2014 Challenge

A new year, a new reading challenge to help me tackle the growing list of To Read! Mostly my goal is simply to read as many books as I can, since in the past few years my numbers have been dwindling, leaving me with a huge pile of books in my possession that I have yet to even open! Suddenly I find myself with a lot more free time and I have decided to tackle all of those books on my book shelf, Nook, and Goodreads ToRead list!

Helping me on this project is the calender I got for Christmas from Half Price Books. This year they have a new list on each month with the first ten books from a select list. January is books you simply can't put down, February is classic love stories, and so on and so forth. I went through and highlighted books on each list that I had already read in the past, and found a lot of titles NOT highlighted! So I have decided to read at least two new books on each list during that selected month.

Then of course I have my Book Club that is always throwing new and interesting books my way that I may never have picked up on my own!

With these two main sources, plus my own supply, I have decided to really try and over take my Goodreads.com challenge number! I am going for just 64 to begin with, but maybe if I see myself overtaking that number I can raise it higher, something I have not been able to do in past years.

Join me in the challenge! And let me know how many books you have committed to reading this year, as well as any select theme!

The Book Thief

The Book Thief is a tale of WWII, but from the point of view of a little German girl. Plenty of stories have been told by Jews that saw plenty of horrors, and I am not knocking those, but people seem to forget that there were plenty of Germans caught among the events as well. And this is a wonderful story capturing the confusion, fear, and hope of one little girl.

This book had been recommended to me from many sources and always I thought it was just another war story that would make me weep and so I therefore did not want to pick it up. But when a friend sent it to me and I was forced to see it on my shelf every day and hear her ask "So have you read it yet?" I had to confront it. And then I wondered why it had taken me so darn long to pick this book up!

Everything about this book is simply magnificent. Firstly, it is all told from the point of view of Death, a character everyone seems to forget, but Zusak embraces him and allows him to tell the events as he saw them. Then the main character is a little girl who confronts the most profound moments in her little life by stealing! The other characters that surround her are just as flawed, making them each more lovable in their own rights. The imagery is amazing, the voice is beautiful, and the story is poignant.

Am I praising it too much? No, I really don't think enough praise has been given to this book. But maybe something will come from it being made into a movie. I don't know. I believe that this should be on everyone's list of books to read, and most likely reread. I am very happy that I now have a copy on my shelf to turn back to from time to time and encourage others to pick up. It is truly amazing.

False Hope

False Hope is the story of a man named Paul Jakarta and his mission to hunt down and destroy evil. This search takes him to H. W. Mudget High School where a demon has taken over the body of the principal there, making him do evil. It is the first book in a coming series that will follow Jakarta's movements across the country trying to do God's will in taking down the Devil to save mankind.

This book is not my usual order, as I sometimes have trouble with religious novels, but seeing as how my mother wrote it, I felt, of course, the need to see how she has done in writing. And while the result is typical of a first time writer, with room to improve, I have to say that I was not disappointed in the telling of the story.

Let me briefly point out some of my problems, for the benefit of other readers. The book does heavily lean on the use of religion, it is after all a tale of a man sent by God to cleanse the Devil out of America. So you must know that going in or be prepared to have God thrown in your face. Readers who are not of the Christian faith may find it a little difficult to believe parts of this book, but if one has faith, it all seems plausible enough. The only other problem I had with this was the first chapter. Upon first reading it the chapter seems to stand out, a random bit of back story that I didn't immediately associate with the rest of the tale. But the ability to simply ask the author, made life easier. She was able to point out that the child in the first chapter was in fact young Paul, it was a flashback to his past to show the faith he has always had.

Now, let me say that this is a unique tale. Yes demons have been done before, but I do not think that this type of novel has been explored enough, that is one in which faith is so predominate to the story line. After all Paul is fighting in a battle against evil and he has God on his side. I enjoyed reading about someone so focused on his life's work, so sure of what he was doing, with no wavering of his faith.
I also enjoyed the writing, especially the imagery. The author saw the scenes in her mind and made sure that the reader was able to join in on the viewing, giving plenty of detail to make each image real.

I look forward to watching her abilities develop and grow as she continues to tell the story of Paul Jakarta. I already have the next book on my shelf and ready to be read! I encourage everyone to give this author a shot. It is always incredible to find new talent as they strive to tell stories no one else has heard! And look out for her next book Things of the Flesh coming soon!

Seeds: One Man's Serendipitous Journey To Find The Trees That Inspired Famous American Writers. . .

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Seeds: One Man's Serendipitous Journey To Find The Trees That Inspired Famous American Writers From Faulkner to Kerouac, Welty to Wharton by Richard Horan made its way into my sights thanks to Barnes and Noble placing many of their books on sale. This was one and the title caught my eye. As a lover of nature and literature alike, I was of course curious to find out what this man's ideas were, and for less than $2.99 I was willing to find out.

Horan got the crazy notion to travel around the US and collect seeds from trees that may have inspired great minds. Going to the homes of authors he found trees that had been there long enough to witness these materminds at work. So he gathered seeds about these trees and took them home to germinate them in the hopes of giving them as gifts. I have to admit, I would love to have a tree in my front yard that was the progeny of one of the trees lining the path in the woods that was less traveled (Frost). It would be a great source of inspiration when writing my own works, I believe. So  I found this tale a unique one.

This was also the first book I began reading on my vacation to California, one that was not on any reading list I had planned at the beginning of the year, and was therefore a nice break from what I was already working on. It did a great job of taking me away from the monotony of series books and classics, as well as being an interesting non-fiction. I think it was perfect for the drive nearly across country and I am so glad that I took the time tor ead it.

All that being said let me point out one thing I should mention. While the book has a very obvious story to tell, I did find it a little directionless. Yes the author had no set order or pattern by which to collect the seeds, that is not the point. It was that there was no real resolution. In the end he was finally able to find a little help with his project but even that made no real ending to this journey of seeds. So if you are one who has to have a set ending or finale to a tle, then perhaps you shouldn't read this one. But if you can overlook that one liitle thing, I think anyone can enjoy this unique tale of writing and nature.

If you were to take a trip to gather seeds from trees that have witnessed greatness, who would be on your list? Terry Brooks, Abraham Lincoln, Maggie Smith, and Alan Alda would probably be at the top of my list. Let me know who would be on yours, and if you have read the book tell me what you thought of it!

Blood Roses

 

I always find myself turning to Francesca Lia Block when I need something short, sweet, dark, captivating, untold, to distract me from my usual reading list. I discovered her work while I was still in middle school and never has she failed to deliver any of these traits in her books. She is a very unique voice that reaches out tot he sadder side of women and lets them know it is alright to feel this way, and there is still hope for love out there.

Blood Roses is a collection of 9 short stories (which Block does best) about women that resemble more of a leaf in a windstorm than one of Jane Austen's heroines. Another unique aspect of the tales, they are all interconnected so that with each story you still get something of previous characters you may have felt drawn to, while still discovering someone new to like. Block is gifted at this lacing together of stories and characters, the world is a small place after all.

 

Roses and Bones is another collection of tales by Block, this one proclaiming to be myths, tales, and secrets. Another example of the kind of work Block is known for: retellings of stories that we are used to, only she has a habit of looking to the darker elements and drawing them out for everyone else to see. I was once more drawn to the work in search of those darker elements and was not dissappointed by the beautiful stories.

I encourage anyone looking for a little more from their reading to take a look at Block. Within her work you will find characters people generally veer away from with ending that may be a bit less than happy and bright. But they are wonderful stories nonetheless. Have you read Block before? What did you think?

The Last Dickens

 

The Last Dickens by Matthew Pearl is the story of Dickens' last novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, and the events that enfolded when it was discovered that Dickens had died before completing the novel. Publisher James Osgood sails to London to discover if there had been anything to hint at how Dickens had intended to end the story in an effort to save his publishing company at a time when there was no copyright law in America. What James, and his assistant Rebecca, find is far from what he expected as he is pulled into a tangled web of secrets and opium through which Dickens himself had traveled in an effort to get a great story.

This was my pick for the book club as I had read another of Pearl's books, The Dante Club, before and had loved it! When I got my hands on this one I knew I had to read it and the book club was a great way to get others to notice the works of Pearl as well. I was not disappointed! This wonderful tale, written in much the same style as The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown, is full of confusing characters, plot twists, intrigue, drugs, backstabbing, and enough historical facts to make you want to learn more about Dickens himself!

After this I look forward to not only picking up Pearl's other novel, The Poe Shadow, but also finally managing to read Dickens' work The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Have you read any of the novels mentioned? What did you think of them? Let me know and hopefully I will revisit one of these two authors again soon.

Mockingjay

The final book in the Hunger Games series, Mockingjay is an incredible read by an incredible author! Let the time it took me to rate each novel not testify to how long it took me to read each book. I read each within a 24 hour period, it simply took me longer to get my hands on each one as someone new had borrowed my copy each time I thought I would get to read it. Ladies and gents, if you are really into a series and have all the books, let your spouse know so they don't loan them out!

Ok, Mockingjay picks up where Catching Fire left off with Katniss and crew. I dont want to spoil anything for anyone so I will try to keep this review as vague as possible. Of course we know the point of the series was the upheavel of a sociatal system that was just not ok. The Hunger Games are a concept thought up by the ruling class to keep everyone else in line, and well, those people are tired of being kept in line. In walks Katniss Everdean who happens to be just the right amount of defiant at just the right time of unrest. Bam, you have the making of a civil war. Mockingjay is the war part of it all. The dirsticts are fighting for their freedom, using Katniss as the front-woman, against the Capitol. And the things that take place in that war are astonishing!

I am truely amazed at Suzanne Collin's writing, always have been to be honost, but now that I am an adult reading one of her series I am astonished to find myself still enthralled with her work! This series has captured so many in all age groups (my 6 yr old son has seen the first movie and was impressed) and there is no real surprise in it. The book is well written, everything happening perfectly as it should really (sorry to those who may have been upset with the ending), the characters are believeable and loveable (or hateable), the plot is griping. Everything about these books is just perfect! It's becoming increasingly more rare that a book get this kind of praise, not only from me but other critics, but this one earned the praise!

If you still have not read the books (where have you been?! Under a rock?!) pick them up now, you will not be disappointed. If you have read them, what did you think? Let me know, I love finding another person to talk to about this incrediblle series!