Not a bad November

Sometimes, when I count up my actual reading days, I realize I don't read nearly as much as I thought I did. But then I also realize I get a lot of pages read in not a lot of days. 9 days of actual reading time, 4 books, 1344 pages. That's an average of 150 pages a day. If I could read that much every day, dang, I'd read a LOT! Like 12+ books a week. Oh well. Here we go with this month's reading. 

Love Comes First by Emily Giffin (380 pages). I decided to return to my roots and read a little chick lit. And it had definitely been a while since I'd read any Giffin (like 4 years or so). It's days before Christmas when the Garland family's lives are forever changed by the death of oldest child, Daniel. Fifteen years later, their lives are still wrecked. Middle child Josie isn't where she thought she'd be- she's single and currently a teacher with her ex's daughter in her class. Youngest child Meredith also isn't where she thought she'd be- she's unhappily married to her brother's best friend, has a daughter she loves, and is a lawyer rather than the actress she wanted to be. As the sisters try to repair what remains of their family, deep truths are revealed. I really liked this book- it was a little deeper than typical chick lit. It took me three days to finish it (only 2 days of actual reading time)

Ape House by Sara Gruen (303 pages).  John Thigpen is a reporter, sent to cover a human interest story about the language skills of bonobos at the Great Ape Language Lab. He quickly becomes fascinated with them and the scientist in charge of them, Isabel Duncan. When an explosion blasts the lab, it changes Isabel's life and her family of the apes. She must go up against great odds to rescue her apes from their new torturous life. With the help of John and several others, she travels to New Mexico to save her apes. It was a very fascinating and intriguing story. Knowing the true language abilities of apes, it was very interesting to read (an albeit fictional) account of their abilities. And their personalities. Now I want to go to a bonobo sanctuary and actually interact with them!  It took me four days to finish it (only 2 days of actual reading time). 

A Woman Named Damaris by Janette Oke (219 pages). This was actually a reread for me. I've read pretty much every book written by Janette Oke and loved them all. I'm currently reading Acts and there is a verse about a woman named Damaris who believed. Which reminded me of this book, so I decided to pull it out and reread it. Damaris is barely 15 when her mother plants a seed in her mind- that she doesn't have to live her mother's life with her abusive, alcoholic father. So she runs away and joins a wagon train. She finds a new life in a small town. She also learns that family can be created, all men aren't alcoholics, and God is good. Oke is a Christian author, so all of her books focus on faith. Which I love. And most of her books take place in the Wild West. Or at least the time of wagon trains and tough living. I had actually forgotten some of the story, so was thrilled to read it again. It only took me one afternoon to read it

Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann (442 pages). The movie has been on Netflix and I just read an article that it's not going to be streaming after this month. So I rewatched it. And after watching it, remembered that the book was so much better. So I decided to reread it. It's been at least a decade since I've read it.  And it was sooooo much better than the movie. Why in the world they completely butchered the movie by changing the ending, I will never understand. The book opens in New York City in 1945. Twenty year old Anne Welles has just moved there to start a life far away from her Puritan hometown. She quickly befriends seventeen year old Neely O'Hara, a vaudeville kid with big talent, and twenty something year old Jennifer North, a gorgeous girl with no talent. Their friendships span nearly twenty years of success, failure, love, heartbreak, and more dolls than you could shake a stick at!  The dolls (or pills) help you sleep, help you diet, help you have energy, anything you need. I get that it's hard to condense a nearly 450 page book into a good movie. But boy, did they mess up the story. Oh well. It took me seven days to finish it (only 4 days of actual reading time). 

October was a win, at least page-wise

I didn't read a lot of books this month (only 2). But I did get a lot of pages read (1,147 pages). In my defense, I didn't have a whole lot of free time last month. Fingers crossed, I'll have some more free time this month so I can get more reading done!

China Dolls by Lisa See (376 pages). The story starts in San Francisco in 1938. Grace, Ruby and Helen all meet, by chance, in Chinatown. Grace has just arrived from Ohio, convinced her years of dance training will help her become a star and escape her violent father. Ruby, talented and intoxicating, has her own secrets. And then there is Helen, a traditional Chinese girl who decides it is time to spread her wings. The girls immediately bond. And for the next 10 years, their lives remain intertwined as they remain in show business. Just because their lives are intertwined doesn't mean they always like each other. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor rocks their lives and shocking betrayals bring a lot of things to light. I really liked this book. I loved how the author used real people, real places and real events to make the girls' story seem like it could have been true. I love the detail she put into describing the Chinese-American nightclub era.  It took me five days to finish it (only 2 days of actual reading time). 

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt (771 pages). Apparently, I am late to the game in reading this one. Seeing as it was a Pulitzer Prize winning book and all.  It was well worth the wait. Theo Decker is 13 years old. He lives with his mother in New York City. His father abandoned them, but Theo doesn't care- he and his mom have always been a twosome, even before his dad left. One day, an unimaginable accident takes the life of his mother. And lands him with a world famous piece of artwork. After a short stay with his friend's family, Theo's dad reemerges. And off Theo goes to Vegas. There, he meets Boris and his world changes. When his dad dies in a car accident, Theo runs home to New York and creates a new family and a new life for himself. Years later, Boris returns to his life, with a shocking secret about a shocking secret of Theo's. Together they enter a dangerous world, all in the hopes of recovering something Theo thought was lost to him forever. It was a darkly beautiful book. Very dark. It took me twelve days to finish it (only 6 days of actual reading time). 

September readings

I'm pretty proud of the reading I got done in September. Between the vacation and days by the pool, I was able to get 8 books at 2,554 pages read. Yay for me!  So here goes....

The Summer of Katya by Trevanian (239 pages). It was billed as a thriller. And for the first half of the book, I was seriously questioning the thrill. The story takes place in France in 1938. Young Jean-Marc is fresh out of medical school and working as a small town doctor when he meets the beautiful Katya. She and her family are a little bit strange (her twin bother is super protective, her father is an absentminded academic, and her mother died in childbirth). But Jean-Marc falls head over heels. Then, the thrill started. I will NOT say what happened. But my mouth was agape for the last several pages!  I really, really liked it. Way more than I expected to!  It took me five days to finish (only two days of actual reading time). 

The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George (370 pages).  Jean Perdu owns quite possibly the most amazing bookstore in all of Paris- the Literary Apothecary, a bookstore fashioned out of an old barge. From this floating bookstore, Jean sells books that his customers' hearts and souls truly need. But his heart and soul have been dead since the love of his life left him. Twenty years earlier. Left him with nothing but memories and an unopened letter. When he finally opens the letter, it sends him on a journey. Both literally and figuratively. He makes new friends. In the most unlikely of places. It was also one of the most poetically, literarically (yep, English major word creation rears its head) books I have ever read. I enjoyed this book like an amazing meal. I finished it in two days while sitting by the pool. 

A Walk with Jane Austen by Lori Smith (218 pages).  This was a memoir. The author was, like many of us, slightly obsessed with Jane Austen. So she decided to travel around England for a while, taking in everything that Jane might have experienced and learning a bit about herself as well.  I saw some of myself in the author. She's in her thirties, unmarried and a strong Christian. I really wanted to like this book. But I didn't. Probably because no book was going to measure up to the one I'd just finished.  I should've given myself a little more time to enjoy the after effects of The Little Paris Bookshop before I started another book. It took me six days to read (only three days of actual reading time). 

The American Heiress by Daisy Goodwin (465 pages). It's 1893 and Cora Cash is the belle of the Gilded Age in New York City. As one of the wealthiest heiresses in the country, Cora's mother wants more for her than just to marry another wealthy American. She has her eye on the ultimate prize- a title. When Cora and her mother go to England, Cora manages to land herself a duke, and all the shabbiness that accompanied titled gentlemen of that time. Little does Cora realize though, the world she has married into is far stuffier and more reserved than her upbringing. But Cora is an American after all, passionate but brave. And determined to show the world that she made the perfect marriage for herself. I really enjoyed this book. An interesting combination of Downton Abbey and the Gilded Age of America. It took me three days to read (only two days of actual reading time). 

Tales of the Peculiar by Tansom Riggs (160 pages). This book was referenced in Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. It was basically like an aesop's fables or a fairy tale book of nothing but peculiars. It was 10 stories of different peculiars and the lessons you can learn from their peculiarities. It was a super easy read and as someone who loved the original trilogy, this was like a perfect cherry on the top of it. It took me two days to read. 

The Postmistress by Sarah Blake (352 pages). First off, I was annoyed that she "made up" the town of Franklin, Massachusetts, as a coastal town when there is Franklin, Massachusetts, about an hour southwest of Boston and about an hour west of the Cape. Don't create a fictional town when that town actually exists!  Apparently, it's supposed to be Provincetown. Oh well. Secondly, I don't like a write up on the back of a book that doesn't really do the book justice. The main character ISN'T the postmistress. The fact that she doesn't deliver one letter ISN'T the whole premise of the story. However, let's get to it. The year is 1940. The war is going on in Europe. And the new postmistress of Franklin is settling into her job. The new doctor's new wife has just arrived in town. Everyone listens to news woman Frankie Bard reporting her experiences from England. Everything seems to be perfect(ish). Until one night, when Dr Fitch loses a patient. And with that, the course of lives change. Dr Fitch goes to England, a letter is delivered to Mrs Fitch that isn't actually delivered to her, and Frankie experiences more of the war than she imagined. When the three women's lives finally intertwine in Franklin, some truths come out and some stay hidden. The book is an interesting look at how we never get the whole story. Just some of it. It took me three days to read (although I read all but 5 chapters in one day. I love vacation!)

Midwives by Chris Bohjalian (372 pages). Sibyl Danforth has been a midwife for at least a decade and successfully delivered hundreds of babies. She loves her job, she loves her husband and their fourteen year old daughter Connie and she loves her life in Vermont. But one icy night in March, Sibyl faces a difficult delivery, one that results in the death of the mother and an emergency C-section. While Sibyl is an experienced midwife, she isn't a medically licensed one. So what if the mother wasn't dead when Sibyl performed the C-section and her actions actually killed the mother?  The charge of involuntary manslaughter and ensuing trial challenge Sibyl's family, Sibyl's chosen profession and even the town. I've always liked Bohjalian's writing and this one was no different. In typical Bohjalian fashion, there was a twist at the end. I read it in one day (ah, the pros of traveling)

At the Water's Edge by Sara Gruen (378 pages). Maddie Hyde was living an extraordinarily pampered life in Philadelphia in 1944. Her husband Ellis and his best friend Hank were her best friends and they were all gloriously wealthy. The war in Europe barely even effected them, other than Ellis and Hank being "medically unfit" to serve. Then, one drunken New Years Eve, Ellis decided to do what his father couldn't- prove that the Loch Ness monster was real. Off the three of them went to Scotland. Once they were ensconced in a little inn on the shores of Loch Ness, Maddie realized quite a few things about the life she thought she loved. And realized she didn't want that life anymore. One afternoon on the loch, everyone's beliefs about the monster, and themselves, are put to the test. I started reading it by the pool and four hours later, when I went inside and hadn't quite finished it yet, I went ahead and finished it. Yep- one day. 

I'm pretty proud of my August effort this month

I finally feel like I stepped it up this month. I spent a lot of time poolside, so that helped. I managed to read 6 books at 2,086 pages. Not too shabby. Not my best, but far from my worst. So away we go!

Predators, Prey and Other Kinfolk: Growing Up in Polygamy by Dorothy Allred Simpson (396 pages). This book was the true story of one of Rulan Allred's daughters. The daughter of his fourth wife and twenty-eighth of forty-eight children. She was born in 1949, after her father had already been convicted of polygamy once. So all subsequent children and wives were always hidden. The families were uprooted time and time again in an effort to evade polygamist round-ups. Dorothy decided to rebel against her family and was monogamous. But her family went through a lot. Her father was shot in his office, a victim of a rival family who hated the Allreds. When the woman who pulled the trigger was acquitted (after lying during the trial), Dorothy headed up the civil lawsuit when the woman wrote a tell-all. A lawsuit that actually inspired the civil lawsuit against OJ Simpson. The story was really fascinating and made me do a little Googling once I finished (I love doing that when I'm reading about real people!). Lo and behold, Rulan was Christine Brown's (one of the Sister Wives') grandfather!  Crazy!  It took me three days to read (only two days of actual reading time). 

The Lizzie Borden Trial: Be the Judge. Be the Jury by Doreen Rappaport (184 pages). My parents and I are going to see Lizzie Borden's house in September, so Dad decided we should do a little pre-trip reading. This one was interesting. It was laid out very matter of factly. By prosecution side. By defense side. By witness. By the jury charge. The most shocking thing to me wasn't the lack of direct evidence or he fact that the police force didn't do a stellar job (hello, it was the 1890's. They didn't have forensics). It was the jury charge. The judge basically told the jury to find her innocent. It was insane!  It was also an easy read. I finished it in one afternoon by the pool!

The Borden Murders by Sarah Miller (251 pages). This one wasn't quite as matter of fact as the prior one. It told more of a story and less of a transcript. I really enjoyed it. The author seemed to lean a little more towards Lizzie's innocence than I do. Then again, she's done research and mine is just gut. Another easy read. I finished it in one afternoon by the pool (different weekend). 

The Secrets of Lizzie Borden by Brandy Purdy (293 pages). Another in the Lizzie Borden onslaught of 2016. I kind of wish I'd read this book first. It was a historical novel. Which I normally love. But I tend to like historical novels about people with whom I am not familiar. The. I can research and learn more about them and what is truth vs fiction. I did this one in reverse. I know WAY too much about Lizzie to enjoy this very much. Who knew Lizzie was completely sexually confused, falling in love/lust with both men and women?  Or that she was raped?  Or engaged to her cousin?  No one, that's who. Because none of those are truths about Lizzie. The being a lesbian was a rumor. But never verified. The book took SOOOO many liberties with the life of Lizzie Borden that I finally had to pretend like this was a work of fiction. At that point, I could actually keep reading. It took me five days to finish if (but only three days of actual reading time). And thus endeth the Lizzie Borden trilogy for this girl. I must say, I'm really excited about going to see her house next month!!

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan (527 pages). Rachel Chu and Nick Young have been together for 2 years when he asks her to be his date at the wedding of his best friend in his hometown of Singapore. Rachel quickly realizes that the handsome, studio-apartment living professor she's been seeing is actually a member of one of the richest families in Singapore.  The world he is a part of is beyond anything she could ever imagine. And while Nick is thrilled to introduce her to his world, members of his family don't share his excitement. Drama ensues. I really loved this one. I kind of didn't want it to end. It took me seven days to read it (only three days of actual reading time). 

One Day by David Nicholls (435 pages). So I saw this movie a while ago and realized that I actually owned the book. I'm very glad I saw the movie first. Because the movie was NOT good. But I, for some reason, decided to give the book a chance (after all, the book is always better). The book was SO much better. The concept was great (both as a book and as a movie). Emma and Dexter become friends the night of graduation from college, July 15. And each chapter of the book reflects what they are doing on that same day, every year. Sometimes they are together, sometimes they are apart. Sometimes they love each other, sometimes they barely like each other. It made me laugh, it even made me get a little teary-eyed (even when I knew what was coming). I finished it in two days. 

July wasn't too shabby

I did pretty well this month. 5 books at 2,566 pages. Admittedly, one of the books spanned last month AND this month. But still. I read the bulk of this month. So there. 

After You by Jojo Moyes (352 pages). The sequel to Me Before You. Want to know what happens to Lou AFTER Will?  Well, it's not that pretty for a while. Lou is completely lost without him. But one day, after an accident, her world begins to open up again. And she remembers that Will wanted her to live, something she hasn't been doing since she lost him. I liked this one just as much as the first one (but definitely wasn't in tears again!). It took me 2 days to to read it. Yep, 2 days. It was that good

The Isle of the Lost by Melissa de la Cruz (311 pages). Disney out out an original movie in 2015 call typed The Descendants. This was the prequel to that movie. Mal (daughter of Maleficent), Jay (son of Jafar), Carlos (son of Cruella de Vil) and Evie (daughter of the Evil Queen) live with their parents on the magic-free Isle of the Lost, where King Beast banished all villains. These four join forces on a quest that actually begins to establish a bond between them, something that villains don't do. It was a cute, super easy read. I finished it in one day. 

A Storm of Swords by George RR Martin (1128 pages). Book 3 in the series. I actually started this book in June, but decided to take a little break to read other books. If you've seen season 3 of the show, you remember what happened. Joffrey dies, the Red Wedding happens. And oh yeah, Robb's wife isn't there. Or pregnant. And Lady Stoneheart makes her first appearance. Don't recognize that name. Oh, it's just the reanimated Catelyn Stark. What?!  The craziness of the show is not even the same level as the craziness of the books. It took me 48 days (but only 10 days of actual reading time).  

The Land of Stories: An Author's Odyssey by Chris Colfer (438 pages). The fifth book in the series. The Land of Stories is still in grave danger, thanks to the Masked Man's evil plot. So Connor hatches a plot of his own- he and Alex will use their grandmother's potion to go into Connor's short stories and recruit the heroes to their cause. Alex is in awe of her brother's writing talent- she finds herself both literally and figuratively enthralled by his stories. But can they recruit all the heroes they need?  And will they be in time to save their beloved Land of Stories?  It took me one day to read it (yay for pool time!)

The Singles Game by Lauren Weisberger (337 pages). Instead of the world of fashion, the author of The Devil Wears Prada delves into the competitive world of tennis. Charlie Silver is ranked in the twenties when she plays Wimbledon. But an accident in her match makes her reevaluate her approach to her life. A new coach and a new image take her from girl next door to Warrior Princess, the number two ranked female player in the world. But is it really what she wants?  And how much of her new image is image instead of who she is?  Weisberger loves to show the other side of "glamorous" careers- the loneliness, the partying, the determination, the ruthlessness. I really liked this one. It only took me one day to read. That's right, two books in one weekend. Man, I love a pool weekend!

June was a bust all over (only true theatre people will get this one)

I did an AWFUL job reading in June. Literally, just the one book. I am half way through a 1000 page book though. Does that count for anything?  So here we go.

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes (369 pages). I decided to give this a read now that the movie has come out. I knew it was going to be a tearjerker. But holy smokes!  Louisa Clark is 27 and has never been outside of her small town. When she gets a job as a companion for Will Traynor, she's not sure what she's signed on for. He's 35 and a quadrapoligic.  And he's given himself 6 months before he travels to Switzerland to take his own life via assisted suicide. Louisa decides to give him a reason to live. In doing so, she actually rediscovers her own will to live. The ending was what I expected, but not what I wanted. And all I could do was bawl!  It took me 9 days to read it (but only 4 actual reading days). 

I MAY have had a slow month....

I did an awful job raiding again this past month. I blame my slip and fall. The pain meds had me more than a little loopy. But away we go.....

A Clash of Kings by George RR Martin (969 pages). Book 2 in A Song of Fire and Ice.  I can't tell if I've just forgotten things from the show or if they left stuff out. But I'm really enjoying the books so far. I feel like I know even more about the characters and their world than the show is able to actually portray. It took me 24 days (only 8 days of actual reading time)

So yep, one book. One measly book