amysisson's 2013 book list

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amysisson's 2013 book list

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1amysisson
Editat: des. 30, 2013, 1:20 pm

1. The War Workers by E.M. Delafield {e-book}. Period fiction.
2. The Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton {e-book}. Period fiction.
3. Moloka'i by Alan Brennart {print}. Historical fiction.
4. Emily Fox-Seton by Frances Hodgson Burnett {e-book}. Period fiction.
5. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë {audiobook}. Period fiction.
6. Daddy Long Legs by Jean Webster (repeat) {e-book}. YA - period fiction.
7. Dear Enemy by Jean Webster {e-book}. YA - period fiction.
8. Etiquette & Espionage (first in a series) by Gail Carriger {print}. YA - fantasy.
9. Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell {print; nonfiction}. Nonfiction.
10. The Automatic Detective by A. Lee Martinez {print}. Science fiction.
11. The Third Miss Symons by F.M. Mayor {e-book}. Period fiction.
12. Murder on the Iditarod Trail by Sue Henry {print}. Mystery.
13. Consequences by Penelope Lively {audiobook}. Fiction (general).
14. Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein {print}. YA - historical fiction.
15. Tyrannosaur Canyon by Douglas Preston {print}. Thriller.
16. Violet Mackerel's Remarkable Recovery (2nd in series) by Anna Branford {print}. Children's.
17. Cleopatra VII: Daughter of the Nile (Royal Diaries series) by Kristiana Gregory {audiobook}. YA - historical fiction.
18. Vessel by Sarah Beth Durst {print}. YA - fantasy.
19. Period 8 by Chris Crutcher {print}. YA.
20. The Day the Falls Stood Still by Cathy Marie Buchanan {print}. Historical fiction.
21. The Typewriter Girl by Alison Atlee {print}. Historical fiction.
22. Fat Cat by Robin Brande {print}. YA.
23. Struck by Lightning: The Carson Phillips Journal by Chris Colfer {print}. YA.
24. Theater Shoes by Noel Streatfeild {print}. Children's - period fiction.
25. The Room-Mating Season by Rona Jaffe {print}. Fiction (general).
26. Boom! by Mark Haddon {print}. YA - science fiction.
27. Still Alice by Lisa Genova {print}. Fiction (general).
28. In the Woods by Tana French {print}. Mystery.
29. The Tragedy Paper by Elizabeth LaBan {print}. YA.
30. Six-Gun Snow White by Catherynne M. Valente {print}. Fantasy.
31. The Likeness by Tana French {print}. Mystery.
32. Here Lies the Librarian by Richard Peck {print}. YA - historical fiction.
33. The Great Good Thing by Roderick Townley {print}. Children's - fantasy.
34. On Writing by Stephen King {print}. Nonfiction.
35. Faithful Place by Tana French {print}. Mystery.
36. Stir It Up! by Ramin Ganeshram {print}. YA.
37. Broken Harbor by Tana French {print}. Mystery.
38. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell {print}. YA.
39. Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín {print}. Historical fiction.
40. The Darwin Elevator by Jason M. Hough {print}. Science fiction.
41. Mystery of the Tempest by Sam Cameron {print}. YA - mystery.
42. The Templeton Twins Have an Idea by Ellis Weiner {print}. Children's.
43. We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler {print}. Fiction (general)
44. Violet Mackerel's Natural Habitat (3rd in series) by Anna Branford {print}. Children's.
45. Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality by Elizabeth Eulberg {print}. YA.
46. Galveston by Sean Stewart {print}. Fantasy.
47. Let Me Go (6th in series) by Chelsea Cain {print}. Mystery.
48. The Love Song of Jonny Valentine by Teddy Wayne {print}. Fiction (general).
49. Violet Mackerel's Personal Space (4th in series) by Anna Branford {print}. Children's.
50. Goodbye for Now by Laurie Frankel {print}. Fiction (general).
51. Replay by Ken Grimwood (repeat) {print}. Fantasy.

FORMAT:
Audio book - 3
E-book - 6
Print - 42
TOTAL - 51

GENRE:
Children's - 4
Children's - Fantasy - 1
Children's - Period fiction - 1
Fantasy - 3
Fiction (general) - 6
Historical fiction - 4
Mystery - 6
Nonfiction - 2
Period fiction - 5
Science fiction - 2
Thriller - 1
YA - 7
YA - Fantasy - 2
YA - Historical fiction - 3
YA - Mystery - 1
YA - Period fiction - 2
YA - Science fiction - 1
TOTAL - 50

SUB-GENRES (if appropriate)
Generational fiction - 1
Steampunk - 1

2edwinbcn
gen. 12, 2013, 12:23 pm

Any comments as to why The War Workers deserves 4 stars?, or a (short) review? I guess you enjoy reading Delafield, having eight of her books.

3amysisson
gen. 14, 2013, 6:14 pm

^ I might do a short review on my book page for the title, but I usually just use this kind of thread as a straight list. Last year I didn't include star ratings at all on my list, even though I rated many books. I just thought it would be nice to see my star ratings at a glance here.

In short, though, I thought the characters were well-developed and the subject matter interesting. I do like Delafield -- her Thank Heaven Fasting is one of my favorite books -- social commentary and very poignant.

The War Workers is not as good, but still interesting. It takes place during WWI, when women in England were working in munitions factories and in various other capacities. The main character in this book is a young woman who directs a large adminstrative center, who hounds her staff to death and makes a big show of how hard she herself works, to the detriment of herself and her family. It's not that the work isn't truly important, but she's in love with the idea of how important people think she is for doing it.

4amysisson
gen. 30, 2013, 4:01 pm

2. The Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton.

I give this 3.5 stars. Undine Spragg is a well-drawn and complex, flawed character, but I felt the book could have benefitted from being about 1/5 shorter.

Two observations on my reading so far; this is a terrible start for me -- I normally would have five or six books read by now instead of two. This is partly because I've been deep into three books at once: one as a PDF that I've been reading at work only on my short lunch break, one as a regular book, and one as an audiobook only while driving. I'm not sure whether I'll include audiobooks on this list. On the one hand, I don't consider it reading. On the other hand, I'm certainly "experiencing" the story and may well remember more of it this way than if I'd read it on the page.

5RidgewayGirl
gen. 30, 2013, 10:29 pm

I have the same feeling about audiobooks.

6amysisson
feb. 5, 2013, 9:19 pm

3. Moloka'i by Alan Brennert.

4 stars. A solid and moving historical fiction account of the leper colony on Moloka'i.

7dmsteyn
feb. 5, 2013, 11:57 pm

Moloka'i sounds intriguing. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.

8amysisson
feb. 7, 2013, 2:31 pm

4. Emily Fox-Seton by Frances Hodgson Burnett

This book is exactly as others have described it: the first half is a simple, charming Cinderella story, and the second half becomes a darker, Gothic-like melodrama. I would rate the first half at 4 stars and the second half at 2 1/2 stars, so overall I'm giving the book 3 1/2 stars. While I like the overall ending, I think the author chose to end the last two pages on the wrong "note."

9amysisson
feb. 10, 2013, 6:10 pm

5. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

I debates whether to include audiobooks, but I did spend 21 1/2 hours listening to this. Also, audiobooks will never take up a big percentage of my reading list. Four stars to the story. Definitely longer and wordier than it needed to be, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

10amysisson
feb. 12, 2013, 4:51 pm

6. Daddy Long Legs by Jean Webster (repeat) {e-book}

I had given this book 3 1/2 stars when I last read it, and was inclined to give it 4 1/2 stars this time, so I went with 4 stars. It's fluff, but a delightful charming fluff from another time. I was amused to see that it referenced Jane Eyre, which I hadn't remember -- and this time I knew the characters she was talking about!

11amysisson
feb. 18, 2013, 1:28 pm

7. Dear Enemy by Jean Webster {e-book}

I had been assuming I'd read this before, but now I don't think I had. It's a sweet follow-on to Daddy Long Legs, although it follows a different character, the Sallie MacBride who takes over the orphanage.

12RidgewayGirl
feb. 18, 2013, 2:08 pm

Dear Enemy is one of my favorite childhood books. I still like it. Have you gone online to look at the fabulous pictures of the Kallikak family?

13amysisson
feb. 20, 2013, 3:17 pm

^12 RidgewayGirl, no, I hadn't, but I took a quick glance yesterday. Did you see where he's rumored to have doctored the photos a bit?

14amysisson
Editat: feb. 20, 2013, 3:18 pm

8. Etiquette & Espionage (first in a series) by Gail Carriger

3 1/2 stars

15RidgewayGirl
feb. 20, 2013, 4:14 pm

Yeah, it's not subtle. I guess in the years before photoshop they had to make do with what they had.

16amysisson
feb. 22, 2013, 4:53 pm

9. Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell

This was my first nonfiction book of the year, read for an at-work book group. I gave it four stars. I was absolutely captivated by the chapter on the role that cultural background of the pilots plays in commercial aviation disasters.

17avidmom
feb. 22, 2013, 5:36 pm

My son's friend had to read it for a high school AP class and was telling me about it, and have wanted to read it since. Glad to see it mentioned here & that you liked it. "the role that cultural background of the pilots plays in commercial aviation disasters." Well, now, that's certainly interesting!!

18dchaikin
feb. 23, 2013, 8:32 pm

Outliers ... Is that the 10,000 hours to master anything book? Someone in RL has been encouraging me to read that recently.

19amysisson
feb. 24, 2013, 5:04 pm

^17, avidmom, yes, it's fascinating and in some ways horrifying -- but now that the phenomenon is recognized, at least it can be addressed.

^18, dchaikin. Yes, it discusses the 10,000 hour rule quite a bit. One chapter discusses Bill Gates and another computer whiz (the guy who wrote Unix and Java), and both of them were uniquely placed to get in that 10,000 hours in programming at a time when programming access was very hard to come by.

20amysisson
feb. 28, 2013, 12:25 am

10. The Automatic Detective by A. Lee Martinez

Science fiction, creative and original fun harking back to pulp days, with underlying emotional resonance. 4 1/2 stars.

21amysisson
feb. 28, 2013, 3:55 pm

11. The Third Miss Symons by F.M. Mayor

My e-book reading is almost all public domain PDFs provided by Girlebooks, which explains why I'm reading so much period fiction. I give this book 3 stars. It's a decent little character study, but there's not a whole lot to it. I'm not sorry I read it, but I'm not sure how long it will stay with me.

22amysisson
Editat: març 4, 2013, 4:22 pm

12. Murder on the Iditarod Trail by Sue Henry

A standard murder mystery in some ways, but more enjoyable than most due to all the details about the Iditarod. I also thought the mild romantic interest was handled just right.

Although I enjoy books set in Alaska, since I don't read mysteries often, I'm unlikely to seek out the rest of this series, especially because it would be hard to top the Iditarod.

23amysisson
Editat: maig 14, 2014, 10:52 am

13. Consequences by Penelope Lively

I really enjoyed this audiobook. It's my favorite reader (Josephine Bailey), and I got really engrossed in the characters. I would call this "generational fiction," a sort of sub-genre that follows a family over the course of generations. I was not quite as interested in the last viewpoint character as I was in the two previous, but I still cared about her, and I felt like there was some nice circular closure.

24amysisson
març 11, 2013, 10:15 pm

14. Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

Historical YA fiction, interrogators, British women pilots in WWII. Wow. Wow wow wow. Five stars.

25amysisson
març 13, 2013, 11:41 am

15. Tyrannosaurus Canyon by Douglas Preston

3.5 stars. A solid thriller with an interesting topic, but the science is a little dubious and the villains rather cliched. I'm definitely not sorry I read it, but I won't be seeking out the other books that follow one of these characters.

26amysisson
Editat: març 20, 2013, 11:20 pm

16. Violet Mackerel's Remarkable Recovery (second in a series) by Anna Branford

Lovely little book, second in the series. These are illustrated chapter books about a little girl who is precocious but not obnoxiously so. 4 stars.

27amysisson
març 25, 2013, 9:59 pm

17. Cleopatra VII: Daughter of the Nile (Royal Diaries series) by Kristiana Gregory {audiobook}

Four stars. Quite well written, but extra half star for Josephine Bailey's gorgeous narration.

28amysisson
Editat: març 29, 2013, 11:31 am

18. Vessel by Sarah Beth Durst {print}

Lovely YA fantasy in a desert setting, with resourceful heroine. The ending petered for me the tinist bit, but still a lovely book.

29amysisson
Editat: març 29, 2013, 11:31 am

19. Period 8 by Chris Crutcher {print}

Oh dear. This was pretty awful. (1 1/2 stars) This was apparently intended to be a YA thriller while still encompassing many of Crutcher's trademarks (suspicion of authority, abuse, a trusted teacher, etc.). Since a thriller needs villains, though, Crutcher took many of his qualities of his usual antagonists, which include religious conservatism, lack of empathy, and hypocrisy, and exaggerated them almost beyond cliche. The "good guys" also did and said a lot of stupid things and the main character Paulie is unrealistically wise and acts like an adult in too many ways. The teenagers in this town apparently stay out well past midnight even on school nights, skip school or individual classes without jeopardizing their academic standing, and in general have almost no parental supervision, except of course for the Crutcher-trademark female character with an uber-controlling father. There was even a very transparent, clumsy attempt at misdirection.

I'll still read his next book -- he's had too many great books not to give him some slack for a couple of bad ones. But wow.

30mkboylan
març 30, 2013, 5:33 pm

28 - Resourceful heroines! Yahoo! I do love a resourceful heroine! altho they always make me feel inadequate.

31amysisson
abr. 4, 2013, 8:32 pm

20. The Day the Falls Stood Still by Cathy Marie Buchanan {print}

What a lovely book. Review to come.... 4 1/2 stars.

32amysisson
abr. 22, 2013, 1:55 pm

21. The Typewriter Girl by Alison Atlee {print}

3 1/2 stars. Would have rated it higher except for some authorial quirks that I will mention in my review.

33amysisson
abr. 23, 2013, 4:45 pm

22. Fat Cat by Robin Brande {print}

4 stars. There were a few little things about it I would have liked to be different (parents were kind of absent from the book, there was a missed opportunity in Cat's advice to her younger brother, etc.), but I liked the main character and her best friend, and liked the positive message about eating well. I don't think the way she did this would qualify for a traditional science fair project format, but it certainly was an intriguing idea.

34amysisson
Editat: abr. 26, 2013, 3:56 pm

23. Struck by Lightning: The Carson Phillips Journal by Chris Colfer

Alas, only 2 stars. First, you can't (or at least you shouldn't) try and sustain a whole novel on snark, snark, and more snark, especially when so much of it is mean-spirited. The main character hates that nobody "gets" him, but he's nasty about other characters' physical characteristics when he really doesn't need to be.

Second, there was a lot of unfulfilled potential here. The basic premise was interesting and a lot more could have been done with it, emotionally speaking.

Third, I didn't think the college application process was realistically portrayed, nor do I think a school administrating can penalize the entire student body because one student annoyed him. That's akin to the administrator deliberating setting up a situation so that that particular student will be harassed and bullied.

35amysisson
Editat: abr. 29, 2013, 8:55 pm

24. Theater Shoes by Noel Streatfeild {print}

I give this 2 1/2 stars. It's too similar to Ballet Shoes, and the matter-of-factness about how these kids just accept being shoved into this performance academy bothers me. However, I think if I'd read Streatfeild growing up, I would have been fascinated. (And I did enjoy the recent film version of Ballet Shoes starring Emma Watson.)

Since this was written in 1945, I'm calling the genre "Children's - Period fiction".

36amysisson
Editat: maig 1, 2013, 2:38 pm

25. The Room-Mating Season by Rona Jaffe {print}

Another 2 1/2 star book. I like the domestic, real-life touches in books like these (I've read several of this author's books over the years), but I had a hard time liking any of the three main female characters, particularly two of them. One was obsessive and a little crazy, and the other was a huge hypocrite -- she had many, many affairs but then got upset when her husband had one, because he did it in their hometown while her dozens of flings were in another city. Maybe it makes a big difference in her mind, but in my mind, that's just her deluding herself. Even the nicest of the three characters occasionally talks about men cheating, but she was the "other woman" too before her lover left his wife to marry her. Plus some of the male characters, and almost all of the children these women eventually have, are cardboard characters.

37amysisson
Editat: maig 6, 2013, 12:50 pm

26. Boom! by Mark Haddon {print}

I don't mind fluff for the sake of fluff, but nothing in this really stood out, so I gave it 2 1/2 stars for being perfectly.... average. But it's probably a good choice for boys who are reluctant readers.

38amysisson
maig 8, 2013, 2:56 am

27. Still Alice by Lisa Genova {print}

Wow. Review to follow.

39amysisson
maig 15, 2013, 1:07 pm

28. In the Woods by Tana French {print}

Beautifully written, atmospheric murder mystery that takes place in Ireland.

40NanaCC
Editat: maig 15, 2013, 1:20 pm

Amy, I loved the Tana French series. The first In The Woods and third Faithful Place are my favorites so far.

41amysisson
maig 15, 2013, 1:36 pm

^ NanaCC, I noticed that the later books have higher average ratings than the first book -- that bodes well! I just requested the second book from the library. :-)

42amysisson
Editat: maig 20, 2013, 9:47 pm

29. The Tragedy Paper by Elizabeth LaBan {print}

Only 3 stars. This book had such promise -- the opening chapters, when Tim and Vanessa are stranded at the airport together, are absoluately exquisite. Then the book gets bogged down in discussing the Literary Concept of Tragedy ad nauseum, and in describing a boarding school that has so many traditions (make your own donut day! seniors wear pajamas day!) that the students apparently don't go to classes very often. In addition, while I thought that Mr. Simon mostly sounded like an awesome teacher, I cannot entirely respect a teacher who invents arbitrary rules and conditions such as "here are the instructions for your huge project. Don't lose this paper because I won't give you another one. If you share your copy (these are just freakin' instructions for the project!) with another student who lost theirs, I'll lower your grade by two full letter grades." WTF? And "If you correctly use the word 'magnitude' correctly in your paper exactly seven times, I'll give you ten extra points. If you tell anyone else about this, nobody will get extra points."

43amysisson
Editat: maig 24, 2013, 4:55 pm

30. Six-Gun Snow White by Catherynne M. Valente {print}

Beautifully written, but odd ending (even within the context of the entire book's oddness). Four stars.

44amysisson
juny 7, 2013, 6:15 pm

31. The Likeness by Tana French {print}

45NanaCC
juny 7, 2013, 10:18 pm

I am curious to see what you think of The Likeness. I had mixed feelings about that one.

46amysisson
juny 8, 2013, 11:12 am

Mild spoilers for The Likeness below....

^ Hi NanaCC. Hmmm, there was much about it I liked -- in general, I enjoy the author's writing style. But I found this particular story pretty implausible, both that Cass looked enough like Lexie to pull this off, and that Cass would continue to keep so much information from the supervising detective on the investigation. And although I know identity theft happens all the time, I think the reality of identity theft is people applying for credit cards in other people's names, not assuming entire lives like that.

What were your misgivings?

I do plan to read the next book, which I noticed has the highest average rating of all of the author's books on LibraryThing.

47NanaCC
juny 8, 2013, 11:51 am

The fact that the friends would fall for her being their friend is what I also found unbelievable. Plus, my daughter said the plot owes a lot to Donna Tartt's Secret History. I haven't read that one, so I don't know how much of it was similar. But I did enjoy the book. I just found the unrealistic aspect annoying. The next book, Faithful Place is my favorite of the four books French has written.

48amysisson
Editat: juny 11, 2013, 10:59 am

32. Here Lies the Librarian by Richard Peck {print}

I gave this 2 1/2 stars. I can see why people like the humor in this, and there are some themes I love -- plus librarians play a prominent role! But I felt it was a bit haphazard in its plot, plus -- and this is a huge personal bias of mine, but I can't get around it -- I felt that the author treated animals' suffering as a humorous thing. The deliberate cruelty to a dog was perpetrated by the bad guys, so it's not as if the author is saying it's a good thing to do. But later the protagonist commented on it in a way meant to be humorous, plus another animal's suffering (by accident) was also brushed off and a supposedly humorous comment was made about it. I just can't get past this kind of thing. (I don't by any means think that the author condones animal cruelty, but I still found this authorial treatment of it off-putting.)

49mkboylan
juny 11, 2013, 12:05 am

Gross! Thanks for the warning.

50amysisson
juny 11, 2013, 8:23 pm

33. The Great Good Thing by Roderick Townley

What a lovely little book! Storybook characters come to life and take charge -- sounds clichéd, but this is a really original treatment of the idea. Definitely buying this for one of my nieces. 4 1/2 stars.

51ljbwell
juny 12, 2013, 2:05 pm

The Great Good Thing sounds absolutely lovely. I'll need to keep an eye out for it!

52amysisson
juny 12, 2013, 8:01 pm

34. On Writing by Stephen King {print}

I would give this 3 1/2 stars. I enjoyed the parts about his life more than the parts about his writing. He tends to get a little too cute with the parantheticals I'm glad I read it, in any case.

53amysisson
juny 12, 2013, 8:02 pm

^51 ljbwell, The Great Good Thing really was wonderful. :-)

54amysisson
juny 18, 2013, 8:42 am

35. Faithful Place by Tana French

Definitely the strongest book in the series so far. (I'd call it a loose series, by the way, since so far each book has focused on a different, first person narrator.) 4 1/2 stars, for great characterization and lots of suspense. Even though I'd figured out much of the plot before the end, the suspense remained.

55NanaCC
juny 18, 2013, 8:57 am

I'm glad you liked Faithful Place. It is still my favorite of the four books.

56amysisson
juny 18, 2013, 9:01 am

^Yes, it will be hard for her to top this one!

57RidgewayGirl
juny 18, 2013, 6:34 pm

I liked Broken Harbor an awful lot.

58amysisson
juny 18, 2013, 11:12 pm

^57 RidgewayGirl

Oh yay! I'm glad to know that, as it means I'll likely enjoy it as well. For me so far it's 1 - Faithful Place, 2 - In the Woods, and 3 - The Likeness.

And I don't even like mysteries! ;-)

59NanaCC
juny 19, 2013, 8:01 am

I would put Broken Harbor at #2. I like them all and your numbers would match mine for the first 3. I look forward to seeing where you put Broken Harbor. :)

60amysisson
juny 19, 2013, 10:19 am

^Just requested from the library, so we'll find out soon!

61amysisson
Editat: jul. 1, 2013, 2:55 pm

36. Stir It Up! by Ramin Ganeshram {print}

This was a sweet, short novel about a teenager from Trinidad who helps in her parents' restaurant and dreams of becoming a celebrity chef. Against her parents' wishes, she enters a reality show cooking contest for kids. Although I loved her love of cooking, the details of the reality show were all gloss and no substance; they didn't have her parents sign a contract, which would NEVER happen in real life but which was necessary for the sake of the plot, and she only had to go through two rounds of three kids cooking before a winner was declared. The book felt rushed to an ending. For these reasons, I gave it only 3 stars. So much unfulfilled potential!

62mkboylan
jul. 2, 2013, 9:14 pm

will be singing Marley for the rest of today. (That's a good thing!)

63amysisson
Editat: jul. 9, 2013, 1:48 am

37. Broken Harbor by Tana French

Oh dear. I was so prepared for Faithful Place to remain my favorite among the "Dublin Murder Squad" books. And I don't even read this kind of book, normally! And here comes Broken Harbor. I think it just edged out Faithful Place. I have to give it at least 4 1/2 stars. I'd like to give it 4.75 stars. Have to think on this some more......

This author has perfected the art of the flawed character. Her only misstep so far has been The Likeness, and it's not as though that was a bad book by any means, just somewhat implausible. But otherwise.... wow.

64NanaCC
jul. 9, 2013, 7:34 am

I am a fan of these books. I loved Broken Harbor too, but I still think Faithful Place is my favorite. I wonder which secondary character will be her lead in the next book.

65amysisson
jul. 9, 2013, 10:28 am

It's funny with her trend of using a secondary character. Inevitably, with each book, I think .... wait! but I want more of this main character! And then 10 pages into the next book I'm all about the new character, because it's someone familiar but shallow who quickly becomes very real to me.

66amysisson
Editat: jul. 11, 2013, 3:57 pm

38. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. Loved this book! It's about a college freshman in Nebraska who is well known in fan fiction circles for her portrayals of two characters in a very Harry Potter-esque fictional universe. She has some social anxiety, and has to deal with a strangely brusque roommate, a twin sister who is branching out on her own and is making some bad decisions along the way, a manic father, her first real boyfriend, and more. I found it utterly charming. 4 1/2 stars.

Edited to add - I should have mentioned that I really dislike the chick lit cover on this one. I don't mind chick lit covers, but this does not fit the book as far as I'm concerned. With all that was going on, there were such possibilities with this cover, and this is what they went with?!

67amysisson
Editat: jul. 17, 2013, 3:13 pm

39. Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín

I think of books like this as quiet, domestic historical fiction. It's just a young woman, and how her life changes when she emigrates from Ireland and ends up in Brooklyn, New York. It's set in the early 1950s (I base this on the fact that the movie "Singing in the Rain" opens during the book, and imdb.com tells me that was 1952).

Four stars for the characters and their sometimes simple, sometimes complex motivations. In some ways, not much happens, but I read the book in just over 24 hours. I really wanted to find out how it ended.

Since this was written in 2009 and takes place in the 1950s, I'm categorizing it as historical fiction. That seems fitting also because the mores of the time are important to the plot and to the characters.

68NanaCC
jul. 17, 2013, 4:36 pm

Brooklyn is on my daughter's bookshelf. It looks like another I need to borrow.

69RidgewayGirl
jul. 22, 2013, 5:51 am

I liked Brooklyn enormously when I read it. I'm impressed with Toibin's range -- his books are wonderfully diverse.

70amysisson
ag. 12, 2013, 4:29 pm

40. The Darwin Elevator by Jason M. Hough

This is the first novel in a science fiction trilogy with an exciting premise: an automated alien spaceship dropped a space elevator thread on the city of Darwin, Australia; a few years later, a plague that turns humans into sub-humans (not quite zombies) affected everyone who isn't within the protective shield of that space elevator as well as a few people who are immune to the plague. Politicians and others jockey for power on the ground and in orbit, among the farming and research space stations scattered along the elevator thread. Immune scavenger Skyler Luiken tries to make sense of it all and protect his crew.

I want to write a longer review because there was a lot to this book, but for now I'm giving it 3 1/2 stars, and I don't think I'll read further in the trilogy. I expect the next two books will have big new developments and I'd like to know what happened, but I can't get past the rather ridiculous cardboard villain, by whom I'm alternately offended and bored.

Still, this felt original to me, and I think a lot of SF readers will like it.

71amysisson
Editat: ag. 15, 2013, 4:57 pm

41. Mystery of the Tempest by Sam Cameron

This is the first in a series of young adult mysteries featuring twin brothers Denny and Steven. Denny is gay and struggling with it, partly because he'll be attending the Coast Guard Academy in the fall (this was published before Don't Ask Don't Tell was repealed). Steven has his own problems; he's failed the color vision test and wasn't accepted for Navy Seal training but can't bring himself to tell his parents, plus he has trouble controlling his own impulses as far as girls are concerned.

I really enjoyed this. It's fast-paced and funny, and I liked the ending a lot. It focuses extensively on the homosexuality aspect, but that's not all it is.

Think of it as the gay Hardy Boys (they even had a cop father). With Shakespeare references!

72amysisson
Editat: ag. 20, 2013, 9:15 pm

42. The Templeton Twins Have an Idea by Ellis Weiner

Cute, illustrated children's chapter book in which the narrator constantly interrupts his story about the clever twins with asides and admonitions to the reader.

73amysisson
ag. 27, 2013, 9:50 pm

43. We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler

Five stars. This book is best read knowing nothing about it going in. Seriously, don't read the dustjacket copy or any reviews. The author is masterful in when and how she reveals information.

74dchaikin
Editat: ag. 28, 2013, 12:33 am

Intriguing few words about We are all completely beside ourselves. I find your Mystery of the Tempest review very entertaining.

75amysisson
ag. 27, 2013, 11:54 pm

Thanks!

I guess I can say about "We Are All Completely...." that it's mainstream fiction leaning towards literary, about a damaged family.

Any more than that would give away the best stuff, though!

76amysisson
Editat: set. 3, 2013, 2:27 pm

44. Violet Mackerel's Natural Habitat (3rd in a series) by Anna Branford.

Third book is this series of charming illustrated chapter books. Anna is a little girl who observes the world carefully. She reminds me of Beverly Cleary's Ramona but with less mischief and slightly deeper thoughts.

77amysisson
set. 4, 2013, 10:38 pm

45. Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality by Elizabeth Eulberg

Very nice mainstream YA novel about a teenager with divorced parents, who is tired of her family shaping its life around her seven year old sister's beauty pageant circuit. Four stars.

78amysisson
set. 15, 2013, 2:06 am

46. Galveston by Sean Stewart

Bizarre, intriguing fantasy novel written in 2000, about a Galveston beset by another devastating flood in 2004 -- a flood of magic, not water. Four stars. Very imaginative!

79amysisson
set. 17, 2013, 1:21 pm

47. Let Me Go by Chelsea Cain

Sixth in the series about Detective Archie Sheridan and serial killer Gretchen Lowell. Oh, it kept me reading, but it's getting old. I want to skip to the last book in the series to find out how it ends; I can probably skip any remaining books in between. Three stars.

80amysisson
oct. 13, 2013, 2:31 pm

48. The Love Song of Jonny Valentine by Teddy Wayne

Adult general fiction written from the POV of an 11-year-old Justin Bieber-esque pop star. The author managed to convey innocent cynicism quite well. It certainly seemed authentic to me, and if authentic, then the manufacturing of pop stars is even more calculated than I imagined. Four stars.

81amysisson
Editat: oct. 13, 2013, 2:33 pm

49. Violet Mackerel's Personal Space (4th in a series) by Anna Branford

These are charming, illustrated chapter books about a little girl who thinks a lot and tries hard to be a source of comfort for her family. Four and a half stars.

82amysisson
oct. 17, 2013, 2:19 pm

50. Goodbye for Now by Laurie Frankel

Thoughtful book about death, grief, immortality, and letting go. There was one part I strugged with (it would be a major spoiler, so I won't say), but I forgave the author in the end.

83avaland
oct. 29, 2013, 8:56 pm

>78 amysisson: Glad you liked Galveston, I read that quite a while ago, but liked it at the time (and read several more Sean Stewart novels thereafter)

84amysisson
des. 30, 2013, 1:21 pm

51. Replay by Ken Grimwood

Finished off the year with this repeat read ... one of my all-time favorite books, and fitting as we start a new year.

I had about 4 other books half-read in November and December. Was enjoying them all, but couldn't settle down to reading for some reason. Now it's been long enough I'll have to start them over. Sigh.....