Remember how last year I set a goal to read 50 books, and just barely squeaked by? I think I finished the 50th book just a few hours before the clock struck midnight. Yes, that’s me, getting down with words on New Year’s Eve. That’s how I party.
Point being, I could barely finish 50. This year I decided that 60 would be a perfectly reasonable number. Based on what, I do not know. It’s not as though a huge chunk of time has suddenly opened up, freeing me to read at my leisure. You can never say I don’t like to challenge myself.
But I will succeed! Because failing online is worse than failing quietly, a pity party of one with my sad glass of wine as we count down 10-9-8-7…
This is my first reading report of the year! Book reviews 2014: take one. Let’s see how it went, shall we?
(The links lead to the full reviews I wrote on Goodreads. Do you follow me there? You should!)
P.S. My favorite books from the 2013 challenge.
The Rehearsal / Eleanor Catton
File under: Literature, smarty-pants, too cool for school
One-sentence plot: News of a teacher-student scandal affects the lives of several saxophone-playing teens.
One-sentence review: Just as I would begin to make some sense out of this non-linear book, it would go wandering off again into vagueness, completely self-satisfied and abstruse.
Night Film / Marisha Pessl
File under: Literature, cinephilia, suspense
One-sentence plot: A journalist becomes obsessed with the death of a prominent filmmaker’s daughter and seeks to uncover the mysterious circumstances surrounding her death.
One-sentence review: You think you’re reading a ridiculously long but insanely inciting, well-written and juicy murder-mystery, but are you really?
Allegiant / Veronica Roth
File under: Y.A., dystopian, trilogy fail
One-sentence plot: Our heroine Tris goes beyond the border, where maybe possibly doubtfully she can forge a new life.
One-sentence reaction: Half-baked with a puh-lease ending.
Ender’s Game / Orson Scott Card
File under: Y.A., dystopian, sci-fi
One-sentence plot: A child is manipulated and tested at a school, the ultimate goal to ready him for battle with an alien threat.
One-sentence reaction: It’s like “Lord of the Flies,” but in space.
The Goldfinch / Donna Tartt
File under: Literature, artsy-fartsy, suspense
One-sentence plot: Theo survives a bombing at an art gallery as a child, pocketing a tiny painting in his exit, and we watch as he tries to rebuild his life and hide his secret treasure.
One-sentence reaction: This 800-page book is a goldmine of sharp writing and characters I felt that I actually “knew.”
Me Before You / Jojo Meyes
File under: Love story, chick lit, a good cry
One-sentence plot: It takes working for a quadriplegic who wants to kill himself for Lou to re-evaluate her life and yearn for something more.
One-sentence reaction: More than being a love story, it’s a story that will make you ask yourself what it means to truly live.
Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore / Robin Sloan
File under: Literature, high-tech, bookworms, mystery
One-sentence plot: Unemployed web designer takes a job at a bookstore that rarely seems to sell any books, but has a mysterious clientele nonetheless.
One-sentence reaction: I got swept away with theories about the secret society, and what might possibly be revealed at the end.
To Rise Again at a Decent Hour / Joshua Ferris
File under: Literature, smarty-pants, humor, philosophy
One-sentence plot: An atheist dentist struggles to reclaim his identity when someone uses his name to spread religious messages online.
One-sentence reaction: Wit and beautiful prose aside (Joshua Ferris can write a sentence. In fact, he can write paragraphs upon paragraphs about the act of putting on lotion, and he makes it interesting), there is a lot to chew on here.
A Homemade Life / Molly Wizenberg
File under: Memoir, cookbook, bloggers
One-sentence plot: Food blogger strolls down memory lane, sharing her life stories and recipes related to these stories.
One-sentence reaction: While most of the book is a pleasure to read, I found myself skimming over some chapters that felt like fillers.
The Unchangeable Spots of Leopards / Kristopher Jansma
File under: Literature, smarty-pants, writing, fantasy vs. reality
One-sentence plot: Narrator quests to become a novelist but all of his writing is decidedly non-fiction … or is it?
One-sentence reaction: You get the impression that someone is literally editing the book as you’re reading along — changing details and names and circumstances — and woah is it a mind trip.
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So there you have it. Ten down, 50 to go. Wish me luck! What have you been reading lately? I’m always on the lookout for a good book …
