Tag Archives: bookworm

2017 Reading List: American Gods by Neil Gaiman

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We started a book club at my office. There are about 10 avid readers who are excited to read something new, get together during lunch, and talk about books. So this next book on my Reading List is not something I would have picked out on my own. Our first BarkleyREI Book Club book was American Gods by Neil Gaiman.

You may have heard of this book because of the TV show on Starz. But I hadn’t.

I was a bit dubious when I heard that this would be our first book. Our group has some diverse tastes and everyone likes a wide range of subjects and styles. I looked up the synopsis of the book and I could barely follow it. It seemed complicated and weird.

But wouldn’t you know it, it must be the most popular book in the country right now, because I had to put my name on a hold list for a digital copy from the library. There were 25 digital copies available and every single one was checked out. And I was 90th in line. I ended up getting a hold at the “real” library. Every book in the whole county was checked out. But at least I was next in line. Continue reading →

2017 Reading List: Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

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I picked up Me Before You by Jojo Moyes before I had ever seen the movie trailer or even heard of the movie. In fact, I just discovered there’s a movie as I’m typing this because I Googled the book to find the link to add to my post. That being said, when I picked up the book, I thought it would be some kind of superficial chick-flick type book; more of a beach read than anything. But I was pleasantly surprised to find that there was so much more to this book thank girl meets guy and they fall in love. Continue reading →

2017 Reading List: Rising Strong by Brene Brown

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I guess you could say I was on a small “self-help” kick there for a bit. After The Happiness Project, I read Rising Strong, by Brene Brown. I had read her book Daring Greatly a few years ago and liked it, so I was anxious to read this one too. I like these “self-help” -ish books that are more motivational and inspiring.

I’m not sure that this was the right time for me to read Rising Strong. I think this book would have more impact for someone who needed it, someone who had fallen and was struggling. The book is, obviously, about how to rise strong, but in order to rise strong you have to have fallen; you have to have been defeated.

Brene Brown outlines a process, in which she coins her own terms to talk about working through your emotions. She called it Reckoning, Rumble, and Revolution. It seemed like a complicated way to work through some things that take only seconds to get over.  Continue reading →

2017 Reading List: The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin

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If you don’t already know, I love to find and read blogs. I love when I can connect with someone else’s life. I love to read their stories and gain insight from their experiences. At some point, I came across Gretchen Rubin’s website about happiness. Gretchen is a professional researcher and writer, and she had written a book called The Happiness Project. Ever since discovering her blog and hearing about her book, I’ve wanted to read it.

The Happiness Project is the culmination of Gretchen’s own personal year of experimentation whereby she attempts to make herself happier within her own ordinary life by making small daily changes. She sets up her year as a series of resolutions. She has twelve themes to correspond with each calendar month and within each theme, there are certain things she commits to doing to help her achieve the goal of becoming happier. She didn’t want to change her whole life, uproot her family, change careers or take drastic measures. She just wanted to see how a few small things would affect her overall happiness.

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2017 Reading List: The Assassin’s Blade by Sarah J. Maas

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I’m so invested in the lives of the characters from the Throne of Glass series that I couldn’t wait until September for the next book to come out. I placed a hold on a digital copy of The Assassin’s Blade, the collection of short novellas that collectively make up a prequel to the series. As soon as the book landed in my account, I raced through the stories, soaking up every detail.

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2017 Reading List: Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas

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I recently devoured Empire of Storms, book #5 in Sarah Maas’ Throne of Glass series. Devoured. Because that’s how I feel when I can’t stop turning pages and can’t put the book down because I am so hungry for the next chapter, the next scene, the next cliffhanger that will keep me up at night and thinking about it all day long. I feel as if I can’t get enough and I’ll never be satiated. I read books like these so quickly because I get obsessed but then I’m surprised and annoyed when I’ve finished it because I wanted the book to last forever.

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2017 Reading List: Avenue of Mysteries by John Irving

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I love to read books that my mom, friends and co-workers recommend. (I read an interesting blog post today about “the imitation game” but that’s a story for another time.)

Remember the last time my mom gave me a book to read? I was not disappointed. So when my mom handed me John Irving’s Avenue of Mysteries, I happily hefted it home and lined it up in my queue. But there’s a reason that it’s now mid-March and I’m just getting to writing this review – because it took me this long to finish it.

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2017 Reading List: In a Dark Dark Wood by Ruth Ware

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In a Dark Dark Wood, by Ruth Ware

My mom lent me this book after the holidays and said it was pretty good. We generally like a lot of the same books, so if she says I should read something, I take her advice.

This book is set in England and follows the character, Nora, aka Lee, as she attends a bachelorette party for her estranged high school friend. The bachelorette party is – you guessed it – in a dark, dark wood, at a mutual friend’s family vacation home. Nora isn’t sure why she’s invited to this party since she hasn’t spoken to the bride in ten years, but she decides to go anyway with  her friend Nina. There are six of them staying in the house out in the woods, and it gets creepy from there. And even though Nora soon finds out why she was invited, she’s still not sure she belongs there or why she even came.  Continue reading →

2017 Reading List: vol. 2

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Today’s review is coming to you a bit late, because I finished this book so fast and then got wrapped up in my next book. For my second book of the year, I thought I’d stick with the Harry Potter theme.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, by J. K. Rowling, John Tiffany & Jack Thorne

This book is actually a play, based on a new short story. Nineteen years after the last Harry Potter book, Harry and his friends are back, with kids and careers in tow. Harry and Hermione work for the Ministry of Magic and Ron runs the Weasley joke shop. Hermione and Ron are married with kids. Harry and Ginny are married with kids. And all the kids are headed off to Hogwarts.

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2017 Reading List: vol. 1

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Happy Steeler Sunday, friends! It’s the middle of a long weekend and I have been thoroughly enjoying it, doing what I love most – working out, reading, sipping wine, and hanging out with my hubby and my greyhound.

I was thinking towards the end of last year that I want to focus more on the books that I read. I read a lot of books. I read so many books that I often forget what I’ve read or I forget what the book was even about. And that certainly doesn’t mean it was a bad book. I just get really caught up in what I’m currently reading that when someone mentions something else, my mind goes blank. I’ve been trying to keep a list of the books I’ve read and 1-2 sentences about each one, so now I can pull out my phone, look at the Notes app, and it all comes back to me.

During 2017 (and beyond?), I want to give you all the rundown of the books I read. I’ll give you a super short synopsis and some of my opinions, which are not right or wrong. I’ll try not to give anything away 😉 Nothing brings people together like a good book, right?

Without further ado, my first book of 2017… Continue reading →