of that. Not understanding. Some things really are just terrible. But..something.

I wouldn't recommend this book. Towards the end, I lost interest...I felt the climax had already happened and I was just turning pages to feel that I had finally accomplished something again. But I was pulled in, I was intrigued. Finally, it was almost like a car accident. The midwife getting angry at the end, justifiably so - you didn't want to be standing there in the kitchen with her, you looked away from the angry faces, the thrown objects - but you were there, all the same. Witnessing.

I wouldn't recommend this book, but I don't feel like I wasted my time in reading it. I'm glad I finally finished one again. It's been a while.