The Well of Ascension and The Hero of Ages

I finished this trilogy rapidly - I couldn't put them down! It truly is an epic story that continued to grip me and pull me along all the way through to the end. And then it wrapped up in such a way that had me quite amazed at Sanderson's foresight and storytelling capability.  He did a really nice job making me love the characters and I was pleased with how their story-lines turned out, and the direction he took them as well as the world.  It was a great balance of dark and light and everything in between.  I felt like he answered most of really important the questions I had left in the story, and I really, really enjoyed the ride.  Rating 4 stars and 5 stars respectively.

Mistborn

This book took me a while to get into.  In fact I started it and then read 3 other books because there wasn't enough of a pull for me yet.  But once it got past the setup at the beginning (140 pages or so) it was a great ride and really fun.  It was a unique experience for me as well because Mr. Sanderson also puts out a podcast called Writing Excuses which I listen to every week as he is a local author where I live and am an aspiring author.  So it's one of the first times I've read a book in which I feel I've come to know a little more about the author and his processes, and I had to eventually just switch gears in my head to just reading it for fun and not to try to analyze and learn.  But I'm so glad it, and will plan on finishing the trilogy.  I love books with strong women and Vin is a great character, as are all the rest of the characters the book for that matter..  He did a really nice job fleshing them out and especially showing Vin's growth and perspective changes.  The world is really cool, and the system of  magic is one of the most unique I've come across in all my fantasy reading.  So much so it took me some getting used to, but I really appreciated the creativity.  I am also glad to see Sanderson's skill at storytelling as he was given the monumental task of wrapping up Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series, which I have been anxious about and will tackle some time soon.  Anyways, I gave Mistborn 4 stars, as I really liked it.

The Night Circus

I've been wanting to read The Night Circus ever since I heard Erin Morgenstern on The Diane Rehm show.  Not only does it sound fun and I love circuses, magicians, and magic (so how could I resist), she did it as her NaNoWriMo book, which I myself have done and it was so nice to see someone become successful with one!  The story was well told and I loved how she worked with the magic.  It was very Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, but with two magicians that are more pawns than competitors.  But the things they create and the circus in general is simply dazzling - It's a circus I would go in a heartbeat.  I took it with me on vacation and couldn't put it down!  Thus earning a 4 stars.

Outlander

My girlfriends have been talking about this for years and I finally decided to take the plunge.  I first got to know Gabaldon when I worked in a bookstore as a teenager and they never knew where to put her books, so they usually ended up in the romance section, even though I wouldn't put them in that category either.  So I think I had judged the storyline before even reading it.  But I swept through the book, and it's not a short book, and she has like 5 or 6 more books that I will likely pick up over time.  But it's a smart and compelling story, and the time travel aspects are totally awesome.  Some of the attraction definitely is the love story between the main characters, but that is done just as well and with a lot of depth, but full of tension and sexuality.  That said however, if scenes with sex in them bother you, don't pick this up.  It surpassed my expectations though and I gave it 4 stars.

The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara Trilogy

I hadn't picked up any of Brooks' Shannara series for a while, deeming it better to get a break in between rather than get wrapped up in how similar they can be sometimes.  But this was yet another great trilogy, and the unique things he does throw in are always fantastic.  This really tied quite a bit more into the previous time (i.e. our future) that was destroyed before magic came back into the world, and it was fun to have that mix of science and magic.  Not to mention the dangers of AI.  Fun reads and I gave the books (Isle Witch, Antrax, and Morgawr) 3 stars, 4 stars, and 3 stars respectively.

Wyrd Sisters

Oh I had so much fun with this book.  I didn't think I would like it, but it was just pure unadulterated fun.  And Terry Pratchett is one of the most clever people I have read.  The witches in this book are such great characters, and the magic of his world is awesome.  It almost seems like a frivolous book until you really think about some of the themes on the written word and drama, subtle nods to Shakespeare, and more.  I will definitely pick him up again.  Definitely worth 4 Stars.

The Weird Sisters

I thoroughly enjoyed this book!   I loved how different the sisters are and how real they were portrayed, both the beautiful and the ugly pieces of their characters.  I was totally hooked and engaged - ready to follow them on their journey and find out how it would turn out for each of them.  I found pieces of myself in each one of them.  The family dynamic is so unique and I love how they all have Shakespeare references for everything going on in their lives and is how they interact with each other.  The author is also extremely creative in using a chorus of the sisters as the narrator - the "we" totally works once you get used to it.  Fabulous novel all around.

Outliers

Rating: 4 stars

I read this book back in July 2011, and cannot believe I forgot to write about it on here.  It was a fantastic read, and I plan to read all of Gladwell's work at some point.  I love how he sees things - he overlays seemingly typical situations with his unique viewpoint and turns them upside down and sideways.  It certainly changed the way I looked at success, how it can be created, and what factors are involved....and they were rather unexpected.  It was easy to read and he has a really unique way of making his ideas easy to understand, even when they are not always simple.  I highly recommend!

Inheritance (Inheritance #4)

Rating: Four Stars

A great finish to Christopher Paolini's final book in the Eragon series.  It had been a long time since I had read all of them, and while the effect would probably be better if I had at least read some full summaries (more than the short synopsis at the beginning of this book), I still felt satisfied.  He has developed into a really great writer, and the story arc is impressive and truly entertaining.  I myself was also content and pleased with the ending, no easy trick after setting up so much that needed to be resolved.  Well done Christopher, and thanks for the great ride!

A Handmaid's Tale

Rating: Four stars

It turns out that I have an emerging love for dystopian novels, and I could not get enough of this book.  Atwood's tale was totally believable, totally horrifying, and extremely creative.  Imagine if the most right-wing extremist Christian sect you can think of took over the U.S. government in one fell swoop, relegated women to "their place", and on top of everything, there was a global fertility problem.  The solution being for the few fertile women that existed to be made Handmaids, and  given to the leaders and their wives.  My overly succinct summary does not do it justice!  I promise it's worth reading.

A Clash of Kings

Rating: Four Stars

I really liked this second book in Martin's A Song of Fire and Ice series.  I have to say I didn't love it quite as much as the first one...there was a lot of setup and not as much action, which isn't always bad, but for a book this long I felt like there needed to be a little more balance of that.  That said, the action that WAS there was beyond stellar (the ships on the river and the hellfire!), and of course the character development is beyond compare.  I also like the bits of fantasy he weaves in, it is still so lightly dealt with, I am interested to see if the fantasy (magic) becomes a bigger deal as I keep reading.  Because keep reading I most definitely will - though I will take these in stride as they are all epic tomes!

Angel of Darkness

Not quite as good as his first one (The Alienist) but Carr still wrote a thoroughly enjoyable sequel.  Reaffirming the 1890s as one of my favorite time periods, I love how he weaves in the history, politics, and peoples of the time in with such dark mysteries and discoveries.  I loved that it focused on a woman as the villain, given that was so unheard of at the time.  I really enjoyed it and gave it another four stars!

ROOM

I read this today in one sitting. I couldn't put it down...literally. I loved this little five-year-old boy and Ms. Donoghue did an amazing job telling the story entirely from his perspective. This little boy only knows his Room because he and his mother are being held captive there...but he doesn't know anything is wrong, he just knows he lives in Room, sleeps in Wardrobe, and eats at Table. The story of the mother and son is beautiful, even though it's sad. Being with him as he learned and processed everything that happened was the best part for me....it was rather eye-opening. I gave this book 4 stars.

Good In Bed

I found this book fun and refreshing. The main character is a plus-size woman, which is just flat out unusual, but very welcome. I enjoyed her point of view on life, and was hooked by her likable, funny, quirky personality. I cared about her, felt for her, related to her, and desperately wanted things to end well for her. I won't tell you if they do, but I will tell you it was a totally satisfying and enjoyable read. Perfect for a day at the beach, which is exactly where I read most of it! I gave this book 4 stars.

The Catcher In The Rye

This book was not at all what I thought would be. All I knew going into it was how controversial it was, that it is still high up on the banned list, and was carried by the assassin who killed John Lennon when he fired the deadly shot. Given all that, I expected something totally outrageous, borderline (if not outright) offensive, and practically a promoter of anarchy. I was pleasantly surprised - to me, it was none of these things.

What it turned out to be is a well-written, funny, realistic and relatable story of male teenage angst and desperation in 1950s New York. I really quite liked Holden Caulfield, angst and all. I appreciated his totally raw thought processes and his acute self awareness. I appreciated his intolerance for phonies, and his love of his little sister. There is some language, and a few F-words at the end, and sex is a very casual topic (though not sexually explicit). From what I have read these are a few of the reasons it is such a controversial book, and I personally don't quite understand it. I for one, am very glad I read it.

The Girl Who Played With Fire and The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest

Oh these were just a thrilling read. The Girl Who Played With Fire was great because you get to know Lisbeth Salander better, and she is a wonderful, strong, quirky female lead character. I was really impressed with Larsson's ability to weave such a web spanning all three books, complete with subplots and Swedish craziness. I think the reason I loved it most was because of Lisbeth though. How he managed to come up with her I'll never know. But yet again, he manages to keep you on your toes right up to the very end…

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society

A fabulous book with an unlikely name. It was so fun to read…written almost entirely in the unique perspective of a reading the characters' written correspondence. It was an interesting way to follow a story, but still compelling. I had never heard of the island of Guernsey, and the history of the German occupation in WWII on a British Isle was interesting. But the characters are really what make this book…they are truly delightful. I wanted to be Juliet, have a boss like Sydney, and be friends with all of the islanders. Most of all, it made me really wish we still wrote letters like that!

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

At the last minute, I grabbed this book to take with me on a trip I took alone. I am so glad I did - I couldn't put it down! I have to say I was skeptical and hesitant to jump on the bandwagon given at how popular this series is, but I found that it was deserved. A warning to more sensitive readers - there are definitely several disturbing scenes in it, but I found it worthy nonetheless. It does have a slow start, but once you're hooked he keeps you hooked all the way until the end. I can't wait to read the next one.

The Hunger Games Trilogy

I was lucky enough read these only once the whole trilogy was released. I devoured all three in about 2 weeks. I'd had friends try to explain the premise (as I have since), and it always comes out confusing and paltry compared to the actual story. Suzanne Collins does a wonderful job sucking you into this post-apocalyptic world with it's wilting dystopian society. The story of Hunger Games about knocked me over with its innovation...it is very clever and imaginative. Though it did made me think a wee bit of a kid version of The Running Man. I was also impressed at how Ms. Collins did not shy away from the violence and awfulness given the age of her target readers, but instead made them matter-of-fact, a tool for pulling you along. I also of course LOVED her main character - a very strong, smart, totally kick-ass girl, and yet one with significant faults. She is so unlike other leading love-sick female characters of recent fame, it was almost refreshing. Though that in itself makes it more ironic that she ends up in an entertaining love-triangle, another aspect of what keeps pulling you along.

The first two books were definitely the best, in my opinion. Her descriptions of the societies, the mix of just surviving with the futuristic aspects woven in was well done. Everything leading up to the Hunger Games was absolutely fascinating, then the Games themselves were enthralling - totally messed up of course, with the whole kids killing kids thing - but I think that's partly why it was so captivatin. Not to mention the other characters of the book you couldn't help but get attached to. You were just pulling for Katniss to win, and yet somehow figure out how to save everyone else you cared about. So well done.

The third book was very different...since I was able to read all three together in such a short amount of time I think it helped me see more of the continuity of the story, and I think maybe it had to be quite different by nature. And there were definitely things I loved (the parts in the Capital for instance), but it mostly seemed so sterile compared to the others. And it was missing characters that kind of helped make the first two a hit. I also thought the ending came pretty fast and wrapped up a little too neatly, but I still didn't mind it too much, it would be difficult to find a perfect ending to such a story. All in all, I still highly recommend!

Freckles

This is such a sweet and lovely book. My mother introduced it to us kids when we were young and I hadn't read it since. I remember now why I loved it. Written in 1904, it has beautiful language, a sweet story, and more than anything, engaging characters. You fall in love with all of them, especially little Irish Freckles, and also in love with the Limberlost - the swamp forest she lived near and a main character in the book. Gene Stratton Porter was considered kind of a precursor to environmental writing, her love of that forest comes through the pages and you practically want to pack up and move there (and time travel to when it was like the way she wrote). It was like reading an old friend. Her other book - The Girl of the Limberlost was also one of my favorites growing up...a sort of sequel, but one that captured my imagination more, so I will be rereading that anon.