Against My Will! Top 10 books I was “forced” to read

13 Comments

ttt1

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke & the Bookish.  It’s awesome. Every Tuesday, the lovely ladies over there give us book bloggers wonderful and fun topics to create our lists!  Check out what others have posted by going over there! http://brokeandbookish.blogspot.com

This week’s topic is-

Top ten books I was “FORCED” to read-

“(either by teachers, friends, other bloggers, book club) — doesn’t necessarily have to be a BAD thing. Could be required reading, yes, but also book club, or just super enthusiastic friends “making” you read something!”

I decided to have some fun with is- I picked a few different views-

The Ugly-

1-  Mine are Spectacular

My old book club thought this would be a fun read.  All it was was BAD-and embarrassing.  What were they thinking? Look at the cover!

498813

She Reads!

I was so excited when I found this awesome site- and even more so when I realized they had an online book club (as you can see from above, I was not having the best of luck with the old book club-but the wine was good).  Two of my favorite from their selections-

2.  The Silence Of Bonaventure Arrow

3.  The Orphan Train

Totally recommend these if you haven’t read them!

High School

Mrs. Chapman was my 11th grade English teacher.  Most hated her, but I loved her because she introduced me to-

4.  Frankenstein

5.  The Scarlet Letter

on the other hand, my AP Spanish class made us read-

6.  Don Quixote

IN SPANISH!!  I still have nightmares.

College

I was SO lucky to have majored in History with some really wonderful professors (I am talking about you Profs Johnson and Muccigrosso!!)  I got to read-

7.  The Great Gatsby

8.  Things Fall Apart

VACAY

Like most of you, I enjoy reading on vacation.  Once, while I was visiting the in-laws, I ran out of books that I brought (gasp-this was before kindle entered my life)  My lovely mother in law lent me-

9.  Loving Frank – LOVED IT!

Last year, I was in the airport heading home with nothing to read, when I dashed into the bookstore and quickly grabbed the first book that looked attractive  (don’t judge)

10.  The Last Letter Form Your Letter– Introduced me to an amazing author- Jojo Moyes!

What were you forced to read?

It’s Monday! What are you reading?

1 Comment

3

It’s Monday!  What are you reading?  is a weekly meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journey  where we discuss what we have been up to lately, and what we are looking forward to in the coming week.  Stop over there and see what other bloggers have posted!

http://bookjourney.wordpress.com

I am in FLA hanging with the main mouse, Mickey himself-and enjoying the International Food & Wine Festival, but I scheduled this post before I left.  Hopefully, I am relaxing by the pool, with a cool drink and a great book, but it’s more likely that I am sweating, waiting in a never ending line with everyone else trying to have a magical day.

Here is what’s been going on here-

Last week, I posted-

~a review of Diane Setterfield’s Bellman & Black

~Top Ten Best/Worst Series Enders

~reposted my review of The Girl You Left Behind, after She Reads announced it as their October Book Club Selection

I finished reading

Bellman & Black by Diane Setterfield

Before I Met You by Lisa Jewel

Currently Reading

Seating Arrangements by Maggie Shipstead

Winn Van Meter is heading for his family’s retreat on the pristine New England island of Waskeke. Normally a haven of calm, for the next three days this sanctuary will be overrun by tipsy revelers as Winn prepares for the marriage of his daughter Daphne to the affable young scion Greyson Duff.  Winn’s wife, Biddy, has planned the wedding with military precision, but arrangements are sideswept by a storm of salacious misbehavior and intractable lust: Daphne’s sister, Livia, who has recently had her heart broken by Teddy Fenn, the son of her father’s oldest rival, is an eager target for the seductive wiles of Greyson’s best man; Winn, instead of reveling in his patriarchal duties, is tormented by his long-standing crush on Daphne’s beguiling bridesmaid Agatha; and the bride and groom find themselves presiding over a spectacle of misplaced desire, marital infidelity, and monumental loss of faith in the rituals of American life.

Hilarious, keenly intelligent, and commandingly well written, Shipstead’s deceptively frothy first novel is a piercing rumination on desire, on love and its obligations, and on the dangers of leading an inauthentic life, heralding the debut of an exciting new literary voice.

(goodreads)

13531447

And coming up next-

He’s Gone by Deb Caletti

The Sunday morning starts like any other, aside from the slight hangover. Dani Keller wakes up on her Seattle houseboat, a headache building behind her eyes from the wine she drank at a party the night before. But on this particular Sunday morning, she’s surprised to see that her husband, Ian, is not home. As the hours pass, Dani fills her day with small things. But still, Ian does not return. Irritation shifts to worry, worry slides almost imperceptibly into panic. And then, like a relentless blackness, the terrible realization hits Dani: He’s gone.

As the police work methodically through all the logical explanations—he’s hurt, he’s run off, he’s been killed—Dani searches frantically for a clue as to whether Ian is in fact dead or alive. And, slowly, she unpacks their relationship, holding each moment up to the light: from its intense, adulterous beginning, to the grandeur of their new love, to the difficulties of forever. She examines all the sins she can—and cannot—remember. As the days pass, Dani will plumb the depths of her conscience, turning over and revealing the darkest of her secrets in order to discover the hard truth—about herself, her husband, and their lives together.

(goodreads)

15841844

What’s going on with your week?  What are you reading?

Please leave a comment-I love hearing from you!

(I will definitely answer when I get back!)

Bellman & Black- a review

12 Comments

17571907

Bellman & Black

by Diane Setterfield

published by Random House

2013

I received a digital copy of this as an ARC from the publisher through Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

Summary

Bellman & Black is a heart-thumpingly perfect ghost story, beautifully and irresistibly written, its ratcheting tension exquisitely calibrated line by line. Its hero is William Bellman, who, as a boy of 11, killed a shiny black rook with a catapult, and who grew up to be someone, his neighbours think, who “could go to the good or the bad.” And indeed, although William Bellman’s life at first seems blessed—he has a happy marriage to a beautiful woman, becomes father to a brood of bright, strong children, and thrives in business—one by one, people around him die. And at each funeral, he is startled to see a strange man in black, smiling at him. At first, the dead are distant relatives, but eventually his own children die, and then his wife, leaving behind only one child, his favourite, Dora. Unhinged by grief, William gets drunk and stumbles to his wife’s fresh grave—and who should be there waiting, but the smiling stranger in black. The stranger has a proposition for William—a mysterious business called “Bellman & Black” . .. (from Goodreads)

My Review

I have looked forward to something new by this author for years now (I loved The Thirteenth Tale, which I strongly recommend!), so I was very excited to see she had finally published something new.  Unlike some other reviewers, I did not have The Thirteenth Tale fresh in my head, as I read it when it was first published years ago.  Therefore, my expectations were not so very high, except that I did look forward to good writing.  I was not disappointed.  I truly enjoyed this book, but I must admit to liking the first half of the story much more than the second half.

This story might have benefitted from being a short story, or a novella, in the vein of Edgar Allen Poe.  If I had known just slightly less of William, and his seemingly blessed life, I would have possibly looked on his downfall with just curiosity.  As it was, I found it almost painful to read on as each new tragedy rained down on him and his family. These events left him unbalanced and he continued to change, becoming a different man, more deranged as the years go by.    He pays dearly for the mistake of his 11 year old self.  As each family member dies, he sees the same man in black at each gravesite.  When his last child does not succumb to death, he feels he has made a contract with this mysterious man, and sets about creating Bellman & Black mourning emporium.  The part I found the hardest was when he is being fitted for a new waistcoat by by the seamstress he has a connection with in Bellman & Black.  He sees through the veil of mania he has lived in.  He can picture reaching for her, being comforted and giving love, but then turns from this last chance, and sinks further into despair.

“He felt something move in his chest, as though an organ had been removed and something unfamiliar left in its place. A sentiment he had never suspected the existence of bloomed in him. It traveled from his chest along his veins to every limb. It swelled in his head, muffled his ears, stilled his voice, and collected in his feet and fingers. Having no language for it, he remained silent, but felt it root, become permanent.”

As I said, this is a very well written book, that for me was just a bit painful to read to the end.  But that could totally just be my own opinion.  I would recommend you read it and see for yourself.

Rating

3.5 out of 5

BTW- if I am totally honest, all the parts with the birds kind of freaked me out, seeing as I am petrified of all birds.  As I was in the middle of this book, I could SWEAR that the geese that hang out near the pond I run around were watching me.  I felt their eyes on me…scared the hell out of me.

Related articles

To Learn more about the Author, please visit this website-

http://authors.simonandschuster.com/Diane-Setterfield/38679211

Top Ten Best/Worst Series Enders

15 Comments

ttt1

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke & the Bookish.  It’s awesome. Every Tuesday, the lovely ladies over there give us book bloggers wonderful and fun topics to create our lists!  Check out what others have posted by going over there! http://brokeandbookish.blogspot.com

This week’s topic is-

TOP TEN BEST/WORST SERIES ENDERS

Best Endings

1.  Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows

I love that we know Harry and ginny make out alright in the end.

2.  Mockingjay

I liked this because it was a shiny happy ending.

3.  The Return of the King

When Frodo takes the boat with Gandalf in the Grey Havens-shivers!

4.  The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest

Lisbeth lets Blomkvist into her apartment-the end.

Worst Endings

1.  50 Shades of Grey

Hot, Kinky married sex?  With a toddler around?  Right.

(the following are continuing series that I had to give up)

2.  Song of Fire & Ice

I read the first 3 no problem, the 4th dragged terribly, the 5th-got 3 chapters in and had to give up.

3.  The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency

I really liked these books, until  I realized after the 5th or 6th, that it was essentially the same story told over and over and over.  Enough Precious!

4.  James Patterson’s Alex Cross series

Patterson kills me with those 2 page chapters to begin with.  This Alex Cross must be super human to overcome all he has.  And who would actually take up with this guy?  All his ladies wind up tortured/dead!

What series enders do you love/hate?

The Girl You Left Behind by Jojo Moyes- She Reads October Book Club Selection

26 Comments

17572903

The Girl You Left Behind

by Jojo Moyes

published by Pamela Dorman Books

2013

I received this book as a digital ARC from the publisher through Net Galley

I am reposting this, as She Reads has chosen this wonderful book as their October Book Club Selection.

Summary

In 1916 French artist Edouard Lefevre leaves his wife Sophie to fight at the Front. When her town falls into German hands, his portrait of Sophie stirs the heart of the local Kommandant and causes her to risk everything – her family, reputation and life – in the hope of seeing her true love one last time.

Nearly a century later and Sophie’s portrait is given to Liv by her young husband shortly before his sudden death. Its beauty speaks of their short life together, but when the painting’s dark and passion-torn history is revealed, Liv discovers that the first spark of love she has felt since she lost him is threatened…

In The Girl You Left Behind two young women, separated by a century, are united in their determination to fight for the thing they love most – whatever the cost.

My review

I picked up Jojo Moye’s  The Last Letter From Your Lover last year at the Charleston airport.  Some 36 hours later, I was a huge fan of the author.  I missed out reading her wildly popular Me Before You, so I jumped at the chance to read her new book when it was offered through Net Galley.  This story is told in a dual narrative, following the stories of two women and one painting.  The story begins in 1916 in the French town of St. Perrone that is occupied by German troops.  Sophie Lefevre has returned from Paris to help her sister run their family hotel, while both their husbands are fighting on the front.  Moyes paints a vivid picture of the hardships suffered by the town.  While trying to survive, Sophie is forced to serve the german troops in her bar.  The new German Kommandant takes an interest in a painting hanging in the bar that was done by Sophie’s artist husband Edouard.  The painting  The Girl You Left Behind, was of Sophie, and it it the one reminder Sophie has left of her beloved.  The second story is intertwined and is set in present day London.  Liv Halston is a widow still desperately mourning her husband David who passed away suddenly four years ago.  She lives a small empty life, clinging to her pain.  Her one consolation is the painting David bought her a s a wedding present called The Girl You Left Behind.  When Sophie unexpectedly meets American Paul McCafferty, she finally allows herself to imagine her life beginning again.

Moyes takes us through the hardest times in the lives of these two very different women as well as the horrors of WWI in a masterful way.  I don’t want to tell you too much of the story, since it unfolds in a wonderful way.  I did prefer the parts with Sophie slightly over Liv’s, but probably because I am a sucker for well written historical fiction.  I highly recommend this book, as I would The Last Letter From Your Lover.  Moyes is a gifted author who I will look forward to reading in the future.

“I stood and gazed at her, and, for a few seconds, I remembered how it felt to be that girl, free of hunger, consumed only by idle thoughts of what private moments I might spend with Edouard.  She reminded me that the world is capable of beauty, and that there were once things-art, joy, love-that filled my world, instead of fear and nettle soup and curfews.  I saw him in my expression.  And then I realized what I had just done.  He had reminded me of my own strength, of how much I had left in me with which to fight.

When You return, Edouard, I swear I will once again be the girl you painted.”

My Rating

4.5 out of 5

Please head over to She Reads to see more reviews of this wonderful book!

Related articles

The Never List- a review

11 Comments

16158525

The Never List

by Koethi Zan

published by Wheeler Publishing

2013

I read a copy of this book that I borrowed from my library.

Summary

For years, best friends Sarah and Jennifer kept what they called the “Never List”: a list of actions to be avoided, for safety’s sake, at all costs. But one night, against their best instincts, they accept a cab ride with grave, everlasting consequences. For the next three years, they are held captive with two other girls in a dungeon-like cellar by a connoisseur of sadism.

Ten years later, at thirty-one, Sarah is still struggling to resume a normal life, living as a virtual recluse under a new name, unable to come to grips with the fact that Jennifer didn’t make it out of that cellar. Now, her abductor is up for parole and Sarah can no longer ignore the twisted letters he sends from jail.

Finally, Sarah decides to confront her phobias and the other survivors—who hold their own deep grudges against her. When she goes on a cross-country chase that takes her into the perverse world of BDSM, secret cults, and the arcane study of torture, she begins unraveling a mystery more horrifying than even she could have imagined.

A shocking, blazingly fast read, Koethi Zan’s debut is a must for fans of Karin Slaughter, Laura Lippman, and S.J. Watson. (from Goodreads)

My Review

When I read a few reviews of this book, I was hesitant to read it because of the dark material. I like suspense, but the premise of women being kidnapped, raped and torture d for years is a little beyond what I normally enjoy reading, especially after the whole horror of what happened in Cleveland.  However, most reviews I did read were positive, so I decided to try it.  I am glad I did, as this was a very well written book.  The author did not feel the need to make the disturbing parts extremely graphic, instead allowed the reader to figure out what happened using just a few words or phrases.  As it was, it was enough to make me extremely uncomfortable at times.  This book, while well written, deals with a very tough topic.  I enjoyed the characters, especially Tara.  While I thought Sarah was pretty awesome too, her transformation seemed a little unlikely to me.   The only reason I did not really love this book honestly was the ending.  It all seemed a to tie up too neatly and quickly.  If you are looking for an engaging, quick read, and can handle the subject matter, I would recommend this book.

Rating 3.5 out of 5

September Wrap Up!

6 Comments

I CAN NOT believe September is coming to a close!!!  It has been a pretty busy month for me, but as I look at the calendar, I am realizing that October is going to be a crazy busy month too!

So, what has been going on here?

On the blog, I have posted the following-

Top Ten Tuesdays:

Books That Should Be Taught in School

Books That Should Be Made Into Movies

Books To Read This Fall

Favorite Sequels 

Other Posts-

Bloggiesta

The Book Thief Read Along Part 1 and Part 2 

The A to Z Survey

My Favorite Banned Books

Reviews

Beautiful Day

Amity & Sorrow

The Husband’s Secret

I know- not so many books this month.  I found that I started quite a few that I couldn’t get into, and put them aside for another time.

In my actual life-

I started to run (after about 20 + years) and decided to sign up for my first 5K ever.  I chose to run the Tunnel to Towers run, which is in memory of a good friend of mine who died in 9/11-Stephen Siller.  He was a fireman who ran through the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel-in full gear- to the Trade Center when he heard what happened.  He was last seen in the South Tower.  His family created the T2T to honor him, and every year they hold a run that follows his footsteps.  This was the first year I ever ran- and I can tell you it was one of the most AMAZING experiences I have ever had- and one of the hardest.  I was also very lucky to make some new friends- here’s a shout out to those awesome Firefighters from Gerritsen Beach and Queens!!

Here are some pics from that day!

Start Line!!
30.000 people waiting to run!
Entering the Tunnel
Finish Line! The View of the new Freedom Tower was amazing.
Related articles

The Husband’s Secret- She Reads September Book Club

14 Comments

The-Husbands-Secret

The Husband’s Secret

by Liane Moriarty

published by Penguin Books

2013

Summary

My Darling Cecilia
If you’re reading this, then I’ve died . . .

Imagine your husband wrote you a letter, to be opened after his death. Imagine, too, that the letter contains his deepest, darkest secret – something so terrible it would destroy not just the life you built together, but the lives of others too. Imagine, then, that you stumble across that letter while your husband is still very much alive . . .

Cecilia Fitzpatrick achieved it all – she’s an incredibly successful business woman, a pillar of her small community and a devoted wife and mother. Her life is as orderly and spotless as her home. But that letter is about to change everything, and not just for her: Rachel and Tess barely know Cecilia – or each other – but they too are about to feel the earth-shattering repercussions of her husband’s devastating secret. (from goodreads)

My Review

I literally just finished reading this book and had to sit down right away before I forgot anything.  I loved this book.  It was very well written, dramatic, and riveting.  At first, I did not know how the story of these three very different women was going to converge, but when it did-wow!  Since the main part of the plot is the “secret”, I am finding it really hard to review this wonderful story without giving more of the plot away than there is in the summary above.  Because really, it is an amazing turn of events that unfolds.  And the Epilogue kinda blew me away.   I would definitely recommend this book.  I am going to the library as soon as I can to get another book by this author-probably What Alice Forgot.  It looks so interesting!

My Rating

4.5 out of 5

To read more reviews of The Husband’s Secret, please head over to She Reads – some wonderful ladies have posted their reviews there!

My Favorite Banned Books

5 Comments

Slideshow

Ok, as you might already know, this is Banned Books Week, which is sponsored by the American Librarian Association and is a celebration of books that have been challenged or banned.  I have been seeing posts all week about Banned Books, so I decided to investigate a little.  When I saw the list of books that have been challenged or outright banned, I was pretty surprised to see some of my very favorite books right there on the list.  So, I decided to put a little list of my own together of my favorite Banned Books!

1.  The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

This book has been called sexually explicit, violently graphic, and morally corrupt.

2.  To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Banned due to offensive language and racism.

3.  Brave New World by Aldophus Huxley

This is thought to have offensive language and insensitivity-insensitive-, hmmmm.

4.  Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling

Our beloved wizard is supposedly anti-family (with a family like the Dursleys-no duh!), and promoting the Occult and Satanism!!

5.  The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Objectionable due to offensive language and sexual content.

6.  Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

Banned due to racism- very strange since it IS a book about the Civil War!

7.  The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

This book is banned for quite a few reasons- one is that it is “irreligious” which is quite ironic considering the author’s known devoutness to Catholicism.  It is also banned in New Mexico  for promoting witchcraft and Satanism.  I thought the purpose OF the book was to defeat the evil in the world-silly me.

I guess at any point in time almost any book can be seen as objectionable to one person or another.   But maybe that is why the universe saw it fit to provide us humans with free will.

What is your favorite banned book?

Great posts about Banned Book Week- go see them!!

http://busyteacher.wordpress.com/2013/09/23/a-post-in-which-i-challenge-you-to-read-a-challenged-book-this-week/

http://booksspeakvolumes.com/2013/09/24/bannedbooksweek/

Other websites to visit to read more about banned books-

http://bannedbooks.world.edu

http://www.ala.org/bbooks/

Banned Books Week Banner

Banned Books Week Banner (Photo credit: DML East Branch)