Cheers, 2017! It was nice reading you!

So this blog entry, the last of 2017, is a wrap up of my monthly readings AND my yearly totals. So let’s get into this months readings. I read 5 books at 1,892 pages. 

The Girl in the Spider’s Web by David Lagercrantz (400 pages). The fourth in the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series begun by Stieg Larsson. I’ve loved this series from day one. Loved the movies too (the Swedish version was far superior). This one kicks off with the murder of a brilliant scientist. Lisabeth and Blomkvist must join forces to solve the murder and save the scientist’s autistic savant young son. Honestly, if a different author’s name weren’t on the cover, I wouldn’t have realized it wasn’t written by Larsson. It was great- the world of hacking is at its peak in this one. And some of Lisabeth’s ghosts come back into the picture. I’m hoping this is just the first of many books to expand this series. I finished in 7 days. 

The Circle by Dave Eggers (497 pages). I watched the movie several months ago and found it both fascinating and terrifying. So I decided to read it (I had heard that there are some major differences, so were those changes good or bad?). Mae gets a dream job with The Circle, a company that’s part Google, part Apple, part Facebook, part Amazon, all cult. She becomes completely involved and wrapped up in this new world. It’s invasive, all consuming, and actually amazing in some ways. It’s a truly fascinating look at how technology is taking over our world and changing the way we live, including the way we interact with actual human beings!  Some of the inventions are genius, but most are so terrifying. The idea of no privacy anywhere anymore is frightening. The biggest change was the ending. Which left me disappointed in Mae and frightened for the future. I finished in 9 days. 

The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom (365 pages). In 1791, 7 year old orphaned Irish immigrant Lavinia is brought to Tall Oaks as an indentured servant. She is placed in the care of Belle, the master’s illegitimate daughter who runs the kitchen house. Lavinia considers herself part of Belle’s family for most of her young life, not realizing that her skin color will always set her apart from them. She tries to straddle the delicate balance between the big house and the slave quarters, with a naïveté that is both endearing and frightening. The story is bookended with a shocking murder, the story behind it unfolding during the novel itself. I found myself in tears by the end, and at many times throughout. Reading about families being torn apart by heartless and vindictive masters, about families who love each other to distraction (regardless of skin color), about strength and love in any situation. I finished in 5 days. 

Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly (483 pages). Historical fiction (you know I’m a sucker for it) and amazing!  The story is about 3 women- Caroline Ferriday (real life woman), Herta Oberheuser (real life woman), and Kasia Kuzmerick (fictional teenager). Caroline is an American, a former Broadway actress and a liaison to the French consulate. Herta is a German doctor who finds herself at Ravensbrück concentration camp. Kasia is a Polish girl who gets involved in the underground resistance and finds herself sent to Ravensbrück. The atrocities committed at Ravensbrück are horrendous. They conducted brutal “experiments” on 74 Polish political prisoners, eventually known as the Ravensbrück Rabbits. And I cannot believe I knew nothing about this place or the two women who are the central characters in this novel. As always, I ended up doing some research on my own. Just fascinating. And heartbreaking. Google Ravensbrück Rabbits for an idea. Or Caroline Ferriday. Or Herta Oberheuser. I find myself forgetting how many people Hitler had tortured and killed in addition to the Jewish people.  I finished it in 7 days. 

A Shoe Addict’s Christmas by Beth Harbison (147 pages). Three days left in the month, so just enough time to finish one last book this year!  And a Christmas gift book at that!  The story was cute. Noelle works at a high end department store. On Christmas Eve, she inadvertently gets locked in overnight. And meets her guardian angel, Charlie. Charlie uses different shoes in the store to recreate Noelle’s memories  of the holidays. And see if her life would’ve been different if she’d made different choices. It was kind of a fashionista’s version of A Christmas Carol. And I liked it a lot!  I finished in 3 days. 

This month's favorite read goes to (drum roll please)- story wise, it was Girl in the Spider’s Web. Knowledge wise, it was Lilac Girls. 

This year, I made a resolution to read at least 50 pages a day, which would have totally 18,250 pages. In fact, I read 66 books. A total of 25,272 pages. Yep, I read at least 69 pages a day and 7022 pages over my goal!  I plan to keep it up for next year too (at least the 50 pages a day commitment anyway)!  Happy reading!

Mo(reading)vember for this girl!

I did some good reading this month, both in terms of amount and quality. Honestly, not a bad book in the bunch. And a nice variety. Thriller, historical fiction, western, chick lit, YA. All in all, 8 books at 2,395 pages. Go me!

The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena (308 pages). At first glance, it was a strange combination of Truly, Madly, Guilty and Little Face (two books I’ve read already and really enjoyed). But it was actually very different. Anne and Marco left their 6 month old daughter at home to have dinner with their next door neighbors one night. They checked on her every thirty minutes. And had a monitor. But when they left dinner, the front door was open and Cora was gone. Without a trace of evidence. About halfway through the book, the kidnapper is revealed. But it’s not as simple as it appears, as everyone has secrets. Anne, Marco, the neighbors, Anne’s wealthy parents. The whole thing starts to go awry. And then, that ending!  Suffice it to say, addictive read. I clearly read more than 50 pages a day because I didn’t want to put it down!  I finished it in 4 days. 

Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry (241 pages). Years ago, I bought the entire series that follows up The Giver. But I never got around to reading them so I decided to do just that. I wouldn’t go so far as to say this was a sequel though. So thank goodness it had been a while since I read The Giver (like I had to google the plot to remember it). Kira is crippled and orphaned in a society that doesn’t see value in either. When some of the women of her village take her before the Council of Guardians to ask for her death, Kira expects the worst. But the Guardians know about her gift, her artistry with tapestry. So she is brought into the Council Edifice to live and work. After befriending another artist, a young woodcarver named Thomas, she begins to learn some truths about the world she has always lived in.  Her only other true friend, a young boy named Matt, helps her as well, by finding another village that exists past the Forest that surrounds them. I finished it in 3 days. 

Messenger by Lois Lowry (169 pages). Book 3 in the series. Matty (yes, the same Matt from the previous book) has found a new home in a new village. He lives with the blind Seer in a village that appreciates differences and flaws. It’s a safe haven amongst the other villages. The Leader of the village, a man who arrived on a sled one winter day (hello Jonas from The Giver) has rules. But they are things like “no secrets” and a barter system and “everyone is special.”  Matty happily spends his time in the village with Seer and going back to visit Kira, who happens to be Seer’s daughter. He even has a job- he’s the messenger for Leader. But selfishness and something else sinister start to invade their happy village. Something brought about when the Trademaster comes to town. And decisions are made that will affect not only the village, but the surrounding world. Matty learns that he too has a gift. And his gift is his greatest strength. The book was heartbreaking and so powerful. I finished it in 2 days. 

Son by Lois Lowry (393 pages). The final book in the series.  Claire is a Birth Mother in her village. When her first birthing goes wrong, she is sent to another job. Suddenly the contentment she’d always felt seems gone. Then, at that year’s Ceremony, a shocking event happened. Young Jonas is selected to be the Receiver (wait, did we just come full circle to The Giver?!). She also learns that her son survived the difficult birth. Yep, you guessed it- Baby Gabriel who escapes with Jonas!  When Claire hears the alarm that Jonas and Gabe have escaped, she flees to a boat that’s from Elsewhere. And then wakes up in a new village with no memory of her prior life.  When her memories start coming back, she decides it’s time to find her son. That’s when she meets Trademaster. And finds her way to the village where Gabe has been living with Jonas this whole time. Seriously, this series was phenomenal. Every once in a while, I read a YA book that makes me think and feel.  And one that every child AND adult should read. This series was one of them. I finished it in 5 days. 

Shopaholic to the Rescue by Sophie Kinsella (345 pages). The 8th in the Shopaholic series. I decided to head back to a little mindless and fun chick lit. This one picks up where Shopaholic to the Stars left off, with Rebecca’s father and Suze’s husband off to Vegas to “right an old wrong.”  Rebecca, Luke, their daughter Minnie, Suze, Alicia Bitch Longlegs, Rebecca’s Mom Jane and Jane’s best friend Janice are in aN RV, heading across the Southwest in search of their lost men. Turns out, there’s a big secret Rebecca’s dad has been hiding. For years. And nothing will stop Rebecca from fixing the problem, Ocean’s Eleven style!  It was a lot of fun and an easy read. I finished it in 4 days. 

The Hamilton Affair by Elizabeth Cobbs (424 pages). Yes, an old standby- historical fiction!!  And historical fiction about my favorite musical (that I haven’t seen yet)?  Double win. I had done some research on my own after becoming obsessed with Hamilton after hearing the musical. So I knew a lot about him.  But reading anything bout him and his wife is fascinating to me. Cheating scandal aside, if I could find a love like the Hamiltons had, I would be ecstatic!  Yes, he was very focused on starting our government (almost to the point of ignoring his family), but his love for Eliza never faltered. And her devotion to him for the last several decades of her life without him was astonishing. I finished it in 8 days. 

The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold (291 pages). I picked this one because there were only 6 days left in the month, so I knew I had to pick something I could finish!  Hey, I embrace my nerdiness. This one started with, wow. The very first chapter sets the events of the entire novel into motion, which isn’t something you see in every novel. It occurs over a 24 hour period. Helen Knightly is a middle aged woman. She’s given everything she has to everyone in her life- her children, her ex-husband, her father, but especially her emotionally and mentally ill mother. It all comes to a head one day. Helen makes an emotional decision. And holy crap- does it change everything!!  It was eerie and haunting and soooo strange. I finished it in 2 days. I’m a hopeless nerd

True Grit by Charles Portis (224 pages). 4 days left in the month called for another short book to finish. Seeing as I did a bang up job of blowing through the previous one a leeeeetle faster than I thought I would. Just as enjoyable as the movie, maybe even more so. 14 year old Mattie Ross engages the services of US Marshall Rooster Cogburn and Texas Ranger LaBoeuf to help her track down the man who murdered her father in cold blood. For some reason, despite the fact that it’s a pretty basic story, it’s really really good!  I finished it in 4 days. 

This month's favorite read goes to (drum roll please)- The Giver series. It was amazing!!  I seriously couldn’t pick just one favorite out of the three. They each just added to each other