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christianreader2016-07-01 11:28 pm
hestergray.livejournal.com) wrote in christianreader2016-07-01 11:28 pm
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2016 Quarter 2 Books
Me Before You by Jojo Moyes 5/5
Oh, what a book. I loved it. It's about 26-year-old Louisa, who finds herself suddenly out of a job. She finds a new job as a caretaker for Will, a 30-something man who was in an accident and is now a quadriplegic. He is depressed about his life, but she takes him on adventures, and it's a beautiful story.
Mother, Can You Not? by Kate Siegel 4/5
This is a short memoir-type book. Kate's mom texts her all the time with crazy advice. Kate started taking screenshots of their texts and posting them on Instagram as @crazyjewishmom. Then someone from Buzzfeed wrote an article about them, and the Instagram account suddenly had 300,000 followers. I was one of those followers. Now Kate has written this book that combines some of their text conversations with stories of her mom's funny shenanigans over the years. It's funny, and I loved how the audiobook had both Kate and her mom reading it.
Remembrance by Meg Cabot 3/5
This is a new book in The Mediator series! The last book came out about ten years ago, so it's been a while since I listened to them. Suze is a mediator who can see ghosts, and she helps them transition to the afterlife. This book takes place several years after the last book. In the first six books, she was in high school. Now she has finished college, and she's in graduate school to become a counselor. Jesse is a medical resident. They are planning their wedding. <3 I enjoyed hearing more about their story.
Fairest by Marissa Meyer 4/5
I enjoyed this book a lot! It's sort of a prequel to Cinder and the rest of the Lunar Chronicles. It's about Levana, and some of her childhood, and how she came to be the terrible person she became. It made me feel a little sympathy for her, but even more than that, I thought it was a good story, and told very well.
Unusual Uses for Olive Oil by Alexander McCall Smith 3/5
The series about Professor Dr. Dr. Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld had been a trilogy for so long, I thought AMS was done writing about him. Apparently not because here's a fourth book! It was much like the first three and it was entertaining. Von Igelfeld is a German professor of philology. He's a little dense when it comes to social interactions, and he always ends up in funny situations, mostly brought on by his own attempts to not look foolish. His ideas always backfire.
After You by Jojo Moyes 2/5
The sequel to Me Before You. It was okay, but not that great. I had already imagined what happened after the first book, and I prefer my version to what the author says happened.
Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer 4/5
This book is told through diary entries by 16-year-old Miranda. An asteroid hits the moon, knocking it out of orbit, a little closer to Earth. This wreaks havoc, of course, with tsunamis and earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. It's the story of Miranda and her family as they struggle to survive on their meager food supply and no electricity. I could not stop reading. And it's the first in a series, so I can keep going!
Oh, I had another thought about this. These kinds of end-of-the-world books always ignore amateur radio operators as a means of communication. Many amateur radio operators rely on electricity, but some of them have small generators for their radios. And some radios are hooked up in cars. The whole point of the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) is to keep up communication in emergencies, even when cell phones and landlines don't work. The authors who write this kind of story must not be aware of ARES and what they can do in an emergency.
Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed 2/5
This book had a lot of good reviews and they made a movie from it and everything, but I wasn't impressed. It's Cheryl's memoir of hiking the Pacific Crest Trail when she was 26. She also tells about other times in her life, like her mom dying and how she divorced her husband. I didn't find Cheryl to be a likable person. It felt like half the book was devoted to how much her feet hurt. She used the word "inexplicable" a lot. I know she spent many days on the trail, but it seemed like she focused more on the times she was off the trail - riding a bus, resting at various camp sites, staying in a hotel, hitchhiking. I would have liked more descriptions of the wondrous views from the mountains. The book was just okay overall. (And audiobook complaint: the reader sounded a lot older than 26. Why can't they get age-appropriate voices for some books?)
Oh, what a book. I loved it. It's about 26-year-old Louisa, who finds herself suddenly out of a job. She finds a new job as a caretaker for Will, a 30-something man who was in an accident and is now a quadriplegic. He is depressed about his life, but she takes him on adventures, and it's a beautiful story.
Mother, Can You Not? by Kate Siegel 4/5
This is a short memoir-type book. Kate's mom texts her all the time with crazy advice. Kate started taking screenshots of their texts and posting them on Instagram as @crazyjewishmom. Then someone from Buzzfeed wrote an article about them, and the Instagram account suddenly had 300,000 followers. I was one of those followers. Now Kate has written this book that combines some of their text conversations with stories of her mom's funny shenanigans over the years. It's funny, and I loved how the audiobook had both Kate and her mom reading it.
Remembrance by Meg Cabot 3/5
This is a new book in The Mediator series! The last book came out about ten years ago, so it's been a while since I listened to them. Suze is a mediator who can see ghosts, and she helps them transition to the afterlife. This book takes place several years after the last book. In the first six books, she was in high school. Now she has finished college, and she's in graduate school to become a counselor. Jesse is a medical resident. They are planning their wedding. <3 I enjoyed hearing more about their story.
Fairest by Marissa Meyer 4/5
I enjoyed this book a lot! It's sort of a prequel to Cinder and the rest of the Lunar Chronicles. It's about Levana, and some of her childhood, and how she came to be the terrible person she became. It made me feel a little sympathy for her, but even more than that, I thought it was a good story, and told very well.
Unusual Uses for Olive Oil by Alexander McCall Smith 3/5
The series about Professor Dr. Dr. Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld had been a trilogy for so long, I thought AMS was done writing about him. Apparently not because here's a fourth book! It was much like the first three and it was entertaining. Von Igelfeld is a German professor of philology. He's a little dense when it comes to social interactions, and he always ends up in funny situations, mostly brought on by his own attempts to not look foolish. His ideas always backfire.
After You by Jojo Moyes 2/5
The sequel to Me Before You. It was okay, but not that great. I had already imagined what happened after the first book, and I prefer my version to what the author says happened.
Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer 4/5
This book is told through diary entries by 16-year-old Miranda. An asteroid hits the moon, knocking it out of orbit, a little closer to Earth. This wreaks havoc, of course, with tsunamis and earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. It's the story of Miranda and her family as they struggle to survive on their meager food supply and no electricity. I could not stop reading. And it's the first in a series, so I can keep going!
Oh, I had another thought about this. These kinds of end-of-the-world books always ignore amateur radio operators as a means of communication. Many amateur radio operators rely on electricity, but some of them have small generators for their radios. And some radios are hooked up in cars. The whole point of the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) is to keep up communication in emergencies, even when cell phones and landlines don't work. The authors who write this kind of story must not be aware of ARES and what they can do in an emergency.
Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed 2/5
This book had a lot of good reviews and they made a movie from it and everything, but I wasn't impressed. It's Cheryl's memoir of hiking the Pacific Crest Trail when she was 26. She also tells about other times in her life, like her mom dying and how she divorced her husband. I didn't find Cheryl to be a likable person. It felt like half the book was devoted to how much her feet hurt. She used the word "inexplicable" a lot. I know she spent many days on the trail, but it seemed like she focused more on the times she was off the trail - riding a bus, resting at various camp sites, staying in a hotel, hitchhiking. I would have liked more descriptions of the wondrous views from the mountains. The book was just okay overall. (And audiobook complaint: the reader sounded a lot older than 26. Why can't they get age-appropriate voices for some books?)
no subject
I should try some other series by Alexander McCall Smith. I have read several of the detective series, and then maybe 4 of the Philosophy Club series (Dahlhouse?). But I was just talking about these books with my mom and thinking I should start some again.
Re: Wild - I have only seen the movie previews and read a little background, but I got the same impression that Cheryl wasn't very likable. It seems like she was one of those flaky, irresponsible, drama-queeny types. But I suppose you have to be that type to go on such a trek! And yeah, with all the voice actors out there, I still don't get how authors/publishers can make such terrible decisions about who reads the book. Maybe I need to become a voice chooser. :)
no subject
I don't know why I lost track of other series by Alexander McCall Smith! I think I read three of the detective, and like you, maybe four of the philosophy club. I liked them! I think part of it is that I can't remember exactly where I left off, or what was happening when I left off, so I don't know how to pick it back up without starting over.
I think by the end of Wild, Cheryl is supposed to be not as flaky and irresponsible? Because she went on a life-altering hike I guess? But by the end, I just didn't care anymore.
You would be a good voice chooser!