This is an occasional series that chronicles my quest to read 60 books this year. Book reviews 2014: take two. Let’s see how it went, shall we?
I’m going to come right out and say it: This was mostly a dud round. I picked far too many “eh” books. I abandoned one book, which is something I rarely do. Usually I stick it out till the end, some odd literary guilt creeping in and keeping me in a word prison. These few books slowed me down, and I’m now seven books behind pace to finish my challenge this year. I need a pep talk to speed-read. Or a vacation. Or a ton of audiobooks. Or all of the above.
One thing is for sure: I need to stop cramming an entire book into a Sunday afternoon. For one thing, family time suffers, and H and Alexa are left to knock on my preoccupied skull, hollering, “Hello!? Is there anybody in there?!” For another thing, that huge chunk of reading pretty much knocks me out of commission until the next weekend. It’s a vicious reading cycle.
(The links lead to the full reviews I wrote on Goodreads. Do you follow me there? You should!)
P.S. Read my first 10 book reviews 2014 post here.
Book Reviews 2014: 20/60
Anomaly / Krista McGee
File under: Dystopian, Christian, gee-whiz
Plot: Thalli feels all the emotions she shouldn’t in The State, a society created by scientists after a nuclear war.
Review: Just as I would think this book was getting clever, it beat me over the head with religious propaganda.
A Life in Men / Gina Frangello
File under: Literature, travel, coming of age, kill me now
Plot: Woman with cystic fibrosis outlives her life expectancy, but it’s not for lack of trying.
Review: It’s hard to care about such an unsympathetic character, who pretty much destroys everything she touches and openly welcomes death.
The Wonder Bread Summer / Jessica Anya Blau
File under: Literature, summer read, travel, adventure
Plot: Highly improbable things happen when a college student steals a Wonder Bread bag full of cocaine in 1983.
Review: It’s a wild, hilarious ride, with a few life lessons along the way.
Turn Around Bright Eyes / Rob Sheffield
File under: Music, memoir, god-awful, didn’t finish
Plot: Man is “saved” by karaoke.
Review: Too bad this was a memoir instead of a novel because author doesn’t seem to realize how uninteresting he really is.
Panic / Lauren Oliver
File under: Y.A., coming of age, suspense
Plot: Small-town high school graduates join an underground game of daredevil challenges, and a huge sum of cash awaits for the winner.
Review: Author redeems herself (after the ho-hum “Delirium” series) with a smart and touching tale of trying to figure out who you are and what you want to do with your life.
Call Me Zelda / Erika Robuck
File under: Fan fiction, literature, historical, love story
Plot: Psychiatric nurse gets tangled up in helping Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald.
Review: Surprisingly more than meets the eye, this novel really comes around full circle with a satisfying plot for the protagonist herself.
The Caliph’s House: A Year in Casablanca / Tahir Shah
File under: Travel, memoir, Morocco
Plot: Writer decides to take his family out of the London rat race by moving to a slower-paced life in Morocco.
Review: This is an endearingly naive and extraordinarily well-written memoir that reads like a novel and introduces you to the mystique and idiosyncrasies of a different culture.
Luminary / Krista McGee
File under: Dystopian, Christian, OMG why am I still reading this series?
Plot: Thalli looks for nuclear-fallout survivors outside The State.
Review: I know this series is bad for me, but much like Thalli, I just can’t stop myself from doing stupid things.
Black Moon / Kenneth Calhoun
File under: Dystopian, literature, horror
Plot: Insomnia becomes an epidemic, and the afflicted grow violent toward those who can still sleep, targeting and killing them as they doze.
Review: If you’re looking for a riveting, beautifully written book that will make you question what it means to be human and exactly how fragile our humanity is … look no further.
Dear Killer / Katherine Ewell
File under: Teen, crime, psychological thriller
Plot: Teen girl is actually London’s most notorious serial killer, and then she starts making mistakes.
Review: Author fails to deliver on what could’ve been a really good premise by not patching holes in logic and essentially murdering the ending.
In a Nutshell
Three to read: The Wonder Bread Summer, The Caliph’s House, Black Moon
Three to avoid: Turn Around Bright Eyes, Luminary, Dear Killer
So there you have it. Twenty down, 40 to go. Wish me luck! What have you been reading lately? I’m always on the lookout for a good book …
⇒ Linking up this post with Modern Mrs. Darcy, where there are a ton more reading recommendations.
