2016 Books Part 1
1 and 2. I am Half-Sick of Shadow and As Chimney Sweeps Come to Dust by Alan Bradley. These are a continuation of The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, which I loved. These books I did not love so much. One of them took Flavia out of the house and to a school in Canada and I didn't like that at all. The Christmas one was okay but didn't nearly have the depth of the first in the series. Somewhat of a disappointing read because I really do love Flavia as a character and had been looking forward to more of her but it didn't work for me.
3. Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen. I read this for book club and was half-way through it before I realized I had already seen the movie. It is a good one though. Simple, good points, and I like how it goes back and forth between the two characters and their view points, which are very different. A quick, easy but nice read.
4. Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri. This is a collection of short stories about Indians living in the Boston area and for the most part I enjoyed it but I did get annoyed when some of the stories ended. I wanted them to keep going and felt unsatisfied. They are interesting and thought-provoking but I realized I am a novel person, not a short story person. My friend loved this book though and wasn't bothered by the shortness of the stories so I suppose it just depends on your character.
5. Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan. I also read this for book club and I really enjoyed it. This poor girl is an only child and left an orphan when her parents get in a car accident. She is a different girl and wonderfully endearing. I love how she handles the challenge of finding a new family and taking care of herself and making it through a very tough situation. This was a good read and we had a great discussion at book club about it too.
6. My Antonia by Willa Cather. This is somewhat of a classic and it was fine but not really my kind of book. It felt slow and I only kind of liked the characters. Everyone else I know loves this book so perhaps I missed something but I thought it was kind of boring.
7. The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer. I liked this book. I didn't love it but I did really like it. It takes place during WWII but it is about a Hungarian Jewish man who goes to Paris to study architecture right before the war starts and so it was a different viewpoint, which I found refreshing. He has some unique experiences and there are good characters. I liked how a lot of the people in his life were involved with art somehow, such as architecture, ballet, theater and music, and how these people tried to keep art alive during such challenging circumstances. It only got really sad at the end but it was a good book.
8. The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey. This was an odd book. I could never really decide if it was real or magical but I think that was the author's intent. I liked it though and found it oddly interesting. I kept hoping I would figure out what was really happening but even at the end it is kind of left up to the reader to decide. It takes place up in Alaska back in the frontier times and is about a couple who really want a child but are unable to have one. Then a girl just shows up in their yard and they kind of adopt her but she only lives outside and doesn't talk much and is a bit of a mystery. I was really into this book but the constant tug back and forth between is this a fairy tale or is this real kind of got me at the end, which I found to be abrupt and disappointingly sad. But, I enjoyed the book as a whole for its practical but somewhat magical quality.
9. The Moonspinners by Mary Stewart. This was a book club read and my friend picked it because she lived in Greece and has happy memories and connections to it. It is a good mystery/suspense kind of story that takes place on an island in Greece. It was fun and easy and interesting.
10. What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty. This was the best book I read all year. I LOVED it. I found it so fascinating on many levels. I loved unraveling the mystery of her present life that she doesn't remember and I loved thinking about how my 10-year-ago self would like me now. Her sister's story line is kind of intense and I didn't love the somewhat weird insinuations about her friend but I still thought it was a fantastic book and I enjoyed it immensely. I still think about it sometimes and wonder what it would be like to just show up in my life today and not know my kids or what had happened in the last ten years.
11. The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. I also loved this book. This is a different kind of book for me but I found it very thought-provoking and fun. She gives good examples of how she applied her goals to real life, while sharing some mishaps and real feelings and that it doesn't always go so well. I liked her style and actually did a mini happiness project of my own as a result. Good things to think about and well-written. I am glad I read this book.
To be continued.....
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