March 3, 2014

February Books




From Dead to Worse A-
I was in the middle of this book in September when I got a job and all pleasure-reading went out the window.  It sat on the bookshelf for months.  Finally, I decided I enjoy listening to Charlaine Harris stories while I drive, so I listened to this one.  All the Sookie Stackhouse books are more or less the same (except the first two in the series were the best!) so just let it be known that I finished another one.  Making progress…

Also..

Dead and Gone A
This was better than From Dead to Worse.  I was pretty irritated when it was over and the library didn't have the next book on CD.

Scott read this 2 years ago and I found it in a box in the basement.  I remember him telling me about it at the time, but I never got around to it.  I even found a wedding picture he'd been using as a bookmark.


This book is part of a trilogy.  Birthmarked is everything I wanted Divergent to be (if you're new, I didn't like Divergent).  It's a story about a teenage girl who is a midwife in a futuristic dystopia.  I found myself really caring about the characters, so that means it's a winner.


I found Prized, the second bookin the basement…in box of Scott's books…and next to it was a Nicholas Sparks book.  I totally called him out on this one (At First Sight) and it turns out it was from an ex-girlfriend.  Anyway…it went straight into the bag of books I'm selling to the used bookstore.  The Sparks book, not Prized.
I HIGHLY recommend Birthmarked.  I read it in less than a week.  The heroine is tough and practical.  The backdrop will make you happy to live in America.  I'd rank it near The Hunger Games.

Si-cology 101   B-
I bought this for Scott for Christmas.  My mom read it when we were home in December, I read it this past month, and Scott still hasn't read it.  We are Duck Dynasty fans, so it was nice to read a bit more about the history of the family.  Si has led quite a life!
If you ignore the bits where he tries to be funny, it's an interesting biographical read.  

I've been trailing after this book for over a year.  You see, I saw it in Target in Wasilla last winter.  I didn't feel like spending $11 on a book I might or might not like.  That's. what. libraries. are. for.  So, finally, I got it at the library earlier this month.  It was worth the wait.
You should probably go to Amazon and read the synopsis/reviews, but this is it in a nutshell:
I absolutely loved it.  In fact, as soon as I began the book, I knew I'd be giving it an A.  It's hauntingly fascinating.  Or fascinatingly haunting.  Either/or.  You won't believe that this story actually happened.  Promise.  If you like history or science or both, you should read it.  (And maybe I'm lying here because I'm thisclose to being finished with it.  I'd say that counts.)

I'd say I'm making progress with the books this year!  What are you reading?  Any recommendations?

Here's what I read in January, in case you missed it.

11 comments:

  1. I might check out Birthmarked if I ever have time. I have a very long list of books I want to read right now. Thanks for the reviews.
    I lost interest in the sookie books after the 3rd one. How many are there now? 20? Good grief.

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  2. You're doing great! I haven't been reading. At all. It is definitely not something I'm proud of.

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  3. I think you're doing pretty darn well for sure! You have such little free-time, I'm impressed! I listened to an audio book on my trip this weekend--but I'm annoyed at HOW FREAKING LONG it is. I am a slow reader--but even I could read a book quicker than these audio books. I know the whole point is that the book is 'performed" and I appreciate that--but meh. I'd rather read them. I also wasn't a huge fan of Divergent. I liked it--sort of--until the ending--which just lost me and didn't make me want to read the second one at all.

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  4. You know, I have zero desire to read Divergent. I really liked the Hunger Games, but for some reason I just never wanted to jump on that bandwagon. Plus, I've only heard a handful of people say they loved it - most people say it was so-so or not that great.

    I'm reading (just started) Slaughterhouse-Five. I've kind of been on a "Let's read all the famous books!" train lately.

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  5. I saw your comment about Birthmarked on my post and I hadn't gotten around to responding yet. But, no- I haven't read that but it sounds REALLY interesting. I was disappointed with the Divergent trilogy as well so thanks for the recommendation!

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  6. Birthmarked sounds very interesting...and funny about finding a random Nicholas Sparks book. Oh dear. It's strange to me to imagine a guy who would actually read. I've never seen Angel read anything except the Bible, a nursing manual or two, and a few choice theology books. He can't understand why anyone would read fiction.

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  7. I'm intrigued by "Birthmarked." I'll be looking for it.

    Also ... I had the same feelings about the Henrietta Lacks story. It's fascinating and heartbreaking and eye-opening all at once.

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  8. I desperately need to get back into reading. School has me pretty occupied though. Boo!

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  9. Definitely checking out Birthmarked! It's on my Goodreads (because I'm lame and still use that, ahah). I just read Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, and I really enjoyed it. It was a book that took me a while, because I had to think about it a lot to understand it, ut I liked it!

    xo, Hima
    Hima Hearts

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  10. Birthmarked is on my list! I can't wait to get to it.

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