Book Review Starting From God Only Knows How Long Ago

I just haven’t been reading much. 

I fall asleep after about 20 words!  And now that I’ve discovered Downton Abbey, well, I probably won’t read another word until I’m caught up on that.

I had to look back at my last book review, which was in August, just so I’d know where to start.  And it was so darn long ago, my reviews are going to be full of holes and brief.  Keep your expectations low, people, and you won’t be disappointed, that’s what I always say.

  Shine Shine Shine by Lydia Netzer-  I TOTES HATED THIS.  I only kept reading it because the premise was so good that I thought it had to get better.  It never did.  Basically, the husband is sent on a space mission to see if the moon could be colonized by robots (I think) and the spacecraft ends up having a huge terrible technical issue, and the wife is left behind on earth with her autistic son, and the book kind of flips back and forth between the two.  Now that I’m hearing my description, I don’t think it sounds like a good premise at all and I can’t believe I wasted precious reading time on it.  I hope you don’t either.

 

The Uninvited Guests by Sadie Jones-  Holy cow, two books in a row that I hated with all my heart but kept reading because of the premise.  This book, in the same manner as Shine Shine Shine, never got better.  It’s set in the late 1800’s.  There’s a train wreck.  The survivors of the wreck are sent to the nearby house (which is inhabited by well-to-do people).  [Spoiler Alert to follow]You realize eventually that these people are all ghosts, not survivors.  Doesn’t that sound good?  It isn’t.  Don’t read the bugger.

 

 

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern-Finally!  I loved this!  And maybe that’s what made the difference, because, unlike my first two books up there that took me a month and a half to get through, I read this one in about a week.  Maybe my book choices lately just stink. Anywho, it’s hard to explain this one, but I’ll try.  The two main characters are raised from a young age to compete in a magic competition against each other.  The Night Circus has been created just so they’d have a venue.  Neither of them is really ever told what the competition is or how they’d be competing or who their opponent is. And then of course they fall in love.  So, now, reading over my description, I can see that I didn’t do the novel justice and if I were you I would totally NOT read this book based on that description.  So don’t listen to those words, listen to these:  GO READ THAT BOOK. 

 

The Center of Everything by Laura Moriarty-this might be one of my favorite books of the year.  The story begins when Evelyn is about 11 years old and is told by her, in an absolutely wonderful, spot-on eleven year old’s voice.  She understands things and talks just like an eleven year old, and we understand everything through her eyes (and as adults, we figure things out that her 11 year old brain hasn’t).  Evelyn ages as the novel moves forward, and it all ends when she is eighteen year old.  Her voice and thoughts age perfectly with her.  Moriarty truly did a beautiful job writing this heartbreaking yet compelling story.  I won’t get into the plot too much, though it basically is a coming-of-age novel.  Please read it.  I’m begging you to read it.  Seriously.  I’m currently on my knees wringing my hands in your general direction.

 

 

Tell the Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifka Brunt-here’s another coming-of-age novel that I didn’t hate but still had a hard time reading.  Eh.  It was good.  It wasn’t great.  Read it if you want.  I really don’t care.

 

 

 

 

The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling-  That’s right, the Queen of Harry Potter wrote a novel for adults!  I was so excited to read this!  But I hated it with a capital H.  The writing is good.  Rowling really is a good author with a way with words, and a superb ability to weave many different subplots together.  However, there was not a single likeable character in this novel.  Not one.  Everyone is a bigot.  Everyone has secrets.  Everyone is mean.  There are accidental deaths, and snickering behind backs, and child abuse, and rape, and lies, and plotting, and just general hatred spewing from every single stinking page.  Amazingly, when I read over the reviews on Goodreads,most people gave it 5 stars (though remember, I did say it was good writing), however, I can’t say I either liked or enjoyed this book.  Read at your own risk.

 

Happy Reading!