P&PS

I did quite a bit of reading in 2015, started a handful of book reviews, and finished even fewer. To help remedy that I thought I would post mini book reviews for some of my favorite books of this year. To see the complete list of favorite books from this year, check out my  2015 favorites . This is the second part of my reviews, the nonfiction section. Since it feels disingenuous to discuss personal narratives (most of which these are) I'm going to stick with discussing what it is that stuck with me most. And as with the other mini reviews I've included short summaries at the top of each review so you can have a more complete idea of what I'm talking about. Most of them come straight from Goodreads, so if you're looking for more details that's a good place to start. Baghdad Burning: Girl Blog from Iraq by Riverbend In August 2003 a young Iraqi blogger began reporting her experiences as a civilian observer in Baghdad. Describing the reality of regime change i...

I did quite a bit of reading in 2015, started a handful of book reviews, and finished even fewer. To help remedy that I thought I would post mini book reviews for some of my favorite books of this year (now last year oops). To see the complete list of favorite books from this year, check out my 2015 favorites . To kick this off I'm going to start with the fiction books (nonfiction coming soon). Since I don't talk much about the plot in any of these I've included a short summary for the book at the top of each review, most of which were taken from Goodreads. 72 Hour Hold  by Bebe Moore Campbell Keri's 18-year-old daughter, Trina, has recently been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. As Trina grows increasingly abusive, both verbally and physically, and substitutes illegal drugs for prescribed medications, Keri's desperation heightens. After a 72-hour hold fails to get Trina the help she needs, Keri learns about an underground group called the program. When Keri ca...

As I was putting together the list of books I wanted to read for the 2016 Book Riot Read Harder Challenge I thought it would be nice to compile a list of recommendations. I've tried to include as many books and categories as possible, but the numbers are a bit unequal given my reading preferences and my weariness of particular categories (mainly due to assigned reading). I've also tried to stay away from as many massively popular books as possible, so that you can hopefully find something new. Watch this space if you're interested in mini reviews for any of these books. As before, the categories listed are abbreviated, to see the full descriptions check out the challenge post linked above. Horror Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix Night Film by Marisha Pessl The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma Syndrome E (Franck Sharko #3) by Franck Thilliez (can be read as a stand-alone) Science Nonfiction General Notes; I've read a lot of environmental science nonfiction that I...

Rise and Shine by Anna Quindlen Rating: 5 out of 5 stars “The rebels are firing all around us, yet for a moment it's so quiet you can hear your own breathing." Not a person but me in the world could deconstruct that sentence. If Meghan could hear her own breathing, it meant she was breathing fast. And since Meghan had a resting heart rate somewhere between coma and sleep because of all that swimming, if she was breathing fast, it meant she was afraid, which meant there was truly something to fear. This is one of those books that has an overwhelming number of mixed reviews on GoodReads. A fair number of the reviews focus on comparing Rise and Shine to some of Quindlen’s other books. While I would love to comment on that, this is my first Quidlen book, so instead I’m going to focus on what I loved about this book. A lot of people cite characterization as their main complaint, and I can understand that. The characters are flawed, even stubbornly so, and they’re no...

While I still have to finish a post on my favorite audiobook narrators, I thought I would share a couple of my favorite audiobooks from last year. I’ve listed these in the order that I listened to them in to avoid the agony of having to rank them. Anil’s Ghost by Michael Ondaatje narrated by Alan Cumming The combination of Ondaatje’s writing and Cumming’s narration is some sort of cosmic fate. Ok, I know that sounds a little bit dramatic, but I love this audiobook so much. It’s the second audiobook in my life that’s solidified by faith in the medium. I’m picky, I know, but when you stumble upon something as awesome as this, the hours of slogging through audio samples is totally worth it. Aside from my possibly overenthusiastic love there’s also the fact that this is the first audiobook that made me realize I might be on to something in terms of translated or foreign books. While the novel wasn’t translated, the story is almost entirely contained in Sri Lanka. Unfamiliar nam...

Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon My Rating 5 out of 5 stars “And when my body shall cease, my soul will still be yours, Claire? I swear by my hope of heaven, I will not be parted from you." The wind stirred the leaves of the chestnut trees nearby, and the scents of late summer rose up rich around us; pine and grass and strawberries, sun-warmed stone and cool water, and the sharp, musky smell of his body next to mine. "Nothing is lost, Sassenach; only changed." "That's the first law of thermodynamics," I said, wiping my nose. "No," he said. "That's faith.”  I know I'm skipping ahead a bit, but Drums of Autumn is my most recent read in the series.  While there won't be any spoilers for the book itself, if you haven't read the previous books, I would skip this review until you've finished (every last page) of Voyager . Like with Voyager , we see huge shifts in the character development and story lines...

February by Lisa Moore Rating: 4 out of 5 stars When the wall closes over Cal, he will be like a fly in amber, a riddle of time, a museum piece. He will lose the desire for escape. The obsession with living will seem like a dalliance to him then. Stillness will be the new thing. February follows the lives of the family of a man who died in the 1982 sinking of the Ocean Ranger off the coast of Newfoundland. Central to the narrative is the grief of his wife and only son.  This isn't a novel driven by events but instead one driven by its narrative and the fractured, disjointed set of emotions it portrays.  Focusing on life as much as death, February paints a vivid picture of our changing world and the steadfast unchanging way loss affects us all. The novel is haunting, realistic and bright, shimmering with the joys of life, while also, masterfully gut wrenching and tragic as the sinking of the rig is portrayed piece by piece.  Covering a span of d...

Hollow City (Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children #2) by Ransom Riggs My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars Hollow City picks up where the first book left off, with the children on the run.  Their ultimate goal is, London, the one place they may be able to find help for Miss Peregrine.  While, under normal circumstances, the journey would be straightforward, on the run in the middle of a war means getting there won't be so easy.   The story continues in much the same vein as the first, with the same fantastical and clever revelations of peculiar ability.  The found photos are found throughout, just as they were in the first book, although these are less cheerful and more eerie, depicting the death and destruction of war as much as the manifestation of peculiar abilities. I enjoyed the continuing character development, particularly the revelation of several characters back stories.  I also really enjoyed the way Riggs plays with time and tim...

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon My Rating: 5/5 stars (for both the original and the reread) There are things that I canna tell you, at least not yet. And I'll ask nothing of ye that ye canna give me. But what I would ask of ye---when you do tell me something, let it be the truth. And I'll promise ye the same. We have nothing now between us, save---respect, perhaps. And I think that respect has maybe room for secrets, but not for lies. Do ye agree? Claire Beauchamp is on her second honeymoon in Scotland with her husband when she falls through a pair of standing stones back through time to 1743.  Arriving in what she thinks is a movie set, Claire is quickly acquainted with Black Jack Randall, a distant ancestor of her husband, Frank, a marauding band of Scots and Jamie Fraser.  Part of a series, the book follows the increasingly intertwined lives of these characters from one end of Scotland to the other, and still farther afield as they strive to save their li...

The Office of Mercy by Ariel Djanikian My rating: 3 of 5 stars I feel like I've written more negatively about the books that I've read this year than I have in the past. While I know this isn't entirely true, I also know that I tend to be more critical of books outside of my usual reading sphere, a sphere I've worked hard this year to expand. This coupled with the fact that I enjoy discussing books more critically than other mediums; I read not just for enjoyment but to learn about the world and the craft of writing itself. As such I tend to gloss over the things I like- the cool dystopian setting, the interesting moral implications, the unusual typography or formatting- and focus more on the elements that detract from these. I focus on the mistakes I as a writer don't want to make, trying to understand and figure out how and why these elements don't work. My original review for The Office of Mercy by Ariel Djanikian followed along with this nor...

Dog Days: Dispatches from Bedlam Farm by Jon Katz "She did have one regular visitor, though, Maria later reported.  Mother [the cat], delighted to have company at night, often dropped by, knocked a bit of yarn about, and napped in the old leather chair before resuming her lethal prowl." I feel as if I had heard about Jon Katz a couple of years ago in reference to (semi)local authors, or farm owners, but that may be wishful thinking.  I'm always saying I like supporting local artists, local farms and businesses, but when it comes to writers, it's more of a theory than a practice. The disparity between the two states, however, has eased a bit in recent years due to Cold Antler Farm a blog run by Jenna Woginrich.  I started reading Jenna's blog when she lived in Tennessee, and followed her move to Eastern New York with delight.  In the beginning, I read mainly for the stories of her struggles and triumphs, the details of life on a farm, but as she put d...

The Knife of Never Letting Go (Chaos Walking Part I) by Patrick Ness I have a habit of picking up books whose title or author I recognize.  I suppose everyone does, but often times these are books or authors I'm not familiar with, but have heard about enough (or heard about once in a memorable enough way) that they've stuck with me in a a way all the others haven't.  Patrick Ness and this book in particular was a combination of the two, I've seen lots of reviews for A  Monster Calling  but I didn't put author and book together until I went to add the rest of the Chaos Walking series to my GoodReads.  What stuck out in my mind up until that point was a book haul nerdintranslation had done where she talked about picking up the first two books in the series despite the fact she didn't read much YA.  Assertions like that are the things that interest me about books.  What is it that makes one book more compelling than another?  What is it that ...

Showtime (Marvelle Circus #1) by Chloe Kayne Disclaimer: I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. At it's core, Showtime is a book about a girl named Laila, who runs away to join the circus. There's a bit of mystery and some romance mix in, but for the most part the novel centers around this well known circus troupe. I wouldn't consider myself a circus aficionado or a circus lover.  In fact if you asked me, I would reflexively say that I don't like circus books, despite the fact that I have liked every one I've ever read, starting with The Wish Giver in grade school.  Partly because of this and partly because I have problems avoiding my friends' obsessions, I've been on somewhat of a circus kick lately and when I read the summary for this book I knew I had to read it.  Good compelling summaries feel a bit like a lost art these days, finding one the piqued my interest was reason enough to pick up the book. Given how com...

   Usually when I finish a book, particularly a good book, it clings to me like whispers or fading memories as I fall asleep. I'm left with streams of words and disjointed thoughts, praise and criticism. I fall asleep dreaming of the world I’ve just left. With this book, I had an entirely different experience. I was left with a hushed sense of silence. It was an eerie experience; in some ways it was disquieting, but at the same time it was comforting. Life lately has been hectic and this sudden silence, this lack of racing thoughts was something that left me more in awe of this book than anything else could have. There was a calm in the silence. It felt in a way like the humidity before a summer storm: omnipresent if not entirely welcome.         I sat with the Prince family in Africa for quite awhile after I had finished the Poisonwood Bible . That in itself wasn’t unexpected. There was a lot that went on, a lot that I had...

Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen 3 out of 5 stars Summary:  An atmospheric, gritty, and compelling novel of star-crossed lovers, set in the circus world circa 1932, by the bestselling author of "Riding Lessons." "Gritty, sensual and charged with dark secrets involving love, murder and a majestic, mute heroine. Favorite Quotes: “With a secret like that, at some point the secret itself becomes irrelevant. The fact that you kept it does not.” “I want her to melt into me, like butter on toast. I want to absorb her and walk around for the rest of my days with her encased in my skin. My Thoughts: This is one of those books that makes me sad that make me sad that Good Reads rating system is skewed toward the low end.  I enjoyed the book, but I wobble back and forth on how much.  It’s a book that gets off to incredibly slow start.  The beginning doesn’t tie into a bigger picture the way I like my books to, but I’m more than glad I stuck with it.  Water for Ele...

Captivate (Need #2) by Carrie Jones 2 out of 5 stars Summary:  Zara and her friends thought they'd solved the pixie problem. And they did - sort of. The pixie's are all locked away, deep in the woods. But the king's needs grow stronger each day that he is in captivity, while his control over his people weakens. And it's enough to draw a new king into town. Astley claims he is different. He claims there are pixies who can live peacefully with humans, that it doesn't have to be all violence and nastiness all the time. Zara wants to believe him...until Astley also claims that she is fated to be his queen. There is no way Zara would ever turn pixie. And she's got good friends who will make sure of that. Besides, she and Nick are so in love they're practically inseparable. But when they very thing Zara wants to protect most is exactly what's at risk, she is forced to make choices she never imagined Favorite Quotes: “Loving you is a full-time job. It...

Need by Carrie Jones 3 out of 5 stars Summary:  Zara White suspects there's a freaky guy semi-stalking her. She's also obsessed with phobias. And it's true, she hasn't exactly been herself since her stepfather died. But exiling her to shivery Maine to live with her grandmother? That seems a bit extreme. The move is supposed to help her stay sane...but Zara's pretty sure her mom just can't deal with her right now. She couldn't be more wrong. Turns out the semi-stalker is not a figment of Zara's overactive imagination. In fact, he's still following her, leaving behind an eerie trail of gold dust. There's something not right - not human - in this sleepy Maine town, and all signs point to Zara. In this creepy, compelling breakout novel, Carrie Jones delivers romance, suspense, and a creature you never thought you'd have to fear. Favorite Quotes: “There is something about libraries, old libraries, that makes them seem almost sacred. There...

The Weight of Silence by Heather Gudenkauf My rating: 4 of 5 stars Summary: It happens one August morning. As dawn's light drenches the humid Iowa air, two families awaken to find their little girls have gone missing. Seven-year-old Calli Clark is sweet, gentle, a dreamer who suffers from selective mutism brought on by tragedy as a toddler. Calli's mother, Antonia, tried to do the best she could within the confines of marriage to a mostly absent, often angry husband. Though she denies that her husband could be involved in the possible abductions, she fears her decision to stay has cost more than her daughter's voice. Petra Gregory is Calli's best friend and voice. But neither Petra nor Calli has been heard from since their disappearance was discovered. Desperate to find his child, Martin Gregory is forced to confront a side of himself he did not know existed beneath his intellectual demeanor. Now these families are tied by the question of what happened to thei...

Dark Places: A Novel by Gillian Flynn My rating: 5 of 5 stars Summary: I have a meanness inside me, real as an organ. Libby Day was seven when her mother and two sisters were murdered in “The Satan Sacrifice of Kinnakee, Kansas.” As her family lay dying, little Libby fled their tiny farmhouse into the freezing January snow. She lost some fingers and toes, but she survived–and famously testified that her fifteen-year-old brother, Ben, was the killer. Twenty-five years later, Ben sits in prison, and troubled Libby lives off the dregs of a trust created by well-wishers who’ve long forgotten her.  The Kill Club is a macabre secret society obsessed with notorious crimes. When they locate Libby and pump her for details–proof they hope may free Ben–Libby hatches a plan to profit off her tragic history. For a fee, she’ll reconnect with the players from that night and report her findings to the club... and maybe she’ll admit her testimony wasn’t so solid after all.  A...

How to Be Lost by Amanda Eyre Ward My rating: 4 of 5 stars Summary:  Joseph and Isabelle Winters seem to have it all: a grand home in Holt, New York, a trio of radiant daughters, and a sense that they are safe in their affluent corner of America. But when five-year-old Ellie disappears, the fault lines within the family are exposed: Joseph, once a successful businessman, succumbs to his demons; Isabelle retreats into memories of her debutante days in Savannah; and Ellie’s bereft sisters grow apart–Madeline reluctantly stays home, while Caroline runs away.  Fifteen years later, Caroline, now a New Orleans cocktail waitress, sees a photograph of a woman in a magazine. Convinced that it is Ellie all grown up, Caroline embarks on a search for her missing sister. Armed with copies of the photo, an amateur detective guide, and a cooler of Dixie beer, Caroline travels through the New Mexico desert, the mountains of Colorado, and the smoky underworld of Montana, determined ...