A few words on the 13 books I've finished since my last update.
The Enchantress by Michael Scott
This was a fun, light ending to a fun, light series. I was satisfied with how the six-book saga wound up. If you liked the previous books, you'll like this one.
6.75/10
Hollow City by Ransom Riggs
I liked this book a lot. It's not quite as impactful as the first, as the novelty has worn off and we're clearly being guided toward a third book, but it is just as tense and gloomy and dark as the first, and I'm eagerly awaiting the third.
8.5/10
Chinese Cinderella: The True Story of an Unwanted Daughter by Adeline Yen Mah
This is a bowdlerized version of a longer autobiography, pared down for children to read. It's simple but harrowing.
6.5/10
Find Me by Romily Bernard
This is a good, fast-paced YA hacker novel with a great female protagonist and several interesting plot lines. I'm glad to know there will be follow-up starring Wick.
8.25/10
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
I would have liked this book better if I hadn't had such high expectations from it being the *it* book a couple summers ago. As it was, I liked the book, but not until about halfway through when the slightly predictable plot twist occurs. A very fun read with complex characters.
8/10
Stay Where You Are and Then Leave by John Boyne
This was a great exploration of PTSD from the point of view of a child whose father is shipped off to fight in WWI. Boyne captures the emotional swings of an entire family to show us the real costs of war without ever falling prey to sentimentality.
8.5/10
The Eye of Minds by James Dashner
This was a disappointing book, especially because I so enjoyed his first series, the Maze Runner trilogy. I could never quite get into the story or the characters.
4/10
Rump: The True Story of Rumpelstiltskin by Liesl Shurtliff
This was a fun middle grade retelling of the Rumpelstiltskin story, from his perspective. Don't expect anything like the book Wicked, but it's easy to fall into this story.
7.75/10
More Than This by Patrick Ness
This was an excellent book: tense, with complex, moving characters, and a compelling plot line. I recommend this book.
9.25/10
Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence
If, like me, you've been putting this one off because the uninspiring cover art or the so-so title, shame on us both. This was a superb book, my favorite new read in a long while. It's very dark, very tense, very bloody--and Lawrence somehow convinces us to care deeply about a despicable protagonist. This book sucked me in like no other in the past few months. Highly recommended.
9.75/10
Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang by Chelsea Handler
This is Handler doing what she does best: telling compromising stories with hilarity and her signature debonair disregard. A very funny book.
8/10
In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan
I've been a fan of Pollan for awhile now, but kept putting this book off, I'm sorry to say. It's excellent, insightful, and should be required reading for everyone who eats food. Presumably, that includes you..
9.5/10
King of Thorns by Mark Lawrence
The sequel to Prince of Thorns, this book was equally as tense and dark and compelling. We keep a similar pattern--cutting back and forth between present and past storylines--all of which are gripping. Jorg is a little softened here, his bravado tempered somewhat with pain and perhaps a little wisdom. But he's still the Jorg who wrung out our sympathy and admiration and disgust in the first book. Also highly recommended.
9.5/10
Until next time,
Happy Reading
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