books

I read some really great books this month! Joining the book challenge and the book club has me really focused. If you click the title of the book, it will take you to Goodreads where you can add the book to your list and see what it is about.

Now as I do my happy dance because I love discussing books…

The Martian by Andy Weir

Words cannot describe my love for this book. And trust me, I was super skeptical when I read about what this book was about. I even saw others write about how the math and science talk was a little  hard to get through but they still loved it and I thought…no….there is no way this is for me. But Kristen recommended the audio book to me and I trust her tastes dearly. I became obsessed with the story. So much so that I made Laura start listening to it, and I even told two of my co-workers that they had to listen to it too. This is hands down the best book I have read this  year.

The first line will hook you right in.

Bottom Line – Listen to this immediately!

Rescue Road by Peter Zheutlin

Sometimes I wonder if there is any humanity left in this world, and then I read a book like Rescue Road.  I love dogs and want to save them all. Talk about pulling at my heart strings. This book follows a man who drives a rescue trailer from Ohio, down south to gather dogs from shelters and rescues and brings them back up north to be adopted. You get to hear about his story, along with three rescue groups who are doing amazing things. You wouldn’t believe the amount of people who touch the life of a dog before they find their forever home. All the nameless angels. It really is amazing.

My favorite quote from this book is “As the miles melt away so do a lifetime of bad memories” – Greg Mahle

Bottom Line – I cried, I smiled, and then I cried some more. If you are an animal lover in the least bit, this book is for you.

I  received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen

This is the book club book. It was an easy, but enjoyable YA read. I loved the story line and most of the characters. I also loved that the characters in this book grow as time goes on.  I felt like Sydney’s guilt and loneliness were well executed throughout this book.

Some of the things that I didn’t like? I felt like there were several plot lines that didn’t really go anywhere or were abandoned.  The Mariposa girl that was flirting with Mac. The whole creepy thing with Ames could have been worked out more. I wanted more from the carrousel that is on the front cover of the book. And Sydney’s obsession with David Ibarra. I was left wanting a little more, especially with the David plot line.

One of my favorite quotes in this book was “The future is one thing that could never be broken.”

Bottom Line – This was a great read. Nothing mind blowing, but I am glad I got the chance to read it and would recommend it.

Bossypants by Tina Fey

I did this one via audiobook.  Tina is hilarious and I really liked this book. The combination of sarcasm, humor, stories, and real life lessons was enjoyable.

Some of my favorite life lessons from the book include how improv is a lot like real life, how parents should want to instill the gift of fear and anxiety in their children for discipline purposes, to wear what the fashion designers are wearing…not what they tell you to wear. And for woman in the work place, if someone is giving you a hard time, ask yourself “Is this person in between me and what I want to do? If not, ignore them.”

Bottom Line – If you like Tina Fey, SNL, or memoirs in general, then this book is for you! I recommend audiobook for books like this, but to each their own.

The Storied Life of AJ Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

To be honest, I had no clue what this book was going to be about. I remember seeing a few bloggers reviewing it and they always rated it really high, so I figured why not?! Basically, this book is just as the title says, it is snippets of AJ Fikry’s life. Fikry owns a bookstore and he is a bit of an eccentric guy who is living a depressing life after loosing his wife. One day his life changes when something is left behind for him. Now he has the will to want to be happy.

Favorite quotes and take aways from this book would be:

You learn everything about a person with the question – what is your favorite book?

Most people’s problems would be solved if they would only give more things a chance.

Things we respond to at twenty are not necessarily the things we respond to at forty and vice versa.

Bottom Line – Absolutely read this book! I loved it!

Other books I read which I reviewed separately:

Rooted in Design

Bittersweet

I am currently reading The Closer You Come by Gina Showalter and will have a review for it up soon. Have you read any good books lately? What are you reading now?

First, let me enlighten you on what Bittersweet is about…

From Penguin Random House:

Suspenseful and cinematic, Bittersweet exposes the gothic underbelly of an idyllic world of privilege and an outsider’s hunger to belong.
   On scholarship at a prestigious East Coast college, ordinary Mabel Dagmar is surprised to befriend her roommate, the beautiful, wild, blue-blooded Genevra Winslow. Ev invites Mabel to spend the summer at Bittersweet, her cottage on the Vermont estate where her family has been holding court for more than a century; it’s the kind of place where children twirl sparklers across the lawn during cocktail hour. Mabel falls in love with midnight skinny-dipping, the wet dog smell that lingers near the yachts, and the moneyed laughter that carries across the still lake while fireworks burst overhead. Before she knows it, she has everything she’s ever wanted:  friendship, a boyfriend, access to wealth, and, most of all, for the first time in her life, the sense that she belongs.
   But as Mabel becomes an insider, a terrible discovery leads to shocking violence and reveals what the Winslows may have done to keep their power intact – and what they might do to anyone who threatens them. Mabel must choose: either expose the ugliness surrounding her and face expulsion from paradise, or keep the family’s dark secrets and make Ev’s world her own.

My Thoughts:

Bittersweet was an interesting read. This has to be one of the first books that I read that I didn’t really care for the main character the whole way through. Mable Dagmar is your classic poor girl taken under the wing of her rich roommate (Ev) for a summer at Winloch. Winloch is the lake cottages that Genevra’s (Ev) family owns. Each cabin is named after a plant, Bittersweet belonging to Ev.

The author really provides a lot of details about everything, some of which could probably be left out to cut down on the books 381 pages. Each of the character’s names is different, a feeling of another era or the old money that comes with the Winslow family. Athol, Galloway, Lu, Tilde, Birch, Indo, etc. I did enjoy that the names were different.

But let’s get back to Mabel, shall we? I didn’t realize it until I was about half way though the book, but this girl is selfish. Everything that happens in the book, she always wonders how it affects  her. What about the people it is happening to? Let me see if I can give some examples without giving away too much. In the beginning, Mabel wonders how the house inspection will go and whether or not she will get to stay at Winloch or have to go to her aunt’s for the summer. Innocent enough. But then, Ev has a certain condition, Mabel instantly gets upset about what will happen to her now.  She worries about how others’ troubles will change things for her. There was even a line about how the tree tops rubbed against each other making a creepy sound as if they were telling secrets…ABOUT HER. Maybe it is just her being a teenager.

There are so many twists and turns in the book and you learn lots of Winslow family politics. So many secrets, lies, betrayals. So this isn’t a light, fluffy book. I liked the change up from my norm. It was really quite an interesting read. The theme of the book would be dangerous desire.

Bottom Line: I enjoyed reading this book. I was looking for something that I might not normally grab for, and this delivered. With all the twists and turns in the book, it kept me interested the entire way through. Though the main character wasn’t always likeable for me, I certainly empathized with her and enjoyed how the book ended.

You can read about the author, Miranda Beverly-Whittemore here.

I received Bittersweet from Blogging for Books in exchange for my review. All my opinions are of my own.