The Lovely Bones

This book starts with a horrible, very descriptive bang and doesn't really stop. I read this right on the tail of The Alienist, and so had already been up to my eyeballs in crime and violence - and yet this one was of a totally different nature and feeling. So much of it was about the effect it had on the poor family, the neighborhood, and her friends. I appreciated her ability to tell this story...and I did like it. I loved her creative and rather beautiful viewpoint on the afterlife. Though the topic is harsh and some parts are difficult to read about, it was definitely worth reading. It's so easy to forget such things happen all the time...all around.

The Alienist

It's turning out to be that one of my favorite historical times to read about in this country was in the late 1800s, and this book fits right in with Devil in the White city (which I adored), though as genius historical fiction written of that time. It was fascinating to read how psychology and mental disease were viewed in that time, not to mention the crime solving techniques just coming out, and how one in particular used his skills to create a profile (the first of its kind) for a serial killer. The main characters of course use this radical concept and go after him, making the story extremely gripping - I couldn't put it down. Well written and historically relevant and accurate - I really, really liked it and thank my husband for the recommend. Caleb Carr is an author I intend to read to the exhaustion of his works.

The Road

Oh...this book. I had so many mixed feelings reading this book. It is so bleak and dark...even the way he writes just envelopes you in this dark world. But I couldn't help but love it...I loved the light inside these two characters - father and son. I loved the inherent goodness in the child, and the heartbreaking desperateness of the father to protect and save him. It's hard to read at times, but I felt totally worth it. The message McCarthy sends about human nature made an impact on me - how we can be awful, evil, and inhuman, or virtuous, beautiful, and pure, or...for most of us...somewhere in between.

March

This was a story that was very original and one that I am glad was finally told. It is an interesting portrayal of the father of Louisa May Alcott's Little Women in his life while he was at war as a Yankee in the South. It was a perfect tie in as he read their letters, and yet still told quite the story of a Civil War experience that made it very real. I hadn't read anything on the Civil War in a long time, and it was refreshing to read the tragic story under such an artful literary guise. It reminded me why I love historical fiction so much and I plan to read more in the future.

The First King of Shannara

A prequel to one of my favorite series....though it was weird reading a story whose ending I already knew (I don't read too many prequels). But still fun, and good to get to know some of the archetypes from the original series.

The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time

This was a fabulous read - really, really fun. A perfect travel book. It is written from the perspective of an autistic young man, and it was just so amazing to see the world through his eyes. He is amazingly intelligent, and just sees things so differently....and in some ways that I wish I saw things. Loved it.

My Grandfather's Blessings

This is a sweet, beautiful, and touching book. It is full of stories and thoughts by this woman (Dr. Remen) that are very insightful and thought provoking...I would recommend it to anyone and everyone. I dog-eared some of the ones that meant the most, made an impact, but I expect that different ones will be impactful at different times. I kept it by my bedside for months and months and it was a great way to end the day.

Let The Right One In

Soooo, this is kind of a messed up book. I don't know that I can really recommend it to anyone actually. A couple of my friends at work read it and said it was ok, that it was about a little vampire girl who befriends a boy and that it was going to be made into a movie. So my curiosity was piqued and even though they didn't love it I thought I'd read it just for the change of literary pace. And that, it definitely was. I think I'm glad I read it (I do love vampire stories)....but it's not for the faint of heart, and there are some truly disturbing subject matters (completely aside from the whole idea of creatures subsisting on living blood, of course). I simply cannot comprehend what the movie will be. At all. The Swedish author definitely has story telling capabilities though, I'll give him that...but a lot of it was just a deer-in-the-headlights feeling where I wanted to know where it was going, but at the same time really didn't.

The Heritage of Shannara

So after all of these deep, brain-intensive, thought-provoking books, I was desperate to read something that flows easily, grips my imagination, and turns into a movie in my mind. A good friend told me that Terry Brooks has continued to perform and write excellent books, so I decided to pick him back up. I recently re-read his first trilogy, so I decided to pick it up where I left off - his 4-book series The Heritage of Shannara. I'm sure you'll be surprised to hear that I loved, loved, loved them. I couldn't put them down and often stayed up to 2am because I couldn't make my hands close the book. I finished all 4 in about 2 weeks, and would recommend it to anyone that wants a smart adventure story with great characters, magic, conflicts, fantastic villains, and the descriptive power of an author that can spin words and stories like a literary spider, drawing you into his web.

The Glass Castle

I loved this book. It made me so much more aware of what I have and what I have been given my whole life. This is an extremely interesting and heartbreaking story of a crazy family (well crazy parents) and the amazing kids who survive it all. It's a testament to the resiliency of children, and I am extremely glad I read it. I recommend it to anyone, if only to put things in perspective. It's told in such a matter-of-fact manner that you can really see it from the point of view of the little girl telling the story (Jeannette Walls), a girl who has grown up to be an amazing woman.

Foucault's Pendulum

This is one of those books that has caught my eye for years and years, always curious. So I finally borrowed it from a friend when he said it was one of his favorites. It really was an extremely interesting book, and I really enjoyed the journey - it's rich with history of Templars, Rosicrucians, and all kinds of secret cults and groups, all woven into an amazing tale today. Sometimes I found it a little hard to follow, and there are several phrases in the book that are in different languages and they are never translated (I choose to think they must not have been crucial to the book...but I will never know!). I was also slightly disappointed in the ending...but I can also see that he ended it the only way it could have. So I am glad I read it, but ultimately have mixed feelings.

Plain and Simple

The story of a woman's journey to the Amish. A short and sweet book, with a beautiful portrayal of the Amish people. Their simplicity, joy in life, joy, and peace. This is ironic given their lack of many things we consider necessities in the modern world. It was a great break from the behemoth I had just finished - giving me a sense of my own peace and quiet. I recommend it for anyone that wants to know a little more about those amazing people, and what they have to offer us in their simplicity.

Cryptonomicon

This book is good. My biggest complaint is that it is is really, really long (over 900 pages), dense, and amazingly wordy (he likes tangents that are completely nonessential to the plot). Other than that, there were a lot of great aspects to it. First, it was very different from my usual reads in that it is completely geared towards (and obviously from) the male perspective - as evidenced by his descriptions, euphemisms and anecdotes. Second, it's historically fascinating. Set in both WWII and today, it covers a lot of ground and really cool topics I was previously unfamiliar with. Last, it's truly and fantastically nerdy. Lots of computer stuff, most of it Linux (nice), old computer stuff (like the character that built the first RAM), and when one of them programmed his laptop to communicate with him via morse code through the LED. Dang cool. All of the crypto math went over my head, but I feel ok about that because how they used the crypto was fascinating.

So, being a computer geek and having lots of guy friends, I totally got it (I think) and I enjoyed it even though it became a personal challenge to finish it. I don't plan on recommending it to any of my girlfriends, and certainly not my mother, but all you guys out there - dig in.

She Got Up Off The Couch: And Other Heroic Acts from Mooreland, Indiana

This was just as fun to read as A Girl Named Zippy
! She is a such a great writer, and really puts you in the mindset of this crazy, tenacious young girl, and you can't help but just adore her (and secretly want to be like her)! I also was super impressed by her mom and all she accomplished given her situation - it was very inspiring. A great read.

The Sword, Elfstones, and Wishsong of Shannara

I have finally re-read this trilogy after about a 15 year gap - it was my very first foray into the world of fantasy and is what ultimately hooked me for life. I was extremely trepidatious as I did not want my treasured memory of these books from all those years ago to be tarnished by my now adult (and perhaps more skewed?) viewpoint. However, I was not to be disappointed. I just devoured them and read all three in about three weeks. I am elated to report his writing and stories are still as tantalizing and gripping as they were when I read them as a much younger girl. All three of these are amazing, and I shall be reading the rest of the series with breaks in between. My original review of the trilogy on this blog can be found here, so I shall avoid going into that again....but these come highly recommended...even still!

The Last Lecture

This is a short, but very worthwhile read. I loved his thoughts, the way his mind worked, and his viewpoint on life. I personally was able to pull out things that I wanted to work into my own life, now I just need to remember them!

The Fire

This is the sequel to Katherine Neville's amazing novel The Eight. It has been over 20 years since the first novel, and I was very excited to buy it, and I re-read The Eight so I had the story fresh in my mind. I was glad I did given where the story picks up. Anyways, I enjoyed The Fire, though admittedly not as much as the original. I felt like she tried to weave too similar of a story to the first, and weave as intricate a story. She succeeded pretty well, and that's why it was interesting to read, but in my opinion it didn't hold a candle to her original masterpiece.

Holidays On Ice

Another David Sedaris book....not near as funny as Me Talk Pretty One Day, but still pretty good. My favorite story was of him working as an elf in a department store at Christmas. That was by far the funniest story in the book and made me laugh out loud. The rest are pretty good - some funny, some creepy. But it's short and if you like David, worth reading.

The Little Prince

I finally bought this book after wanting to read it again for years. I know I read it as a child, knew I loved it, and knew it was a classic. So I wanted to own it and read it again.....and I still love it. It is timeless. I love the original art and it is a poignant story. I love the Little Prince.

The Lost Boy

A Foster Child`s Search for the Love of a Family

This is the sequel to "A Child Called It" which I read and blogged about a while ago. It was really interesting to read the follow up of what happened to him after he got out of his horrible, horrible situation - what foster families are like, what it's like to be in "the system", and how he ultimately turned out. I really appreciated his viewpoint at the end as he spoke of his feelings about a lot of misconceptions about "the system." Like his first, it's an eye opening story, and worth reading.