Annual Reading Challenge 2019

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. I had heard a lot about how good this mystery book was, so I finally was able to get it from my library, I read it. I was not a fan. I found both the husband and wife to be self-absorbed narcissists. In the end they deserved each other and the pain they seemed to enjoy inflicting on each other.

41 of 104
I felt the same way about that book!
 
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. I had heard a lot about how good this mystery book was, so I finally was able to get it from my library, I read it. I was not a fan. I found both the husband and wife to be self-absorbed narcissists. In the end they deserved each other and the pain they seemed to enjoy inflicting on each other.

41 of 104

Same here. And had zero interest in seeing the movie made from it.
 
6/20 Henry and Violet
7/20 Regina Rising
8/20 Red's Untold Tale
9/20 Same Beach Next Year - Dorothea Benton Frank
10/20 Hamstersaurus Rex - Tom O'donnell
11/20 Little House in the Big Woods - Laura Ingalls Wilder
12/20 Little House on the Prairie - Laura Ingalls Wilder

I keep forgetting to update my list! :)
 


The Overdue Life of Amy Byler by Kelly Harms This was a very easy read, entertaining, and I recommend it. #6 of the year for me. It is about a single mom who’s husband returns after abandoning the family for 3 years, and her resulting summer.
 
#24/50 Watching You by Lisa Jewell

Melville Heights is one of the nicest neighbourhoods in Bristol, England; home to doctors and lawyers and old-money academics. It’s not the sort of place where people are brutally murdered in their own kitchens. But it is the sort of place where everyone has a secret. And everyone is watching you.
As the headmaster credited with turning around the local school, Tom Fitzwilliam is beloved by one and all—including Joey Mullen, his new neighbor, who quickly develops an intense infatuation with this thoroughly charming yet unavailable man. Joey thinks her crush is a secret, but Tom’s teenaged son Freddie—a prodigy with aspirations of becoming a spy for MI5—excels in observing people and has witnessed Joey behaving strangely around his father.
One of Tom’s students, Jenna Tripp, also lives on the same street, and she’s not convinced her teacher is as squeaky clean as he seems. For one thing, he has taken a particular liking to her best friend and fellow classmate, and Jenna’s mother—whose mental health has admittedly been deteriorating in recent years—is convinced that Mr. Fitzwilliam is stalking her.

Meanwhile, twenty years earlier, a schoolgirl writes in her diary, charting her doomed obsession with a handsome young English teacher named Mr. Fitzwilliam…

Was just ok for me. Had good reviews but one I will probably forget by next week, lol.
 
19/20 The Song Of Achilles by Madeline Miller I didn’t know much about the book, other than that it was a best seller and well-reviewed. I know a small amount of Greek mythology, but nothing in great detail. I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading her other book, Circe.
 


It’s the end of the month, so time to go over what I read this month. I only read 4 books this month (bringing my total for the year to 28). Anyone who’s ever read my last book this month will understand why it was such a low month. Haha. Anyway, whiteout further ado, the books I read in April ‘19:


April ‘19 books read


25) Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë - Fiction. The classic tale of Jane’s journey from young orphan into adulthood. 4.25/5


26) Gitanjali by Robindronath Thakur - Poetry. A masterpiece collection of poetry. 4.5/5


27) Emotional Intelligence 2.0 by Travis Bradberry - Personal Development/Leadership. An interesting read on EO, EO skills, and building those skills. 3.5/5


28) Ulysses by James Joyce - Fiction. That was a long read. While considered a classic I found it....decent. It was extremely slow. 3/5
 
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29/75. A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
Spanning much of the twentieth century, the book follows the communist rise in Russia though the main character cannot leave the Metropol Hotel. I enjoyed the book very much.
 
29/75. A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
Spanning much of the twentieth century, the book follows the communist rise in Russia though the main character cannot leave the Metropol Hotel. I enjoyed the book very much.
Agreed!
 
April:

#25/90: Something Wonderful: Rogers and Hammerstein’s Broadway Revolution by Todd S. Purdum (4.5/5) (biography)

Some of my very favorite musicals were created by these men. It was very interesting to learn more about the writers and the musicals.

#26/90: A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles (4.5/5) (historical fiction)

It started a bit slow, but then I got caught up in how he changed as time went on in his house arrest.

#27/90: Funny Man Mel Brooks by Patrick McGilligan (2.5/5) (biography)

Didn’t enjoy this one as much as I expected. Not sure if it was the writing or the fact that it seems he is not a very nice man.

#28/90: The Lace Makers of Glenmara by Heather Barbieri (4/5) (romantic fiction)

Kate’s life in the US has fallen apart, so she decides to travel through Ireland in honor of her mother. She ends up in a remote village and under the tutelage of traditional lace makers. She breathes new life into their work while finding her place in the world and a new man.

#29/90: Lost Roses by Martha Hall Kelly (4/5) (historical fiction)

This is a prequel to The Lilac Girls, which I thought was a better book. This takes you through three main characters as well, Caroline’s mother in NY and two Russian women dealing with the changes during the revolution.
 
Update time!
#12 "Sons and Soldiers:the Untold Story of the Jews who Escaped the Nazis and returned w/the US Army to Fight Hitler" 4 stars-interesting
#13 "Winter at the Beach" 4 stars-typical Sheila Roberts feel-good romance
#14 "The Atomic Weight of Love" 3 stars, not too well written book of the wives of the men who worked on the atom bomb
#15 "Grace" 3 stars-again, the idea of all the childhood complications wasn't bad, just not for me.
#16 "Into the Wild" 3 stars a true story of a young man who, after college, hitchhiked to Alaska to live on his own, abandoning all relationship with his family and civilization. I guess I wanted some answers as to why he did it, but no one ever knew
#17 "Fall from Grace" 3 stars Frankly, I guess this one hit too close to home for me to enjoy. The main character was widowed, lost everything, but within 2 years, she was happy with her job and another man
#18 "Killing the SS" 4 stars Very factual and interesting.
 
#9/15

Planet of the Apes by Pierre Boulle
Wow! This is the first "movie" book I've read that totally surprised me. I mean, they all have things in them that aren't in the movie but the only things these had in common were names and apes/human switcheroo and a very basic plot:) I really enjoyed it. I will say, though, that it was written in 1963 so it had 60's sensibilities. Especially toward women and animals. I kind of cringed in some spots. An interesting commentary on how we as humans think we are the end all be all. I generally dislike books that bad mouth humans but I did have fun with this one :)
 
12/50 Hot Ticket (Sinners on Tour #3) - Olivia Cunning
13/50 Wicked Beat (Sinners on Tour #4) - Olivia Cunning
14/50 Double Time (Sinners on Tour #5) - Olivia Cunning

These are obviously part of a series haha. They're about a Heavy Metal band called the Sinners as they start relationships and tour the US/World. Good books but a bit more than romance if you know what I mean lol. I needed something completely mindless and fun this week as I've spent the week at my in-laws burying my brother-in-law. I'm a bit more than 1/2 way through another book I'd picked up months ago with the intention of sharing with him. I'm hoping to finish it tonight and leave it for my mother-in-law.
 
15/50 The Gown - Jennifer Robson

London, 1947 Though the war ended two years ago, England’s recovery has been difficult. But the nation’s spirits are lifted when Buckingham Palace announces the engagement of Princess Elizabeth to Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten. For Ann Hughes and Miriam Dassin, colleagues at the famed Mayfair fashion house of Norman Hartnell, the upcoming wedding is more than a celebration. The talented embroiderers have been chosen to create the intricate stitching that will adorn the royal bride’s priceless wedding gown. It is an extraordinary opportunity for an ordinary working-class English girl and a French émigrée who survived the Nazis.

Toronto, 2016 Intrigued by the exquisite set of hand-stitched flowers she has inherited from her late grandmother, Heather Mackenzie discovers the embroideries match the motifs decorating Queen Elizabeth II’s stunning gown from her wedding almost seventy years before. Among her grandmother’s possessions, she also finds an old photo of Nan with Miriam Dassin, a celebrated artist and Holocaust survivor. How did her beloved Nan, a woman who never spoke of her old life in Britain, come to possess these embroidered treasures? What was her connection to Miriam Dassin and why did Nan never mention her? Yearning to know more about her grandmother’s past and the mystery of the embroideries, Heather travels to London. It is a journey that will unlock the secrets of Nan’s life, including her connection to Miriam, and may even lead Heather to her own destiny.

I really, really enjoyed this book. A beautifully easy read that was also very interesting. I felt the ending was rushed slightly but still enjoyable.
 
Letters from Skye: A Novel by Jessica Brockmole #7 of 12. A story told in letters set in the two World Wars. Very moving. I enjoyed it very much.
 
#51/130 - The Only Woman in the Room by Marie Benedict

This was a fascinating read, a fictionalization of actual events in the life of actress Hedy Lamarr. I'm usually not big on WWII stories, which seems to be the overdone genre of the moment, but this one only dealt with the war in the most oblique ways, focusing on the ways it impacted Lamarr's life and on her unexpected talents that really weren't appreciated at the time but had a lasting legacy. And it was told from a distinctly feminine (and feminist) perspective, addressing head-on the way women's options were constrained by their gender and the coping mechanisms some developed to navigate those disadvantages at a turbulent time in history.

#52 - Seven Years to Sin by Sylvia Day
#53 - Lucien's Gamble

More romance novel escapism. These both stand alone but exist in the same fictionalized Victorian England, with the second centering around a background character in the first. Both were light, easy reading, maybe a bit heavier on the sex scenes than necessary but not so much so that it slowed the story down, not particularly memorable or noteworthy, but fun nonetheless.

#54 - 48 Hours by William R. Forstchen

Another end-of-the-world book by the author of One Second After, this one was more science-fiction than the previous trilogy. The whole story takes place in a very short period of time, starting in the wake of a solar storm that did major damage to the electrical grid (seems like a theme with this guy) and continuing through the discovery of a solar event that could essentially wipe out life on Earth, and is much more tightly written than his earlier books even though it spent a fair bit of time on the science of the looming apocalypse. Unlike a lot of books in this genre, the story wasn't about a race to prevent the apocalypse but rather the way various elements of society, from the president and federal government to a security guard in Missouri, deal with the impending crisis. Like his other books, there is a strong military element and there was one scene in particular that I had a hard time with just from lack of familiarity with the types of military vehicles involved. But overall it was an enjoyable read, a real page-turner of the sort that keeps you up past bedtime because you really want to know what happens next, and the ending didn't disappoint at all.
 
#25/50 Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

World War II is drawing to a close in East Prussia and thousands of refugees are on a desperate trek toward freedom, many with something to hide. Among them are Joana, Emilia, and Florian, whose paths converge en route to the ship that promises salvation, the Wilhelm Gustloff. Forced by circumstance to unite, the three find their strength, courage, and trust in each other tested with each step closer to safety.
Just when it seems freedom is within their grasp, tragedy strikes. Not country, nor culture, nor status matter as all ten thousand people—adults and children alike—aboard must fight for the same thing: survival.

Wow! This was really, really good. Would definetly recommend.
 
20/50 Fantasticland by Mike Bockoven Employees are trapped at a Disney World type theme park after a catastrophic hurricane. The mainly college aged employees turn into tribes & Lord of the Flies type events (but worse) ensue. The story is narrated by multiple characters through interviews. Quick & interesting read.
 

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