Outlanderby Diana Gabladon (Read 8/17/15 to 9/20/15)

This was my September read for NNCC.
The book is set in the year 1945 and 1743, it is the story of Claire Randall, she is a former WWII combat nurse,and has just reunited with her husband Frank on a second honeymoon in Scotland.  One day she walks through a standing stone in one of the ancient circles  and is suddenly transported back in time.  In 1743 she is a Sassenach, an “outlander," in more ways than one,  Scotland torn by war and raiding border clans and it is a far more dangerous time than her own, death is around every corner.  Claire is suspected as a spy and is pulled into the intrigues of the lairds and must be smart an cunning to save her own life.  It is at this time that she meets James, i.e. Jaimie, Fraser.  He a gallant young Scots warrior, who steals her hear and forces her to be torn between two times and two very different men.

I read this book back in high school so I was familiar but it was still a fresh read for me.   This is far more of a romance than a historical novel, there are some historical items in, but they play second fiddle to the romance and the love triangle Claire finds herself in.  It is a first book, the reader can tell by some of the writing, there are places where the details are too lengthy and did't add to the story line.  I liked the book.  I felt that with everything happening in my life currently, work, small children, other book clubs, parties, etc. that this was not a tome I would have picked up of my own free will.  It was too long of a book for my current life, and I liked it well enough, but not so well that I will drudge through the remainders in the series.  Although I am willing to put them on a potential to be read list in the future when I have more time.

Ok I am about to go off on some parts of the books that are definite spoilers and use some not so nice language, so if you don't want to know what happens or you don't want to read curse words I would stop reading now.

I think that one of my biggest pet peeves about this book was the inconsistencies of Clair, and not inconsistencies because her character is supposed to be wishy washy but inconsistencies because Gabaldon did not write her well.  The impression that I have is that Gabladon wanted Claire to be a strong woman both for her time and for Jamie's time.  And Claire does start out the book as a strong independent woman.  But by the end she is weak and a little bit simpering in my mind, waiting for Jaimie to "take care of her" or "rescue" her.  There are many times in the book that she acts completely opposite of how her character should act if she was this very forward thinking, strong independent, woman she is described as in the beginning.  Take for example the incident where Jaime "spanked" her, in reality he BEAT her.  She was unable for days to walk or ride comfortable, she had bruises covering her entire body, and he even said in fact that he lost control and it was much more severe than he intended.  It went beyond a simple discipline of his wife.  I understand it was the times and it was common for both disciplines and beatings of wives.  Do I think it was right, no but I am aware it was a different time and women were treated differently.  My issue is how Claire reacted.  At first she was right angry and wanted nothing to do with Jaimie.  That was in character with the portrayal of who she was.  What was not in character was that in less than 48 hour she had forgiven him, agreed with him that it needed to be done, and allowed him back in her bed.  All because he told her of some beatings that his father gave him as a child, however my opinion is that his father never beat him the way Jaimie beat Claire.  And her forgiveness, although not completely impossible to imagine happening, came too soon and with no true apology and did not fall in line with her character.  It is really at this point that I began to see inconsistancies.

Another big inconstancy for me is at the end when Jaimie is in prison and Claire goes to find him.  She kills a guard one moment, is hiding in a corner terrified the next, totally fucks ups the rescue and leaves Jaimie to Randall's mercies, then kills a wolf with her bare hands?  What the fuck!  So she goes to the prison, she wavers between bravery and cowardice, then when she gets to Jaimie's cell she becomes an idiot.  Jaimie tells her Randall is coming back and instead of being the smart woman she is supposed to be she plays into a stereotypical role of victim.  She wastes all of her time trying to hurry up and get Jaimie out of his chains instead of setting up a plan to knock out Randall and allow herself time to work the lock.  And surprise surprise it doesn't turn out well.  Then she has had all this self defense training, it went into great detail on how much time and how much training she did, and she doesn't use any of it to get away from Randall.  She lets Jaimie make the awful bargain of himself for her life.  Ok we are being a helpless woman needing our Man to save us.  But THEN, Gabladon has Claire kill a wolf with her BARE HANDS.  Please!  If she was able to kill a wolf with her bare hands, she could have taken out Randall, maybe not killed, but at least knocked him out and tied him up.  Make up your mind, is she a strong heroin or a weak victim.

Another thing that really bothers me is how quickly she forgets Frank, I know that they had been separated for 8 years, and were trying to re-connect, but still it took her NO time at all to move on to Jaimie.  And once they were married, which admittedly wasn't all her choice, she jumped into bed with him quite readily on an extremely regular basis.  If Gabladon had spent just a little less time not the sex scene descriptions, and a little more time on the character development I think this would have been a much better book.  Don't get me wrong, my rants don't mean I didn't enjoy the book, but they do mean that there was potential there for me to have enjoyed it more.

The First 15 Lives of Harry August by Claire North (read 8/13/14 to 8/23/15)

BOTM for August. This is a book of time travel, sort of. Harry August's life repeats itself. When he dies, he goes right back to the beginning, but with all the knowledge and experience from his previous life. Our story takes place at the end of his 11th life, when a little girl appears at his deathbed with a message for the past....the world is ending quicker than it should. What he does with the information is the true question. How can he save another the past and the future?
I liked it, I like the storyline too. But I don't have much to say either. It's good but not very a comment inducing. There are multiple flashes of Harry's previous lives,I like the flashes, I think they add depth and explain Harry's motivations really well.
I loved a quote in the middle of the book, it summed up an amazing view on life, whether you have one life or 15. "Men must be decent first and brilliant later, otherwise you're not helping people, just servicing the machine."

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield (read 9/3/15 to 9/8/15)

This book seemed written for book lovers, and as I am one I loved it. Our Heroine is an introverted book lover herself. I was able to relate her in so many ways. And sometimes I found myself jealous that she got so spend much time with books. Margaret Lea works in her father’s antiquarian bookshop, and her fascination for the biographies of the long-dead has led her to begin writing them herself. She one day Margaret gets a letter asking her to write the biography of the most famous authors of the day, the mysterious Vida Winters. Mrs. Winters is a recluse who also toys with journalists, every time she does an interview, she gives the journalist a different life story. Now she is old and ailing, and at last she wants to tell the truth about her extraordinary life. Vida’s strange, gothic tale features the Angelfield family: dark-hearted Charlie and his unbrotherly obsession with his sister, the fascinating, devious, and willful Isabelle; and Isabelle’s daughters, the feral twins Adeline and Emmeline. The story is captivating. Margaret doesn't fully trust Vida to tell her the truth, so she goes and does some fact checking and discovers the truth isn't always what it seems.
I loved this book, I loved the characters, I loved the setting, I loved the mystery, And I loved the truth. This was a book that I had to force myself to put down to sleep, and I spent my days wondering what was going to happen next. The twists and turns were engrossing, and I'm still not sure at the end if I got the full picture. This goes in my re-read list for sure. The writing was so smooth and doled out the mystery at a perfect speed. Both the images and writing were just dark enough, not horrific but a dark tell for sure. I could see the whole book characters, places, plot in my minds eye like a movie. I loved it!

The Word Exchange by Alena Graedon (read 7/31/15 to 8/11/15)

This was one of the books I received in my Book Riot July Quarterly Box.  I was excited to read it, it sounded so interesting.  The Premise is that that in what I assume is an alternate reality books, libraries, and newspapers have at last become things of the past. Everybody used devises that are called Memes for all their communication and entertainment needs.  I imagine them to look like Blackberries and be extremely advanced smart devices. The Memes are intuitive and can anticipate the users needs, dialing the doctor before the user knows they are sick, or prompting the user with forgotten words or definitions of unfamiliar words. Yet there are still a few dedicated wordsmiths who are working on the final print edition of the North American Dictionary of the English Language. One evening, right before it’s released, Anana Johnson finds that the chief editor—her father—has vanished.  The book then follows Anana and her colleague Bart as they search for her father from a single clue he left her in his office.  There is intrigue and danger and a giant conspiracy that must be unraveled.  All while trying to avoid succumbing to the deadly "Word Flu."  People are losing their language, whole words are disappearing and some are even dying.  How is it transmitted, why is it here, what does it have to do with Anana's father?This was a great read, I was enthralled with it, it was scientific and terrifying and engrossing.  I can see the way we are all attached to our smart phones and understand how we are losing something in our communications and our interactions with each other. This read was very thought provoking on the language breakdown.  There were lots of subtitles, that even if I didn't catch them all it didn't detract from my read.  For example, I  didn't realize the chapters were in alphabetical order until the last chapter. I will need a second read to catch it all I think.  There was a lot of science regarding the word flu and how it spread and how it was created, it was fascinating, but I think deserves a second read to fully comprehend.  The writing was great, it flowed really easy and kept my attention.  I really liked it, in fact I have recommended it to my book club as a read.

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel (read 7/11/15 to 8/6/15)

In the opening scenes of the book we see Hollywood star, Arthur Leander, having a heart attack while on stage during a production of King Lear.  Jeevan Chaudhary, a paparazzo-turned-EMT, Jumps onstage and performs CPR and tries to save Arthur.  As Jeevan walks home from the theater, a terrible flu begins to spread. Hospitals are flooded and Jeevan and his brother barricade themselves inside an apartment, watching out the window as life as we know it disintegrates around them.

Kirsten Raymonde, a child actress, watches as Jeevan tries to save Arthur.  Fifteen years later, Kirsten is an actress with the Traveling Symphony, a nomadic group of actors roaming the scattered outposts of the Great Lakes region, risking everything for art and humanity.  Together, this small troupe moves between the settlements of an altered world, performing Shakespeare and music for scattered communities of survivors. Written on their caravan, and tattooed on Kirsten's arm is a line from Star Trek: "Because survival is insufficient." But when they arrive in St. Deborah by the Water, they encounter a violent prophet who digs graves for anyone who leaves. And the search for troupe members left behind ensues.

The book is told from multiple points of view, separate stories and separate times that all weave together in a way that doesn't come together until the very end.  The magical way a single person can have so much impact, reminds me of the old story about dropping a pebble in a pond and the ripples created are countless.  We had alot of debate in BOTM as to who the main character of the book truly was.  I know who I feel, but if I shared that would take away some of the magic of this story.  Some of the characters were flawed, but it made them more real in my mind.  The writing was smooth, and moved the story along at a really nice pace.  I really liked this book, I am glad I bought it rather than just checking out from the library.  I will want to re-read for sure.  I think a stormy winter night by the fireplace will be perfect for that.

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd (read 7/27/15)

NNCC selection for August, now that I know one of the main characters names is August it seems especially appropriate.  I finished this book in a single cross country flight, I could not put it down. Set in South Carolina in 1964, this is the story of Lily Owens.  Her life has been full of tragedy and starved for love.  When Lily was 4 she accidentally shot and killed her mother under questionable circumstances.  Her father is an abusive and cruel man who withhold his love and generally makes her life miserable, one day he is especially cruel and shatters Lilly's dream of her mother, causing her to flee.  She does not escape on her own, Lilly breaks her black "stand-in mother," Rosaleen out of jail and they leave town together.  The only thing clue Lilly has to her mother is a picture of a black Madonna with the town Tiburon, SC written on the back.  When they reach Tiburon date guides her to August Boatwright and her two sisters May and June.   It is here that "Lily is introduced to their mesmerizing world of bees and honey, and the Black Madonna."

The writing drew me in, and it reminded me of how quickly I read The Help.   Strange as this may sound, but despite the great descriptions I could not picture the peach farm or the pink house, but the women, they are clearly defined on my minds eye.  Full vibrant characters that made me love them, and I was sad to come to the end and have to say goodbye.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon (read7/22/15 to 7/27/15)

Christopher John Francis Boone is strange.  At the age of 15, he knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to 7,057. He relates well to animals but has no understanding of human emotions. He cannot stand to be touched. And he detests the color yellow.  Although gifted with a superbly logical brain, everyday interactions have little meaning. He lives on patterns and rules.  Then one day, a neighbor's dog, Wellington, is killed and his world is upturned.  Christopher decides to be his favorite detective, Shelick Holmes, and he sets out to solve the murder, and solves more than the murder.

Christopher has either Aspergers or autism.   Interesting to read from his point of view, especially after reading Still Alice.   The writing was a little dry, but I suspect it was meant to be since Christopher is a bit dry.  I thought it was okay, not a favorite but it was interesting to read the story from his point of view.

Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge (read 7/18/15 to 7/20/15)

Based on the classic fairy tale Beauty and the Beast.  Our heroine Nyx has been betrothed to the evil ruler of her kingdom since birth.  Her entire life has been training to kill him once they are wed. Nyx resents her family for never trying to save her and hates herself for wanting to escape her fate. But Nyx puts duty first and as a good little sacrificial lamb she married the immortal Ignifex on her seventeenth birthday. Although not blindly, she has a plan. Seduce him, destroy his enchanted castle, and break the curse he put on her people.  But neither Ignifex or the curse is what Nyx expected.  She finds that the story she knew was not the whole story, and despite herself she begins to love her husband.

I had a hard time putting this one down once I started reading it.  The writing is simple and beautiful. There is a lot of Greek/Roman lore woven into the story that made me do a little happy dance.  The story felt very familiar, but then again Beauty and the Beast is one of my favorite fairytales, so the story wasn't that new.  But the details were rich and gave it a fresh breathe.  I really loved that Nyx was conflicted and not always a nice person, but then again being raised the way she was how could she not have some self image issues?

Still Alice by Lisa Genova (read 7/7/15 to 7/12/15)

NNCC selection for July.  This is the story of a woman who gets early onset Alzheimer's and how it steals her life from her.  I admit this sounded depressing and all the reviews saying it was a great book weren't really convincing me.  I was pleasantly surprised by it, the read was easy and the characters were likable.

There were parts that made me tear up, especially when it comes to her interactions with her husband.   The ending left me with so many unanswered questions, but I understand why.  The book was from Alice's perspective and she would be unable to answer those questions at that stage in her disease, so the go unanswered in the book.  I liked it, it was well written and drew me in.

The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman (read 6/8/15 to 7/2/15)

   

Another BOTM book.  This is the story of a polish couple that hide Jews from the Nazis during WWII in their zoo.  I'm secretly a little obsessed with WWII stories, ever since I read Diary of Anne Frank in elementary school.  Even the ones where they don't survive, I think it is because I just can't understand how such an atrocity as the Holocaust could happen, and I'm uplifted by the resilience of the survivors.  I didn't pick this book but I suspected I would like it because of the subject. 

It's a really quick read, I know it's nonfiction and based on journals and interviews, but it doesn't read like nonfiction normally does.  It's so not dry or monotonous, it has a great fluidity to the story. Ackerman does an amazing job of weaving the facts in with the personal antidotes, to create a story not just a history.  I know that it was war, and that loss of human life was devastating too.  But hearing about the zoo animals being shot and bombed was a bit traumatic for me.  Their deaths felt incredibly senseless and tragic, and knowing it was true and not fictional deaths made it even harder for me to read.

Again with the animal deaths, so senseless and cruel.  How is that a hunt if they are locked in cages?  Grrr 

For some reason I'm having problems with the timeline, it feels like it will jump from early war to late war to mid war back to late war etc.  Maybe it is just me, but I wish it was more linear.  I think the issue is that she goes off on side tangents for events or people and puts the whole blurb about them in one place so she doesn't have to come back to them or so we get their whole story, but it confuses me on the timeline for the main storyline.

I was a little disappointed, I think I expected a bit more of a story and instead I felt that we got a sporadic telling of a bunch of people pieced together in a non-linear timeline.  I liked the books, the individual stories were good, but as a whole it left me wanting.

Odd Apocalypse (Odd Thomas #6) by Dean Koontz (read 6/19/15 to 7/12/15)

We continue Odd's story,he and Annemarie are staying at Riseland estate. A woman on a horse asks him her son, since she is a ghost she can't actually tell him anything of course, but Odd being Odd says he will.  So then the hunt for the boy begins, and even for Odd things get really strange.  

I had a little trouble getting into this book, the first chapter just didn't peak my interest.  And I think that lack of excitement carried through my whole read.     I found myself putting off reading, there was laundry or dishes to be done, my book club books were more important, etc. Maybe by taking such a long break between books on the series I lost my momentum, that indicates to me that the series isn't that great after all.  There were a few ghosts, but this was more of a supernatural adventure.  Koontz's writing was as good as ever, but the storyline just couldn't seem to hold me.

Odd Interlude (Odd Odd Interlude (Odd Thomas #5) by Dean Koontz (read 6/12/15 to 6/17/15)

I picked this up as a side book because my BOTM read is so quick, I do the weeks reading in one day, and I had finished NNCC this month already.  I had recently bought the latest book in the series for my husband, and I want to get caught up so I could read it.

I guess this book was originally presented as a 3-part series of eBook mini installments.  It picks up the same night as the end of Odd Hours, Odd and Annamarie are driving to Santa Barbara after fleeing Magic Beach when they stop at a small gas station/diner/motel just off the highway called Harmony Corner.  And as with anywhere Odd goes, there is more to the place than meets the eye.

This book seems rushed, Odd is in the middle of a problem before the end of the first chapter, and unlike other books the story proceeds really really fast, no set up, no mystery really, just BAM Odd has to save someone and himself. Another odd thing about this book is the only ghost is that of Boo the dog. There is a murdered boy in the story, it seemed to me that he would be a ghost that Odd encountered.  In fact it would have made more sense for Odd to have discovered there was a problem from the boy's ghost than from snooping around Harmony Corner.  The storyline feels off to me.  It was still an easy read, but it didn't feel like the other books.  Maybe it is because it was an e-book serial and not a stand alone book.  The story moves at a very rapid pace, and there is a lot packed into its 250 or so pages.  I liked it, but it felt out of character to me.

Book Riot's Surprise Beach Reads 2015

So before I received my quarterly box, I was listening to my book riot podcast and they were talking up the new Surprise Beach Reads Box for $100.  It was advertised as "Variety is the spice of our reading life! Start your summer with four secret Riot-approved books and a selection of items from the Book Riot Store. (Does not contain any repeats from Book Riot's Quarterly or YA Quarterly subscriptions. Total retail value of contents exceeds $100.)  Purchase of this box sends one book to a community in need."
It sounded like a good deal, 4 books and swag for $100 bucks, plus a little spice of charity thrown in.  I went for it.  It arrived the day after my Quarterly box and I think some of my disappointment from the quarterly tampered my excitement for the summer box.  I wasn't as excited about this box as I could have been, I will admit I am happier with this box.  So enough of the blah blah's what was in it right?

The letter included described the 4 books and a small paragraph calling the four books "not so conventional choices for summer reading."  Two novels, a graphic novel and a memoir.  Not sure why they are considered unconventional, maybe once I read them that description will make more sense.

The first book was Instructions for a Heatwave by Maggie O'Farrell ($14.95) .  This is a story about family reunion set during a terrible heatwave in London in 1976.  Gretta, whose husband has just abandoned her, calls her three children home.  Of course none of the children's lives are perfect, and may not be having the best of luck themselves.  But this is the story of "a family falling apart and coming together with hard-won, life changing truths about who they really are."  It sounds like an interesting and heartfelt read.  It may not have been one I would have picked up myself, but I'm interested in reading it.  Sounds like it could be a bit twisty and dramatic, just my style.  When I read the back, I immediately thought this sounds like a book NNCC book club would pick.  And who knows if I like it, I may recommend it to the group.

Next we have The Fishermen by Chigozi Obioma ($26).  This one was a hard back which was a surprise.  I had expected all paperbacks, and didn't expect such a newly published book to be included.  Original copyright was February 2015.  The cover says this is a "Cain and Abel-esque story of an unforgettable childhood in 1990's Akure, Nigeria."  The father is apparently away often and the four brothers skip a lot of school to go fishing.  During one of the hooky days a man tells the oldest brother he is destined to be killed by one of his brothers, and the story follows them to see what happens.  Supposedly it is mythical thing, and is supposed to be life changing, or at least make you think about life and the world and teach you something.  Hmmm...I'm a little leery that it is all that and the bag of chips, but I could be wrong, it could change my life, make me do some major reflecting.  That would be a very pleasant surprise indeed.

Next we have Lumberjanes, Volume 1 by Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis, Brooke Allen, and Shannon Waters ($14.95).  This is a graphic novel that they have been talking a lot about on my book riot pod casts, I guess it is just amazing and funny as all get out.  The book takes place at a summer camp and all the shenanigans the girls at the camp get into.  It looks fun.  The chapters are split up by badges, and there is a blurb at the front about what a lumberjane must do to earn her badge, then I assume the graphic novel part depicts some of the girls earning said badge.  I have never been much of a graphic novel person, so I'm not sure that this is my cup of tea,   But I have heard a ton of good things about it so I'm really glad it was included in the box, because I can guarantee I wouldn't have purchased it myself, but I want to see if it lives up to all the great recommendations.

The last book A Few Seconds of Radiant Filmstrip by Kevin Brockmeier ($15).  This is the memoir, Brockmeier writes about his seventh grade experience.  I guess this is the year the author finds himself and survives one of the worst years in a childhood I can think of.  Oh the tween years, it is not something I would want to relive, my middle school memories are pretty ugly, I think we all go into middle school one person and come out another, and that transformation sounds like what this book is about.  Ehh.. this will probably be the last one of this group of books that I tackle.

 

So what about the swag you ask?  Well I received a Book Riot Water Bottle ($15), a Jane Austin Tote ($15), and banned book socks ($10).  I am much happier with this swag than the Quarterly box's swag, it fell more in line of what I was expecting.  The water bottle is huge, 32 oz, and I wish I had known I was going to receive it before I purchased a 64 oz jug, but I guess you can never have too many water bottles.  I love the tote, it is very roomy and will hold lots and lots of books, perfect for library visits with the kids, and actually something I have been looking to buy.  The socks are cute and fun, but it feels like the wrong season for them.   Oh and there was another coupon for $20 off Book Riot Live event in New York in November of 2015.  Again I will not be attending this event so this coupon was useless to me, but I guess it does add value to the box.

The overall box value was $113.90 when you include the coupon, without it it is $93.90.  So I feel a little cheated that they included the coupon, but for the most part I am happy with the box.  I feel that I got my money's worth, not a super fantastic deal, but at least I don't feel cheated.  I'm happy with my swag and only one of the books really makes me go bleh.  Not bad for a box picked by someone else.

Book Riot Quarterly Box #7 (Recieved 6/10/15)

So my husband gets Loot Crate and I love it, the idea of some random fun stuff being delivered every month, so I started looking for a book related subscription box, and my choices were Powell Books or Book Riot Quarterly.
Book Riot comes out 4 times a year and costs $50 per shipment.  It was described as "The theme of Book Riot's mailings is The Reading Life. Each box contains a great book and a bunch of other bookish stuff that readers will love."
Powell's is every 6 weeks and costs $39.95 per shipment.  It was described as "Powell's subscription club delivers the best new books, with special attention to independent publishers. Signed first editions. Inventive, original sets. Exclusive printings.... Every six to eight weeks, another installment to read and admire."
Two other options I tossed pretty early on was the Book Riot YA quarterly and Owl crate.  Both are YA genre's which I read, but they felt limiting to me.

I debated long and hard about which subscription to go with, but I finally settled on Book Riot's because the reviews of the boxes sent had more stuff in it that I thought I would like.  I placed my order in March and I waited impatiently for my first box to arrive.  The Theme for Box #7 was "Technology, the Future and Reading."  When the mailman arrived today with my box, I opened it all giddy and super excited, but I was really disappointed by what I found inside.

First there was the book riot letter explaining what was included in the box (and because I wasn't one of the lucky randomly selected subscribers, what bonus items I didn't get.)

The first book included was The World Exchange by Alena Graedon ($15.95).  Let letter describes it as "a near-ish future cyberpunk novel."  It seems the premise is that handheld technology has replaces books/newspapers/libraries.  There as always are a few die-hard fans of print and they are struggling to publish the last edition of the North American Dictionary of the English Language.  Right before it is to be published the editor-in-chief goes missing, apparently along with words themselves.  The protagonist is his daughter Anana Johnson, so of course she and a friend set out to find out her father and the words. It sounds like an interesting concept, I will happily give it a shot.

Included also was the "bonus item" of a special coda written after then end of the the book, I think that it was the weird 1 page letter thing included, so I stuck it at the end of the book, maybe once I read the book it will make sense.  There was a second bonus item that I did not receive which was a "Word Flu Prevention Kit."  I tried googling it, but couldn't find out what it was.  :(

The second book was Smarter Than You Think by Clive Barker ($17.00).  This appears to be a non fiction book about if technology is making us dumber, I think the conclusion is no.  It seems like an ok read, not something I would have picked up on my own for sure though.

It included a bonus item of an online essay by Clive Barker about reading War and Peace on an e-reader vs a real book.  I got about halfway through it and was bored, hopefully the book holds my attention better than the essay.

Also included was a Grid-It Organizer ($11.99), it is small 5x7, so will fit well in my purse.  It has a bunch of elastic loops interwoven together, and it market as holding all your stuff (phone, cords, pens, etc.) in place in your bag.  Its an interesting concept, not sure if it will be useful, but I'll give it a shot, I always am looking for better ways to organize my purse.

Final item was a Pop Chart Lab Literary Genres Map Poster ($29).  This was the item I think I liked best from the box, it immediately went up on the wall in my office.  It just looks so cool!

There was also a coupon for $20 off Book Riot Live event in New York in November of 2015.  I will not be attending this event so this coupon was useless to me, but I guess it does add value to the box. Shhh.... and if you read my blog and are going, I am sure you can use the code.

There was potential to get one of two bonus books Symphony for the City of Dead by MT Anderson or Fat Girl Walking by Brittany Gibbons, I didn't get either of those either.  :(

So the total value was $93.94, although because I can't use the coupon, my value was only $73.94.  I got my monies worth technically.  I guess I was disappointed because when I looked through the previous boxes, there were notes from authors and cooler goodies, than an online essay.  I felt a little cheated because I had built it up so much in my mind I suppose.  I had really debated and Book Riot had seemed to have cooler book related items than Powell's, and the only item I got that I really liked was the poster, it just seemed like a bit of a cope out.  There was nothing I hated, it just didn't live up to my expectations I guess.  I'll give it one more go, but if I don't like the September box I will cancel and try Powell's after all.

Hollow City (Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children #2) by Ransom Riggs (Read 5/25/15 to 6/7/15)

This is the second book in the peculiar children series.  It wasn't as good a read as the first one.   It picks up immediately where the first book left off after the island was bombed, and they children had rescued Miss Peregrine.  The children are trying to find other Ymbrynes to change her back from bird form.  They are traveling to London in the 1940's trying to find another loop.  The story just seemed to meander about and take a lot of useless turns, there were still the great old pictures, but they didn't seem as perfect as the first time around and didn't add to the story the way they did with the first book.  The character development was minimal, in fact I was a little annoyed that Jacob seemed to consider himself and expert on peculiars' and the peculiar children he was traveling with, especially Emma, for goodness sake he had known them only a week and only found out he was a peculiar at the same time.  It was annoying what an "expert" he seemed to have become.  I'm not saying it was a bad book, I liked it, I just had higher expectations from the first book.  I will still read the thrid book, but I won't expect as much from it and maybe I will enjoy it more.

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.