I have taken a hiatus from reading and writing my book blog
due to morning sickness, but I thought I should jot down a few sentences about
the books I finished last summer. I stopped reading in early August, and I read
60 books total this year. Since then, I haven’t been able to read without feeling like I’m on a
rocking boat, so I’m catching up on my television shows like Enterprise!
(46) Dexter by Design by Jeff Lindsay
As usual, serial killer Dexter is getting himself in
trouble. I think that’s what it was about. Apparently I either have selective
amnesia, or the Dexter books are forgettable. These stories are fun to read
while you’re in the middle of them, but I can’t for the life of me remember
anything about this book I read about a month and a half ago. I remember
something about leg dismemberment art? Well, this is the fourth book in the
series, so if you’re into them, I recommend this as a fun diversion.
Content Rating: Language and violence
Length: 304 Pages
Format Read: Kindle Library Book
Genre: Fiction
(47) A Dog’s Purpose by Jeff Lindsay
Perfect for a dog lover, it demonstrates the many sides of a
dog’s purpose in our lives as the protagonist pup is reincarnated through
several vastly different lives. The only problem was I read it while on long
train ride from Venice to Paris, which presented two serious problems. First, I
was balling my eyes out in front of all the other passengers, who probably
thought I was traveling to go to a funeral. Second, I wasn’t home with my dog.
If you have a dog, you need to have him sit right next to you while reading the
sad parts so he can comfort you.
Content Rating: Appropriate for young adults and adults
Length: 333 Pages
Format Read: Kindle Book (was only $3 for awhile; sadly the
price has gone up)
Genre: Fiction
(48) The Stand by Stephen King
Finally, I finished it! This book is seriously long—longest
I’ve ever read. This is not a horror book as you might expect from King, but a
post-apocalyptic character driven story with some supernatural twists and turns
integrated in the story. Part of the story I found most fascinating is the
recreation of the government as the people begin to congregate together
—because the severe length of the book, it left a lot of room to flush out the
details of what happened to these characters before and after the disease that
kills nearly every human on earth. Loved most of the book, except the climax of
the story, which I thought that is was a bit too supernatural and silly. I kept
expecting a war to occur, but the story is resolved in an odd way that I was
not anticipating.
Content Rating: Strong language, graphic violence, sexuality
Length: 1472 Pages
Format Read: Kindle Book
Genre: Fiction
(49) Dexter is Delicious by Jeff Lindsay
I do remember more about the 5th Dexter book than
I do the 4th: Dexter’s brother returns to meet his new family, and
Dexter gets into some trouble with some blood-sucking human-flesh eating teenagers.
Nothing new to say here; just some good bloody fun with Dex the serial killer.
Content Rating: Language and violence
Length: 384 Pages
Format Read: Library Kindle Book
Genre: Fiction
(50) Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James
The fiftieth book I read this year is Fifty Shades of Grey!
Wish I could say I was clever enough to have planned that, but it just happened
naturally. I also wish I had some nice things to say about this book that seems
to be the craze right now, but I don’t. It is mutated Twilight fan fiction. I
noticed this when Christian, the “Edward” character, keeps telling Ana, the
“Bella” character, to stop biting her lip. I kept thinking, this sounds so much
like Twilight! And then I discovered there was a particular reason for that
connection. Anyway, it is awful, nearly plot-free fiction with sex scenes that
are so unrealistic that it’s difficult for me to understand why they are sexy
to some readers instead of being laughable. I also didn’t feel like the content
was as shocking as I had been led to believe—with her writing it is more about
quantity than quality when it comes to the descriptions of their escapades.
Content Rating: Sexuality and language
Length: 528 Pages
Format Read: Library Book
Genre: Erotic Fiction
(51) In One Person by John Irving
Good ol’ Irving! Interesting fiction about cross-dressing
and the impact of AIDS on the gay community in the 1980’s. May not a subject
that would be interesting to everyone, but it’s Irving and I love him. Wouldn’t
be an Irving book without some wrestling too!
Content Rating: Language & sexuality
Length: 448 Pages
Format Read: Library Book
Genre: Fiction
(52) A Dog’s Journey by W. Bruce Cameron
This is the sequel to “A Dog’s Purpose,” and continues with
the next life of the dog spirit in the first book. It differs from the first
novel, as his goal is to continually return to the same family as they grow
old. I felt slightly less connected to his character as a result of his purpose
being so narrow. Still, very fun to return to the character to see how he/she
lives out the rest of the dog lives.
Content Rating: Young adult
Length: 336 Pages
Format Read: Library Book
Genre: Fiction
(53) Unholy Night by Seth Grahame-Smith
Yawn. This is a fictional tale about the “wise” men and how
they really came about to help Jesus and his family travel to Egypt. The
writing doesn’t flow like it did in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, and I
completely lost interest when they started to fight zombies. Seriously, the wise men fight zombies.
Content Rating: Honestly I can’t remember
Length: 352 Pages
Format Read: Library Book
Genre: Historical Fiction
(54) The Anatomist’s Apprentice by Tessa Harris
This is a fictional story about the first use of forensic
science to solve a murder mystery in 1780. Enjoyed this one very much and look forward to future books.
Content Rating: Can’t remember
Length: 304 Pages
Format Read: Kindle Library Book
Genre: Fiction
(55) Still Alice by Lisa Genova
This book is the telling of the onset of Alzheimer’s disease
from the patient’s point of view. An absolutely heart breaking and life
changing story. It’s a quick read; both my mom and I were able to finish it in
a couple of hours. Recommend!
Content Rating: A little language
Length: 292 Pages
Format Read: Library Book
Genre: Fiction
(56) Let’s Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson
A hysterical memoir of Lawson’s upbringing and life with
absurd stories: this book sparked my interest in collecting taxidermy rats in
cute outfits. I literally cried due to laughing so much.
Content Rating: Heavy language
Length: 336 Pages
Format Read: Library Book
Genre: Memoir
(57) Emory’s Gift
A story about a boy and the bear he befriends that
eventually ends up living in his garage, painting him notes about being a civil
war veteran. Blah.
Content Rating: Young adult
Length: 368 Pages
Format Read: Library Book
Genre: Fiction
(58) Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
I can’t remember anything about this book. I think there is
something about ice or water or something. I don’t think I liked it.
Content Rating: *shrug*
Length: 304 Pages
Format Read: Kindle Library Book
Genre: Fiction
(59) Replay by Ken Grimwood
This is one of my favorites of the year: what if you could
relive your life over and over? Fantastic science fiction about dying and
waking up again in your 16-year old body with all your memories intact. Loved
it!
Content Rating: Adult
Length: 320 Pages
Format Read: Library Book
Genre: Science Fiction
(60) Penpal by Dathan Auerbach
This horror novel scared me to the core without being
gruesome or violent. It’s about a little boy who puts a penpal letter on a
balloon and releases it…and the impact of that connection he makes with his
mysterious penpal. Only $5 on kindle. I really liked this one because it
creeped me out.
Content Rating: Adult
Length: 252 Pages
Format Read: Kindle Book
Genre: Horror
