Anathem by Neal Stephenson (read 5/5/15 to 5/25/15)

This was a book of the month (BOTM) selection for "Off the Wall" reads.
This was not a hit with me.  The story is set on another planet, that is similar to Earth, but is not Earth.  The society on this planet has divided into the secular and non-secular worlds.  The Secular world is all math based and not a religion, but acts a lot like a religious order to me.  The story line was so dull, with so many unfamiliar big words, that it made it really hard to even start.   There was too much background, but doesn't it didn't help to ease the reader into the story at all.

I tried listening to the audio book and that helped a little, but I couldn't retain anything.  So I switched back to reading and surprisingly that made the reading a little easier. I continued to switch between the physical book and the audio book for the remainder of the read.
The reading got better also once they stopped talking about the architecture and left the monastery, because there was an actual story, not just philosophy based on math theories.  throughout the book there is so much philosophy, but it feels disjointed and thrown in at the most random times.  I have to say this book makes me feel stupid. The theoretical discussions go so over my head that my eyes glaze over and I absorb nothing.  I feel like I'm missing out on a ton of stuff just because I can't follow the theories.  Some in my group really loved this tome of a math theory, but it was not a great read for me.  In fact at times I absolutely dreaded reading for the week because this was just such a tedious read for me.  I think that if you really enjoy and intellectual, deep read, that makes you contemplate our place in the cosmos and in reality yourself, this is a read for you.  But if you are reading for a story, then this is not the story for you, the story plays second fiddle to the philosophy, and it is a complicated and hard to follow philosophy.

Hidden in Paris by Corine Gantz (read 4/25/15 to 5/1/15)

This book was okay. The writing was good, which always makes the reading easier when the storyline isn't always the best. The writer states this was self published in there may have been typos, thankfully there were any I didn't notice. The characters were incomplete , but could have been really good if flushed out.  Everything did wrap up an awfully nice bow at the end though. Everyone got their man to move towards happily ever after. That classifies this is a romance to me, it was a bit disappointing.   Also the author focus a lot of time and energy on the first month, then the remaining six months flew by with barely anything. I don't think she did a bad thing and spending more time on this months me slowed the storyline to crawl, but felt unbalanced to me.

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro (read 4/12/15 to 4/25/15)

This is the looking back on his life not so sure it was so fulfilling as he thought. He missed out on love, because of his duty. He seems like a caring enough man, but he was always so formal, and no one in. For goodness sake's he was proud he kept doing his job even as his father died.  He was blind to the world around him. Lord Darlington was taken as a fool by the Nazis and Stephen was blinded by his love and loyalty.  It made me a little sad that he missed out on so much of choices, black anyone they seemed right at the time. At the time that is the risk of life's choices. It was an okay read. The page for me, in fact I thought so, but when I was reading it, it was okay. I can see how some would love it, but it just wasn't my cup of tea.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass by LewisCarroll (read 4/1/15 to 3/12/15)

This book made me do something I haven't done in ages, write notes in margins and highlight passages.  I recognize most events and Alice in Wonderland and a few from Through the Looking Glass. Looking Glass was really hard to get through, story line was more nonsensical then Wonderland.  It just didn't hold my attention. I'm sure I will read this to my kids though. Great coming-of-age story for the growth of Alice from a child to an adult completely eluded me though.  It was a fun light read, that seemed whimsical and silly, exactly something my 6 year old would love.  The idea that this talks about growing up and a child's perception of the world through aging eyes is just as nonsensical to me as the story itself.  I liked it, I just couldn't see the underlying message.  I think that if I read it again to my kids for just the story and not for a hidden meaning, I will enjoy it more

The Red Garden by Alice Hoffman (Read 3/27-4/1)

I was a little unsure about reading another Alice Hoffman book because I disliked Practical Magic.  But the Red Garden was much better than I expected.  This is essential a book of short stories that revolve around a town in Massachusetts, starting with its founding in 1750 and continuing until the 1990's.

The first story "The Bear's House" is about the founding families and how the town comes to be.  It revolves around Hallie Brady, who perseverance and gumption prevents everyone from starving and surviving their first winter.  In the process she befriends a bear cub and the magic of Blackwell begins.  The remainder of the stories follow her decendants until the present, each with their own short story.

The premise was good, but it all felt stilted, I didn't really connect with any of the characters and therefore didn't really connect with the book.  It was a meh read for me.

Wizards First Rule by Terry Goodkind (Read 3/3 to 3/26)

This is the follow up book the Debt of Bones read in BOTM. There is a world divided evil magic, good magic, and no magic.  The boundaries between evil and good magic is destroyed, a war ensues.  Someone from the land of magic must flee to the land of no-magic, i.e. the Westlands, to find a wizard and a legendary hero to save the world of good magic, i.e. the Midlands, from the ruler of bad magic, i.e D'Hara.  Does that sound exciting?  Does it make you want to pick up the book and start down the path of the Sword of Truth series.  I agree.  This is a great first book, and I highly recommend reading it.  I love the characters and the story line, the end has a great set up for the next book, which is both great and not so great for me.  Because once you have read this book, you know the underlying plot for every book remaining in the series, so there is no real need to finish reading them. Richard loves Kahlan, and Kahlan loves Richard, but boohoo they can never be together so tragic, oh look they almost messed thing up, but now they have fixed them blah blah blah. But don't let the fact that the rest of the series sucks turn you off from this book, and some people even like the repeating story line in the sequels.  I really like this book, I really enjoy the read and the characters, there is no character I say I wish was not written into the story.  I love Zedd, and his zaniness.     The writing is solid, there is just enough detail to set up the world in your minds eye, but not so much that you imagination is hog-tied.  The characters are likable and deep enough to be believable.  And I admit the first time I read this series I couldn't wait to start the next one, and I went about 4 or 5 books in before giving up. Take this book as a great first book and love it for that, because it deserves it.

A Debt of Bones by Terry Goodkind (Read 2/2/15 to 3/1/15)

This was a BOTM read.  It is the prequel to his Sword of Truth series that the TV show The Legend of the Seeker was based on.  In this book we first are introduced to the Character of Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander and the Rahl of D'Hara.    There is a war in the Land, the D'Harans are trying to take over the world with the use of some very dark magic.  We meet Abigail (Abby) she is coming the request Zeddicus, a Wizard of the First Order help her to save her daughter Jana from the D'Harans.  Abby calls in a debt of bones, in order to force Zeddicus to help her.  In doing so, she sets into motion the events that lead to the end of the war with D'Hara and the boundaries being created separating the land into three parts, the Westlands (no magic), the Midlands (magical) and D'Hara (magical).

This was a short book, only 160 pages.  I liked it, it was quick and gave a taste of the story to come. This was a second reading for me, the first time I read the series I read it first too. I think the questions left me wanting to start the first book quicker so I could get them answered. It whetted my curiosity.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (#1) by Ransom Riggs (Read 3/7/15 to 3/14/15)

This was a book we read in my live book club, one of members is a library and she had multiple copies that were giveaways from the library, so we received some copies and assigned it to March.  It was supposedly marketed as supernatural and dark, a book "to keep you up at night."  If that is what you are looking for, you will be disappointed.  There are supernatural factors, but there is nothing dark or chilling, some of the pictures are a little creepy, but not enough to give you trouble sleeping.
The story revolves around Jacob, who finds his grandfather dying, in what first appears to be a wild dog attack.  His grandfather had filled his head with fantastic stories about magical children he had grown up with during WWII.  Children who had peculiar talents, such as levitating or growing gardens at a wish, were ubber strong, or made of bees.  As Jacob grew older, he began to realize these stories were made up, and his Grandfather slowly stopped telling them.  After his Grandfather's death, Jacob gets sent into a bit of a tailspin and goes looking for his Grandfather's past.  What he finds may is that his grandfather may not have been the liar he thought he was.
This was a great book, I loved that when a picture was mentioned, for the most part you turn the page and Bam there is the picture, it may have taken away a little of the reader's ability to imagine the characters, but the pictures were so integral to the story that the minor loss was not noticed. The book was originally intended to be a picture book featuring photographs Riggs had collected, but on the advice of an editor, he used the photographs as a guide from which to put together a narrative and a story was born.  I really like the concept and the integration of the pictures, Riggs states that he has searched many a flea market and garage sale for the pictures used, and he has many more which is good news for the sequels.  This is obviously a sequel, even if the second book hadn't been already released, the ending leaves no doubt there will be more books.
Jacob is a dis-likable character who grows into a likable character the further the story goes along.  There are lots of secrets and plots, yet the writing is simple and straightforward, making it easy to read and kept me interested without overtaking my life.  The children are endearing and varied, some are sweet, some are mean, but they are all individual characters,  There were many characters that were only mentioned briefly, but Riggs did a great job of having the children be their own characters and not being confused with each other, which may have been the help of the pictures, but it lends itself to good possibilities of the future books, maybe fleshing some of these characters out more.  I am looking forward to getting the second book.
As a side note, this book is better in the actual book format than electronic, I think it must have something to do with the pictures not translating as well when on an e-reader

The Country of Ice Cream Star by Sandra Newman (Read 3/14 to 3/15)

So I picked up this book because I read the review by Oprah, and it had lots of high rating on Good Reads, it sounded interesting.  And I'm sure it is, I'm invested in the story I want to read it and find out what happens.  The problem is that it is written in this horrible language, like Ebonics.  It is horrid to read and distracts so much from the story that I wouldn't;'t force myself to finish.  I got about through chapter 9 (56 pages) and I decided that I have limited reading time and I couldn't justify torturing myself with this, when reading is my one guilty pleasure.  The reviews all complimented Newman on her language skills and how poetic and touching the writting was.  I couldn't swallow it.  It was torture not poetry to me.  I want to know what happens, it seems fascinating, but until it is translated into normal English I will have to let it go.

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn (Read 2/22 to 2/24)

So because I loved Gone Girl and Dark places so much, I just had to read Sharp Objects and I am so glad I did.  It was true to Gillian's MO, it was great!  The ending wasn't as twisty as I thought, I had the killer figured out, but the murders didn't happen in a way I expected.
The protagonist in this book is a mentally unstable journalist (she is a cutter) and she is sent back to her home town to investigate murders of young girls.  She must stay with and get to know her dysfunctional family, including her never met little sister Amma.  Sadly this trip home brings up new facts and memories regarding her dead sister.
I really like Flynn's writing, she draws you in with these dysfunctional and potentially unlikable characters, but yet you keep returning because you NEED to know what happened.

A Dance with Dragons (Fire and Ice #5) by George R.R. Martin (read 2/12 to 3/3)

So this is the last in the series currently written.  And it is true to Martin's form, he has great writing and an in depth character cast.  The problem is that I lost momentum with A Feast for Crows.  It focused too much on minor characters and was tedious to get through.  And because of that I had no built up momentum to carry me through the start of this book, which felt dull and pointless to me,  it took almost 600 pages to get to the new "combined" timeline.  It was awful, I really had to force myself to read it, I had to twist my own arm.  And there was still no story movement, two books and no closer to resolutions, just more cliff hangers, I hope the next one is good and we actually get movement, because if the story stands still for much longer I may not care enough about the ending to read a 7th book.

The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins (Read 2/6 to 2/18)

This was a BOTM series read, we read one book a week. The  Although it took me much less than a week to read each book.  The Hunger Games (24 hours), Catching Fire (3 days), and Mockingjay ( 3 days).  They were a really easy read and I literally flew through them
So as I am sure almost everyone is familiar with the premise of the books even if they have only seen the movie previews on TV.  So as we know there was a war 74 years ago between the Capitol and 13 outlying districts.  The capitol destroyed a District (District 13) had has since been oppressing the reaming 12 districts, keeping them highly policed, isolated, uber poor and starving.  Then to keep them even more depressed and desperate, they make them send 2 of their children (age 12 to 18) each year to die via a horrible death at a highly televised game show.  Then two contestants come and shake it all up, and start a revolution.  It take all three books to get from the start of the revolution to the end.  Hunger Games is set in District 12, and the random names draws are Peeta Mellark and Prim Everdeen.  Prim however is only 12 and so her 16 year old sister Katniss volunteers to go in her place.  The two contestants find themselves in the world of the Capitol, a place of wealth and overindulgence, the Capitol citizens are materialistic and shallow.  Katniss is only thinking of herself and getting home to her family.  Peeta on the other hand is thinking of how to get Katniss home and starts a lie based on truth that he and Katniss are doomed lovers.  It works, but in the end she pulls it out and saves him too, defeating the Capitol at its own game and giving inspiration to all the districts to fight their own oppression, with the message "if we die in our fight, at least it was our choice and not yours."  My summation not Collins's.
We  surprise, surprise this really pisses the Capitol off, so they decide as retribution that in the special 75th edition of the televised child slaughter that they will spare the current children this year, and contestants will be selected from the previous winners.  Oh damn, Katniss is the only female to have one from District 12, I guess she is going back.  And because Peeta really does love Katniss, he is not about to let her go it alone.  So sequel is a repeat, but nastier.  There is no way the Capitol is going to let Katniss and Peeta cheat them again, their intent is to kill Katniss, hoping it will also kill the revolution that she is unaware of, that also happens to be using her as a symbol.  Oh did I mention the Revolutionaries plan on rescuing Katniss and making her their leader, well image of a leader anyways.  Problem is no one bothers to ask Katniss, or even tell her about these plots within plots. It really comes as no surprise that she doesn't play her part, she doesn't know her lines after all, and throws all sorts of monkey wrenches in things.
Then because they left Katniss out of her own rescue, they screw up and leave Peeta behind, Katniss does actually become the figurehead of the revolution to save him.  But Peeta comes back different, and then Katniss's goal becomes to kill the person who did this to Peeta, but who really is the cause?  Is it the leader of the Capitol President Snow?  The leader of the revolutionaries President Coin?  Is it society that let these awful games come into being?  Or could it be Katniss herself? Hmm...social commentary GO!
Oh wait I almost forgot, Katniss is torn between Peeta and her best friend/potential boyfriend Gale.  Decisions Decisions.
Now I know the synopsis sounds a little off putting, don't be off put I really like these books.  Do they follow the same pattern as many of the YA dystopian society books that are all the rage right now yes.  Does that make them bad no. I was drawn into the story, did I see parts as cookie cutter, yeah but its hard to read any book nowadays that doesn't have something cookie cutter about it.  I think what I liked best about these books was the ending.  I really liked that Collin's didn't give a traditional happy ending, some important characters die unexpectedly right when the reader thinks the win is at hand, spoiler it is not our three main players, Katniss, Peeta or Gale.  What I like is that Katniss, Peeta and Gale come out the other side of this revolution changed, damaged even.  In real life no one who went through what these young people did would come away with no emotional scars to match their physical scars.  And Collins' gives us readers that truth.

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn (Read 2/3-2/6)

When Libby Day was 7 years old she lost her entire family, her sisters and mother were brutally murdered, and her 15 year old brother was convicted of the crime. For the next 24 years she has been living off charity and generally has not moved past her 7 year old self. Then she comes in contact with a group that is convinced her brother is innocent and makes Libby start to question everything she thought she knew about that night.  Everybody involved had a secret that 7 year olds were not included in.  If her brother did not kill his family, who did?

This is the second Gillian Flynn book I have read.  I read Gone Girl in June of 2014.  I have become a fan.  She takes us down such an unexpected rabbit hole with her stories.  The twists of this book wasn't as shocking as in Gone Girl, but it still wasn't easily predictable.  I was a bit disappointed in the ending.  I felt that it all tied up a little to neatly, I wanted more left undone.   It seemed pretty neat compared to Gone Girl.  I still flew through the book, 3 days to read.  It was really hard to put down, and I kept staying up past my bedtime to read "one more chapter."  Flynn's writing is so smooth and conversational that it felt more like I was listening to a friend talk than reading a book.  I need to get her book Sharp Objects because I have a feeling history will repeat itself and I will love it!

Magic Kingdom for Sale - Sold (Landover Series #1) by Terry Brooks (read 1/5 to 1/30)

This is the next series in BOTM.  Meet Ben Holiday, a trial lawyer from Chicago, grieving the loss of his wife and unborn child in a car accident. He finds an advertisement in an upscale Christmas catalog claiming to offer a magical kingdom for one million dollars by a man named Mr. Meeks. Although skeptical, Ben pursues the offer out of a desperate need to start a new life. Ben receives a magical medallion and is transported through a swirling mist to the kingdom of Landover. Unfortunately, he finds it not exactly as described.
This is my favorite type of book, lightweight fantasy with sarcastic and a bit self-depreciating humor.   I can't believe I have missed this series before now.  I am liking how easy this read is, nothing heavy and maybe I'm not laughing out loud, but I have absolutely caught my self snorting now and then.  I think the simplicity of the story is what is so great, this was written in 1986, so I'm not sure if it is a landmark in the genre, but it wasn't a common style then either, at least as far as I know.  This is light with humor, not a real thinker but something to go hey I feel like reading, and I don't want to be a better person when I'm done, but I want to enjoy it.  Even if my book club doesn't read the rest of the series I will.

Change me into Zeus's Daughter by Barbara Robinette Moss (read 1/1 to 1/14/15)

Book Club read, was nervous going in sounded like another depressing read.

This is a memoir about growing up poor and undaunted in the South. Barbara Robinette Moss chronicles her family's chaotic, impoverished survival in the red-clay hills of Alabama. A wild-eyed, alcoholic father and a humble, heroic mother along with a shanty full of rambunctious brothers and sisters fill her life to the brim with stories that are gripping, tender, and funny.
Moss's early fascination with art coincides with her desire to transform her "twisted mummy face," which grew askew due to malnutrition and lack of medical care. Gazing at the stars on a clear Alabama night, she wishes to be the "goddess of beauty, much-loved daughter of Zeus."

I had a hard time with this time flow in this book, it seemed really slow at first, then we suddenly had skipped high school and she was a single mom.  WTF?  Then the fixing of her face was in the epilogue, not in the story itself? It happened during the fast forward part, it was confusing.  I'm not sure what the point was, I mean there was no conclusion, she just stopped writing.  I had a ton of unanswered questions when I was done reading.  Did she confront her Mom about why did she stay with her Dad?  Did she ever find or confront her parents about Mary Louise?  Why was Janet so sheltered?

Kill Smartie Breedlove by Joni Rodgers (Read 12/30 to 1/1)

This was a quick filler book for in between book club books.  It was a free book on my Kindle that I had downloaded ages ago and not gotten around to reading before now.
Recently widowed private detective Shep Hartigate is hired by a pulp fiction writer Smartie Breedlove to find out who’s killing the exes of Texas, including Smartie’s best friend, Charma Bovet.
This was really good, I love the idea of an author trying to solve a mystery, while writing her next book, and elements of her real life leaking into her fantasy life, until the two are parallel.
This was an easy light read, with fun characters, and it poked fun at writers not letting them take themselves too seriously.  I would read more in this series, in fact I think I should check now to see if there are more.

A Feast for Crows (Fire and Ice #4) by George R.R. Martin (read 12/12 to 12/29)

We continue the tale of seven kingdoms in A Feast for Crows.  

In 2005, Martin announced that the "sheer size" of his still-unfinished manuscript for A Feast for Crows had led him and his publishers to split the story into two books.  Rather than divide the text in half chronologically, he opted to instead split the books by character and location, resulting in "two novels taking place simultaneously" with different casts of characters.  A Feast for Crows was published months later, and the concurrent novel A Dance with Dragons was released in 2011.

In A feast of Crows we find ourselves following the stories of many minor character's whom we haven't had their point of view much before now:  Cersei Lannister; Ser Jaime Lannister; Brienne, Maid of Tarth; Sansa Stark; Arya Stark; Samwell Tarly; Aeron "Damphair" Greyjoy; Princess Asha Greyjoy; Victarion Greyjoy; Areo Hotah, Captain of the Guards of Dorne; Ser Arys Oakheart of the Kingsguard; and Arianne Martell of Dorne.

Tommen is now the King of King's Landing, with Cersei as his regent, and Margaery Tyrell as his wife.  Brienne, the Maid of Tarth, is on a mission to find Sansa Stark, aided by Jaime Lannister. Sansa Stark is hiding in the Vale, protected by Petyr Baelish as his daughter Alayne.  Petyr has murdered his wife Lysa Arryn and named himself Protector of the Vale and guardian of eight-year-old Lord Robert Arryn.  On the Iron Islands, Aeron Damphair calls a Kingsmoot to identify a successor as king of the Iron Islands.  In Dorne, Doran Martell is confronted by three of his brother Oberyn's daughters, who want vengeance for their father's death. Because they are inciting the commonfolk, Doran has them imprisoned in the palace.  Doran's daughter Arianne Martell plots  to crown Doran's ward Myrcella Baratheon as queen of Westeros under Dornish law. Upon arriving in Braavos, Arya Stark finds her way to the House of Black and White, a temple associated with the assassins known as the Faceless Men and becomes a novice.  Jon Snow, now Commander on the Wall,  has ordered Samwell Tarly to sail to the Citadel in Oldtown to research the Others and become a Maester. 

The writing is still great and the movement is fine, but I think splitting the story the way he did and focusing only on these minor characters (beside the Stark girls) was a bad idea.  These were not characters I was engaged with or really cared about, the characters I wanted to hear about, Tyrion, John, and Bran, Rickon, and of course the Girls, and Dany were not there.  It felt like filler chapters and I just couldn't get through them quick enough.  I was bored and I admit a bit pissed that no one I cared about was talked about, I just have to say he better make it up in the next book.