I read a lot of good stuff (or maybe was just generous with my ratings):
Tell the Wolves I'm Home -- Carol Rifka Brunt 5* A Place of Execution -- Val McDermid 3* Where'd You Go, Bernadette -- Maria Semple 5* The Bellwether Revivals -- Benjamin Wood 4* The Violinist's Thumb -- Sam Kean 3* Broken Harbor -- Tana French 5* The Virgin Cure -- Ami McKay 4*
Deadly Pink by Vivian Vande Velde - 3* The Declaration by Gemma Malley - 4* Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross - 3* Wake by Lisa McMann - 3* Tuesdays at the Castle by Jessica Day George - 5* Hate List by Jennifer Brown - 4* Everneath by Brodi Ashton - 2* Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore - 3* Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon - 5* Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy - 5*
Post by 5kcandlesinthewind on Sept 3, 2012 10:38:13 GMT -5
Dusky, I really liked Hate List. I read it right around the time I read Dave Cullen's Columbine, and it was an interesting companion piece.
For August, I got through:
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein - 4 1/2 stars Matched by Allie Condie - 3 stars Coffeehouse Angel by Suzanne Selfors - 3 1/2 stars Dorothy Parker: What Fresh Hell is This? by Marion Meade - 3 1/2 stars Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn - 3 stars 11/22/63 by Stephen King - 3 stars The Second Empress by Michelle Moran - 3 1/2 stars
Post by chicacocodrilo on Sept 3, 2012 14:07:41 GMT -5
Phantoms on the Bookshelves by Jacques Bonnet; 3 stars An Uncommon Education by Elizabeth Percer; 2 stars Into the Beautiful North by Luis Alberto Urrea; 4 stars Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple; 3 stars American Emperor by David O. Stewart; 4 stars
Post by dorothyinAus on Sept 3, 2012 17:41:15 GMT -5
Perfect by Marne Davis Kellogg -- I love Kick Keswick adventures and this one did not disappoint, though I had the ultimate mystery solved at the first opportunity. It was still a fun read through.
Newton and the Counterfeiter by Thomas Levenson -- It was very interesting, but did slog a bit. I learned about the history of money, coinage, bank notes -- I never associated the term bank notes with banks, and saw a completely different side to Isaac Newton than is presented in science classes.
A Princess of Mars - Edgar Rice Burroughs, 3* It was ok. I guess I can't say it was full of cliches since this book was the first of it's kind but the characters came across as very flat and the pacing was slow going for alot of it. I probably won't finish the series.
Entwined - Heather Dixon, 2* I really wanted to love this book but it just didn't happen. The story was horribly slow mixed with obvious HP rip offs.
Anna Dressed in Blood - Kendare Blake, 4* Loved this one. Quick scary ghost story and I'm looking forward to reading the sequal.
Ashes by Ilisa J Bick Shadows by Ilsa J Bick - the first two of a zombie trilogy and I swear, the second book was hands down the goriest book I've ever read. It's getting kind of mixed reviews because the first quarter of the book is kind of a mess but I loved it.
The Princess Bride by S. Morganstern/William Golding - LOVED. Can not believe I waited so long to read this since The Princess Bride is one of my favorite movies.
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson - I loved this book so much. I love Shirley Jackson in general but this book was so creepy and weird.
The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach - I loved this one too. I just had a really great reading month. I do like baseball so that added to how much I enjoyed this but I think most people would like it. It's a nice story. I just heard that it got picked up for a series on HBO! Ceremonial Violence: A Psychological Explanation of School Shootings by Dr. Jonathan Fast - I wanted to read a NF book about school shootings after reading (and loving) We Need to Talk About Kevin but this book was so biased that it completely turned me off. Plus I thought that Dave Cullen did a far better job with Columbine.
Post by rootbeerfloat on Sept 3, 2012 21:53:00 GMT -5
Flowertown, SJ Redling - 3.5* Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, Jamie Ford - 4* Dead as a Doornail, Charlaine Harris - 3.5* Definitely Dead, Charlaine Harris - 3.5* The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky - 3* Saving CeeCee Honeycutt, Beth Hoffman - 3* 11/22/63, Stephen King - 4.5* Lucky Man: A Memoir, Michael J. Fox - 4*
The Princess Bride by S. Morganstern/William Golding - LOVED. Can not believe I waited so long to read this since The Princess Bride is one of my favorite movies.
I enjoyed the book so much. The movie is great, but the book is great too. I thought it went into more detail and provides better understanding of the characters, I really enjoyed the background on Inigo.
If you can find it, William Goldman/S. Morgenstern wrote The Silent Gondoliers. It was a quick read, possibly a novella -- I finished it in an afternoon -- but I thought it was just as good, if not better than The Princess Bride.
I think the only book I got through the last month was We Need to Talk About Kevin (5*). I hope to have some more free time this month, I'm behind on my schedule!
Overdressed: TheShockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion by Elizabeth L. Cline, 5* Grave Secret by Charlaine Harris, 3* Carolina Home by Virginia Kantra, 4* Ruby by Lauraine Snelling, 3* The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper, 3* (the third star was I think for the book's cultural impact) A Bone to Pick by Charlaine Harris, 4* Devil in Disguise by Heather Huffman, 3* The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater, 4* The Portable Dorothy Parker, 4*
Mostly easy-reading stuff. We were on staycation the first week of August (can I go back?!).
Game of Thrones # 4 - A Feast for Crows - 5 Emily Giffin's latest, Where We Belong - 5 Danielle Steel's latest, Friends Forever - I'd give this one a -1. I should know by now what I'm getting with DS, but wow, she really phoned it in and the book was just one depressing incident after another. Meg Howrey's The Crane Dances - 4
Post by blueshirt2003 on Sept 7, 2012 8:24:46 GMT -5
The Last Victim by Karen Robards. I really enjoyed it. It was a quick read about a woman who experienced a family mass murder as a teen.
How I Came to Sparkle Again by Kaya McLaren was good too! It is a book about a woman who comes home (the city name is Sparkle) and also of 3 other characters stories and it all runs together by the end of the book. It was a great relaxing read.
and about half of Catching Fire (second in the Hunger Games series)
Catching Fire hasn't really been doing it for me, though it's starting to pick up. I'm thinking about putting it down to start reading Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail that a friend gave me