Slated Series

I loved this series. It's YA and appropriate for a mature 5th grader or any middle schooler. 

From Goodreads:

"Kyla’s memory has been erased,

her personality wiped blank,
her memories lost for ever.

She’s been Slated.

The government claims she was a terrorist and that they are giving her a second chance - as long as she plays by their rules. But echoes of the past whisper in Kyla’s mind. Someone is lying to her, and nothing is as it seems. Who can she trust in her search for the truth?"

I would highly recommend this book trilogy for a quick read that is unique. 

Looking for Alaska

I heart John Green. I think he is borderline genius. Okay, he's just genius. This book didn't disappoint.

From Amazon:
"Before. Miles “Pudge” Halter is done with his safe life at home. His whole life has been one big non-event, and his obsession with famous last words has only made him crave “the Great Perhaps” even more (Francois Rabelais, poet). He heads off to the sometimes crazy and anything-but-boring world of Culver Creek Boarding School, and his life becomes the opposite of safe. Because down the hall is Alaska Young. The gorgeous, clever, funny, sexy, self-destructive, screwed up, and utterly fascinating Alaska Young. She is an event unto herself. She pulls Pudge into her world, launches him into the Great Perhaps, and steals his heart. Then. . . .

After. Nothing is ever the same."

In Other Words

I really love this author. She really is one of my favorites. However, i was disappointed in this book. It's great for literary students or writers. But it's too slow and all the pages are too similar.

I appreciate her desire and accomplishment of writing the book in Italian though and the split translation is a unique and wonderful way to publish a book.

I can appreciate the beautiful language and words even as I put down the book for something more interesting.

A Window Opens

From Amazon:
"In A Window Opens, beloved books editor at Glamour magazine Elisabeth Egan brings us Alice Pearse, a compulsively honest, longing-to-have-it-all, sandwich generation heroine for our social-media-obsessed, lean in (or opt out) age. Like her fictional forebears Kate Reddy and Bridget Jones, Alice plays many roles (which she never refers to as “wearing many hats” and wishes you wouldn’t, either). She is a mostly-happily married mother of three, an attentive daughter, an ambivalent dog-owner, a part-time editor, a loyal neighbor and a Zen commuter. She is not: a cook, a craftswoman, a decorator, an active PTA member, a natural caretaker or the breadwinner. But when her husband makes a radical career change, Alice is ready to lean in—and she knows exactly how lucky she is to land a job at Scroll, a hip young start-up which promises to be the future of reading, with its chain of chic literary lounges and dedication to beloved classics. The Holy Grail of working mothers―an intellectually satisfying job and a happy personal life―seems suddenly within reach.

Despite the disapproval of her best friend, who owns the local bookstore, Alice is proud of her new “balancing act” (which is more like a three-ring circus) until her dad gets sick, her marriage flounders, her babysitter gets fed up, her kids start to grow up and her work takes an unexpected turn. Readers will cheer as Alice realizes the question is not whether it’s possible to have it all, but what does she―Alice Pearse―really want?"

Well, what can I say. I don't really remember this book. Yes, it's been about a year since reading it. But, I only vaguely remember the plot. So, that says something, right?

The Vault of Dreamers and The Rule of Mirrors

From Amazon:
"The fast-paced, psychologically thrilling sequel to The Vault of Dreamers follows Rosie after her consciousness has been split in two.

The entire country was watching when Rosie Sinclair was expelled from Forge, the prestigious arts school that doubles as a reality TV show. But few know how Dean Berg was mining students' dreams in laboratories deep below the school. And no one, least of all the Dean himself, knows that when Rosie's dreams were seeded into the mind of another patient, Rosie's consciousness woke up in that body--a girl far from Forge, a girl with a completely different life from Rosie, a girl who is pregnant.

Told from alternating points of view between Rosie as she makes sense of her new identity and the shattered subconscious that still exists in her old body, The Rule of Mirrors will keep readers on the edge of their seats and leave them hungry for more."

My 11 year old and I both loved these books. Unique plot, good character development. 

The Invisible Man

I am very embarrassed to say that I have never read this before this summer. Yes, I am 37 years old. Hence my journey through some classics.

This one didn't disappoint. However, it is juvenile. A mature 5th grader could read it, any middle schooler could.

But, I'm glad I read it and can now say I know what it's about.

Anna Karenina

So, I'm on a classics streak. For the rest of the year I am going to read classics, unless I have a really good reason to read a non-classic.

So, I read Anna Karenina for the first time this summer. While I skimmed some of the politics and farming details (which is totally ok to do by the way. I used to feel bad and "less cultured" because I skimmed some parts of books. I don't anymore. So, feel the freedom to skim away the parts you don't want to read!), the book was amazing. I highly recommend it.

Okay, I don't think I need to give an overview because 1. it's a classic and 2. it's memorable. That being said, I have a terrible memory, so I will recap a little.

Old country Russia. Aristocracy. Affairs. Beautiful clothes. Farm. Unrequited love. Forgiveness. Suicide.

Amazingly written. Beautiful story and language. Literary genius.

Sully

I wanted to see this movie, but my rule in life is that I have to read the book first. So, I bought this book in the airport while on my way to NYC. Seemed appropriate. It was a fine book. He's clearly not a writer and he gave a lot of background as to how he could make the choices he made on the Hudson Flight that day. I don't think I'd recommend the book though. Just watch the movie and know they put a Hollywood spin on the story.

Throwing Like a Girl

From Barnes and Noble:

"No one asks Ella how she feels about moving halfway across the country in the middle of her sophomore year. But she ends up in Texas anyway, without plans for the weekend or friends to guide her through the alien campus of her new private school. So she decides to try out for the softball team — and she makes it! Now if only she knew how to throw, hit, and field the ball. “This is the part you can’t read in a book. You just have to do it.” Ella has a lot to learn — on and off the field.

Softball changes Ella’s life, for better and for worse. She discovers a confidence she never knew she had and makes new friends — and enemies. When Ella falls for her snotty teammate’s gorgeous brother, suddenly she isn’t just fielding balls, she’s also dodging evil glares from girls in class and on the team.

When life throws you a curve ball — learn how to hit it!

If Ella’s going to survive this year, she’ll have to set some ground rules and learn to stand up for herself — in the game and in her life."

Cute book, great for middle school girls.

Inside the O'Briens

From Amazon:
"From the New York Times bestselling author of Still Alice Lisa Genova comes a powerful and transcendent new novel about a family struggling with the impact of Huntington’s disease.

Joe O’Brien is a forty-four-year-old police officer from the Irish Catholic neighborhood of Charlestown, Massachusetts. A devoted husband, proud father of four children in their twenties, and respected officer, Joe begins experiencing bouts of disorganized thinking, uncharacteristic temper outbursts, and strange, involuntary movements. He initially attributes these episodes to the stress of his job, but as these symptoms worsen, he agrees to see a neurologist and is handed a diagnosis that will change his and his family’s lives forever: Huntington’s disease.

Huntington’s is a lethal neurodegenerative disease with no treatment and no cure. Each of Joe’s four children has a 50 percent chance of inheriting their father’s disease, and a simple blood test can reveal their genetic fate. While watching her potential future in her father’s escalating symptoms, twenty-one-year-old daughter Katie struggles with the questions this test imposes on her young adult life. Does she want to know? What if she’s gene positive? Can she live with the constant anxiety of not knowing?

As Joe’s symptoms worsen and he’s eventually stripped of his badge and more, Joe struggles to maintain hope and a sense of purpose, while Katie and her siblings must find the courage to either live a life “at risk” or learn their fate."

I liked this book, but certainly not as well as Still Alice. But, still worth a read.

What Lies Between Us

From Amazon:
"In the idyllic hill country of Sri Lanka, a young girl grows up with her loving family; but even in the midst of this paradise, terror lurks in the shadows. When tragedy strikes, she and her mother must seek safety by immigrating to America. There the girl reinvents herself as an American teenager to survive, with the help of her cousin; but even as she assimilates and thrives, the secrets and scars of her past follow her into adulthood. In this new country of freedom, everything she has built begins to crumble around her, and her hold on reality becomes more and more tenuous. When the past and the present collide, she sees only one terrible choice.

From Nayomi Munaweera, the award-winning author of Island of a Thousand Mirrors, comes the confession of a woman, driven by the demons of her past to commit a single and possibly unforgivable crime."

It's been a long time since I've read this, but I remember loving it and wanting to read it again to see what I missed the first time. It's also best to not know a lot about the book before reading. But, well worth the time and it's a quick read.

Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven

I really enjoyed this book. It's a memoir about Susan Jane Gilman's journey across the world cut short by some interesting events. I would highly recommend it to wanderlusters, but also to anyone who enjoys reading about people's interesting lives and adventures.

MosquitoLand

From Amazon: 

"After the sudden collapse of her family, Mim Malone is dragged from her home in northern Ohio to the “wastelands” of Mississippi, where she lives in a medicated milieu with her dad and new stepmom. Before the dust has a chance to settle, she learns her mother is sick back in Cleveland.

So she ditches her new life and hops aboard a northbound Greyhound bus to her real home and her real mother, meeting a quirky cast of fellow travelers along the way. But when her thousand-mile journey takes a few turns she could never see coming, Mim must confront her own demons, redefining her notions of love, loyalty, and what it means to be sane."

It's been over 9 months since I read this and am just now reviewing it. Although I don't really remember the book, I remember it being good. Well written and an interesting and fairly unique book.

It's not appropriate for kids though.

One Second After

This book was not well written, but it was a page turner, especially for someone like me who is borderline prepper. It's about a catastrophic event that takes out the power and how people survive or not. It's set in Asheville, which made the novel even more fun. 

Worth the read, but not for the sake of the writing or characters. Mainly for the message it has to say. 

The Rent Collector

A great start to this book. It's about a family who lives in the slums who is terrified of her landlady, but eventually has the guts to ask her to teach her to read. It had so much potential and i got over half way through. But, the middle of the book is too repetitive, so I put it down. Maybe another time I'll pick it back up and finish it. Just don't have the stamina to at this point in my life. 

Zero K

This book was boring. I didn't like his writing style or the characters voices. Interesting idea for a novel, but poor execution. 

Put it down before reaching my 50 page minimum.