At the beginning of the year, I set a goal of 30 books to read. Then, I didn't really read too many books until around August, when I hit a huge reading phase. At that point, I changed my reading goal to 20, raised it to 25, and then back up to 30. This intense reading obsession was only worsened when I finally got over my aversion to reading books I just bought (it's weird, I know). Once I was able to get over that, I really hit my stride. Since late September, I managed to read 26 books. That's right, I read 26 books in 3 months, on top of graduate school and work. I have no idea how I did it. Some books were significantly shorter than others, I feel like I should mention that. Once I started blogging, I started writing up a little blurb about each book I've read, including a brief summary and my thoughts about it so I could post it all here. This also includes all the books I wrote separate blog posts about. It's important to note that in this post, there are
no spoilers from any of the books. Any books I blogged about separately are hyperlinked in case you missed them. I hope you find my eclectic collection of books I've read this year insightful and interesting.
The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff
I've had this book for a while, and I never got around to reading it. In fact, I think I even put it in my pile of books to donate and then grabbed it back out at the last minute. I'm glad I did. This is a dual timeline book (which is all the rage right now in historical fiction books). It follows the life of Anna Eliza Young in the 19th century, who was one of Brigham Young's many wives. This part is based on a true story and follows her plight as she struggled to be a plural wife to a prominent polygamist. Eventually, she breaks free and writes a book about her experiences. The other part of the book focuses on Jordan Scott, a young man who left a polygamist sect. Now, his mother has been arrested for murdering his father. Jordan must return home and try to make peace with his past while attempting to help his mother. I greatly enjoyed this book far more than I anticipated. Both stories were compelling and kept me wanting more. It's so important for me in dual timeline stories for both stories to be interesting or else I find myself rushing through half the book to get to the timeline I find most interesting. This was definitely not the case here.
Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan
I know, I know, I'm so late to the game with this one! For those of you who are even later to the game than me, this book follows Rachel Chu, who finds out that her boyfriend, Nick Young, is the most eligible bachelor in Singapore and comes from one of the wealthiest families in Asia. On a visit to Singapore, she must navigate the complexities of her boyfriend's family while trying to stay true to herself. I bought this book without seeing the movie or knowing that much about it other than the fact that the movie was a huge hit. I can definitely see why with this book. I loved the characters so much, although some of them were thoroughly annoying. Instead of being a straightforward romance, however, it has a more complicated plot with more fleshed out characters. It left me wanting more, but I also wanted to pace myself so I didn't go through the series too quickly because then I wouldn't be able to enjoy them anymore. Eventually, I did see the movie, and, as is the case usually, the book was better. I thought Kwan did a fantastic job, and, like I said before, it was definitely more complicated than most romance novels I've read over the years.
The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton
This book follows Nella, who marries wealthy merchant Johannes Brandt. Upon moving to Amsterdam from the country, Nella is gifted with a miniature version of her new home. Not everything is at it appears, however, as soon she starts receiving miniature versions of her family and other secrets no one else could possibly know. Now, Nella must try to figure out who the miniaturist is and why he or she knows so much about her personal life. This book was definitely a surprise for me, I didn't think I'd like it nearly as much as I did. I normally stay away from fantasy books (and this book has some fantasy aspects, in a way), although it's unclear if this really does have fantastical elements, which is part of the appeal. I thought the characters were great, and the plot was simultaneously simple and complex. I definitely didn't see the end coming, and I can't recommend this book enough.
Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee
In the much-anticipated sequel to
To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout returns to her hometown to discover everything she thought she understood about the past, and her father, is not necessarily what she thought. Like most people, I found this book disappointing. I love
To Kill a Mockingbird, I remember reading it in 9th grade English class, and I thought the message was fantastic. Unfortunately,
Go Set a Watchman completely changes that message and turns everything you thought you knew about Atticus Finch on its head. I knew this going into the book, because, once again, I'm late to the game. It was still worth reading if you read
To Kill a Mockingbird, but not a book I'd really recommend to anyone really. I also felt like
To Kill a Mockingbird wrapped up neatly, making this sequel unnecessary.
The Feud: The Hatfields and McCoys, the True Story by Dean King
Like many Americans, I know about the Hatfields and McCoys (you'd have to live under a rock not to know about them in my opinion). I also really enjoyed the mini series created by the History Channel back in 2012. With that being said, this book was incredibly well researched and goes into detail abou tthe feud, its origins and how it eventually ended. The epilogue even talks about how after the September 11th attacks, the Hatfields and McCoys signed a peace treaty to show the rest of America how in these difficult times, even the Hatfields and McCoys could come together and unite. Despite the fact that it was well researched, I did find the book to be incredibly confusing at times. There were so many names being thrown out there, and it was common for the same name to be used more than once in a family. King did include family trees and such scattered throughout the book, including updates on who had perished. It still resulted in some confusion on my part, so be prepared for that.
Ten Thousand Lovers by Edeet Ravel
My first truly disappointing book of the year. This book follows Lily, an exchange student living in Israel in the 1970s. While there, she falls in love with Ami, who is an interrogator for the Israeli military. This, of course, causes significant strain on their relationship as they try to navigate who they are and what they believe. Just reading the summary sounds absolutely fascinating, but the book was completely disappointing. I found it dry, boring and severely lacking. The ending was a huge disappointment as well, although I did have some ideas that it was going to happen (it was how it happened that left me frustrated). The only reason I even finished this book in the first place was because I was at Bryan's for the weekend, and I didn't have anything else to read. I definitely do
not recommend this book.
Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate
Remember how I talked about how I read 26 books in 3 months, this was the first of those 26 books. My mom had been trying to get me to read this book for a while, and I finally caved when her book club read it (which is how she got me to join one of her two book clubs). I found this book eye opening, especially for someone who has two adopted cousins. I thought Wingate did a great job of telling Rill's story, who had been a victim of the Tennessee Children's Home Society, where children were abducted and put up for adoption even though they had families who loved them dearly. This is a dual timeline book, and the other timeline focuses on Avery, who, through a chance encounter, figures out her family's connection to such atrocious actions. I personally found Avery's story a little bland, although Rill's story certainly made up for it. I highly recommend this book, and it's perfect for book clubs (but more about that in a much later post).
A Mother's Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy by Sue Klebold
I was only eight years old when Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris opened fire at Columbine High School, killing twelve students and one teacher. For that reason, I don't remember a whole lot about it. I've read a straightforward book about the shooting, but this book is different, it's written by Dylan Klebold's mother. For some, it seems like her just making excuses for why her son did what he did. To me, however, it seemed more like a mother trying to come to terms with with the blood her child spilled and the lives he cut tragically short. It was a particularly easy book to read at times, but it's still an important book to read. Often, I feel bad for the families of mass shooters (I know this isn't going to be a popular opinion at all). Sometimes, they ignored all the warning signs and knew something was wrong. Other times, however, they're just as blindsided as the rest of the world and trying to grieve the death of a loved one they thought they knew while simultaneously trying to come to terms with their horrific actions.
As You Wish by Cary Elwes
The Princess Bride is one of my top two favorite movies, so I've been looking for this book at the used bookstore for ages. When I finally got my hands on it, I started breaking one of my weird book rules: don't read a book right after buying it. It's weird, I like to let my books live on my shelves for a little while before reading them. I broke my rule with this book, and now that rules has been completely thrown out the window, and I read what I want, when I want. This book talks about Cary Elwes' experiences as he filmed
The Princess Bride, which is the movie that pretty much launched his career. It includes all kinds of backstories and reflections on his time on set. Bryan and I saw Cary Elwes and Chris Sarandon at AwesomeCon this past May, so some of the stories I'd already heard, but they were still lovely to read again. I also loved the little anecdotes added in by other members of the cast; it made it seem that it was a memoir written by the entire cast, not just Cary Elwes.
The Germany Midwife by Mandy Robotham
Ahh, impulse buy books, how I love you so much. These are the books that I buy on a whim without much thought because they're so different from what I'm expecting in a book. Let me start out by saying that Hitler and Eva Braun never had a child together. Robotham simply speculates what would have happened had they had a child together, including the moral dilemma of a woman imprisoned for helping Jews who is recruited to be Eva's midwife. I've had students ask me in the past if I could go back in time and kill baby Hitler, would I? I never know how to answer this question. This book addresses a similar questions: what would you do if you were in charge of Hitler's unborn child? It's a great spin on a historical what if. I also thought it was fascinating to learn a little bit more about Eva Braun, as my knowledge of her is incredibly limited at best. When reading this book, it's important to remember that it is historical speculation that not based on fact.
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
Once again, I know I'm late to the game with this one. I thought this book was pretty good, despite the fact that the main character, Rachel, is so unstable and difficult to relate to because she keeps digging herself into a deeper and deeper hole. It probably didn't help that I already had a pretty good idea as to what happens at the end, so there wasn't this huge build up that other people have when reading the book. This book follows Rachel, whose life is on a steady downward trajectory, and she becomes obsessed with a young couple she sees from the train on her way into London every day. When the wife disappears, Rachel injects herself into the investigation with somewhat predictable results at times. When it comes to suspense books, it was pretty good, there weren't too many lulls, which I can't stand in suspense books. If you haven't read it, it's pretty good; just make sure no one ruins the ending for you ahead of time.
Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah
My brother is a huge Trevor Noah fan. I've only seen him on television once or twice, but I used his story when I taught 7th grade and we talked about apartheid. I thought his story was fantastically well written and enjoyable to read. He manages to include his famous humor while simultaneously talking about the extreme hardships he suffered while growing up bi-racial in apartheid South Africa. Even after the fall of apartheid, he had extreme circumstances, mostly poverty and an abusive step father, to overcome. Somehow, he managed to use his wit and humor to rise to international success. Unfortunately, that is something he just glosses over in his book, instead choosing to focus more on his personal life. Even those unfamiliar with Trevor Noah will find a way to connect with this story, finding it both sympathetic and entertaining at the same time.
Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
If it wasn't for book club, I probably never would have read this book, and I'm not afraid to admit that. Sometimes, that can be a good thing because it pushes me out of my comfort zone, but not in this case. With that being said, this family sure puts the fun in dysfunctional (that's one of my mom's favorite sayings). This book follows the Lee family as they deal with the death of their oldest and most beloved daughter, Lydia. The family attempts to reconcile with if it was an accident, suicide or murder while simultaneously overcoming the demons of their past. The characters are absolutely awful to each other and are only looking out for each other. This is one of the few books I've read this year that I would
not recommend. Since I read this for book club, I did blog about it and go into much more detail, including some book club questions. You can read all of that
here if you want. That post does have spoilers though, but there is a warning before the spoilers start.
China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan
Once I read the first book in the
Crazy Rich Asians trilogy, I knew I wanted to read all of them. I also knew I wanted to pace myself so I didn't burn through them too quickly; I wanted to be able to enjoy them. What I liked the most about this book was the fact that a lot of the attention wasn't on Nick and Rachel. Instead, it focused a lot on secondary characters. Kitty Pong got a lot of book time, and Kwan really fleshed out her character, giving her more depth (or as much depth as a home wrecking, porn star turned B list actress can get). At the same time, we see Rachel and Nick's relationship grow as she tries to get to know her biological father and deal with more snobbery from Asian upper class elites.
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
This is probably one of the best books I've read all year and is a top contender for one of my favorite books ever. Seriously, I loved it so much. The characters were amazing, and the story was both heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time. Owns usually writes environmental science type books, which shows just what a wonderful writer she is if she can write such a beautiful narrative. I know some people in my book club didn't like it (they read it before I joined), but I personally loved it. This book is about Kya, who lives in the marshes and is something of a local urban legend due to her secluded lifestyle. When the local golden boy is murdered, suspicion immediately falls on her. The book is mostly told in the past until it catches up with the murder investigation and both timelines converge. I did blog about it and go into much more detail about the book and my thoughts about it. You can read all of that
here if you want. That post does have spoilers though, but there is a warning before the spoilers start.
Educated by Tara Westover
Talk about dysfunctional family! Tara Westover's dad had extreme views about the government, to the point that she wasn't issued a birth certificate until her teens and never attended public school. She did, however, manage to rise above such a situation and make it to Harvard and Cambridge. This was a book club book, and, as my mom put it, if it wasn't a memoir and was instead a fictional piece, people would say it was too unrealistic. It just goes to show that fact is indeed stranger than fiction. A lot of people I talked to absolutely loved this book and sang its praises non-stop. I thought it was good but not great. I do feel that part of it stemmed from the fact that people kept hyping it up, so I had huge expectations. It is important to note that a lot of the people I talked to about this book were teachers (like myself), so we all looked at it from a different perspective. Since I read this for book club, I did blog about it and go into much more detail, including some book club questions. You can read all of that
here if you want. That post does have spoilers though, but there is a warning before the spoilers start.
Dear Evan Hansen by Val Emmich
I got this book in 2018 at a book signing/concert by the writers of
Dear Evan Hansen the musical. It was a wonderful experience, and I got to hear some of my favorite songs from the musical from the composers of the musical. The book focuses on outcast, Evan, who struggles to make friends. Through an extreme misunderstanding, the family of Connor, a classmate who committed suicide, thought Connor and Evan were secretly best of friends, so they turn to him for answers. This gives Evan the family he's always been looking for, as it's just him and his mom. The author, Val Emmich, also talked about the hardships and challenges he had conveying some of the emotions in the songs into prose, but I thought he did a fairly good job. It's important to remember that this is in fact a young adult book, so it's going to gloss over some of the more difficult moments emotionally, but I feel like it didn't detract from the book at all. On the other hand, the book did have the opportunity to dive into more detail about some aspects of the plot that the musical glossed over. What I did struggle with as I read was that I knew what song they would be singing if it was the musical, so I kept getting the songs stuck in my head.
The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
I wrote a fairly long blog post about this book, along with the fact that I've been a fan of this author for may years, so I'm not going to write a lot about it. I think what I love most about this book was the fact that it was partially based on a true story, which I didn't know until the very end of the book. It was wonderful reading another Kate Quinn book, and I definitely saw a lot of growth when it came to her writing. That doesn't mean I enjoy her earlier books any less though. This is a dual-timeline book that focuses on two stories: Evelyn Gardiner during World War I as she works as a spy in France spying against the Germans, and Charlie, a young, pregnant American women in Europe after World War II who is trying to find her beloved cousin. Both stories intertwine, going back and forth until they finally catch up with each other and reach a momentous climax. Like I said earlier, I did blog about this book, including book club questions, which you can read
here.
Saving Alex by Alex Cooper
This is another book I wrote an entire blog post about, so I'm not going to write a lot about this book here. This memoir focuses on Alex's experiences in an illegal conversion therapy program her parents forced her into after she came out to them as gay. For about a year, Alex was severely abused at the hands of her guardians who claimed they were doing it to save her immortal soul. It was absolutely eye opening, and it made me think about what it means to be a parent (not that I'm a parent, I don't have any children). As a child, you like to think your parents would accept you no matter what, and I'm so fortunate to have parents who are supportive of me. It also makes my heart break for the children who are not so fortunate in the world. Alex wrote a beautiful, heartbreaking memoir that did a fantastic job at capturing the complicated emotions surrounding her entire ordeal. I did blog about this in much more detail, and you can read about that
here.
The King's Curse by Philippa Gregory
Yet again, this is another book I wrote an entire blog post about that dives into the history of the book, so I'm going to try and keep it short here. I have no idea why I read this book other than it was on my self, and something pulled me to it. It's weird, sometimes I just feel drawn to read a certain book without much of an explanation, and that was definitely the case here. I don't feel that this was one of Philippa Gregory's better books, but it definitely wasn't one of her worst either. This book focuses on Margaret Pole, also known as Lady Salisbury, who was an integral member of the Tudor royal court. This book spans the overwhelming majority of her life and mostly discusses the religious upheaval going on through England during the time of the English Reformation. Although she pretended to be a Protestant to protect her family and its interests at the royal court, Margaret was really a Catholic, which ultimately lead to her and her family's downfall. As always with Philippa Gregory's books, the amount of detail and research is astounding, and she always takes an interesting twist on established history at the end. You can read my blog post, along with a detailed historical analysis,
here.
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
I owned this book for a while and always wanted to read it because it sounded amazing, but I never got around to it. This year, I finally read it, and it was such an utter disappointment! It focuses on two separate stories: Marie-Laure le Blance, who is a blind girl fleeing Paris with her father, who works at the Natural History Museum, with them is a priceless treasure the Nazis are after; and Werner Pfennig, an orphan who finds he has a special gift for repairing radios, which lands him in the Nazi army. Both stories are told separately until they finally come together for an extremely disappointing conclusion. I thought the book was drab, too highly praised (it won a Pulitzer Prize) and insulted the reader with its anti-climactic ending that had far more potential. I desperately wanted to enjoy this book, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. Thankfully, I read it in a few short days, so it didn't take up too much of my time.
The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher
Yet another book that I had so much hope in only to be disappointed, which was compounded by the fact that I read these books back to back. I spent forever scoping out the used bookstore I go to, waiting for this book to magically appear, and I was so excited when I finally got my hands on it. Unfortunately, that excitement disappeared as soon as I started reading. A lot of this was because of the writing style, which was stream of consciousness in the guise of a memoir while Carrie Fisher complained about the hardships of fame and stardom. The worst part, however, was the middle section where Carrie Fisher included excerpts from the diaries she kept while filming the
Star Wars franchise. I didn't think the book could get any weirder, but it did. It was a lot of her attempting to sound more literary and mature, but it came off as disjointed and too strange to even describe. I couldn't wait for the book to be over, and now I'm not sure about the other book I own by her, I may have to get rid of it without reading it.
Chinese Cinderella by Adeline Yen Mah
Adeline Yen Mah's mother died giving birth to her. For that reason, she was often detested by her family for taking away their beloved matriarch. When Adeline's father remarried, the resentment grew as her stepmother had her own children (Adeline's half brother and half sister), who she came to adore, while Adeline and her siblings were relegated to a second-rate life. Adeline took the brunt of it, however, including being shipped off to several boarding schools and even being forgotten as invading armies close in. Adeline never let this get her down, however, and she tried to make the best of the situation and rise above her challenges. My students have read this book in the past, as it is an option for the 7th grade English curriculum. It is a young adult book, but it didn't feel like that. The content and writing was beautiful and made it feel far more mature. I also wanted to reach through the pages so many times and give Adeline a hug, as no one deserves to be treated the way she was. If the concept interests you, but you don't want to read a young adult book, she did write another memoir titled
Fallen Leaves that goes past where
Chinese Cinderella ends.
There There by Tommy Orange
Once again, I wrote a blog post about this book, so I'm not going to write a whole lot about it. This book focuses on twelve different Native Americans all living in or around the Oakland region or with ties to that region as they prepare for an upcoming powwow. Each person has different reasons for going to the powwow, and their stories are often interconnected in ways they might not realize at first. The first few times I came across this book on Amazon, it didn't appeal to me at all, but I figured I would give it a shot, as it was an interesting concept. I wanted to like the book more than I did. It's not that it was horrible, I just felt that it ended very abruptly. From what I can gather, it's Tommy Orange's first novel, so I'm hoping that his writing will improve and that he'll continue to write about this subject area. It's definitely a book worth reading, and I'll be keeping an eye out for future books by the author. If you would like to read my blog post about this book, please click
here.
The Dead Zone by Stephen King
This is another book I spent forever looking for at the used bookstore only to be disappointed, although not nearly as badly as
The Princess Diarist. Part of the problems was the fact that the synopsis I read that first got me interested in it was slightly different than what the book was really about. The book follows John leading up to and following a terrible car accident that left him in a coma for nearly five years. When he wakes up, he discovers when he touches a person, he knows intimate details about their past, present and future. Eventually, he comes in contact with an up and coming politician, and when he shakes his hand, he sees that this man will become President of the United States and start World War III. This leads John on a soul searching mission as he tries to figure out what to do. The original synopsis I read made the book sound like it was mostly about John trying to prevent World War II, but that wasn't the case. In fact, that is only the third act of the book, which was disappointing to me. Once I stepped back, however, and came to accept that this book wasn't all about what I thought it would about, I could admit it was a fairly good book, although I was still disappointed. The book was an easy read, which was nice, and I managed to finish it over the busy Thanksgiving weekend without too much effort.
Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly
This was a book my mom read for book club before I joined, and she spoke very highly of it. It didn't really appeal to me too much, but the prequel,
The Lost Roses, did. My mom was about to get rid of the book, so I grabbed it and decided to give it a try. I'm so glad I did! I wrote an extremely long blog post about this book, so I'm going to try to keep this short. It focuses on three women during and after World War II. Caroline is a New York philanthropist, Kasia works for the Polish resistance, and Herta is a Nazi doctor at a woman's work camp. All three have separate stories that slowly begin to come together. This book stood out to me for a few reasons. First, it talked about the aftermath of the Holocaust, which very few novels discuss in detail. Additionally, I went to Auschwitz with a Holocaust survivor who had been a victim of Dr. Mengele, so I had a personal connection to the book. In fact, I felt such a personal connection with this book that I'm thinking of changing the topic of a paper I'm writing for grad school next semester to include Ravensbruck camp, where this book takes place. You can find the blog post I wrote
here, which goes into great detail of the history of this book as well.
This Is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper
Someone from book club recommended this book to my mom, telling her it was hilarious. I thought it sounded fun as well, so I decided to check it out. While the beginning of the book is hilarious, it definitely tapered off as the book continued, only to try and pick up a little bit at the end. The book focuses on the Foxman family, who all come together for their father's funeral. Their father's dying wish was that they all sit seven days of Shiva together. This family is extremely dysfunctional, but in an oddly humorous way. Had Jonathan Tropper kept the humor he had in the beginning of the book consistent through the rest of the book, I think I would have enjoyed it much more. There was definitely some moments in the middle, but not as much as the beginning. This book has been made into a movie as well, although I haven't seen it. The movie looks hilarious though, and I'll be sure to let you know once I watch it.
The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin
I wrote an entire blog post about this book, so I'm not going to spend a lot of time on it. My mom read this for book club, and I thought it sounded weird and morbid, not the type of book I wanted to read at all. Once I started reading it, however, I immediately fell in love. I thought the topic was approached in a fascinating and tactful way, and the characters were wonderful and colorful. The premise is fairly simple: four siblings go to a fortune teller and find out the exact day they're each going to die. The book then follows each of their lives as they deal with the fact that they know when they're going to die. It's a fascinating concept and has the reader questioning his or her mortality. Read my separate blog post to find out more about this book, along with some book club questions that I came up with as I read the book. You can find my blog post
here.
The Taming of the Queen by Philippa Gregory
Let me start out by saying that I meant to write a blog post about this book but didn't get around to it, so this write up is going to be a tad bit longer. Like most of Philippa Gregory's books, this book focuses on Tudor England; this time, Henry VIII's last wife, Katherine Parr. Personally, I think Katherine Parr is completely underrated and lived a fascinating life. Henry was her third husband, and she was his sixth wife. A staunch Protestant, Katherine wrote her own religious texts and pursued sometimes extreme reforms. This almost got her arrested. Thankfully, she found out ahead of time and plead her case in front of her husband, who spared her life. Katherine also worked hard to bring together Henry's three children from three separate wives, thereby creating a family. While Henry was away in France fighting with Spain against the French, Katherine served as Regent, ruling in her own right, a title only given to one of his other wives: Katherine of Aragon. I hoped this book would talk about Katherine's life after Henry, as when she married him, she was secretly seeing Thomas Seymour, brother of Henry's third wife, Jane Seymour. When Henry showed interest, however, Thomas backed off. After Henry's death, Katherine and Thomas married, and she took in Elizabeth (later Elizabeth I). Elizabeth was eventually sent away, however, due to rumored inappropriate interactions with Thomas. Unfortunately, while Katherine survived her marriage to Henry, she died a few years later in childbirth, and Thomas was eventually beheaded by his brother, who was Lord Protector over King Edward VI. One thing I really liked about this book was the difficulty Katherine had in finding her place at court and as Henry's wife. She often had to reconcile herself with the legacy of the previous five wives and the fact that the gifts her husband gave her belonged to his other wives. At one point, she could even smell the perfume of Katherine Howard, her predecessor, on the furs given to her. Overall, I enjoyed this book. It wasn't one of my favorite Philippa Gregory books, but it was still enjoyable.
The Secret History by Stephanie Thornton
This was my first Stephanie Thornton book, but I doubt it'll be my last. This one focuses on Empress Theodora, who I believe is one of the most underrated women in history. Coming from humble origins, she worked as an actress and later a prostitute from the tender age of about eleven (which I struggled with immensely since that close to the age of my students). She spent some time in Africa before returning to Constantinople and becoming acquainted with Justinian, whose uncle was the Emperor. Eventually, they married, and Justinian became Emperor, thereby making Theodora Empress. I thought this was a fascinating story, and it left me wanting to know so much more about Theodora. She's a strong woman with a survivor's spirit. People often forget about her and the fact that she helped run an empire as an equal with her husband. I definitely want to check out more of Stephanie Thornton's book as well. When I do, I'll be sure to let you guys know.
The Woman in the White Kimono by Ana Johns
This was another book club book, but I was excited to read it because I thought the concept sounded fascinating and different. Unfortunately, I wasn't a huge fan of the book and found it disappointing. I wrote an entire blog post about this book, including book club questions, so check that out for a more detailed write up. This book is a dual timeline book. The first story focuses on Naoko, a young Japanese woman who falls in love with an American soldier in the mid to late 1950s while America occupies Japan after World War II. Her family obviously does not approve and kicks her out of the house. This issue is compounded by the fact that Naoko is pregnant. The second timeline takes place today. Tori's father just died from cancer, and she has to deal with his passing while simultaneously trying to figure out the secrets from his pas that revolve around a mysterious letter returned to him from Japan. I thought this story dragged the first half and then rushed through everything the second half. Furthermore, I found Tori's story lacking and not interesting at all. This book had so much potential, but I just couldn't get into it. You can read by entire blog post
here.
The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn
Once again, this was a book my mom read for book club long before I joined, and she couldn't stop talking about it. At this point, I'd definitely started getting more and more into suspense books, and this one is a quintessential example of a suspense book. Anna is severely agoraphobic and often spends her time watching her neighbors. New neighbors move in across the street, and she becomes fascinated with their seemingly perfect family while she tries to reconcile with her own husband and daughter (she's separated from her husband). One day, Anna sees a terrible crime being committed in the house across the street, but no one believes her. The family insists everything is fine and can even prove it. Anna knows she's not going crazy, but she's not entirely sure what's going on. This book kept me guessing right up until the very end. The day I finished it, I had papers to grade. My mom told me, "Don't grade papers, finish the book instead." Not one to disobey my mom (okay, not in this instance at least), I finished the book instead. Reading the book involved me storming into whatever room my mom happened to be in at that moment and spewing as many curse words as I could at the top of my lungs several times, much to my mother's amusement. There were so many twists and turns. Usually with books like this, I have some sort of theory as to who did it and why, but not with this book. I honestly had no idea until the very end, and I definitely did
not see the ending coming. It's an amazing book, and I can't recommend it enough!
Little Faith by Nickolas Butler
This book focuses on Lyle and Peg Hovde, along with their daughter, Shiloh, and their grandson, Isaac. Shiloh has always walked to the beat of her own drum and struggled to figure out who she is as a person. Upon returning to live with her parents for a little while, she gets involved in a new church, even becoming romantically involved with the pastor. Unfortunately, this church has some fairly extreme views, which can prove to be fairly dangerous. This causes Lyle and Peg to worry, especially when it comes to their beloved grandson. I wanted this book to be a lot better than it actually was. While some parts were great, there wasn't as much focus on the religious upheaval as I expected. Also, there were times when Nickolas Butler spent ages going into immense details about things that were complete irrelevant to the plot while then glossing over parts that were actually important to the plot; it seemed quite strange and didn't make sense at all.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
This was a book I kept seeing on Amazon and Goodreads, and I thought it sounded alright, but it didn't really appeal to me. After seeing it over and over again, however, I finally decided to check it out. Let me just say, it's one of the best books I've read this year! I couldn't get enough of it. The book focuses on Monique, an up and coming journalist who is given the chance of a lifetime: to interview the elusive Hollywood starlet, Evelyn Hugo. Evelyn began her career in the 1950s and quickly shot to stardom. Along the way, she made several controversial decisions, including getting married a total of seven times (as the title implies). As Monique interviews Evelyn, she discovers the two of them are connected in a way she never imagined. What I loved so much about this book was the fact that I felt that it pulled back the curtain on Hollywood and exposed a side of Hollywood the reader has probably never seen before. Decisions that are seen as rash and impulsive actually had an ulterior motive that furthered Evelyn's career, which made me think about decisions celebrities make today and how they might not be as impulsive as they appear. I wrote an entire blog post about this book, including book club questions, even though I didn't read this for a book club. You can find that blog post
here.
Animal Farm by George Orwell
I'm going to be honest here, by the time I finished
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, I read 34 books in 2019, and I wanted to get to 35, because it seemed like a much better number. Of course, I finished Evelyn Hugo on December 30th, so I knew I had to pick something short, so I went with
Animal Farm, which is one of my favorite books, and I hadn't read it in quite a few years, so it seemed like the perfect fit. For those of you unfamiliar with the book, it focuses on a farm in England where the animals rise up and kick the humans off the farm in an attempt to create a utopian society run entirely by animals and focused on equality. Orwell wrote this book as a parody of sorts of the fall of the Romanovs and the rise of communism in the Soviet Union. Every single character in the book represents a person or group of people from history, which shows the amount of detail Orwell put into the book. At first, the book seems fairly straightforward, but it's one of those books that every time you read it, you notice another small detail you previously didn't notice. Even though it's part of the middle school curriculum, it has a lot to unpack.
So, that's it, those are all the books I've read this year. Before I go, I do want to list my favorite and least favorite books I've read this year. Please note, they're not listed in any particular order.
My Top 5 Books of 2019:
- Where the Crawdads Sing
- The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
- The Immortalists
- The Woman in the Window
- Before We Were Yours
My Flop 5 Books of 2019:
- The Princess Diarist
- Ten Thousand Lovers
- All the Light We Cannot See
- Go Set a Watchman
- Everything I Never Told You
I know this blog post was long, even for me. I appreciate you hanging in there until the very end. Tune in next year to see my write up on all my 2020 books.
