November/December Book Review

I'm pretty behind on book reviews, since it's the end of January.  I didn't read much in November and December, because um, Christmas.  But I had this post ready to go, so figure might as well post this and then work on a post for all the books I read on vacation!



The Perfect Mother by Aimee Molloy

I read this book in 2 days.  It was good and I really needed one of these mystery books that I haven't read in awhile.  This book is about a group of women who met through an online mommy message board basically.  They are called the "May Mothers" as they all had their babies in May.  One day, one of the babies is kidnapped.  This book goes through the 13 days that follow from different perspectives of the different mothers trying to find baby Midas.

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

I gave this book 5 stars.  It wasn't my favourite book every, but I did enjoy it.  But I gave it 5 stars because it had so much depth.  It made me think, it made me smile, it made me cry.  

This was my book club book for this month, and I'm glad I actually read it, even if I can't get to the book club meeting. 

Ove is an old man whose wife recently passed.  This is what bothered me the most, that he was described as a grumpy old man, but was 59.  That's not old enough to be considered a grumpy old man and have friends who have Alzheimer in my opinion, but I digress.  This story is about him, but it's also a love story about a man who doesn't know how to function once the only person who understood him is gone.  And it's a story about a man who comes across as miserable but actually has more compassion than most people.  To watch Ove develop, and relationships develop was enjoyable.  

A main takeaway from this book is the common line "be kind, everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle" and also that by being kind to someone, you never know what kind of impact that might make on their life.  You might be giving them something to live for. 

An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena

When you are in a reading rut, get yourself a good murder mystery.  I had started reading Beyond Belief by Jenna Miscavige Hill about her life in Scientology.  I found it interesting, but biographies are sometimes difficult because things aren't constantly happening an they are slow.  So it was taking me forever, and I had already renewed it once.  So I returned it and grabbed this one.  I read it in less than a day. 

Like other Shari Lapena books, I found the whole premise a bit odd and unbelievable.  But that doesn't stop you from wondering who dun it. 

A group of people are at a cute boutique hotel in the middle of nowhere.  A big storm hits, they lose power and are stuck. Suddenly someone is murdered.  Is there a murderer in their midst or is there someone else there that they don't know about.  

This book was kind of like reading a murder mystery dinner.  A group of people, one is a killer, who is it?

September Book Review

I have officially read my 30 books that I wanted to read for the year!  Anything now is bonus.  

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah

This might be one of my top books for the year so far.  It wasn't the one that I read the quickest, it maybe wasn't the most "enjoyable" (I did enjoy it, but I mean in comparison to a light and fluffy chick lit book).  But as a real literary book that has a bunch of depth but is still readable, this book is it.

Leni and her parents move to Alaska to homestead in the 70's.  It's a turbulent time, and her dad has changed since being released as a POW from the Vietnam war.  Leni finds herself in Alaska and this novel is an exploration of that, her family, the friends she makes.  

For me, I love watching Alaska shows, so that's what drew me to this book in the first place.  (Alaska: The Last Frontier anyone?)  But I felt like this book had some great character development, it was thought provoking and educational.  

The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware

This book is about Hal, a young woman who is living day by day and has loan sharks after her.  When she gets a letter telling her that her grandmother has died and she will get an inheritance, it seems too good to be true.  Especially since she knows that this woman couldn't possibly be her grandmother.  She is desperate so plans to deceive this family in order to come into the money anyways.  Unfortunately things begin to unravel once she gets to the estate that belonged to Mrs. Westaway.  

I did enjoy this book, but not as much as some of Ruth Ware's books.  I loved In a Dark, Dark Wood and the Lying Game.  This one was more along the lines of the Woman in Cabin 10.  Left me wanting a bit more from it.

I've Got My Eyes on You by Mary Higgins Clark

What can I say about this besides the fact that it's classic Mary Higgins Clark.  A young girl is murdered, the book takes on the perspective of her family, a couple suspects and the detective.  I found it slightly predictable and a few parts surprised me as being unrealistic, but this was a shorter book and an easy read.

April Book Review

I brought 5 books with me to Costa Rica.  A bit ambitious?  Definitely!  But you always want to be prepared!  We were super busy the first few days, and crashed as soon as we got back to our treehouse.  No time for reading!  And then when you are with a big group of people not much reading happens.  I didn't spend time on the beach like I usually do and so I only got through a book and a half.

Waiting on You by Kristan Higgins

This is another book in the Blue Heron series.  I enjoy the series because it brings back characters that I have met before, but it's getting a little bit boring.  I don't love the girls.  They are a bit too edgy for me.  And by edgy, I mean rude.  Not sure how to describe it but that they just speak to people in a way that I don't think they would in real life, a bit too harshly.  The books are getting too predictable.  That being said I will likely finish the series...haha.  I only rated this one 3 out of 5 stars as it was definitely my least favourite of the series so far.

Odd Child Out by Gilly MacMillan

As I was reading this book it kept talking about a previous case and I wondered, is this the second in a series?  It is, and I have the first one sitting on my shelf...so hopefully I haven't ruined that one for myself!

I didn't love this book.  It was kind of a mystery, but also very political.  It's about two friends, a boy with cancer and a Somalian refugee in England.  There is an accident one night and their families and the police are trying to figure out what actually happened.  

I just didn't find it overly thrilling, and I found the basis of the story more political in nature an being about the lives of Somalian immigrants.  Which can be an interesting perspective, but it's just not what I thought I was getting into.

Three Wishes by Liane Moriarty

So what I've learnt from Liane Moriarty books is that it's more about the characters than the story and the ending.  I don't remember that being the base with the first few I read, but it's been the case with the most recent ones.  That being said, I enjoyed this book more than Truly Madly Guilty.  I think I liked the characters and just liked to see where they were going and wasn't overly worried about a big exciting ending.

This book is about triplet sisters.  Lyn is all about living the perfect life and checking everything off her list.  Cat has found trouble in her marriage.  Gemma is the single one who lives day to day and can't seem to find a lasting relationship.  I found the characters compelling and really just wanted to see where the book took them.  

March Book Review

I've definitely slowed down my reading a bit as I've been busy with other things, but I still got through 3 books this month.  Here's what I read!

Vanishing Girls by Lauren Oliver

This is a young adult book.  I really enjoyed Lauren Oliver's Delirium series and I didn't read Before I Fall, but I thought the movie was good.  So I figured I would throw this one into the mix.

I thought that this book was decent.  I read it in about 4 days. It's about two sister's Dara and Nick.  They were in a car accident about a year before and haven't been speaking since.  Then a little girl from their town goes missing, and then Dara goes missing.  I enjoyed this book well enough, but unless you are a big young adult fan, it might not be fore you.  (Delirium on the other hand, if you like dystopian teen novels, was awesome!)

Every Breath You Take by Mary Higgins Clark & Alafair Burke

I really enjoyed this book.  To be honest, I've felt like Mary Higgins Clark books have been lacking a bit recently.  This might be because the woman is 90... Anyways, I got into this book quickly and read it in a couple of days.  

This book is part of the Under Suspicion series, which is about a woman, Laurie, who produces a reality TV show that looks into cold cases.  I like when authors have series like this because you really get to know the characters.  Definitely a worthwhile read for Mary Higgins Clark fans!

The Choices we Make by Karma Brown

This book is about Hannah and Kate, best friends since Grade 5.  Kate has been blessed with two beautiful children, but Hannah has been unable to get pregnant for 6 years.  This book deals with friendship, infertility and surrogacy.  It makes these issues feel real (and I mean they are real, to so many people).  It deals with the legal aspects and emotional aspects.

This book made me think hard about what I would do.  What if my best friend or my sister was unable to carry a child, would I donate my own eggs and do it for them?  Could I separate myself from that child, knowing that it was going to belong to someone else?  I don't have the answers, I don't think I would have them until I was in that situation.  I know that this is the greatest gift you could give someone and I applaud the people who do it.

This was an emotional read, but I really loved this book for bringing truth to what so many people are experiencing.  (Maybe not the actual surrogacy aspect as I think that's a bit more rare, but the infertility is so common.)

February Book Review

I didn't read a ton this month as I was busy with other things.  But I still got a few books in and they were a bit different from what I often read.  

The Magnolia Story by Chip & Joanna Gaines

I have never watched even one single episode of Fixer Upper.  I know who Chip and Joanna Gaines are, but really knew nothing about them.  And I loved this book.  So if you watch their show, you will probably really love this book!

This book is just their story, how they met, their marriage and how the show came to be.  They seem so down to earth and like they just have a very solid marriage and family life.  My only complaint is that it took me awhile to like Chip's portions of the book.  Joanna wrote the majority of it and then every so often Chip would throw something in.  It became more substantial as time went on, but in the beginning I didn't like the style of it.  I did come around eventually though.

Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline

This book has been on my list for awhile, but I kept putting it off because I wanted fluffier reads.  But this was actually a really easy read and I found myself into the story from the very beginning. 

This book is about a 9 year old girl who is orphaned and rides the orphan train to Minnesota in 1929, where they are "adopted" out.  Some kids find good families who want a child, some find homes where they just want someone to work.  The other side of the story is in 2011 and involves Molly, a foster child, who is doing community service with a 91 year old woman named Vivian and is going through all her memories stored in her attic.  

Although I can in now way relate to the children on the orphan train, this book made the situation real and what it must have been like for these poor children back in 1929.  

My One and Only by Kristan Higgins

I guess you can say I'm a Kristan Higgins fan.  Her books aren't classic novels, but they are light and easy to read romances.  I always enjoy them.  Plus she has a ton of books, so there is usually something available from the library when I'm looking for something to read.

Harper thinks she has life all figured out.  She has her boyfriend Dennis and she's thought it through and thinks it's time they get married.  Dennis isn't so sure.  Then they go to her sister's spur of the moment wedding but her sister is marrying her ex-husband's brother.  She hasn't seen her ex in 12 years.  

These books are always a bit predictable, but there are a few twists and turns along the way.  They are definitely a nice option to have when you either just need something to read, or want something light.  

So it was a light month for reading, but I still got a few books read!  I went to the library yesterday and got 3 books out, so that always keeps me busy as I know I have to get them read before they are due!  I've read 7 of my goal of 30 books for the year, so I'm on track!

January Book Review

Time to get back at it.  Reading has kind of fallen by the wayside in the past little bit.  I think partially because I was reading "Career of Evil" and having a bit of trouble getting into it in the beginning, so although I wasn't reading, I wasn't reading as much as I should of been.  But with my 2018 word "intentional" I'm hoping that reading becomes something that I do more often again.  I found I was wasting my lunches by surfing the internet, getting nothing accomplished over an hour.  So I'm back to reading on my lunch and using that time to really refresh and get lost in a book.

I have a goal to read 30 books this year.  At first I wanted to set my goal at 40 books.  I thought it was doable because that's still less than a book a week...but I also know that I sometimes have phases where I can't find a good book or can't get into a book.  I read 24 books last year, so it's still uping my goal! (I'm going to read some Harry Potter and Nancy Drew if it doesn't look like I'm meeting my goal, haha!)

Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith

For those of you who don't know, these books are actually written by JK Rowling.  They are about Cormoran Strike, a private detective, and Robin Ellacott, his assistant.  This is the third book in the series.  I honestly started reading this book about a year ago.  I think it was too big and I just couldn't get into it because I was overwhelmed by the size.  (It's not that big, just too big for me at the time.)  I didn't really give it a fair shot.  Once I started reading it though it was great.  I probably read the last half of it in one night and couldn't put it down.  Ryan wondered what I was doing and said I don't usually read all night long.  

I find Strike and Robin totally enthralling, I love their relationship and hope that Rowling understands that Robin is as vital to the success of these books as Strike it.  These books are so different from Harry Potter, but Rowling has really found a new niche.  Funny thing is while I was reading one day Parker said "is that a Pe-a Potter (Harry Potter) book?"  I have no idea why he would relate them as it looks nothing like a Harry Potter book!

Truly Madly Guilty by Liane Moriarty

I'm a big Liane Moriarty fan.  I was kind of worried about this book though because the reviews weren't great.  6 adults and 3 kids are at a BBQ.  Something terrible happens, but it takes quite a while for you to find out what happens.  I think what annoyed me about it was that I understood for suspense reasons why you didn't know what happened, but from a storyline perspective it didn't really make sense.  The story was so vague, where it shouldn't of been.  Conversations that seemed like they were missing parts of them, characters who were missing because you weren't supposed to know what happened to them.  

I spent the first half of the book kind of skipping ahead chapters because I couldn't stand the suspense.  The last half of the book I really enjoyed though.  I think you have to go in with low expectations.  The one review I read said that it's more about the characters than the story, which is an interesting way to look at it.  And the characters were interesting.  

So overall it's a decent read.  Not amazing, but not terrible.  I don't know.  Not sure what else to say about it.  Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman have optioned the film rights.  I can see how it could be a movie or mini-series similar to Big Little Lies as it's a very similar style to Big Little Lies.  There is a lot going on with the characters that you could dig into deeper.

The Best Man by Kristan Higgins

You may recall that I'm a Kristan Higgins fan.  Her books are easy to read chick-lit.  I'm slightly conflicted about this one though.  I enjoyed this book, I read it quickly, it was easy to read.  But I found that it had way less depth than the other books that I've read of hers.  I just found out that her books are "Harlequin" novels, and it makes a lot of sense.  Still an enjoyable read, but nothing mind blowing!

Faith was left at the alter by her boyfriend of 8 years because....he was gay.  She left town and three years later is back.  But she keeps running into Levi Cooper, her ex's best friend, and the guy that ruined her wedding.  

Definitely won't be my favourite book of the month of year, but there's a few more books in this series and I'm still going to be reading them!  

The Perfect Match by Kristan Higgins

This is the second book in the Blue Heron series, The Best Man was the first.  I had the same feelings about this book.  I enjoy the fact that it's a series, because although the book is about a different person within the family, it has a lot of the same characters.  It's always nice to see characters that you've enjoyed in subsequent books.  This book is definitely a Hallmark movie though.  It's light and easy and fairly predictable.  Nothing mind blowing.  But I still enjoyed it and read it in about two days!

My September Books

Once again I'm going to tell you all of these books are good.  Because when it comes down to it, if I get through a book then I generally liked it.  If I don't like it I just can't make myself keep reading it.  But also, if a book is only sub par and you get to the end, usually the ending makes it worth it.

One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid

This is my second Taylor Jenkins Reid book, and once again I really liked it.  The new genre of chick lit seems to have the requirement that your husband died.  I've read about four books now where this happens...so weird.  

Emma married her high school sweetheart, Jesse.  Then on their first anniversary Jesse dies in a helicopter crash.  It goes through her 2 year grief process very briefly until she finally decides she is ready to move on.  She reconnects with a high school friend, Sam and they get engaged.  Then she finds out that Jesse is actually alive.  

The book is kind of heartbreaking, because you feel for Emma in that she loves them both.  When your husband dies, you don't stop loving him.  But she has fallen in love with Sam as well.  

Despite the fact that husbands keep dying in my books, I really like this type of Chick Lit that has a bit more depth, not quite so Hallmark movie, but still an easy read.

The Silent Sister by Diane Chamberlain

Riley believes that her older sister committed suicide as a teenager.  When Riley's father dies and she is cleaning out his house, she finds that not all she believed is quite true.  This book goes through the discoveries that Riley makes about her family.

Although there is a murder in this book, the entire mystery aspect of the book isn't about a murder, which is a bit refreshing!  I wouldn't say it's the best book that I've read, but it kept me interested and I did enjoy it.

The Break Down by B.A. Paris

So this is the second B.A. Paris book that I've read, the first being Behind Closed Doors.  I had similar feelings about this book.  I did enjoy it, but I felt that not everything made sense and there were some plot holes.

Cass drives a short cut through the woods during a storm and sees a car sitting there.  She thinks about helping, but feels it would be unsafe for her.  The next day she finds out a woman has been murdered in the woods.  From then on she starts to get strange phone calls where nobody is there and starts forgetting everything and is sure she has early onset dementia like her mother did.

The thing that annoyed me the most is that this short cut through the woods was perceived as so dangerous, when it was 5 minutes from her nice house.  I couldn't think of a single road where I lived that my husband would tell me not to drive down because it's unsafe, so I thought that was strange.

The book is a bit repetitive with Cass freaking out about the murder and the phone calls and thinking she's going crazy.  But like all mystery books it comes together in the end.  

Good As Gone by Amy Gentry

Julie is kidnapped when she is 13.  8 years later she shows up on her parents front door.  It's a miracle, but suddenly her mom is questioning things.  Certain aspects don't add up.  Is this really her daughter?

This was a good suspense novel.  I liked that the family, although they had their issues which resulted from the kidnapping, was relatively normal.  I find that often in books like this, the family is completely insane and unrelatable. (Like every Gillian Flynn novel.)  This book kept me guessing, although I kind of started to figure everything out about 3/4 of the way through.  It wasn't brilliant, but it was good.

On Second Thought by Kristan Higgins

I'm definitely a Kristan Higgans fan.  I loved this book.  It's about two sisters, one who is recently a widow and one whose boyfriend of 11 years just broke up with her.  Both of them are dealing with very different losses.  They haven't always been the closest, but this brings them together.  It's intertwined with aspects of love stories, but a lot of it is about their connection and friendship as well, which is definitely refreshing.  I found the characters super likeable and enjoyable to read about.  This is my favourite book of the month!

I'm on a bit of a reading downturn right now.  I just haven't been able to get into anything new since I finished Good as Gone last week.  But I guess I've been reading pretty heavily for the past few months, so maybe that's ok!  Hopefully it picks up again soon, because I'm actually really enjoying reading so many great stories this year!

Reading Lately

I pretty much always have a book on the go.  I've been a reader my entire life (except when I was in University, then pleasure reading went on pause.)  I've read a few books this summer, some good, some great, some just meh.  I have this struggle with putting books down that I'm not enjoying.  Even if I don't like it I want to know what happens.  I could just google it, but I never seem smart enough to do that.

The One & Only - Emily Giffin

I'm a huge Emily Giffin fan.  This book was slightly different than her typical book, but I still enjoyed it.  The reviews on Goodreads were terrible though!  I don't want to say much more because I don't want to give anything away, but it's not the writing that people disliked, it's the topics discussed in the book.  I still give it a thumbs up though...

Wild - Cheryl Strayed

This book was tough for me at first.  I found I couldn't connect with Cheryl when she said stuff like: He asked if I had tried Heroin and I hadn't so we did it. Pardon?  And when she got pregnant she says "I got an abortion and learned how to make dehydrated tuna flakes and turkey jerky and took a refresher course on basic first aid and practiced using my water purifier in my kitchen sink."  This drove me nuts.  You don't just pass by abortion like that, as if it's completely insignificant.

Anyways, the book got better.  Once she was out hiking the trail for months at a time and there was no heroin or pregnancy, she was easier to relate to.  I would recommend this book.

The Matched Series - Ally Condie

I liked the first one.  Typical dystopian with a love triangle.  Nothing amazing, but it was good.  Then the second one I didn't even want to finish.  It was just boring.  But for some reason I read the second one and the third one because I wanted to know what happened. This is one of those books that I should have just googled the ending for.

The Husband's Secret - Liane Moriarty

This is on everyone's book club list I think.  I thought it was really good.  Some secrets you find out about early on, some take you a bit longer and keep you guessing.  It's about multiple families but they all come together and are related in some way.  Definitely a good read.  Really makes you think that you never really know what's going on in other people's lives, or even in those lives that are deeply intertwined with your own.

 What have you been reading lately?

Summer Reading List

Ryan said to me this morning that I don't blog anymore.  I guess last week I just had nothing to say and didn't want to force it.  But the truth is, when I do blog I really do enjoy it.  I love the creativity that it provides me with and being able to share my thoughts with others.  I like that it forces me to think about my life in a different way than you usually do, to see the good in things because nobody wants to blog about the negatives.

Apparently summer is here!  So with summer, comes lots of summer reading (hopefully).  Beach reading, cottage reading, camping reading....I'm hoping to have time for all of it.  And I have quite the list of summer reading options that I hope to get through.

Crossed & Reached by Allie Condie

Another young adult dystopian series.  I recently finished the first book - Matched and so obviously I need to read the other two.  This is easy reading, so perfect for the summer when you just want to chill out and enjoy a book.

The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith aka J.K. Rowling

I've heard better things about this than The Casual Vacancy so I'm hopeful.  Plus my brother has this book and just finished it, so now it's my turn.

Where We Belong - Emily Giffin

Yes this isn't her most recent book, but I actually haven't gotten a chance to read it yet.  Emily Giffin writes the most perfect Chick Lit books, which again are perfect for summer!  Easy to read and just enjoyable.

The One & Only - Emily Giffin

This is Emily Giffin's most recent book.  And lucky for me, my sister splurged and bought it, so now I have a copy I can borrow.

The Fault in our Stars - John Green

I haven't read this yet and have heard good things about the movie.  Even though the ending has been spoiled for me I still want to read this book before I see the movie.



 

My First Book Club

So basically I am a super nerd and it has always been a dream of mine to be part of a book club.  But I didn't really know how you go about finding and joining a book club.  So I started my own.

I threw it out there on Facebook that I wanted to start a book club and thought I would just wait and see if there were any responses.  And there were!  About 8 other girls responded and said that they were interested.  So I set up a Facebook group, we chose a book and set a date for our first meeting, which was this past Tuesday night.

Now unfortunately, things came up for a few people, and so this first meeting was rather small.  But that's ok!  There were three of us there and we still were able to discuss the book and have some other good conversation.

Our first book was Dark Places by Gillian Flynn.  I thought it was a really good book and it kept me interested from the very beginning.  It was a good book to start with because it was fairly easy to discuss.  The neat thing about book club is that other people notice things that you might not in the book, so you get some different perspectives.  If you are a non-reader, you probably won't understand why you would care to have different perspectives, but as a reader I loved this aspect of it.    

So my advice to you today, is that if you want to try something new, go for it!  This is what social networks are great for these days.  They can bring people together and get the word out there in ways that would have been impossible 15 years ago.  

There's one more item off the 30 before 30 list!

Literary Junkies

It's Literary Junkies time of the month, which couldn't have come at a better time!  Because despite the fact that I had a long weekend and actually left my house multiple times, I had no other blog posts prepared for today!  So let's get to this month's questions.

1. What are you reading right now? Tell us about it!
I recently started up a book club (more on that later!) and our first book was Dark Places by Gillian Flynn.  I finished it yesterday after basically lying on my couch and reading it all day.  I thought it was really good.  Much better than Sharp Objects, maybe slightly worse than Gone Girl.  The Goodreads description is too long so here is my summary:

Libby Day's family was murdered when she was 7, but she got away.  Her brother was charged with the crimes and has now been in jail for about 25 years.  Even Libby thinks he did it and testifyed against him as she said that she heard him and his mom arguing.

Now, something called a "Kill Club," which is a bunch of people fascinated with researching and talking about murders has approached her and pushed her to look into the murders furthur as they don't think that Libby's brother commited the crimes.

The book jumps between Libby today, and her brother Ben and mother on the day of the murders.  Going back and forth like this actually kept me very intrigued.  I can't wait to talk about this book at the first book club meeting and I'm also excited for the movie to come out later this year!

2. What books are on your bedside table at the moment?
Because I finished Dark Places yesterday, Nicholas Sparks The Longest Ride is now on my bedside table.  (The real book version, not my Kobo!)  But I am only one chapter into it.

3. Amazon recently released the 100 books to read in a lifetime. What did they miss that you would add?
All of my favourites an some that I would like to read are on there, so I don't really have any to add to this list!

4. Are there any books being published in 2014 that you are anxiously awaiting? If so, what are they?
Nothing that I can think of.  I need to find a new dystopian series, so if you have any recommendations, let me know!

5. Name the next 3 books in your To Be Read List (the ones you will be reading next on your list.)
The Longest Ride - Nicholas Sparks
The Cuckoo's Calling - Robert Galbraith (aka J.K. Rowling)
Where We Belong - Emily Giffin (I can't believe I haven't read it yet)

Literary Junkies

It's that time of the month again!  Time for Literary Junkies!  I have been pretty happy with myself and the amount of reading that I have done this summer.  Although I could read more, I always have a book going.  After so many years in University where I always felt like I couldn't take the time to read, it's so nice to get into a good book again.

1. What are you currently reading? Tell us about it! 
I just finished Sophie Kinsella's Wedding Night.  It's a chick lit book about a girl who goes through a break up and then decides to get married to her boyfriend from 15 years ago, which her sister thinks is a terrible idea.  It was an okay book, not the best I have read by any means, but I got through it.

 2. What is one book you think every person should read at least once in their life? Why?
 I'm going to be kind of typical and say that everyone should read Harry Potter.  It's kind of a big deal and I think that everyone should experience it or at least test it out to see what they think.

 3. Do you think you could ever write a book? If so what genre would it be?I would love to write a book.  Ideally I would like to write a thriller/suspense/mystery like Mary Higgins Clark.  But realistically I think that I would have an easier time writing Chick Lit because it's more something that I can relate to more. 



4. Do you listen to audiobooks?  Do you look for the same things in an audiobook that you do in one you'll read?
I have never listened to an audio book.  I have heard good things about them, but I just haven't taken the leap.  I kind of feel that listening to an audio book is like watching a movie though.  It's good and entertaining, but it's not the same experience as sitting down and reading a book.

5. Can you suggest a book of each type for others to try:
Fantasy - Harry Potter
Nonfiction - Columbine by Dave Cullen
Fiction - Room by Emma Donahue
Romance - The Notebook or Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks


I'm not even sure that this line is in the book...

Classics - Anne of Green Gables, or The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (not sure if that's a classic, but it's pretty old).

Young Adult - The Divergent Series

 

I would like to take a moment to thank Blogger for the spacing issues that cannot be corrected.  Why, just why?

Bookish

I haven't linked up with Literary Junkies in forever, and I love to talk about what I've been reading!  So let's get started with this month's questions.

1. What are you currently reading?
I just started Dan Brown's Inferno.  And by just started I mean I've read the prologue and that's it, so I really can't say too much about it at this point. 

The last book that I finished though was called Look Again by Lisa Scottoline.  It was about a woman who has an adopted son, and then she receives a flyer about a missing kid who looks just like her son.  It was a pretty good book.  It took me a little bit to get to the point where I couldn't put it down, but I got there.

2. Who is your favourite book character and why?
This is a tough question for a reader.  The first person that comes to mind is Rachel from Something Borrowed.  I think she stands out because you should hate her for what she's doing to her best friend, but you are rooting for her anyways.

3.  What would the title of your memoir be?
I have no idea.  Maybe "Yes I have a lot of Freckles".  Just to put it out there right from the beginning.

4. You be the director! Cast your favourite book characters for the movie version that has not yet been made.
This could be difficult because it seems like they turn everything into a movie now.  Apparently Gone Girl is supposed to be a movie but they haven't cast it yet.  I think that they should bring back the Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams pairing. 

50 Shades of Grey is always a fun one to think about too!  I think that Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds would be perfect.  Blake is gorgeous but I think that they could make her look plain enough in the beginning to make it believable that Ana is so naive.  And I don't have to explain Ryan Reynolds...

5. What book or series do you remember reading as an elementary/middle school age?
I was really into Nancy Drew, which I have talked about before.