#2 Book Read in 2013
Love Anthony by Lisa Genova
Lisa Genova has become one of my favorite authors. Her previous books, Still Alice and Left Neglected, were powerful reads that showed her background in science before beginning her writing career. Her new book, Love Anthony, shows growth as an author. While less scientific than her other two novels, this book did not disappoint as Genova took a more spiritual bent to her writing.
In Love Anthony, Olivia is dealing with the death of her autistic young son, Anthony. Her marriage has broken up and she has moved to their former vacation home on a pretty isolated island. While there, she begins a photography business. One of her clients is Beth, trying to deal with the fact that her husband had recently cheated on her. Beth is trying to find her way back to herself and begins to write again. She almost feels compelled to write her novel, telling the story of an autistic boy named Anthony. However, Beth does not know anything about Olivia's son while she is writing her book. Eventually the two cross paths about the novel and both are amazed by the connections.
This was a good read. Genova's writing is getting stronger with each book, in my opinion. I recommend all of her books. I cannot wait to read anything else she writes.
I received this book to review through the Amazon Vine program.
Book #1 Read in 2013
The Diviners by Libba Bray
This is the first book in a new young adult fantasy series. Evie has a talent--she can hold an object and tell secrets about the person who owns that object. This "talent" can lead her into trouble and she ends up sent to her uncle in New York City after using her power at a party and causing problems. Her uncle is working with the police to try to find a killer who is murdering people with a supernatural bent. Evie begins to assist him with solving the case. She also realizes that there are more people with unique talents like she has and she doesn't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing.
I enjoyed this book. I liked Evie, even though at times she was a bit selfish. Her friends, especially Jericho and Sam, were interesting. This book had decent action to it and had a good mystery plot line. I am curious to see what the next book in the series covers.
2012 Reading Statistics
Read 86 books total
36 were Young Adult Books
17 were Kindle books
My goal for 2013 is to read 100 books.
December Reads:
1. Notorious Nineteen (5/5) Kindle 19th in series
2. Daughter of Smoke and Bone (YA) 4.5/5 Kindle 1st in series
3. On the Day I Died (YA) (4/5) Library book
4. Clobbered by Camembert (5/5) 3rd in series
5. Anya's Ghost (YA) 4/5
6. The Cat who Came Back for Christmas (4/5)
7. Beneath a Meth Moon (YA) 4/5
8. Everything I Needed to Know about Being a Girl I Learned from Judy Blume (5/5) Library book
9. Secrets at Sea (YA) 4.5/5 Library book
10. The Good House (4/5)
Book #86 Read in 2012
The Good House by Ann Leary
Hildy Good is a descendant of Sarah Good, Salem witch. Hildy's curse is alcoholism. Her family stages an intervention and sends her to rehab. Little do they know that after rehab, Hildy drinks alone at night from the bottles in her cellar, while declaring herself alcohol free. But Hildy cannot pull off this farce forever, and it eventually all catches up to her. Along with Hildy's story, the novel also details an affair between Peter and Rebecca, the trials of a couple with an autistic son and the other happenings of the small town.
I liked the writing of this book. Leary is good at description of both character and setting. Hildy was a character that I went back and forth between liking and hating. Liking won out in the end. The book was a bit slow in the middle but quickly accelerated and kept my interest until the end.
I received a copy of this book from BookBrowse for review.
Book #85 Read in 2012
Secrets at Sea by Richard Peck
This is a young adult fantasy book. Three sister mice and one brother mouse have to take a boat trip when their people travel to England. During that trip, destinies are formed and futures are firmed up. The mice try to lend a helping paw to the marriage hunt of the Cranston sisters, with varying levels of success.
This was a cute read. The mice characters were cute. There was action, love and humor in this book. I think this book would appeal to both boy and girl readers, from elementary to middle school range.
Book #84 Read in 2012
Everything I Needed to Know about Being a Girl I Learned from Judy Blume
edited by Jennifer O'Connell
This book features a variety of authors detailing how the works of Judy Blume affected them as they were growing up. Blume receives a nice tribute from these authors and acknowledgment that her works were meaningful to slews of readers. Many of Blume's books are mentioned, but titles such as Forever, Deenie and Tiger Eyes and Are You There God, It's Me Margaret receive several mentions.
Having been a huge Blume fan growing up, this was a nice way to revisit some memorable titles. It was an interesting read about how literature can affect readers and stay with readers for years and years. I enjoyed it.
