A Feast for Crows

 

Genre: Fantasy                    Pages:  684 (although it felt longer...)

Overall, this book has probably been one of my least favorite in the series, although at times I did really like it.  The problem was he took all the characters you really grow attached to and kept them out of this book, and put them all in "A Dance with Dragons".  Which would be fine, I suppose... But there were some characters and chapters that I really wanted to just pass over.  I was curious what was happening on the wall with Jon Snow, what Dany was doing with her dragons, if Tyrion was still alive, and just what was going on with the characters I have grown to care for in the thousands of pages I have read thus far.

I enjoyed reading the Arya chapters, although I will be glad when she is back where she belongs.  I also found Jamie's chapters interesting, some of the time.  I definitely don't hate him as much as I did at the beginning of the series.

This book just ends.  There isn't really a conclusion.  Martin tells you that though.  He wrote a letter to the readers telling you he put the characters you care about in the other book, and the book isn't split in half, he just split the characters.  He hoped to have the fifth book out within a year.  He wrote the letter either in 2005... So it took a bit longer than that.  I am hoping he doesn't take another 6 years to publish the next book!  :)

So, overall... A decent book, just not my favorite in the series. 

In Between Books to what I'm reading currently.

After I finished the Sookie Stackhouse Series I read some old books while trying to decide what I should embark upon next...  I bought and read "The Sound of Music" the autobiography of the real Maria Von Trapp.  As a music teacher I really enjoyed it.  There are some interesting historical points in the books I wasn't aware of.  There were some great quotes I'll pull out sometime.  I also bought the autobiography written by the eldest daughter Augusta Von Trapp, but I haven't read it yet. 

I kind of went on a binge of reading books I already had.  When Borders was going out of business Paul and I went kind of book crazy... We purchased several books.  During the sale I decided I would buy him the Game of Thrones series that he was talking about.  As I didn't have anything to read at the time I picked up the first book instead...

I really liked it!  I like his writing style.  It is similar to Tolkein, only not QUITE as descriptive, which I prefer.  I read the first and second and I am currently reading the third book.  I am definitely liking this series.

I took a break in the middle of the second book because I accidently looked up something I didn't want to know (main characters dying), and read The Hunger Games Trilogy in a few days.  I'll let you know about the third book once it's done!

The Sookie Stackhouse Series

Hubby and I got into True Blood at the beginning of the second season of the show, it is now in it's fourth season.  He decided since I like to read, and the show is based off a book series he would buy me the first book to see if I would enjoy it. 

Turns out I did... and I got hooked.  In the last two weeks I have read approximately 3500 pages of Sookie Stackhouse.  There is an 11th book out, but it is in hardback, and is $20 more than the paperback version, I can wait.  So here is what I can say about the book series:

There are some MAJOR differences between the book series and tv series.  I like it because even though the overarching plot of the book tends to make one series, they don't always go about it the same way.  It's kind of like those old books when you could choose the ending and how to get there, so I like how it is different, so I don't really know how the book will end.  PLUS, the picked the actors VERY good (at least for Alcide and Eric-- Yummy and Yummier!)

If you are okay with the shows and books being different and you like the show series I would definitely recommend reading it.  I am currently about half way through Angela's Ashes. 

Sarah's Key

Pages: 293          Genre:  Fiction based off the Vel' d'Hiv
The story is told for most of the book between two characters: The Girl and Julia.  It goes back and forth between the summer of 1942 and present day.  I really liked this book.  It was beautifully written and was very touching.  It talks about the Vel 'd'Hiv in Paris.  I had never heard of the Vel d'Hiv but it is incredibly sad.  The French police rounded up as many French Jews as they could find, put them into a stadium with hardly and food or water, then shipped them to concentration camps located outside of Paris before being shipped off to Auschwitz.  They arrested 13,152 victims and according to the book (now this part I don't know if it is fact or fiction) killed all the children that didn't manage to escape (very few did).  It is an incredibly heart wrenching story.  The book is told from The Girl's point of view in 1942, she locked her brother in a cupboard so he doesn't get taken by the police and spends her half of the story trying to get back to him.  Julia's story is set present day as she is getting ready to move into the apartment (which has been in her husband's family for years).  Julia is an American journalist who is living in Paris (for more than half her life) and she is researching the Vel d'Hiv for an article where she discovers The Girl's story, and how she can set about finding more information about it.

This really is a wonderful story and I would recommend it to anybody.  I am glad to have finally read a great book this summer.  It's the first good book I've read in awhile.  Enjoy!

Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Genre:  Non-Fiction      Pages: 342
I have long enjoyed books on climbing and mountaineering (when written well) for some time.  My favorite two are Into Thin Air and Touching the Void.  They are amazingly written and are just good books overall.  I have also read some not good ones (my least favorite being High Crimes).  I suppose this is strange, as I am not big into mountaineering (although my Dad and Brother both are), and I have only been climbing once before.  It was fun, and I have several friends who LOVE to climb, it is something I never got into when younger, and assumed it is now to late for me to start.

The book goes back and forth describing what was going on in the canyon while he was trapped and detailing some of the "amazing" things he had done in the past.  When I first told a friend I was going to read this book she told me her mom said he is incredibly self-centered.  He is definitely full of himself, it's true, and he likes to tell about all of the "wonderful and amazing things" he has done.  He has a degree in mechanical engineering and a minor in piano performance (which is crazy... since in order to get either degree you should live in one department or the other).  After working as an engineer for only 5 years he decided to quit his job and move to Aspen to "follow his bliss". 

I think, overall, I enjoyed this book.  Being from both Wyoming and Washington he talked about mountains in both places.  However, as I am not a climber there were times where he got technical that I didn't precisely follow what was going on in the book.  He made a stupid mistake in not telling anybody where he was going, and the book did get pretty graphic in how he had to cut his arm off, there are even some pictures.  I tried showing one of the pictures to my husband, or describing to him what was happening, but he wasn't interested (/he was disturbed).  I was morbidly curious.  At any rate,  I would probably give this book a rating of 3/5.  It was okay, I don't think I'll try and sell it to get it out of my house, but I'm not sure if I would re-read it again. 

Best Friends Forever- Jennifer Weiner

A friend of mine (J) and I were discussing books and authors we both enjoy.  I had told her I liked Ms. Weiner's Good in Bed (about a woman who breaks up with her boyfriend, sleeps with him once she realizes he did understand her better than she originally thought, and ends up pregnant with his, while he doesn't seem to care...  Good in Bed is reference to the title of the column he writes for a magazine).  I didn't particularly enjoy the sequal to the book Certain Girls because she killed off one of my favorite characters for almost no reason (in my mind).  So, onto Best Friends Forever.

I thought this book was alright.  It is the story of two women who were best friends growing up, but then drift apart their senior year due to one of them being popular and the other one can't keep up.  Sound familiar?  There are several stories about this, nothing new.  Everybody can even probably picture some friends of theirs like this when they are in high school.  At any rate, the girl who was more popular and basically dumped her best friend shows up on the night of their ten year high school reunion asking for help.  The author is trying to go for a mystery in this book, tellling the story from three different perspectives:  the dumped friend (who was fat in high school but isn't anymore*), the man who was run over by a car (from the beautiful best friend who is popular), and the detective trying to solve what happened based off the evidence at the scene of the crime. 

Again, the story is fine.  It definitely isn't my favorite of hers; I probably wouldn't re-read it.  At the same time, I am also not upset I read it (as I have been by several of the other books I've read this year).  All in all, I'd give this book an "eh" rating.  If you have nothing else to read, and you like Jennifer Weiner books, read it.  It isn't bad, just not my favorite. 

*Most of the heroines in Jennifer Weiner books tend to be girls who are either overweight, or used to be overweight. 

The reason

I decided I need to start tracking what books I read.  I have read about 30 books so far this year, and I know I couldn't name all of them off the top of my head.  Some have been good, some great, and some are just awful.  Here are some of the books I know I've read this year and a very brief review.  Most are just my opinion of why I liked it or didn't.  I'll divulge more when I'm reading a new book in a blog post.  Enjoy!

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series.  I really enjoyed this series, it was engaging, and I'll probably re-read it.
The Romantics.  They have turned this book into a movie starring Katie Holmes, Josh Duhamel (Fergie's Husband), and Anna Pacquin.  I haven't seen the movie, and based off how dull the book was, I'm not planning on it.
The Murderer's Daughters.  This book was okay.  The girls father kills their mother and tries to kill one of the sisters.  This is the story of what happens to the girls and how this travesty affects them throughout their lives.
The Harry Potter Series.  I love this series and I'm not ashamed to admit it.  I re-read it almost every year, and I am excited for the final movie to come out in July.
The Twilight Series.  I ran out of books to read so I am currently re-reading this series.
Water for Elephants.   I REALLY liked this book!  Again, I haven't seen the movie but I might after reading this book.  It was engaging and really interesting.  I would definitely recommend this book.
The Ape House.  This is written by the same lady who wrote Water for Elephants.  It wasn't as good of a book but it was still decent.  I like that the book didn't go completely where you think it's going to.  A lot of books are predictable.  Some parts were, but there was one twist that I didn't expect at the very end. 
Something Borrowed.  This is a re-read for me.  I bought the book when it first came out on paperback several years ago and enjoyed it.  I was curious about it again since they made it into a movie, too. 
Something Blue.  Another re-read.  I like Something Borrowed better because I like Rachel's character more.  This book is from Darcy's perspective and the first one is from Rachel's perspective.
High Crimes.  This book just made me angry.  I felt the author just wrote it because he wanted to make money off a book.  I enjoy reading books about climbing mountains, which is strange (I know) because I don't climb, but I find them fascinating.  I LOVED Into Thin Air and was hoping this book would be more like that.  Instead this book talks about the raping of Everest.
No Way Down: Life and Death on K2.  This book was a bit hard to get into...  They keep changing time periods every other chapter, and I had difficulty keeping all the names straight until close to the end.  It was interesting, but I think it could have been written better.
These Hidden Things: An "eh" book.  This is one that I'm selling back now.  It is about a smart girl who gets pregnant, then gets sent to prison after being charged for killing her baby.  I'm not going to give you all the details because it would ruin the end.  But, "eh" all around.
Never Let me Go is again, another movie now, one that I haven't seen.  This book has an interesting premise.  It's a story set in the future where people are cloned for their organs.  The clones don't realize they aren't going to get to live a full life, and they are harvested for their organs.  Interesting premise, and an okay book.  It reminded me of the movie "The Island" from several years ago.  But at the same time it isn't an action sci-fi flick, it focuses more on the feelings of the clones.
Men and Dogs.  Not a good book.  It had NOTHING to do with dogs, or really men for that matter...  It's a story of a girl who's father goes missing/is killed/is missing and how it affects the daughter.  Nothing about dogs except the dad had his dog with him when he went missing.  And at the end of the book it doesn't give you a definitive end.  I am not a fan.
Heaven is for Real.  I liked this book, it was a short, easy read that was enjoyable.  It's a true story about a 4-year old boy who goes to heaven when his appendix ruptures and he goes into surgery.
The Crying Tree.  This book is based in a small town in Oregon.  It's about a family who re-locates to Oregon from the Midwest, after moving the son is murdered.  The mother forms a bond with the murderer to find out what happened (via letters as the murderer is on death row).  It's a sad book, with nothing much redeeming about it.  Again, another just okay book.
A History of the World in 6 Glasses.  I thought this would be an entertaining book.  I was SORELY mistaken.  This book is written by an editor of the economist and is so incredibly boring to read!  I had to force myself to finish the book!  It was not good.  At all.  I would not recommend this to anybody.