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.