I decided to split this year’s Books I’ve Read This Year list into quarters. I am just a reading machine here (hah), no, but really, I have read more than usual, so I figured I’d save us all a bunch of work come July and just split this up. Here’s what I’ve read so far this year.
Lost & Found, by Chris Van Hakes
My Internet friend wrote this! It was a very cute story and I enjoyed getting back to it every night when I settled in to read. I loved the main character’s best friends and also mentally cast Channing Tatum as the main dude character, so that’s fun. I do wonder if the author is planning a sequel. I’d read it, JUST SAYIN’.
Life After Life, by Kate Atkinson
Okay, so I think I’ve mentioned before that sometimes I don’t get the endings to books. I am pretty smart, and enjoy reading, and can usually keep up with what’s going on, but sometimes the endings to books stump me. I blame that, though, on the fact that I just read pretty slow. So, unless something major happens, I won’t remember it at the end and sometimes you need to remember those minute details to get the ending, you know? Anyway, this book! This book was just confusing the whole way through. Oh, but it was so, so good. I really loved it. I wanted to immediately re-read it and take notes and make timelines so I could really get it fully. I wonder, though, if maybe I did get it. Or maybe it was so all over the place and confusing on purpose, so you could decide your own ending? (I doubt that.) Anyway, this is making it sound terrible. It’s not! It’s really good. Highly recommend. (Please read it and then explain it to me?)
Fly Away Home, by Jennifer Wiener
Oh man, I used to love Jennifer Wiener! I read her books all the time and then somewhere along the way I stopped, why, I do not know. Anyway, I saw this on the front table at the library and snatched it up. I enjoyed it, as I do with all her books. It’s a mother-daughter(s) story (pretty similar to another book I read last year, actually — two daughters spending time at the family beach house with their mom), although the mom’s and the eldest daughter’s storylines were way more interesting than the other daughter’s. Still really good, though. Recommend if you like Jennifer Wiener.
The 11th Hour, by James Patterson
Can’t stop, won’t stop. I do wonder when, if ever, the Women’s Murder Club will end. They don’t seem to age, so I guess never. They’re like the Babysitter’s Club all growed up.
The Rosie Project, by Graeme Simsion
This was super cute and delightful and so well-written in this way that was very analytical and efficient (which makes sense, since our main character is very analytical and efficient himself) that just made the analytical and efficient parts of my brain very happy. It was funny and endearing and…I totally didn’t get the ending right away. I hopped over to the forums, though, and found a lot of other people (most of whom could string together a coherent sentence or two — you just never know with message boards) who didn’t get it either. Some nice souls explained it to us, though, so I get it now. Recommend, despite all that. Like I mentioned before, sometimes I’m just slow.
Wish I Weren’t Here, by Sandra D. Bricker
This was a random Kindle app purchase (I like to have a few Kindle books to read on my phone right before bed, so I don’t have to turn any lights on and disturb Chris, where’s my Wife Of The Year award?) and it was good. Fine. It was finegood. Minus a theme wedding taking place around the letter W (what is this, Sesame Street?), it was a cute little story.
The Panther, by Nelson DeMille
Have I told you Nelson DeMille is my favorite author? Nelson DeMille is my favorite author. He makes me actually laugh out loud. I spotted this on the front table at the library and grabbed it right up. It was large marge (600+ pages, woof), but definitely good. If you’re familiar with DeMille, it’s a John Corey and this one takes place in Yemen. Since finishing this book, I’ve developed a new-found fear of Yemen (yay!) and also fallen into a Yemeni Instagram rabbit hole or two. That’s not weird.
Eleanor & Park, by Rainbow Rowell
Most over-hyped book ever. I know there’s a huge following for this book and while I did not hate it, and while I did really like some parts/storylines, I did not think it was the greatest thing I’d ever read. This was my impression going in, though, that it’d be the greatest thing ever. About halfway through, when Rainbow Rowell started describing holding hands like Jennifer Wiener would describe s-e-x, I realized that was as good as this book would get. That said, I loved Eleanor’s storyline (Park I found to be kind of BLAH; his mother, on the other hand, was a delight), and wish it could’ve just been a whole book about her.
What have you read recently?
E&P was not my favorite of Rowell’s three books, but I did like it. I also read it early on before there was too much hype, just enough that I wanted to read it, but not so much that I expected it to be OMGAMAZING. However, Fangirl is OMGAMAZING for me. In fact, I’ve read it twice and would totally read it again. That probably doesn’t do anything for the overhyping problem, however.
Tenth of December is the best book I’ve read this year. It’s short stories, which I normally dislike, by George Saunders. It’s dark and funny and quick and as soon as I finished it, I wanted to open up the book and read it again.
I looooved Life After Life! I didn’t know ANYTHING about it at all when I picked it up, so it took me a little while to pick up on the whole re-living life- but with different choices thing, but once I figured out that was happening it was SO interesting!
I really liked reading this thread on Goodreads and so many people picked up on more things than I did: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1383545-life-after-life-by-kate-atkinson—spoilers-allowed (specifically, a couple pointed out that several of Sylvie’s comments indicated that she had lived several lives, too! Innnnnnnteresting!)