Books I Finished The Past Few Weeks

December 2 - December 31, 2018

The Winter of the Witch (Winternight Trilogy #3) by Katherine Arden

Although I knew I was already enthralled with Katherine Arden’s writing after reading Small Spaces and the first two books in this trilogy, The Winter of the Witch solidified that this is one of my favorite series of all time. I have loved each and every moment of this series and am so overjoyed with how it ended even as I am sobbing over the fact that it’s over. Click the book cover for my full review.

Synopsis: Moscow has been struck by disaster. Its people are searching for answers—and for someone to blame. Vasya finds herself alone, beset on all sides. The Grand Prince is in a rage, choosing allies that will lead him on a path to war and ruin. A wicked demon returns, stronger than ever and determined to spread chaos. Caught at the center of the conflict is Vasya, who finds the fate of two worlds resting on her shoulders. Her destiny uncertain, Vasya will uncover surprising truths about herself and her history as she desperately tries to save Russia, Morozko, and the magical world she treasures. But she may not be able to save them all.

White Fang by Jack London

Overall, this book was well written and Jack London brilliantly described the environment and elements through the eyes of an animal while still making sense for a human. Click the book cover for more.

Synopsis: White Fang is part dog and part wolf, and the lone survivor of his family. In his lonely world, he soon learns to follow the harsh law of the North--kill or be killed. But nothing in White Fang's life can prepare him for the cruel owner who turns him into a vicious killer. Will White Fang ever know the kindness of a gentle master?

Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts

It’s difficult for me to determine what to say in this review. This autobiographical novel covers and offers so much. It is about love, forgiveness and a search for redemption. It’s written by an escaped convict and mafia criminal, but he’s also philosophical and romantic and offers up a warm generous heart to almost all those he encounters. Click the book cover for more.

Synopsis: “It took me a long time and most of the world to learn what I know about love and fate and the choices we make, but the heart of it came to me in an instant, while I was chained to a wall and being tortured." So begins this epic, mesmerizing novel set in the underworld of contemporary Bombay. Shantaram is narrated by Lin, an escaped convict with a false passport who flees maximum security prison in Australia for the teeming streets of a city where he can disappear. As a hunted man without a home, family, or identity, Lin searches for love and meaning while running a clinic in one of the city's poorest slums, and serving his apprenticeship in the dark arts of the Bombay mafia.

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

This was my first Agatha Christie novel and I absolutely loved it. It was such a fascinating idea; ten people are lured to a remote island under false pretenses and quickly find out they are to be punished by death for 'crimes' they have committed in the past and got away with. Click the book cover for more.

Synopsis: Ten people, each with something to hide and something to fear, are invited to a lonely mansion on Soldier Island by a host who, surprisingly, fails to appear. On the island they are cut off from everything but each other and the inescapable shadows of their own past lives. One by one, the guests share the darkest secrets of their wicked pasts. And one by one, they die....

Murder on The Orient Express by Agatha Christie

This was the second Agatha Christie book I ever read and I was just as entertained as I was with And Then There Were None. I know that more of Christie's novels are in my future because she writes such clever and unique mysteries. Click the book cover for more.

Synopsis: What more can a mystery addict desire than a much-loathed murder victim found aboard the luxurious Orient Express with multiple stab wounds, thirteen likely suspects, an incomparably brilliant detective in Hercule Poirot, and the most ingenious crime ever conceived?

Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick

Silver Linings Playbook was endearing, heart-wrenching, and yes, funny. Matthew Quick uses some comedic moments surrounding Eagles football and awkward encounters but at the heart of the story, this novel is about debilitating pain and how we heal and grow from it. Click the book cover for more.

Synopsis: Meet Pat. Pat has a theory: his life is a movie produced by God. And his God-given mission is to become physically fit and emotionally literate, whereupon God will ensure a happy ending for him—the return of his estranged wife, Nikki. (It might not come as a surprise to learn that Pat has spent time in a mental health facility.) The problem is, Pat's now home, and everything feels off. No one will talk to him about Nikki; his beloved Philadelphia Eagles keep losing; he's being pursued by the deeply odd Tiffany; his new therapist seems to recommend adultery as a form of therapy. Plus, he's being hunted by Kenny G!

The Green Mile by Stephen King

All. The. Emotions! This was my first Stephen King book and I never expected to feel such a roller coaster of emotions from reading his stories. Terrified, absolutely. But gut-wrenchingly tender moments, heart-breaking moments, sympathy and pain? No, not so much. Click the cover for more.

Synopsis: Welcome to Cold Mountain Penitentiary, home to the Depression-worn men of E Block. Convicted killers all, each awaits his turn to walk the Green Mile, keeping a date with “Old Sparky," Cold Mountain's electric chair. Prison guard Paul Edgecombe has seen his share of oddities in his years working the Mile. But he's never seen anyone like John Coffey, a man with the body of a giant and the mind of a child, condemned for a crime terrifying in its violence and shocking in its depravity. In this place of ultimate retribution, Edgecombe is about to discover the terrible, wondrous truth about Coffey, a truth that will challenge his most cherished beliefes... and yours.

Books I’m Currently Reading

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

I’m about 75% done with this book and have been enjoying most of it so far. I always love mythology, especially Greek, and this is an interesting take on the story of Achilles. We will see how I feel once I finish the full thing.

Synopsis: Greece in the age of heroes. Patroclus, an awkward young prince, has been exiled to the court of King Peleus and his perfect son Achilles. By all rights their paths should never cross, but Achilles takes the shamed prince as his friend, and as they grow into young men skilled in the arts of war and medicine their bond blossoms into something deeper - despite the displeasure of Achilles' mother Thetis, a cruel sea goddess. But then word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped. Torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus journeys with Achilles to Troy, little knowing that the years that follow will test everything they hold dear.

Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusak

I only just started this book so I don’t have too much to say about it yet other than I am beyond excited to read another Markus Zusak book as I Am the Messenger is one of my most beloved books.

Synopsis: The Dunbar boys bring each other up in a house run by their own rules. A family of ramshackle tragedy - their mother is dead, their father has fled - they love and fight, and learn to reckon with the adult world. It is Clay, the quiet one, who will build a bridge; for his family, for his past, for his sins. He builds a bridge to transcend humanness. To survive.

Books I Was Reading Last Year - 2017

My Dearest Friend: Letters of Abigail and John Adams by Abigail Adams and John Adams

Definitely an interesting historic read, but I do think it got to be a bit too long since the letters were in their entirety and often I found myself lost since they were writing about so many random topics that didn't have context other than to each other. I'd recommend it, but warn someone that it can be a bit dry and long at times. Click the book cover for my full review.

Synopsis: In 1762, John Adams penned a flirtatious note to “Miss Adorable," the 17-year-old Abigail Smith. In 1801, Abigail wrote to wish her husband John a safe journey as he headed home to Quincy after serving as president of the nation he helped create. The letters that span these nearly forty years form the most significant correspondence--and reveal one of the most intriguing and inspiring partnerships--in American history.

Girl in Snow by Danya Kukafka

Although this novel had some beautiful writing and intriguing character development, it was also slow at times that made it hard to fully immerse myself in the story. At times it also felt a bit more like a character study than a mystery or thriller and I think there could have been a bit less writing in some places in order to add a little more to the overall plot.

Synopsis: When a beloved high schooler named Lucinda Hayes is found murdered, no one in her sleepy Colorado suburb is untouched—not the boy who loved her too much; not the girl who wanted her perfect life; not the officer assigned to investigate her murder. In the aftermath of the tragedy, these three indelible characters—Cameron, Jade, and Russ—must each confront their darkest secrets in an effort to find solace, the truth, or both.

Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

Overall, I enjoyed this book as it dealt with a unique moment in the history of the Holocaust; the French Vel’ d’Hiv roundup where families and hundreds of children were arrested and the majority either perished in a town’s stadium or later in concentration camps. It brings in a journalist who is hearing about this black day of history on the 60th anniversary and perfectly shows how so many people tried to sweep the Holocaust under the rug. The thing I didn’t like about this book is it focused a bit too much on the modern-day journalist and her life and marriage. Yes, her life changes a bit because of what she is uncovering about this horrid day and her in-law’s past, however at times it became a bit chick-lit rather than historical fiction.

Synopsis: Paris, July 1942: Sarah, a ten year-old girl, is brutally arrested with her family by the French police in the Vel’ d’Hiv’ roundup, but not before she locks her younger brother in a cupboard in the family's apartment, thinking that she will be back within a few hours. 

Paris, May 2002: On Vel’ d’Hiv’s 60th anniversary, journalist Julia Jarmond is asked to write an article about this black day in France's past. Through her contemporary investigation, she stumbles onto a trail of long-hidden family secrets that connect her to Sarah. Julia finds herself compelled to retrace the girl's ordeal, from that terrible term in the Vel d'Hiv', to the camps, and beyond. As she probes into Sarah's past, she begins to question her own place in France, and to reevaluate her marriage and her life. 

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

This was a very moving, well-written novel of a young boy trying to deal with the fact his mom has cancer. It deals with loss, the emotions that come about from loss and learning to let go and forgive yourself and others around you. It was very different than where I expected it to end up, but I delighted in what did occur in this novel.

Synopsis: At seven minutes past midnight, thirteen-year-old Conor wakes to find a monster outside his bedroom window. But it isn't the monster Conor's been expecting - he's been expecting the one from his nightmare, the nightmare he's had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments. The monster in his backyard is different. It's ancient. And wild. And it wants something from Conor. Something terrible and dangerous. It wants the truth.

From the final idea of award-winning author Siobhan Dowd - whose premature death from cancer prevented her from writing it herself - Patrick Ness has spun a haunting and darkly funny novel of mischief, loss, and monsters both real and imagined.

Books I Was Reading Two Years Ago - 2016

Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance

J.D. Vance did an amazing job of describing the Appalachian culture and a crisis that so few of us truly understand or have seen first hand. It was so eyeopening and heart-wrenching. Click the book cover for my full review.

Synopsis: From a former marine and Yale Law School graduate, a powerful account of growing up in a poor Rust Belt town that offers a broader, probing look at the struggles of America’s white working class

Hillbilly Elegy is a passionate and personal analysis of a culture in crisis—that of white working-class Americans. The decline of this group, a demographic of our country that has been slowly disintegrating over forty years, has been reported on with growing frequency and alarm, but has never before been written about as searingly from the inside. J. D. Vance tells the true story of what a social, regional, and class decline feels like when you were born with it hung around your neck.

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

This really gave a great glimpse into the lives of those who had to live through the war, while at home, with extremely low rations and the enemy side walking down their streets buying and eating all their food in front of them. Click on the book cover for my full review.

Synopsis: Despite their differences, sisters Vianne and Isabelle have always been close. Younger, bolder Isabelle lives in Paris while Vianne is content with life in the French countryside with her husband Antoine and their daughter. But when the Second World War strikes, Antoine is sent off to fight and Vianne finds herself isolated so Isabelle is sent by their father to help her. 

Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín

No detailed review for this book, however I remember not fully enjoying it. The main character, Eilis Lacey, doesn’t make any real decisions for herself until the very end of the book and everything that occurs throughout the pages is very benign. There is no hard conflicts or decisions to be made and everything felt a bit too easy to be realistic. A lot of people love this story, but I felt bored while reading it.

Synopsis: Eilis Lacey has come of age in small-town Ireland in the years following World War Two. Though skilled at bookkeeping, she cannot find a job in the miserable Irish economy. When an Irish priest from Brooklyn offers to sponsor Eilis in America--to live and work in a Brooklyn neighborhood “just like Ireland"--she decides she must go, leaving her fragile mother and her charismatic sister behind.

Eilis finds work in a department store on Fulton Street, and when she least expects it, finds love. Tony, a blond Italian from a big family, slowly wins her over with patient charm. He takes Eilis to Coney Island and Ebbets Field, and home to dinner in the two-room apartment he shares with his brothers and parents. He talks of having children who are Dodgers fans. But just as Eilis begins to fall in love with Tony, devastating news from Ireland threatens the promise of her future.

Last Wish (Highland Magic #4) by Helen Harper

This is another series by Helen Harper that I’ve enjoyed, the others being the Bo Blackman series and Blood Destiny series. Each series features a strong heroine, action, paranormal and a romantic storyline and Highland Magic is no different. The characters are interesting and witty, the books are action-packed. I’d definitely recommend it to readers who enjoy this type of book.

Synopsis: Since the moment I was ripped from my mother's womb, I've been an outcast amongst my own kind. The Sidhe might possess magical Gifts, unbelievable wealth and unfathomable power but I don't want a thing to do with them. I ran away from their lands in the Highlands of Scotland when I was eleven years old and I've never looked back.

Unfortunately for me, the playboy heir to the Moncrieffe Clan has something I desperately need. To get it back, I'm going to have to plunge myself back into that world, no matter what the consequences may be. I suppose it's just as well I have sense of humour. I think I'm going to need it.