The Land of Mango Sunsets by Dorothea Benton Frank (#30, Fiction)

I had extremely low expectations for this book.  It seemed like it would be a lousy beach read, and I wasn't even on the beach.  But, I was pleasantly surprised.  No prize winning writing found here, but the characters and plot were definitely more complex and interesting than I anticipated.

2.5 out of 5.

That officially closes out 2013.  I will certainly not be finishing the behemoth of a novel I've recently started before the stroke of midnight tonight.  In 2014 I'd like to continue reading a variety of books, and keep the quality and quantity to high levels.  Happy New Year!

Before I Go To Sleep by S.J. Watson (#29, Fiction)

Talk about a page-turner.  Before I Go To Sleep came highly recommended by a trusted reader friend.  Even when she compared it to Gone Girl (a book that I was not a fan of) I went ahead took the chance. 

I loved it.  It took me less than 24 hours to finish and I was all in from the start.  Because my friend did tell me it was "like" Gone Girl, I think I was reading it with an extra critical eye.  Who was the culprit? Who was the bad guy? No one was free of my questions, very similar to that of the narrator, Christine, who wakes up every day with no recollection of the previous day, week, year, decade--neither she nor I knew or trusted anyone.

I highly recommend this one.  It's an easy read, but also well-written and has a nice conclusion, which I feel often fall short in page-turner type books.

4.5 out of 5.

Devil in the Details by Jennifer Traig (#28, Nonfiction Memoir)

I really hated this book.  Somewhere I saw a review that compared her to Augusten Burroughs.  NO FREAKING WAY.  You want to say they both had fucked up childhoods, sure, but this girl was just damn annoying.

When you write a memoir about childhood, things aren't going to always be 100% accurate, I get it, but I just can't swallow a whole chapter of her talking about how since she was a toddler she looked down her nose at all those who weren't Parisian, or how she wanted to wear makeup since then as well. I'm sorry, a toddler?  I don't remember shit from last year, let alone when I was three.

Another review said her antics were hysterical.  Her antics while certainly OCD, and over the top as she is very much is aware of, were not funny.  Maybe it was cathartic for her to write about a childhood of having to deal with OCD before it even had a name, but gosh, I wish I hadn't been subjected to reading about it.

Terrible.  1 out of 5.

The Twelve by Justin Cronin (#27, Fiction)

Book number two of another trilogy complete.  This one was extremely satisfying.  I read the first book, The Passage, at least a year, probably longer ago, so it took me much longer than I anticipated to get into The Twelve.  I was hazy on the details and characters, and the exact timeline of the first book, but it didn't take long to hook me regardless of my fuzzy memory. 

A lot of people say they liked The Twelve better.  I can't really say which I preferred, because I do know that I really enjoyed following along very closely to Amy in the first book, and although she was still an integral character, the second book introduced us to many new story lines and jumped around in time. I missed Amy, but I also formed a bond to the new characters as well.  It was great how all the new story lines were interesting on their own, but then all very simply tied in to the bigger picture of characters at the end.

And nice twist with the actual "twelve." I suppose we all saw it coming, but from the get-go I was confused why the book wouldn't be called The Eleven.

4 out of 5.

Allegiant by Veronica Roth (#26, Fiction)

This wraps up the Divergent trilogy.  Another entertaining, but not so great young adult, post-apocalyptic series.  The third book at least wrapped things up and answered questions, but it sort of felt anti-climactic and I didn't get the "we must save the world" feeling as much as I think they wanted me to. 

I did see the trailer for Divergent the movie and was intrigued.  It seemed much more intense than I expected out of a teen-based movie, so we'll see how it turns out.

Overall 2 out of 5

The Reader by Bernhard Schlink (#25, Fiction)

The subtly of this book is what makes it great.  It contains such difficult topics: statutory rape, the holocaust, life in prison and death, yet it was a simple and quick read.  It sounds wrong to say that about such a deep book, but it read so easily.

I had no idea about the plot of the novel other than what is says on the back.  I had no idea I was picking up another book about the holocaust.

Somehow in this book you don't get the ick feeling with the relationship between the 15 year old and 36 year old.... maybe because it's a young boy rather than young girl?  But as the novel concludes and you've seen how his life has been extremely affected and molded by his love affair with an older woman you reassess your feelings about what you didn't judge as harshly at the beginning.

4 out of 5.

The French Lieutenant's Woman by John Fowles (#24, Fiction)

I think I am still processing this book.  It was a book club pick, and unfortunately I was extremely delinquent in getting around to reading it and therefore had to fly through it in the few hours before book club. 

The "choose your own adventure" sort of plot was interesting and new to me.  Not that we actually got to choose, but a few times in the novel he goes down one road, and then backtracks and says, nope, nevermind that actually didn't happen that way, but it could have, but this is what actually happened. 

I'm still struggling to understand the motivations of the characters.  Specifically, the "woman."  This book would have been ideal to read in a discussion class because there is just too much to absorb when reading for pleasure.

3.5 out of 5.

The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs (#23, Fiction)

I'm a big fan of book club, so a group of women getting together to chat, knit and drink wine sounds pretty fun to me as well.  Actually, the knitting part really doesn't interest me at all as I have very limited capacity for time consuming, detail oriented, artsy type do it yourself projects.  But, as you can imagine, the book really isn't about knitting, but rather the relationships the women form during their weekly "meetings." 

It was a good attempt at a coming of age, character/relationship development book.  The ending seemed like it was going to end extremely tidy and then it just takes a nose dive.  I did not see it coming.

3 out of 5.

The Black Cat by Martha Grimes (#22, Fiction)

Not exactly my typical mystery series, not quite gruesome or suspenseful enough for my taste. 

Pros of this book:  there were chapters that included cats and dogs talking to each other. Cons of this book: there were chapters that included cats and dogs talking to each other.  Apparently Mungo the dog is something of a sleuth.

After finishing I found out this is book #22 of the Richard Jury mystery series, so I was a bit behind in understand who all the characters were, because they definitely played an integral part in the plot--even if not the central killers/killees.

But really, how can I resist a book titled The Black Cat?

Mystery genre: 2 out of 5

Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum (#21, Fiction)

This genre really never gets old.  Any version or take on events during World War II will always captivate me.  Jenna Blum is a good writer and I loved where she started and was going with this novel, but somehow the end just didn't do justice to the rest of the story. 

Blum ties together the present day story of Trudy, a professor of German history, along with the story of Anna, her mother, a German woman who lived through the war in Germany.  It tackles the question of "what would you do?"  Much easier answered than done.  I continue to enjoy reading the story of WWII from various perspectives, because nothing is ever completely black or white, right?

3.5 out of 5

Nancy Drew: The Secret in the Attic by Carolyn Keene (#20, Fiction)

My first Nancy Drew book was a success!  If only I had started the series when I was younger, I'm sure I would have happily devoured each and every book!  4 out of 5 (YA)

                                    

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese (#19, Fiction)

For someone who doesn't usually check the number of pages in a book, this one felt really, really long.  Eddie commented at least four times, "you're still reading that book?!?"

I liked so much about this book, but somewhere in the middle it stalled and just started dragging.  It picked back up again at the end when everything started coming together, but I think the damage had been done.  A review I saw seemed to suggest a similar sentiment that Verghese loved his characters so much he wanted to tell their whole story in great detail.  But, still I felt some of the main characters lacking, specifically the Genet, Marion, Shiva triangle. Marion's obsession with Genet started off feeling realistic as a young love/crush, which we've all felt, but to have that linger for years into his adult life I could not believe.

3 out of 5

Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier (#18, Fiction)

Another book success!  This Gothic romance has the foreboding feel of Jane Eyre, or other similar Bronte-esque novels from the 19th century.  Romance, mysterious men, suspicious death, a sinister maid, hair-raising drafts and the ramblings of a fool all come together for a page-turner.

Can't wait to watch the Alfred Hitchcock film adaptation.

4 out of 5

The Rules of Civility by Amor Towles (#17, Fiction)

I liked this book from start to finish.  It's refreshing to find a new novel by a new author that doesn't feel completely cliche or give the feeling of been there read that.  The writing leaves nothing to be desired and the characters are neither extremely loveable, nor extremely terrible, falling somewhere in the middle--normal people with both strengths and flaws of character.  The one nagging question I had throughout was the complete absence of any talk of marriage/children/women in the workforce for a main character who starts the novel at the age of 25, which I would imagine is already past the marrying age in the 1930s.  Maybe it's implied that women moving to New York City were those looking for a different life than their peers?  Something to investigate further.

4 out of 5

World War Z by Max Brooks (#16, Fiction)

I have been hearing about this book for years now.  I've read my fair share of zombie and post-apocalypse novels, but this was a new twist on the genre.  I loved it for the first couple chapters, hated it and lost interest for the next 50 pages, and then finally settled in to liking it in the end.  Having each chapter be a different person talking about their experience with the Zombie War was extremely interesting at times and super annoying at times.  I think at the end they did use some of the same characters to come full circle, but honestly I didn't have the patience or memory to keep track of who was who.

3.5 out of 5.

The Edible Woman by Margaret Atwood (#15, Fiction)

I love Margaret Atwood.  This is one of her first books and was published in the late 1960s during the second-wave feminist movement.  While I applaud the many symbolic topics the book tackles, it was pretty bizarre. 

After finishing The Edible Women I found a journal article about demystifying the female form in relation to this novel.  Thanks to the journal article I learned there were way more representations, dualisms, embodiments, theories, cultural experiences, concepts, analogies, disruptive narratives, significances, etc, etc, than I could possibly wrap my 11 years separated from college brain around. 

My explanation of the book would be "the protagonist was torn between traditional social norms of women and her own intellectual ideas, and began to be consumed by her acceptance of a traditional future."  Or I could leave you with this quote from the article in the Journal of International Women's Studies:

"In The Edible Woman, Atwood disassembles the patriarchal concept of femininity and offers a new account of the female body. By re-appropriating the body, Atwood is able to articulate women’s anxieties over her oppressive cultural experiences as well as confront that oppression." 

 

3 out of 5.

Inferno by Dan Brown (#11, Fiction)

I'm always going to like this book more than others do, or more than it deserves because I read it one week before going to Italy.  I had no idea it was about Italy, let alone took place in Florence and Venice--two of the three places I would be visiting just a week away. 

I certainly took a closer look above me as I crossed the Ponte Vecchio in Florence, and wowed my friends with my knowledge of the Doge Palace in Venice.  But, that said, this one wasn't your best Mr. Brown.

Upon quick reflection I was like, wow, solid wrap up there at the end.  But the more I thought about it and talked about it I realized that the entire "quest" was pointless.  No one died, the catastrophe was not averted, and basically everyone was running around for no reason. 

It's been a slow but continual decline in interest with each book, but I'm sure I'll jump on the bandwagon next time around anyway.

2 out of 5

Known to Evil by Walter Mosley (#14, Fiction)

My reading guilty pleasure is still the crime genre.  Give me a crime book and the chances are good that I will finish it in less than 48 hours.

I liked this author.  It's suspenseful and well thought out, but you're not waiting for that huge major plot twist that usually is a huge let down.  No let down here.  I got what I paid for with this book (free) and it was exactly what I wanted.

How do I even rate this?  Guilty pleasures should have a whole rating scale of their own.

Guilty pleasure: 3/5

The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson (#13, Nonfiction)

Did you know that the World's Fair in Chicago was a tribute to Christopher Columbus?  Nope, me either.  Or that Columbus Day became a holiday after the fair concluded? 

I learned many things about Chicago, architecture and psychopaths in this well researched (and possibly a bit fact heavy) historic book.

There is a 100 percent chance that I started doing a lot of skimming about 150 pages in, I can only tolerate so many facts about buildings and landscape.  But, I didn't skim the sections on creepy H.H. Holmes, and how he lured and murdered numerous young women in the late 19th century.

3.5/5

Half Broke Horses: A True-Life Novel by Jeannette Walls (#12, Fiction/Nonfiction blend)

I went into this one with very high expectations.  The Glass Castle continues to sit near the top of my "best of" nonfiction book list, but Half Broke Horses came up short.  The book had me hooked at the beginning--it is the story of Jeannette's grandmother's life in the wild, wild west.  The book is technically fiction, but all the stories are based off of Grandma Lily, and she certainly had many stories worth telling.  I don't know if it was the voice Walls wrote in, trying to capture her Grandmother's language quirks, or the piecemeal storytelling but I found myself flipping very quickly skimming through the second half to just get to the end.

2.5 out of 5.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy (#10, Fiction)

I've been hearing people recommend The Road for years.  I knew it was post-apocalyptic, but I did not know what else to expect.  I read another Cormac book years ago, so I had an idea of his writing style.  I wasn't completely blown away by the book like some people, but I found the topic, writing and imagery very intense and well-done.

4 out of 5.

Sarah's Key by Tatiana De Rosnay (#9, Fiction)

I seem to be on a bit of a WWII kick this year.  Two out of nine so far, and I have another sitting on my book shelf waiting to be picked up--it's all so uplifting...

I enjoyed this book, it was easy to read and fast.  I'm always a fan of learning something new via historical fiction, but it was no literary masterpiece.

2.5/5

Room by Emma Donoghue (#8, Fiction)

I liked this book.  It comes at a super messed up topic with a fresh and interesting take.  I'm not a huge fan of having the child as the narrator, but you get use to it and it's not as bad as it could be. I liked how the author was able to take this completely awful subject of kidnapping and rape and have it be the basis of the book, but never really talk about it.  This isn't a book about kidnapping, it's a book about the relationship between a mother and a child and how they deal with joining, or rejoining society after years of only having each other. 

3.5/5

The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides (#7, Fiction)

I'm still processing how I feel about this book.  I read Middlesex and really enjoyed it, but this is certainly a departure--good or bad depending on the review you read.  Not much happens in terms of plot, but that is his thing, he's more interested in the coming of age story, which isn't necessarily my thing. 

I'm not sure what I liked about the book, but I do know what I didn't like.  I didn't like the hoity toity talk that he suggests college students engage in.  Although, Eugenides did go to Brown in the early 80s, so maybe people really did discuss philosophy and literature at parties--but I call B.S.  I didn't like the characters, but I think I actually just didn't like them, rather than didn't think he did a good job of creating them.  I suppose if I actively dislike a character, then he had to do a good enough job of developing them for me to care one way or the other.  One thing I did like was how the author used the voice of all three characters to narrate. It was interesting to read Madeline talk about herself, and as a reader you form an opinion about Leonard and Mitchell through her, and then when Mitchell talked about Madeline the reader sees all the characters differently.  A literary trick I've never thought much about, but really enjoyed. 

I give it 3 out of 5.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (#6, Fiction)

This book was very enjoyable.  Even with the aspects of the mystical and magical it doesn't need to be labeled as a fantasy, I'm not really sure how the author accomplished that feat.  I really liked the characters and she has such amazing descriptions that I can't help but imagine this book becoming a movie.  The only thing I take issue with is the ending, it was a bit convoluted. 

Overall 4 out of 5.

The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman (#5, Fiction)

Meh.  That's all I really have to say about this one.  It was recommended to me so I had moderate to high expectations, but it fell way short.  The character development sort of came to a halt in the second half of the book and although I like happy endings, I thought the conclusion was way too "clean" and "tidy."  The foreshadowing was totally off and everyone ended up dandy and happy. 

2 out of 5.

The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh (#4, Fiction)

I wanted to really like this book.  But it fell short.  It had so many good pieces, and good ideas.  I love the in-depth and scientific descriptions of flowers and how I learned that having sunflowers at my wedding was a major faux pas according to the narrator (false riches!).  Maybe my opinion of the book stems from my lacking knowledge of the foster system.  I cannot possibly understand what it is like to not have a family, so maybe I just have to take the author at her word and accept that the main character's constant need to ruin anything good going on in her life is a real trait of foster kids.

Three stars out of five.

The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas (#3, Fiction)

This is by an Australian author, and was extremely sexually charged (even though the central incident involves a child).  Two recurring themes from this book:
1) men are incapable of monogamy (specifically men living in Australia of Greek descent)
2) Australians hate Americans too....?  

A good read overall.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (#2, Fiction)

Loved this book.  The author not only uses foreshadowing, but flat-out tells you what is going to happen at the end.  But that didn't make it any easier to take.

Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson (#1, Fiction)

Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver (#20, Fiction)

The Marseille Caper by Peter Mayle (#19, Fiction)

The Paris Wife by Paula McLaine (#18, Historical Fiction)

Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness (#17, Fiction)