February's Books

This month was a stressful month for reading because I discovered the awesomeness of Overdrive library books, set up two accounts, put about 10 books on hold, and then didn’t know what to do with myself when 4 or 5 books all arrived within days of each other on my kindle. Had a few false starts here and there, but I certainly have a sense of relief that I won’t have to depend on library books to get to the titles I want to read. I don’t like the heaviness of a book or the burden of having the flip the page, and now my kindle reading habit is much more affordable with the library e-book service. Another check mark in the “why the kindle is great” column!

8. Beyonders: A World Without Heroes by Brandon Mull

I loved Fablehaven, couldn’t finish Candy Shop…so where does Beyonders fall? Somewhere in the middle. Mull’s imaginative writing continues in Beyonders, but is more sporadic than in Fablehaven. It is also more violent, and focuses on a male protagonist rather than a sister/brother sharing of the story. There is a female sidekick character, but she is left out of the story for long parts of the book. I’ll read the sequel, as it left me quite unsatisfied with a cliffhanger ending.

Content Rating: Violent at times, for older children

Format Read: Library Book

Length: 496 Pages

Release Year:  2011

9. The Visible Man by Chuck Klosterman

I was walking out of the library with a stack of books I really never intended on reading, and this book caught my eye on the “New Arrivals” shelf. I will admit, I am notoriously awful at judging books by their cover. I loved the font and the ambiguous picture. I read about three sentences of the summary on the inside cover, threw it on top of my stack, and checked out. After finishing Beyonders (also in this stack), I was anxious to begin reading this little short gem. This is an odd book, as a female therapist recounts her experiences working with an intelligent man with a unique secret. I found the development of their relationship fully engaging, and I loved his writing. The ending was only so-so, but I forgave it since it was such a fun story while working up to it.

Content Rating: Language, mild descriptions of sexuality

Format Read: Library Book

Length: 240 Pages

Release Year: 2011

10. Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

As I read this novel, I couldn’t help but observe how similar it felt to the literary style of John Irving.  I love John Irving—he’s my second favorite author, and I’ve read the majority of his works. The remarkable events that happen with the family in this story by Verghese seemed like it could have been easily inspired by “The World According to Garp” or “Until I Find You.” As I clicked quickly through the final acknowledgements, I stopped abruptly when my eyes glanced the words “John Irving.” And there was his thanks to John Irving, for his friendship, help and inspiration. So I’ll say this book was good—but not as good as if Irving himself had written it. The graphic descriptions of the surgeries got under my skin. I see that as a good thing—watching surgical procedures on DiscoveryHealth channel doesn’t phase me, but reading a description gave me the willies, certainly effective!

Content Rating: Smidge of language, coming-of-age sexuality, graphic descriptions of surgical procedures

Format Read: Library Kindle Book

Length: 667 Pages

Release Year: 2010

11. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

I knew nothing about this book besides it was popular and critically acclaimed. Its Wikipedia page says it is one of the best selling books of all time. This is really a self-help book about going after your vague dreams masked as a novel. I liked the first half of the story, but once he began his travels across the desert, my interest waned and my focus was just on finishing it so I could be done with it. I am not a fan of the idea of “if you can believe it, you can achieve it!” Oh, so I can be an NBA star if I just think about it hard enough? Really?

Content Rating: Nothing I can remember

Format Read: Library Kindle Book

Length: 208 Pages

Release Year: 1988

12. Divergent by Veronica Roth

Another dystopian young adult novel that isn’t as good as Hunger Games or the Giver. I liked the idea of the 5 societies that Roth creates here, but the writing either wasn’t good enough or developed enough for me to be engrossed and captivated by the setting. The writing didn’t transport me there. I just needed more. There is a sequel planned, but I think I’ll probably skip it.

And for that matter, why does every young adult book have to be part of a series? Just write one good, solid story, people! I’m getting tired of starting books, and realizing in order to get the whole story, I’ll need to commit to 2-4 more books. (And you know that most of the time the sequels are far worse—ahem Hunger Games, Uglies…)

Content Rating: Young adult but mentions of sexuality

Format Read: Library Book

Length: 496 Pages

Release Year: 2011

13. A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

This is Twilight for intellectuals. Except, most intellectuals will be turned off by the silliness of the story, and so I’m not exactly sure whom this book is for. I commented to Greg about halfway through that I’m getting tired of the vampire character being the perfect, hunky and passionate lover. Can’t vampires be scary anymore? However, however, I did enjoy this story overall. It is a long read and the plot moves rather slowly, but it was a fun diversion and I’d recommend, especially if you didn’t despise Twilight.

Content Rating: Fairly clean, little bits of sexuality that might be too much for a young adult

Format Read: Library Kindle Book

Length: 592 Pages

Release Year: 2011

14. Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

I had no idea I’d be reading two books about witches back to back when I started this! I saw this sitting on a student’s desk, and they said I should read it. I felt the teenage love story between the main characters was authentic and real; made me feel like a high-schooler again. There was great tension created by the townspeople as they respond to the “new girl” at school. As a critique, I do think it was overly long for the story told. I grew bored with the climatic action scenes at the end, but enjoyed the story overall.

Content Rating: For mature teenagers due to a little mild language

Format Read: Library Kindle Book

Length: 592 Pages

Release Year: 2009

The Poor Souls that I Didn’t Finish (yet)

Like I mentioned, I had too many books made available at once, and so two books I started got cast aside. First, “The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest,” the third in the Millennium trilogy, got pushed aside for “The Stand.” Do you have any idea how long “The Stand” is? It is 27044 locations! That’s longer than the unabridged Count of Monte Cristo! I actually made it through 7214 locations of “The Stand” before I gave up. I just don’t have the time for that book while I have so many other books I need to read. Also, you only get the kindle library books for two weeks with no option for renewal, and I knew I couldn’t finish it in two weeks AND finish the other books that were becoming available. I nearly made it through the first book of “The Stand”, so maybe I’ll finish the first part and return later.