March 31, 2014

March Books


The Maze Runner by James Dashner {B+}
I started listening to this at the end of February and finished it in March.  Oh, this book.  62 chapters.  Took forever and a day.  Toward the end, I found myself just wanting to finish it because I wanted to see what the ending would be.  It was pretty suspenseful.

The Maze Runner is like Holes at the beginning (a book I didn't like) + Lord of the Flies (which I never read) + The Hunger Games (which I loved).  It becomes more and more Hunger Games-ish as you go.

When I took it back to the library, they asked me if I wanted books 2 and 3.  That's right: it's a trilogy.  For you all that lovelovelove your futuristic dystopian trilogies, here you are.

Enjoy.

I did like it.  I think it'd be great for literature circles.  It's classified Young Adult simply because of the age of the characters and if it weren't so long it would be perfect for high school English.  I also think it would make a very interesting movie. Oh, it already is!

Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris  {B+}
Making progress on this Sookie Stackhouse series…3 more books to go…


The Paris Wife  by Paula Mclain {B+}
This is a fictionalized memoir (if that makes sense) of Ernest Hemingway's first wife, Hadley.  I admit, I knew nothing about her or Hemingway before this book.  I picked it up because I read about it somewhere…
I liked it.  It was, on the whole, kind of depressing.  Ernest is a jerk.  There's adultery.  All they do is drink.  They never have any money.  She never has new clothes.  But they travel all around Europe as a job.  Surprise, surprise: divorce is imminent. But not before he suggests a 3-way marriage of sorts.

Here's an excerpt (paraphrasing: mine)
Hadley: It's time to get your poor wife to bed. 
Ernest: Poor Cat, go on home then. Do you want me to find someone to walk with you?
H: You want to stay?
E: Of course. I'm not the one who's tired.

Hemingway was a class act indeed.  I saw some people pinning inspirational quotes by him on Pinterest.  I don't think I could do that…while I've never actually read any of his books, I don't think he was particularly inspirational.

But I do feel like I learned something of famous Americans through this book.  They were friends with the Fitzgeralds.  Has anyone read Z?  I think I'm going to look into that for April…

Grave Surprise by Charlaine Harris {A}
I grabbed this audiobook because the library was out of Sookie Stackhouse books and I needed something to listen to in the car.  It's a series written by Charlaine Harris:  The Harper Connelly Mysteries.  At first it was different…SO not True Blood.  Harper is SO not like Sookie.  Change isn't easy and all that.  I really enjoyed it though.  I mean, truly liked this book.
Unfortunately, I was unobservant enough to start with #2 of 4.  So it's back to Grave Sight (#1) and then I'll move on from there.
I'm not easy to please when it comes to fiction because I don't have the patience for rom-com and I didn't like Divergent (a characteristic that, I believe, defines me).  If you think your tastes are similar to mine and you're looking for a great story with strong lead characters, try it.

Grave Sight by Charlaine Harris {B}
Ah ha!  Starting at the beginning…Not as good as Grave Surprise, but not bad either.  I definitely am enjoying the series.

Bread and Wine by Shauna Niequist {A+}
See separate review here.

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A flashback to January books and February books!

11 comments:

  1. Great picks! I loved the Paris Wife! So good and so sad.

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  2. I haven't read the paris wife--but I wanted to. I know a little too much about Hemingway and his life (and the lives of other classic novelists) thanks to my college courses. So when the Paris Wife became available at the library (ebook), I snatched it up and then let it expire. I knew it'd be depressing and I didn't have it in me at the time.

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  3. My book reading has declined big time so I can't wait til summer to really dive into it again!

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  4. I've been meaning to read "The Maze Runner." Now that it's going to be a movie, I better get on it.

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  5. I loved the Harper books and The Paris Wife.

    I'll read the other Maze Runner books because I need to know what happens.

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  6. I just finished the Sookie series over spring break. I liked the last one. I think I might have missed one book though. I couldn't remember when I was at the library but as I was reading it the "recaps" didn't seem familiar. Oops.

    I also read the Harper series. I was not a fan of the last one. I'll wait to see what you think.

    I started the Pretty Little Liars series. I haven't ever watched it, but the books are fun so far.

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  7. Someone else suggested the Maze books to me, but I havent seen them at the library. I didn't like Paris Wife. I read it a couple of years ago when it was really popular and totally didn't get why it was such a thing.

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  8. I read the first Maze Runner book. I liked it, didn't love it. I'm interested to see how the movie is. I never read the 2nd or 3rd book, I think because the ending of the 1st one didn't really suck me in and make me want more. If you read them let me know if they're worth it. ;)

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  9. I read The Paris Wife a couple years ago. Nothing really stuck with me except the basic plot and the Fitzgeralds.

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  10. I don't know how I felt about The Maze Runner. I liked it, but then I didn't. The ending was odd...

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  11. I'm so not into the whole vampire thing.

    BUT The Maze Runner sounds like a book I should read. :)

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