A come back!

Hello all! I have to admit with the purchase of my new home in November most waking moments not spent on my career or obsessing over my always entertaining love life have been spent on making this home mine.

When I moved in the colors were very homey and obviously didn’t look too bad since I did fall in love with the place but they’re just not me. I’ve tackled a few rooms and small projects and soon it will be Spring and it will be time to move to my outside space. Having spent the past 7 years in a small apartment with no outside space this is quite an exciting time for me.

So I need help finding my Spring reading list. Any suggestions would be welcome. I have to admit I haven’t read a really good book in quite some time, I’ve been so neglectful but it’s time to dive back in and tackle the next 76 books.

Happy Accidents

Author: Jane Lynch & Lisa Dickey
Rating: 4/5
When I came upon this on the shelf at the library I thought….’uh, it’s worth a try.’ I am so glad I picked this up. I thoroughly enjoyed this. I think I had a bit of a biography hangover from Tina Fey’s surface read. I wasn’t expecting such an honest and insightful look at Jane’s life.

This book was equally funny and sad and light and heavy and just everything one would want. Including a happy ending! Jane’s struggle with her homosexuality and her final acceptance of all aspects of herself was an engrossing read. I really enjoyed getting know more about this funny woman’s background.

I highly recommend this read. It was quick but it really stayed with me and I feel like I walked away with more than just a look at Jane’s life.

The Girl in the Clockwork Collar

Author: Kady Cross
Rating: 3/5
This is the either the second or the third installment depending if you count ‘The Strange case of Finley Jayne’ which of course I do but we could settle it by saying this is book 2.5 since the aforementioned story was really more of a novella. Kady Cross writes good, distracting, take-you-away-from-your-troubles stories.

This was a wonderful distraction of a novel. Sometimes that’s just what you need in life. Finley is still Finley and wonderfully Griffin is still himself. I did miss Dandy but I’m sure he’ll be back in the next novel. All in all this was a good read and a nice follow up to The Girl in the Steel Corset.

Insurgent

Author: Veronica Roth
Rating: 3/5
I was very much looking forward to the second installment in this series. In fact I put this on my iPad and resisted reading so I could save it for my 8 hour trip across Canada recently. I loved the first novel in this series. I found it to be a unique spin in a sea of Dystopian novels. That’s not to bash a good Dystopian novel but only to say that Divergent stood out to me.

I know the middle book of a trilogy is usually a bit of a filler. Tying up loose ends from the first book and setting up stories for the last installment. Insurgent was full of loss and love and death and unexpected twists and plenty of action. It was all there. But it all felt a bit…..flat. This story was missing the sparkle the first novel had. And no, I don’t mean it needed some Edward standing in the sun. It simply lost something.

That said it was still a good read and I would recommend it to anyone who read the first novel. Perhaps I’m just not a middle-of-the-trilogy book kinda girl. I will say that I’m hoping the final installment gets back some of what this one was missing. Veronica Roth is still immensely talented and I was captivated throughout this story. I will wait patiently for her strong finish.

The Lifeboat

Author: Charlotte Rogan
Rating: 4/5
This is a novel that sticks with you. I find myself wondering and pondering the scenarios in the book still weeks later. The novel was mentioned as a great read for summer in Oprah magazine. I bought this in hardcover on a day when I was longing for more in my book case. I read so many library books these days I miss adding a new treasure to my already full shelves.

For me, this story is grey from start to finish. Most of the story takes place on a lifeboat as the title suggests. I have to say, I don’t much like our main character, Grace. I am curious to know if others felt the same way. I can’t decide if we’re meant to like her or if we’re meant to see her as an opportunist and I suppose that in itself shows the author’s talent. To have your reader leave the story behind and still be undecided is not an easy task.

I enjoyed the story and the debate it has left me with and would highly recommend this gripping read.

Magyk

Author: Angie Sage
Rating: 3/5
I found this book to be quite delightful. It is definitely a young adult novel however I enjoyed it immensely. It was captivating. There is something so delicious about a novel which can pull you right into another world entirely. It felt as though I were standing in front of the Wizards tower at times, gazing up at it.

This book was a wonderful adventure and though I can see where the author has borrowed aspects from Harry Potter novels and Lord of the Rings novels she does so respectfully. I will definitely be adding the next novel in this series to my ‘To Read’ list!

Deadlocked

Author: Charlaine Harris
Rating: 2.5/5
I have long been a fan of Charlaine Harris’ world. I was first introduced by a colleague who also loves to read and those first few novels were such a wonderful fantasy to step into. This was before vampire books were everywhere, before Anna Paquin’s Sookie was introduced to the world. I was hooked.

It was almost out of loyalty that I bought the most recent novel, Deadlocked. I found Dead Reckoning (book 11) to be a bit of a bore but I had hope that it was perhaps a filler book setting up the new release for big and wonderful things. I am sad to say this was not the case. I was very disappointed with this novel.

It just feels like there is nothing to yearn for and I honestly no longer care if Sookie and Eric are together. Truly the only character that I remain invested in is Sam and sadly this was not his story. I will likely read the 13th novel when it is released but I won’t be adding it to my collection. In all honesty, paying $35 for this story was a total waste of my money.

The Weird Sisters

Author: Eleanor Brown
Rating: 4/5
I had been seeing this book everywhere and was curious. I will admit it’s not what I had hoped but there is much I loved about this story. The style of writing was amusing as was the use of Shakespearean quotes. I found that I could really relate with two of the sisters and enjoyed the story of their journeys.

I related strongly with the messed up sister, Bean. I think many can related to making a mistake so large that it has encompassed your life for so long that you no longer know who you are. There is a conversation between Bean and the Minister will stick with me for a very long time. This book was filled with hope, dealt with in such a beautiful way. It’s been about 2 weeks since I read this book and I’m still thinking about it.

This was a good read. Eleanor is a strong author and I will be curious to see what she writes next.

Bride of New France

Author:Suzanne Desrochers
Rating: 3/5

I am not really sure where to start with this one. The story of a young poor woman living in France in 1669 was quite good. The story of Laure and her bad behavior made for an interesting read. The thing is, I’m not sure I’d recommend it and it was a bit slow in areas but I did enjoy the story.

It was interesting to read about the first settlers of Canada but Laure’s story was sad. I can’t imagine living through what she had to live through. The story was well written but I didn’t like it. I suppose I’m just a happy ending kind of girl.

Falling behind…

I am 5 books behind schedule! With the adventures in dog-sitting last week and the crazy work week full of 12 hours days I am quickly falling behind. Add to that my current obsession with the Gerry Bartlett vampire series and I’m really behind. Don’t worry though because I have some great reads on the way.
On the Bookshelf:
The Weird Sisters
Behind the Beautiful Forevers
Wild

So as you can see I have great books on my shelf for you. Well, for us I suppose and just as soon as I get unpacked today I will curl up with The Weird Sisters. I know I’m really looking forward to it. I will resist the next Gerry Bartlett novel on my iPad and read other things! Or perhaps I’ll just read them all. So many books and never enough time. If only I were a Lady of Leisure……