Anthem

Somehow, I managed to make it through high school and undergraduate without reading any of Ayn Rand’s books.  I picked Anthem up a couple years ago, but had neglected to read it until last week.  In my edition of the book, the novella comes in at just over 100 pages.  I really didn’t know what to expect with this story, but I was delightfully surprised when I saw that it was dystopian.  The style of writing reminds me of Margaret Atwood’s, The Handmaids Tale.

If you are looking for a quick read I would suggest this one.  It was entertaining enough to complete in one sitting, and one I can see myself going back to again and again.  Set in a time when individuals have no opinion and are expected to act as such, one person starts thinking for himself and breaking the rules of the society.  This novella will leave you thinking, and perhaps desiring a re-read.

Have you read anything by Ayn Rand?  What did you think of it?

For anyone of goodreads, make sure you check out more ratings and reviews on the book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/325488.Anthem

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Clockwork Angel (The Infernal Devices #1)

During fall break I bought The Infernal Devices Trilogy from a local used bookshop.  I figured they would be good, quick reads, and it would be a good way to spend my week away from my studies. I only made it through Clockwork Angel before I got distracted by a a few other books I had started reading.  Although, I plan to make it the rest of the way through the trilogy soon.

Confession, I have not read any of the City of Bones books.  I’m planning on asking for the complete set of them for Christmas, so I can read them all over Christmas break. That being said, this world was completely new to me, and I didn’t know anything about it going in.

I don’t want to give any surprises away for those who haven’t read the book, so I’m going to try to do my best.  The book centers around a girl named Tessa who is going to England to find her brother, Nate.  Nate is her only living relative, her aunt who has been taking care of her has recently passed away.  Upon reaching England Tessa is kidnapped by a couple of witches.  Tessa is thrown into a world that she had no idea existed and learns that the only people she can trust are shadow hunters.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a quick, entertaining book to read.  Myself, I don’t read a lot of YA fiction, but I’m finding myself reaching for it more when I want a book I can turn my brain off and read in a day or two.

To read more opinions about Clockwork Angel click the goodreads.com link:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7171637-clockwork-angel?from_search=true&search_version=service

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Banned Books Week: Sept 27- Oct 3, 2015

Books have a huge impact on culture.  Such a big impact that many influential books have been banned in schools.  Books that are major parts of the literary cannon were …

The Secret History

Like the rest of America, after reading The Goldfinch, I was eager to read more of Donna Tartt’s writing.  Similar to most bibliophiles, I reference Goodreads.com whenever I’m trying to decide …

Autumn!!!

In honor of the first day of Autumn I’m going to post some pictures of books I’ve read lately. I’m hoping to get some book reviews written soon.      

TV Show Review: Outlander (Season 1, Volume 1)

 I am a huge fan of the Outlander books!  I was so, so excited to hear this was being made into a TV show, but at the same time I was scared.  Like most book lovers, it is so disheartening to love a book, or series, and when it is finally made into a show or movie it doesn’t even resemble the book.

I got my dvd of Outlander (Season One, Volume One) here: http://www.amazon.com/Outlander-Season-One-Caitriona-Balfe/dp/B00RGQ4674/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1439668031&sr=8-1&keywords=outlander+season+one+volume+one

I got this DVD on Wednesday evening, and by this morning I had greedily devoured every episode.  There are eight episodes total in Volume One.  I was expecting the TV adaptation to be so far from the original that I wouldn’t even bother buying/watching Volume two.  However, I am going to be pre-ordering Volume Two soon so I can make sure I have it the day it is released.  Volume two will be released September 29th and will also have eight episodes.  I feel like my Christmas will be coming early this year!  September 29th!

Ok, back to the actual review part.  After watching episode one I was a little disheartened because the relationship between Frank and Claire was stronger than what it was in the book.  A few intimate encounters had been added into the show that simply were not in the book.  However, after watching episode two I was all in.  Watching the show was almost like being able to experience Outlander for the first time all over again.  This show is one of the few that makes me feel like the characters really could be in harms way, I am that emotionally invested.  I don’t want to ruin anything for anyone who has not seen all eight episodes, but this is a must see! Pronto, people!  I am very pleased with this show’s interpretation of Diana’s books, she should be very proud of the way they are being represented.

If you know nothing whatsoever about Outlander or the TV show check out these trailers:

Youtube: http://www.amazon.com/Outlander-Season-One-Caitriona-Balfe/dp/B00RGQ4674/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1439668031&sr=8-1&keywords=outlander+season+one+volume+one

Here is Volume Two’s trailer:

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn5XVBBxEUQ

Book Review: Then Came You

  I was finnnnnally able to finish Then Came You, by Jennifer Weiner.  I don’t know if I have really been that busy lately, or I am just lacking motivation to read in my spare time.  But whatever the reason, I hope I get my motivation to spend spare time reading.  My husband even made the comment that it was taking me forever to finish this book.

Over all I really did like this book.  This book artfully blends the lives of four women.  An egg donor, a surrogate, a woman with fertility issues, and a bitter, adult daughter.  The book starts out introducing us to all the women.  Julia, the egg donor, wants to sell her eggs to be able to send her dad to rehab.  Annie, the surrogate, wants to make some extra money to allow her family a more luxurious life.  India, has fertility issues, but still wants to have a baby with her billionaire husband.  Bettina, is the adult daughter of India’s husband.  Bettina believes India has only married her father for her money and wants to find a way to get her separated from her father in hopes that he will reunite with her mother.  Whoo! Obviously, the recipe for drama.

Throughout the book we read parts of the story from each woman’s point of view.  We see each woman’s character evolve and take on roles that they never knew they wanted for themselves.  The birth of the child brings these four women together to form bonds unlike any others they will have in their lives.

In typical Jennifer Weiner fashion, this book allowed me to relax and put my own life out of mind, all the while causing me to reflect on my life and character.  I could really relate to the character of Bettina.  Bettina is an educated, early 20s woman, who is thrust into motherhood.  I can’t imagine what it would be like to one day be handed a baby when you weren’t planning on having one.

Links to read more reviews or purchase Then Came You :

Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/then-came-you-jennifer-weiner/1100369926?ean=9781451617733

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Then-Came-You-Jennifer-Weiner-ebook/dp/B004G8QSC6/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1439666931&sr=1-1&keywords=then+came+you 

This morning I finally started The Invasion of Tearling, by Stephanie Johansen.  When I read the first book in the series, The Queen of Tearling I had to put my life on hold in order to finish it.  It was a book that simply wouldn’t allow me to ignore it.  So, obviously I was very excited to start the second book.  This week I have been in a very “Autumn mood”.  I have been craving chai and pumpkin spice flavors.  For me, I also associate Autumn with fantasy books.  I decided it was finally time to give Invasion a whirl.  I’m only a couple chapters into the book, but I’m already hooked.  Johansen introduced a new storyline into this book that wasn’t in Queen.  I don’t want to give any spoilers away, but I do encourage fans of Outlander and Game of Thones to give this series a whirl.

Links to read more reviews or purchase The Invasion of Tearling :

Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-invasion-of-the-tearling-erika-johansen/1120425054?ean=9780062290397

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Invasion-Tearling-Queen-ebook/dp/B00PFX5S3G/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1439667029&sr=1-1&keywords=the+invasion+of+tearling

Wild Movie Review

  
The movie Wild is based on Cheryl Strayed’s 2012 memoir about her journey hiking the Pacific Coast Trail.  

I read this book shortly after it was released and really enjoyed it.  Wild is so much more than a hiking log, it is a the story of love, loss, and one woman’s way of coping with it and overcoming it. 

As most people are, I was very excited to see a book I enjoyed was being made into a movie. Reese Witherspoon was a great choice to play Cheryl!  

However, it was shortly after the movie started when I asked myself, Is this movie just going to be watching a girl walk for a really like time?  The movie did a good job of not going on, and on with the hiking piece.  The hiking was broken up with flash backs of Cheryl’s life.  

 I feel like the story was meant to be told through the written word.  The book had so much more power.  By the end of the book it feels like the reader has walked the whole PCT with Cheryl.  The movie seemed to have no excitement, no high points.  I was never really scared for Cheryl in the movie like I was with Cheryl in the book. 

Since watching the movie I plan to go back and re-read Wild.  It’s a fantastic story and I highly recommend the book to anyone looking for a story about overcoming loss.

Book Update!

  I haven’t been able to post as much as I would like.  Nursing school takes up most of my time, and in my spare time I try to spend time with family.  Soon after my last post I abandoned reading The Longest Ride.  I’m sure I’ll go back and read it eventually, but I just haven’t been in the mood for that light of a read lately.

I don’t have enough time to discuss every single book I read, or listened to, but I do want to write about several of the favorites I’ve read over the past few months.

1. I made it a goal this year to re-read all of the Harry Potter books.  It was a very interesting experience for me.  Although, I read all the books when I was a kid, teen, and young adult, I didn’t realize how much revisiting the story would take me back to my childhood. Getting to spend time with all the characters again really did feel like I was seeing old friends after a long time apart. It was like going home. (Does that make me sound like a psycho??) I realize they are “just characters”, but for me the Harry Potter books have really proven to be a time machine.  I remember waiting excitedly every summer for the new Harry Potter book to be released, then spending all day having an adventure with Harry, Ron, and Herminone. I remember finishing most of the books in a day or two.  I’m not a faster reader now, so I’m sure I wasn’t a fast reader as a kid, but the story is so captivating that it demands for you to keep reading. With this revisit I saw the characters in a new light, and actually found that my favorite books in the series are books five, six, and seven.  As a kid I remember liking the first four books best, they were lighter and more familiar as I had read them all multiple times.  The darkness of the last three books was more exciting for me to read as an adult.  From this positive experience, I have decided to make it a goal to re-read a favorite children’s book/series every year.
2. I had heard some mixed reviews about The Queen of Tearling, and I really wasn’t sure what to expect.  I had heard from several people that it was very good and I wouldn’t be able to put it down, whereas another friend told me it was very dark.  Personally, I didn’t find this book to be at all dark.  However, I think my “darkness radar” might be a little flawed from books such as: Outlander, Game of Thrones, and the Stephen King books I read.  This book was quite enjoyable, I was able to finish it in about three days.  This book was also very successful as motivating me to study.  It’s a tried and true habit of mine to bribe myself to study by reading intermittently.  I will set a timer for 50 minutes and read one chapter every 50 minutes, or set a goal and read a chapter whenever that goal is met.  This method works well for me, so I will continue to do it!  Thankfully, The Invasion of Tearling (the second book in the series) was released earlier this summer.  I have a love/hate relationship with waiting for the next book in a series to be released.  I love that the series is good enough to continue reading, and I love anticipating what will happen in the next book.  The downside is actually waiting patiently for the new book to be released.  I ordered Invasion from B&N.com (free shipping, yay!) and it has been sitting on my shelf ever since.  I’m waiting to start it when I have the time to read it quickly without feeling like I should be studying for school.   
3. Speaking of waiting impatiently for the latest book in a series,  Go Set a Watchmen.  Enough said, right?  Somehow, I had never read To Kill a Mockingbird until 2014.  I don’t know how I was never required to read it in junior high or high school.  But It was one I had finally able to cross off my list, and it left me wanting more.  I didn’t know whether I should believe the media or not when I heard the new book was being released.  Needless to say, I told my husband I needed to pre-order it so it would be on my doorstep the day it was released.  Five very long months later I had the privilege of delving into another of Harper Lee’s masterpieces.  If you follow headlines you know there was much controversy about the release of this book.  Many people believed that Harper Lee never wanted to release this book.  I did see a video on PBS with Harper Lee and her lawyer in which Ms. Lee said she always knew Watchmen would one day published.  Either way, I was very happy to revisit Scout.  Watchman received a lot of flack since we find out Atticus is racist.  However, the idea that grown up Scout is returning home and discovering that her beliefs are different than those of her family really rang true for me.  I think it’s a tragic moment in every adult’s life when they realize their parents (or parent) aren’t superheroes and they don’t have all of life’s answers.  No one ever tells you it’s hard to figure out how to be an adult and how to be your own person.  It will be interesting to see if high schools stop requiring Mockingbird to be read because now we know Atticus is racist.  I really love books set in the south during this time period.  Check out The Help or The Secret Life of Bees if you haven’t already.  Both are two of my all time favorites.
4. I feel like I’m the last to the party with Divergent.  I added it to my TRL (to read list) shortly after it came out, then it got widely popular, and a movie was made.  So, naturally I thought if it was such a crowd pleaser I would probably hate it.   I don’t know why I have it in my head that really popular books are going to be terrible, but I do.  Especially with YA books.  I read The Fault in Our Stars and completely hated it, I liked the movie though!  So I got sucked into Divergent the first week of the new quarter and knew I had made a massive mistake.  Luckily for my school work, it was a quick read and I was able to enjoy it and focus on school.  Then I got the email from overdrive that Insurgent was available for me to download, and I got lost in that one just as quickly as the first.  Although I don’t think this series is all that ground breaking I did enjoy it.   I would definitely recommend these books to anyone looking for a beach read.  I would also recommend Margaret Atwood’s Maddaddam books to anyone looking for more dystopian books.  

Currently I am in the middle of several books.  I normally have one book going on my Kindle and another actual book.  I have been reading the fourth book in the Outlander series for a while, Drums of Autumn, on my Kindle.  I find that I really like reading longer books on my Kindle because it is so much lighter/ comfortable to read than a 1000 page book.  With all the Outlander books I like to read a little slower and pick up all the details that Diana Gabaldon has worked so hard to research and create.

Far From the Madding Crowd is also another one that I am enjoying taking my time to read.  It has been a while since I have read anything remotely considered a “classic”, so this is a real treat for me.  I am a big Jane Austen fan, and I’m finding Hardy’s writing style similar, but even a little easier to get into. 

 My fun, light, relax and read book at the moment is Then Came You, by Jennifer Weiner.  I have only read one or two of Weiner’s books, but I love how much her personality carries through her books.  Reading her books makes you feel like you are just chatting with a friend, but at the same time you feel smart after the conversation.  I felt similarly when I read Candace Bushnell’s One Fifth Avenue. “Chick lit” gets a bad wrap with the critics.  But I think both of these ladies do a fantastic job of making their writing interesting and funny enough to relax and read after a long day, while at the same time having enough substance and artful language to not make you feel like you are being hand fed information.