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!
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