Books I have read recently.

Books are a uniquely portable magic. Stephen King. 

I know it's weird, but I just don't love TV. I don't hate it or anything, but I would always choose reading over TV watching. Disclaimer- I DO love:  Modern Family, The Office, Parks and Rec, New Girl, and Breaking Bad. I never just watch TV; if I do watch one of the above shows, it is an event that Hughes and I plan- like a date night to watch together. Honestly. I maybe watch two hours total of TV a week.

Reading, however....is a different story. (Story! Haha).

I have read/listened to several books over the last few weeks. Sometimes I go through a patch where I maybe only read one book a month, because I genuinely have a problem with books. I am not that person that just has a book on her nightstand and reads a little of it at a time. I am never really "reading" a book. I am either completely absorbed/preoccupied/unable to function with normal life OR I have just finished a book. I have to be careful about when I choose to start a book, because I will stay up way too late and run off to sneak one more page and try to read while I cook. It is a sickness, almost. And, yet, I have discovered I am my happiest self while reading.

I am obsessed with getting ebooks from the library on my Kindle app, but for many of the best-seller books, I have to get on a list and never know when I will get an email notification to check out the book. There is a 2 week check out time, so sometimes I have 5 books to read at once! I am entirely too frugal/hoarder-ish to let a book pass me by, so...I find myself reading/listening to more and more books lately. I didn't buy any of these books. 

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry is cute. It is a best-seller, and I kept reading about it in magazines and book reviews. It was...pleasant to read. That's the best way to put it. It is about an older couple in England, and it was slow at times. But, the main character reminded me of Pops, and the message was sweet. For some reason, it reminded me a little of that TV show, Pushing Daisies, that was so cute and different. This novel won't change your life, but it felt relaxing and different. 

I love a John Grisham. I can't help it- I know they are all the same book basically, and they are so cliche, but I will get sucked in EVERY time. 

I liked The Racketeer very much. If you like Grisham, it is a must read, I think. It felt a little different than his most recent ones, which was refreshing. 

Sadly, I think I am reaching the point where teenage dystopian romance novels don't really do it for me anymore. If you are a teenage girl, you will LOVE Matched. My idea of romance is when Hughes cooks dinner or is home in time to take the garbage to the curb. So, the ridiculousness of young love didn't do it for me. 

I am confused. Has anyone else read Gone Girl? It is ALL OVER the place; Stephen King chose it as one of his top 2012 books, and Reese (!) Witherspoon just signed a deal to star in the movie. Of course, I was sucked into the book and couldn't wait to find out what happened (there are some twists), but...after I finished, I felt like I had just read some random book I picked up at the Dollar Store (they sell books!). I  loved the characterization and the plot...but the book was just pretty average to me. Not worth the hype.

I will always LOVE a YA book- just not the romance-y ones. 

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is a great YA book, because it is NOT dystopian, it has a boy main character, magic, and it has tons of adventure. I enjoyed this one. 

Stressed.

Another YA book. Life as We Knew It is not very well written in terms of style or characterization or plot. I'm just being honest. But, it has still stuck with me. I even had a nightmare about it last night! Basically, it is a journal (gag) of a boring, not exciting girl named Miranda. A meteor hits the moon, and it changes the tide and the weather. Half of the world is wiped out by giant tsunamis almost instantly. The rest of the the world is left with no cell service, TV, electricity, etc... They have to live on the can goods they stocked right after the crash. It is really a terribly written book, but I CANNOT STOP thinking about their food stash, what they ate for meals, how long it lasted, etc...  

This is not a book for a hoarder to read. It makes me want to run to the grocery and buy hundreds of cans of beans and boxes of cereal. 

YA book. It does have the romance aspect which makes me cringe, but this one was very interesting to read. I still love dystopian literature, so I will always fall head first into a book about a creepy government-run society. 

LOVE!!!!

I actually listened to Killing Lincoln (I get audiobooks from the library now, too!), and Bill O'Reilly is the best narrator I have ever heard. Hands down. He is EFFICIENT, fast, emphasizes key parts, suspenseful, engaging, clear in tone, etc...  You probably have to like history to enjoy this book, but it was one of my favorites I have read recently. Even though I know the outcome, I was still completely on the edge of my seat the entire time. 

Another YA book. But, it has won NUMEROUS awards, including Amazon's top fiction book of the year (or something like that). The Fault in our Stars is about a teenage girl who is living with terminal lung cancer. She meets a boy who has bone cancer. I do not love romance novels, especially about 17 year olds, but this one was completely different from any book I have read. It was uplifting somehow, despite the terminal cancer, realistic, refreshing, and insightful. The characterization and style were outstanding and memorable. It is worth reading, I think.