3. Book review!
It felt really good to tap back into my inner book nerd throughout 2015 and I see no sign of stopping. Some of my favorite books I’ve read so far are hands down All The Things They Cannot See in part 1 of my book reading series, The Book Thief in part 2, and The Nightingale in part 3.
My least favorite books were Room and The Martian but overall I’ve been picking a whole lot of winners! That’s the nice thing about taking such a long break from reading, when you dig back in you can pick all of the top rated books and avoid the boring ones. Without further ado, here are the books I’m reading:
1. November 9 by Colleen Hoover
“When you find love, you take it. You grab it with both hands and you do everything in your power not to let it go. You can’t just walk away from it and expect it to linger until you’re ready for it.”
Synopsis: From the Fallon meets Ben, an aspiring novelist, the day before her scheduled cross-country move. Their untimely attraction leads them to spend Fallon’s last day in L.A. together, and her eventful life becomes the creative inspiration Ben has always sought for his novel. Over time and amidst the various relationships and tribulations of their own separate lives, they continue to meet on the same date every year. Until one day Fallon becomes unsure if Ben has been telling her the truth or fabricating a perfect reality for the sake of the ultimate plot twist.
My Rating: 5 Stars! I swooned a bit over this one. I love the unique idea of writing about two people on one specific day each year. Really fun to see where they are from year to year and whether or not anything will actually come from their initial attraction.
2. The Marriage Of Opposites by Alice Hoffman
“She cried when I told her I was leaving. “Yes, go,” she said to me, but she still held my hand.”
When her husband dies suddenly and his handsome, much younger nephew, Fréderick, arrives from France to settle the estate, Rachel seizes her own life story, beginning a defiant, passionate love affair that sparks a scandal that affects all of her family, including her favorite son, who will become one of the greatest artists of France.
My Rating: 4 Stars! I LOVE Alice Hoffman. Her writing is so beautiful and thoughtful. I don’t think there is anything she could write that I would hate.The intricate relationships between the characters, the secrets to be discovered, the dynamics of the social structure on St. Thomas at that time, and the struggle involved when forced to choose between following your dreams vs. doing what is expected of you. Loved this! I didn’t give it 5 stars because I felt like it drug on a bit, maybe focusing more on some characters than was necessary.
3. Cinder by Marissa Meyer
“Vanity is a factor, but it is more a question of control. It is easier to trick others into perceiving you as beautiful if you can convince yourself you are beautiful. But mirrors have an uncanny way of telling the truth.”
Synopsis: Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.
My Rating: 4 Stars! Cinder is loosely based on a futuristic Cinderella story. I was reluctant to read it because a Cinderella with metal parts isn’t exactly my “genre” of choice. But so many people recommended it, I decided to just let it happen. Once your brain accepts what this futuristic earth looks like (including relations with people who now inhabit the moon) it’s actually a really great story!
4. Scarlet by Marissa Meyer
“How many people had helped rescue and protect her, had kept her secrets? How many had risked their lives because they believed hers was worth more?”
Synopsis: Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit’s grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn’t know about her grandmother or the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother’s whereabouts, she is loath to trust this stranger, but is inexplicably drawn to him, and he to her. As Scarlet and Wolf unravel one mystery, they encounter another when they meet Cinder. Now, all of them must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen Levana, who will do anything for the handsome Prince Kai to become her husband, her king, her prisoner.
My Rating: 4 Stars! This is the second in the Lunar Chronicles and I liked it even better than Cinder. It starts off with Scarlet’s story, but soon Cinder is interweaved and all the chips start falling into place.
5. Cress by Marissa Meyer
“You said yourself that the people of Luna need a revolutionary.” She lifted her chin, holding his gaze. “So I’m going to Luna, and I’m going to start a revolution.”
Synopsis: Cress, a girl imprisoned on a satellite since childhood who’s only ever had her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker. Unfortunately, she’s just received orders from Levana to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice.
When a daring rescue of Cress goes awry, the group is separated. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a high price. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing prevent her marriage to Emperor Kai. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only hope the world has.
My Rating: 5 Stars! The third book in the Lunar Chronicles introduces us to Cress (Rapunzel) and I love her. These books keep getting better at this point.
6. Winter by Marissa Meyer
“She would be brave. She would be heroic. She would make her own destiny.”
Synopsis: Winter despises her stepmother, and knows Levana won’t approve of her feelings for her childhood friend—the handsome palace guard, Jacin. But Winter isn’t as weak as Levana believes her to be and she’s been undermining her stepmother’s wishes for years. Together with the cyborg mechanic, Cinder, and her allies, Winter might even have the power to launch a revolution and win a war that’s been raging for far too long.
Can Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and Winter defeat Levana and find their happily ever afters?
My Rating: 5 Stars! YAAASSSSS! The final book of the Lunar Chronicles was everything I could have hoped for. Marissa Meyer nailed it. It’s 800+ pages and I still read it faster than I read Cinder. So good! So much closure. Perfectly done.
7. Orhan’s Inheritance by Aline Ohanesian
“Strength comes in different disguises. It does not always ride a mighty horse or wield a shiny sword. Sometimes we have to be like a riverbank, twisting and turning along with the earth, withstanding swells and currents. Enduring.”
Synopsis: When Orhan’s brilliant and eccentric grandfather Kemal—a man who built a dynasty out of making kilim rugs—is found dead, submerged in a vat of dye, Orhan inherits the decades-old business. But Kemal’s will raises more questions than it answers. He has left the family estate to a stranger thousands of miles away, an aging woman in an Armenian retirement home in Los Angeles. Her existence and secrecy about her past only deepen the mystery of why Orhan’s grandfather willed his home in Turkey to an unknown woman rather than to his own son or grandson.
My Rating: 4 Stars! I know nothing about the Armenian genocide, so this was eye opening for me. The book begins with the death of Orhan’s grandfather. The will he left behind included a woman nobody had heard of and Orhan hunts her down to connect the dots. The book bounces between the 1990’s and the early 1900’s as the story unfolds and it’s beautiful and tragic and we just hang on. The only reason I didn’t give it four stars is because it was a little slow moving for me at first and I feel like it left me with a lot of questions about why certain choices were made.
Pamela Gold says
I’m always in need of a new book to add to my ever growing pile!
Mama Kat says
I keep a list on an excel sheet that I update constantly. I want them all in my brain NOW.
Lori says
I need to start a Pinterest board of books I want to read and come back and pin some of these! The Lunar Chronicles sound really interesting. Thanks for the great reviews. And aren’t you a busy girl for reading all of those! I really need to watch less T.V.
Mama Kat says
I quit Candy Crush last year and that was a big turning point. I thought “if I picked up a book and read a couple pages instead of spending time beating levels on this game, I could finish an actual book!” So I removed the app. And then this year I have an hour to kill everyday while Maile takes a class and I end up reading then…and I also stay up late reading when I should be sleeping. But somehow I can’t find time in the day to workout. Funny how that works.
May says
I just started an Alice Hoffman book last night, The Museum of Extraordinary Things. It promises to pull me in. I love her work. Gonna need to add The Marriage of Opposites. Read the Marriage of Opposites?? I live it every darned day! But I bet she tells it better!
Mama Kat says
I read Alice Hoffman for the first time this year and I LOVE her! I feel like there are storytellers and great writers, but to find an author who is so good at BOTH is a pretty rare occurrence. Extraordinary Things is on my list. I loved Dovekeepers!!
Emily says
We have different tastes but November 9th does look interesting!
Mama Kat says
Believe me, the Lunar Chronicles are NOT something I would normally pick up, but they ended up being great! November 9 you will love. It’s a really unique little romance novel!
Vanessa says
The Lunar Chronicles are amazing! Good choices :)
Does this mean that next week’s prompts will be different? I just like to set things up early ;)
Mama Kat says
Next week’s prompts are:
1. How your parents met.
2. List the top 10 YouTube channels you’re loving most this month.
3. February 18th is National Drink Wine Day. How do you like your wine?
4. Write a blog post inspired by the word: pink.
5. Share a favorite Valentine’s Day tradition
6. 8 people/places/or things you’d like to give a virtual Valentine to.
Were they in the newsletter? I swear I am losing my mind with all the prompts! Did I forget to add them?
Vanessa says
So, this was my bad. I read the second prompts on the newsletter as being for next week,instead of you having two sets of prompts this week.
I guess we’re losing our minds together.
kelley says
I’ve got the Marissa Meyers series on my kindle. I picked them up at a reduced price. I’m hoping to read them this year. I like the looks of the rest of them. BTW I like how you take pictures of the covers of the books you are reading and post quotes from them on instagram. I love quotes from books.
Mama Kat says
I totally get sucked in by the cover of a book. They’re so pretty! You’ll love them! I have fun putting them on Instagram so that I can go back and look at the pretty covers I’ve read. :) I always think I’m the only one who likes them, so thank you!
Elaine A. says
I need to add a couple of these to my Goodreads. The first one sounds really good!
carol says
The Lunar Chronicles sound intriguing! I may have to pick up a book. Thanks for the reviews.
Mimi says
That book November 9 sounds really good! I haven’t heard of any of these authors, but it sure looks like you’re a Marissa Meyer fan. I’ve finally found time to get back into reading, and I’m thrilled!
Amanda says
I’d been wavering on The Lunar Chronicles. The covers catch my eye every time I see them but the sci-fi spin wasn’t really speaking to me. I think I will go ahead and grab those this month. Thanks!