I'm going through my Goodreads list from 2012. I gave 5 stars to Night Circus (Probably my favorite of the year), The Book Thief (YA, but awesome), Rules of Civility, and LIfe of Pi.
Of all time... Harry Potter series.
100 Years of Solitude is one of the few books I couldn't finish. It was painful.
And because I can't stop. 4 star books I read this year:
The Language of Flowers, IQ84 (took me awhile to trudge through), One Day, The Paris Wife, The Silence of Trees, Gone Girl, Dark Places, The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake
And because I can't stop. 4 star books I read this year:
The Language of Flowers, IQ84 (took me awhile to trudge through), One Day, The Paris Wife, The Silence of Trees, Gone Girl, Dark Places, The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake
Loved the Language of Flowers, but I would suggest people skip it if they are pg or have a newborn.
And because I can't stop. 4 star books I read this year:
The Language of Flowers, IQ84 (took me awhile to trudge through), One Day, The Paris Wife, The Silence of Trees, Gone Girl, Dark Places, The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake
Loved the Language of Flowers, but I would suggest people skip it if they are pg or have a newborn.
That's a good point. I have a one year old, and it was difficult for me to stomach at times.
Seriously, don't read Casual Vacancy. It made me so upset I could not sleep at night. I read 150 pages and then gave it away.
Am I the only person who actually liked The Casual Vacancy? I think the first third was a bit slow, and I was a tad confused because there are so many characters, but I couldn't put it down once I got to the 2nd half. But, I'll say if you were upset with the first 150 pages its good you stopped, it got infinitely more upsetting.
I loved The Casual Vacancy. Then again, I never got past book one of the harry potter series so I was not expecting (nor did I want) anything similar to that. Also I tend to like dark books so this one was one of my favorites for the year.
Seriously, don't read Casual Vacancy. It made me so upset I could not sleep at night. I read 150 pages and then gave it away.
Am I the only person who actually liked The Casual Vacancy? I think the first third was a bit slow, and I was a tad confused because there are so many characters, but I couldn't put it down once I got to the 2nd half. But, I'll say if you were upset with the first 150 pages its good you stopped, it got infinitely more upsetting.
I agree that the first 150 pages were bad, but it got significantly better after that. I don't know if I'd really recommend it though. As a whole, I thought it was ok, but not great. I had to force myself to continue reading it, because the beginning was so boring.
I felt the opposite about Gone Girl -- the first 3/4 were great, and the last 1/4 was ridiculous and kind of ruined it for me.
Seriously, don't read Casual Vacancy. It made me so upset I could not sleep at night. I read 150 pages and then gave it away.
Am I the only person who actually liked The Casual Vacancy? I think the first third was a bit slow, and I was a tad confused because there are so many characters, but I couldn't put it down once I got to the 2nd half. But, I'll say if you were upset with the first 150 pages its good you stopped, it got infinitely more upsetting.
I also was reading it when I was super early in this pregnancy... like 4-5 weeks. My emotions were out of control at that time. I remember I couldn't watch Friday Night Lights during my first pregnancy because I found the story of the paralyzed QB so upsetting, so the early first tri is definitely an absurdly emotional time for me.
I think I MAY have been able to handle it if I hadn't been in early first tri, but I don't think I would have liked it.
Seriously, don't read Casual Vacancy. It made me so upset I could not sleep at night. I read 150 pages and then gave it away.
Am I the only person who actually liked The Casual Vacancy? I think the first third was a bit slow, and I was a tad confused because there are so many characters, but I couldn't put it down once I got to the 2nd half. But, I'll say if you were upset with the first 150 pages its good you stopped, it got infinitely more upsetting.
So interesting - what did you love / like about it?? I really, really wanted to like it!
(Hijacking the thread a bit).
My problem with The Casual Vacancy is that I didn't like ANY of the characters. Gaia was the only one that I didn't want to push under a bus, and then she kissed Fats and I wanted to throw the book across the room.
When it ended, I went "Phew!" and then wrote a 2-star Goodreads review. I do NOT want to go to Pagford!
I also loved 11/22/63. I also loved the first 2 books in the Kingkiller series (I think I read those last year, I didn't read much this year).
I did not love 12/2263. I think the ending was a let down as are many of his latest books. He could have cut 300 pages from the book and it still would be fine.
I tend to like stories with complicated characters that are neither good nor bad, and I think CV fit into that niche. I was particularly taken with Krystal's story, and how she's both her own worst enemy and a victim or her circumstances. I also found myself rooting for Sukvinder and Andrew. The ending absolutely gutted me.
This prompted me to look up a plot summary online and I feel seriously sick to my stomach now. I'm glad you liked it--several women in my book club have the same taste in books as you and I know would like it--but it's NMS and I am so, so glad I didn't finish it. I kind of wish I had not even read the plot summary.
Have you read Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward? My book club read it--I chose not to because I knew it wouldn't be my style, but it has similar complex characters. You might like it.
Thanks for all the suggestions everyone! I've heard lots of great things about A Prayer for Owen Meany, and after it being mentioned here a few times again, that might be next on my list.
DO IT! I read it this year after reading a thread similar to this, and it quickly became my favorite book of all time. I LOVED it.
Thanks for all the suggestions everyone! I've heard lots of great things about A Prayer for Owen Meany, and after it being mentioned here a few times again, that might be next on my list.
DO IT! I read it this year after reading a thread similar to this, and it quickly became my favorite book of all time. I LOVED it.
My favorite book is a tie between A Prayer for Owen Meany and The Cider House Rules.
Some of Irving's books I love, some I really do not. But these two are fantastic.