Annual Reading Challenge--2020

[BonnieF]

There's a sequel: Us Against You

Thanks for that! I'd love to be able to get it in time for my upcoming (14 days) trip! A good vacation read!

 

[willowsnn3]

#4/60 The Wishing Spell (The Land of Stories #1) by Chris Colfer
The Land of Stories tells the tale of twins Alex and Conner. Through the mysterious powers of a cherished book of stories, they leave their world behind and find themselves in a foreign land full of wonder and magic where they come face-to-face with the fairy tale characters they grew up reading about.

But after a series of encounters with witches, wolves, goblins, and trolls alike, getting back home is going to be harder than they thought.

Altho this is really a book for middle school aged kids, I really enjoyed it. Twins Alex & Conner fall thru the pages of a fairy tale book that their grandmother gave them.

 

[mini22]

5/35 Next Level Basic by Stassi Schroeder

 

[Disney_Alli]

6/75 - Pucked: Helena Hunting

First book in a hockey romance series. It kept me entertained and I’ll probably keep reading the series in between other things.

 

[Shellsbutt]

3/50 - Beartown, Fredrick Backman. A terrific story of how kids learn what's right and wrong, and the societal pressures that shape their behavior. I highly recommend it!

I tried reading this last year and I just couldn't get into it. I know it's about more than hockey but it was too slow, got about halfway through and returned it to the library. It was a bummer because I loved A Man Called Ove- such a different book.

 

[clutter]

I tried reading this last year and I just couldn't get into it. I know it's about more than hockey but it was too slow, got about halfway through and returned it to the library. It was a bummer because I loved A Man Called Ove- such a different book.

I felt the same way. A Man Called Ove was one of my favorite books ever. And I love ice hockey. But I thought it was too chopped up, and just couldn't get into it. I thought it was me.

 

[Shellsbutt]

1/25- The Island Of Sea Women by Lisa See- Historical fiction. Very interesting, love learning about different cultures. I've read quite a few of her books. This is definitely not a beach read!

2/25- Notes From a Small Island by Bill Bryson- Travel writing. Hilarious book about traveling around England. I thought it was appropriate since my husband and I will be taking a trip there in June.

3/25- Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig- Self help book, very easy to read. I finished it in one day. Helpful to those of us who suffer from depression and anxiety.

 

[Cogswel_Cogs]

I tried reading this last year and I just couldn't get into it. I know it's about more than hockey but it was too slow, got about halfway through and returned it to the library. It was a bummer because I loved A Man Called Ove- such a different book.

I liked Ove better too. I wouldn't say I oved Ove but I Iked it more.

 

[OKW8297]

1. Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow an amazing book. Yes, I am a history geek. I loved this book. What a portrait of this man!

 

[willowsnn3]

#5/60 The Walk by Lee Goldberg
It's one minute after the Big One. Marty Slack, a TV network executive, crawls out from under his Mercedes, parked outside what once was a downtown Los Angeles warehouse, the location for a new TV show. Downtown LA is in ruins. The sky is thick with black smoke. His cell phone is dead. The freeways are rubble. The airport is demolished. Buildings lay across streets like fallen trees. It will be days before help can arrive.
He knows there is only one thing he can do ... that he must do: get home to his wife Beth, go back to their gated community on the far edge of the San Fernando Valley.
All he has to do is walk. But he will quickly learn that it's not that easy. His dangerous, unpredictable journey home will take him through the different worlds of what was once Los Angeles. Wildfires rage out of control. Flood waters burst through collapsed dams. Natural gas explosions consume neighborhoods. Sinkholes swallow entire buildings. After-shocks rip apart the ground. Looters rampage through the streets.
There's no power. No running water. No order.
Marty Slack thinks he's prepared. He's wrong. Nothing can prepare him for this ordeal, a quest for his family and for his soul, a journey that will test the limits of his endurance and his humanity, a trek from the man he was to the man he can be ... if he can survive The Walk.

Mmm, just ok. Short enough to finish quickly.

 

[Colleen27]

#7/152 - Lies My Teacher Told Me by James Loewen

A scathing critical analysis of the way history is taught in the United States, centered around the textbook industry and the way history texts are written and structured, I read the first edition of this book many, many years ago but picked it up to read when my DD18 started reading it as well. The updated edition is just as troubling, maybe moreso in the current social and political climate for it gives a clear picture of the way our required middle and high school history classes fail to impart the important lessons and themes of American history to the younger generation and leave them capable of recalling names and dates but not thinking critically about the whys and hows of major events.

#8 - The One for You by Roni Loren

The fourth book in a series of romance/chick lit novels about the survivors of a school shooting, I found the characters and setting in this one the most enjoyable of the bunch - who doesn't love reading about bookworms? - but the conflict in the story felt more contrived/less genuine and the subplot of the main character impulsively buying a bed & breakfast felt ridiculously unrealistic. Still, it was a fun read, perfect for a long flight.

 

[Lumpy1106]

#1/20 - Dry, Neil Shusterman
The author was recommended to me by a good friend and it's a good choice. Loved the writing, loved the story, but it had some holes. Premise is it is set in So Cal and the water has run out. The story follows a group of kids and what they encounter and how they survive. I was not satisfied with the answer to why was the water shut off and how was it restored. Also, the decisions people made around them didn't always make sense. Still, would recommend.

#2/20 - Deja Vu, Michal Hartstein
A teenage girl is in an accident and loses her memory. The story follows her life into adulthood, where she has a second accident and goes through her life from when the first accident occurred, all over again. It's an interesting premise - what would you change in your life if given the opportunity to do it all over again? The timeline doesn't make sense so there's a leap of faith for the reader, but not bad. I found the postscript chapter to be more interesting. It goes into the state of publishing in Israel and why it is so difficult for authors to make money there.

 

[mini22]

6/35 In His Father's Footsteps by Danielle Steel

 

[bobbiwoz]

9/75 Remembering the Dead by Elizabeth J. Duncan

A Mystery set in Wales and it’s Black Chair. I thought it was interesting and well written.

 

[mini22]

7/35 Calder Storm by Janet Dailey

 

[bobbiwoz]

10/75. The Quiet Side of Passion by Alexander McCall Smith

 

[Disney_Alli]

7/75 - Under a Different Sky: Lindsey Iler

A young adult romance about a high school hockey player who falls for the best friend of his long time girlfriend who passed away. No happy ending here hoping book 2 in this duo resolved it.

 

[melk]

3/25 The Storyteller’s Secret by Sejal Badani

A young woman goes to her parents homeland of India after several miscarriages and the breakup of her marriage. While there she learns the story of the grandmother she never met and why her mother has always been so distant.

I really enjoyed this book. the plot lines were interesting to me and gave me a glimpse of a culture I don’t know too much about. It explores many different relationships; friendships, marriages, mother/daughter.

 

[jen7233]

#1/20 complete: Tell Me a Story: My Life with Pat Conroy by Cassandra King Conroy. Good, if you are a Pat Conroy fan as I am, and was saddened by his what seemed like rapid decline and death from pancreatic cancer. It seemed so fast at the time from announcement to his passing. It did really seem from his wife's story that it truly was so fast.

Currently deciding on my #2, I have at home The Body Book: The Law of Hunger, the Science of Strength, and Other Ways to Love Your Amazing Body by Cameron Diaz, but don't really feel like reading this right now. Will see if some holds at the library are coming up soon. I have a Tim Tebow book and Sally Field memoir holding. I enjoy fairly equally autobiographies and biographies with fiction. Maybe a little more so.

 

[BonnieF]

4/50 - The Peppermint Tea Chronicles, Alexander McCall Smith. All I can say is, Meh - just couldn't really care for anyone in this - not even the kids. Maybe it was just my mood, but they all seemed like whiners. He's written better books.