Faith Behind the Fences by Kelly Dispirito Taylor is not on my list but I read it anyway because my sister recommended it to me and even let me borrow her copy. Kelly and my sister are sisters-in-law. I love this book. I told my sister that I knew I really liked it when I started dreaming out it.
This is a true story about a family that is put into a Japanese Prison Camp and how they use their faith to survive. They had amazing experiences as they worked and tried to stay together and used any means they could find to help not only themselves but those around them as well.
Faith Behind the fences is a great book and gets 5 out of 5 stars.
Friday, May 20, 2011
The Confession by John Grisham
The Confession by John Grisham made it on the list because it is written by John Grisham. If you like his books, you'll like this one. I like his books, and I also liked this one. It did get me a little riled up at times. I had to put the book down and breathe a few times. Overall I liked the characters and felt they were realistic.
I would say that the only downside to this book is that it is so much like many of his other books. Once you've read one of them, you've read them all and they all start blending together. It was very entertaining though.
The Confession gets 4 out of 4 stars.
I would say that the only downside to this book is that it is so much like many of his other books. Once you've read one of them, you've read them all and they all start blending together. It was very entertaining though.
The Confession gets 4 out of 4 stars.
Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns
Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns has also been on my list for a while. So long in fact that I realized on page 2 that I had already read this one, so I didn't finish it.
I remember liking the story enough. It wasn't anything that I went on to recommend to anyone else. It was entertaining enough to read one time, but I didn't have much of a desire to read it again.
Cold Sassy Tree gets 3 out of 5 stars.
I remember liking the story enough. It wasn't anything that I went on to recommend to anyone else. It was entertaining enough to read one time, but I didn't have much of a desire to read it again.
Cold Sassy Tree gets 3 out of 5 stars.
Can you Keep a Secret by Sophie Kinsella
Can You Keep a Secret by Sophie Kinsella is another one that has been on my list for a while and I don't really know how it got there. I loved this book. It is one of those shallow books that has nothing intellectual to offer but you still like it anyway. It sort of reminds me of Confessions of a Shopaholic.
This book had me laughing out loud more than once. I was asked twice (by different family members) what I was laughing at. I liked the main character who can be a little spastic at times, and the situations she gets herself into are quite entertaining.
If you are like those types of books at all you should read this one. It does take place in London though, so the language differences do take a little bit to get used to.
Can you Keep a Secret gets 5 out of 5 stars.
This book had me laughing out loud more than once. I was asked twice (by different family members) what I was laughing at. I liked the main character who can be a little spastic at times, and the situations she gets herself into are quite entertaining.
If you are like those types of books at all you should read this one. It does take place in London though, so the language differences do take a little bit to get used to.
Can you Keep a Secret gets 5 out of 5 stars.
Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Book Thief by Markus Zusak is one that has been recommended to me a few different times. It took me a while to get into it. The writing style was definitely a little different than I am used to seeing which I think is the main reason why it took me a while to get into it.
I liked the book a lot. It takes place in Nazi Germany and those stories always seem to fascinate me. I liked the main character a lot which also helps quite a bit.
I give Book Thief 4 out of 5 stars.
I liked the book a lot. It takes place in Nazi Germany and those stories always seem to fascinate me. I liked the main character a lot which also helps quite a bit.
I give Book Thief 4 out of 5 stars.
Blessings by Belva Plain
Blessings by Belva Plain is a book that has been on my list for a long time. I'm not sure how or why it made it on the list but it did.
It was a good book, nothing earth shattering, but not boring either. It was just kind of middle of the road for me. I did find myself frustrated with the main character on and off throughout the book though.
Blessings gets 3 out of 5 stars.
It was a good book, nothing earth shattering, but not boring either. It was just kind of middle of the road for me. I did find myself frustrated with the main character on and off throughout the book though.
Blessings gets 3 out of 5 stars.
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
Atlas Shrugged is a book that I saw mentioned on Facebook so I decided to add it to the list. The book is 1500 pages of small print. It has got to be a book that people are frequently asked to read in English classes in high school. It just has that type of feel to it. The whole time I kept thinking "I should highlight that, it could be important later." Then reminding myself that I am not being tested on this later.
I got about 300 pages into it and then skimmed it for a while and then gave up and read a cliffs note version online. It was okay, just not my type of book.
Atlas Shrugged gets 2 out of 5 stars.
I got about 300 pages into it and then skimmed it for a while and then gave up and read a cliffs note version online. It was okay, just not my type of book.
Atlas Shrugged gets 2 out of 5 stars.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
The Fourth Hand by John Irving
I should have put The Fourth Hand down under F's in my alphabetical list, but for whatever reason had it as a number instead of written out. This is one of the books that has been on my list for years and I don't know how or why it got on my list.
Part of me really liked the book and found the story intriguing. Part of me got annoyed by the book at the same time. The story is about a news reporter that loses his hand in an accident and then years later receives a hand transplant. The story itself was really interesting and I liked it for the most part.
The part I didn't like was that the main character reminded me of the main character from The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. In both that book and this one the main character sleeps with just about every woman that crosses his path. It bothers me because I spend the whole time thinking "Obviously a man wrote this book because no woman would ever create a male character like this." I also think that I am reading the author's idol, that the author wishes he could be like those men and sleep with anyone and everyone and it irritates me.
The story was good, and other than all the sex the book itself would be good.
The Fourth Hand gets 3 out of 5 stars.
Part of me really liked the book and found the story intriguing. Part of me got annoyed by the book at the same time. The story is about a news reporter that loses his hand in an accident and then years later receives a hand transplant. The story itself was really interesting and I liked it for the most part.
The part I didn't like was that the main character reminded me of the main character from The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. In both that book and this one the main character sleeps with just about every woman that crosses his path. It bothers me because I spend the whole time thinking "Obviously a man wrote this book because no woman would ever create a male character like this." I also think that I am reading the author's idol, that the author wishes he could be like those men and sleep with anyone and everyone and it irritates me.
The story was good, and other than all the sex the book itself would be good.
The Fourth Hand gets 3 out of 5 stars.
1984 By George Orwell
I had never heard of 1984 until I saw it mentioned in an article I was reading one day. I thought it sounded interesting so I added it to the list. After looking into it a little bit it seems to be one of those books that everyone has heard about except me. I don't know where I have been.
It was written in 1949 about England in 1984 and what the author thought could or would have changed. It is all about a society that has Big Brother watching them at all times and Big Brother also alters everything to be what he wants it to be.
It took me 3 weeks to get through the first 90 pages. That's when I decided to skim the rest of it and it took me 3 hours to skim through the other 140ish pages. It was okay. A little too wordy for me if you know what I mean. It was an interesting read. If I wanted to take 6 months to read it I could have gotten through the whole thing, but it isn't really my style of book.
1984 gets 3 out of 5 stars.
It was written in 1949 about England in 1984 and what the author thought could or would have changed. It is all about a society that has Big Brother watching them at all times and Big Brother also alters everything to be what he wants it to be.
It took me 3 weeks to get through the first 90 pages. That's when I decided to skim the rest of it and it took me 3 hours to skim through the other 140ish pages. It was okay. A little too wordy for me if you know what I mean. It was an interesting read. If I wanted to take 6 months to read it I could have gotten through the whole thing, but it isn't really my style of book.
1984 gets 3 out of 5 stars.
Monday, January 10, 2011
The official 2011 book list
Here is my list of books for 2011:
The 4th Hand by John Irving
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
Blessings by Belva Plain
Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Can you Keep a Secret by Sophie Kinsella
Chronicler of the Winds by Henning Mankell
Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns
The Confession by John Grisham
To Dance with Kings by
The Death Cure by James Dashner (coming Fall 2011)
Dirty Work by Stuart Woods
The Doctor and the Diva by Adrienne McDonnel
The Falls by Karen Harper
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Fly Away Home by Jennifer Weine
Follow the River by James Alexander Thom
The Giver by Lois Lowry
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
Incarceron by Catherine Fisher
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Letter to My Daughter by George Bishop
Molokai by Alan Brennert
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey
People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
Seizure by Robin Cook
A Separate Peace by John Knowles
Shanghai Girls by Lisa See
Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane
Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
Till we have faces by CS Lewis
Unwind by Neil Shusterman
When you Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink
Wild Swans by Jung Chang
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
There are 38 books on it. Originally I was not going to try to get through the whole list, but I think I can do it, so I guess my goal will be to read all of these books by the end of the year. I am going to try to read them in alphabetical order. I am going to request a few at a time at the library and I know that some will take longer than others to get to the library so it might not be exactly in alphabetical order. Also there is one that doesn't come out in the fall so I will read it when it comes in but it will be out of order.
I am adding the list on the right and will update it as I finish reading books. The ones with stars next to them are ones that I have already requested at the library.
Wish me luck, and let the reading begin!
I am adding the list on the right and will update it as I finish reading books. The ones with stars next to them are ones that I have already requested at the library.
Wish me luck, and let the reading begin!
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