1. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
Rating: 4 stars
This book is not always a happy book. But it is a book that I always felt something while reading. Chapter 17 left me sad, Chapter 3 left me a little freaked out, and Chapter 32 made me feel so GOOD inside and it was wonderful and beautiful. This book elicits a lot of emotion, deals with some heavy topics, but it's also cute and sweet and funny. I definitely recommend this book, especially if you're looking for a quirky contemporary that deals with loss, mental illness, and/or friendship.Read my full review HERE.
2. The Little Prince by Antoine Saint-Expery
Rating: No rating
Once again, I don't feel qualified to rate such a timeless, classic children's story. It's an allegory, which is not my type of story. I find them cute, but they just don't have much of an impact on me (although I must concede that the only two allegorical novels I've read are this one and The Alchemist). I understand why people love this story, but (probably due to my general reading/genre tastes) it just didn't do much for me.
3. The President is Missing by Bill Clinton and James Patterson
Rating: 3 stars
This was definitely not my preferred genre - I don't normally read thrillers, and this is literally the first political thriller I've ever read. I was pleasantly surprised by how engaging the story was. I expected to feel a little bit lost, and more than a little bit bored, but I followed everything that was happening and I found the plot intriguing. To find out why I only gave this one 3 stars, read my full review HERE.
4. Last Call at the Nightshade Lounge by Paul Krueger
Rating: 1 star
This was a big fat hot mess. Check out my full review HERE.
5. Beloved by Toni Morrison
Rating: 1 star
YIKES two 1-star ratings in one day... I cannot get into Toni Morrison's books. The plots and characters never draw me in, and I just get so bored. I spaced out during a lot of this book,because it seemed like it was just a rambling about someone's life without a plot direction. A massive bookish pet peeve of mine is a lack of plot direction. I understand this is an important book, in terms of the message it sends, but in terms of my personal enjoyment this book was a no-go.
6. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'engle
Rating: 3 stars
I like the combination of genres, I like the science fiction, and I think the plot is really interesting. I feel like the plot was dragged out however, like the book could've have been half as long and had the same effect. Also, I did not love Meg as a protagonist, but this may be due to the audiobook narrator's portrayal of her; she was just kind of annoying.
7. The Godfather by Mario Puzo
Rating: 4 stars
I really enjoyed my time with this one! Read my full thoughts HERE.
8. Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
Rating: 3 stars
This is a gross one. Not bad, but definitely gruesome to get through. Read my full review HERE.
9. The Secret History by Donna Tartt
Rating: 3 stars
I like the concept, and I did like some of the characters and their interactions. But the book was too slow and the characters were not quite as compelling as they should have been for a character-driven novel. Read my full review HERE.
10. Skyward by Brandon Sanderson
Rating: 4 stars
I liked this one a lot! The characters were very intriguing, and I loved the themes in the novel. Read my full review HERE.
11. Elevation by Stephen King
Rating: 3 stars
Yes it is a complete coincidence that I read a book called Elevation right after I finished one called Skyward... I agree with the general consensus that the book is miscategorized as a horror. It’s really a contemporary with sci-fi/magical realism elements. I thought the book was fine, just nothing spectacular. The main thing that bothered me was the plausibility of some things. I know a major part of the story was about how Scott looked heavier than he actually was, but why were there so many people in the town blatantly pointing out his weight to his face? That’s just not a thing that happens. Also Deirdre was unrealistically rude. I was rolling my eyes a bit at how overdone her cynicism was.
12. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Rating: 4 stars
The amazing thing about this book is that the story itself is not exceedingly remarkable - but the writing, with its lyricism and emotion, is truly spectacular.
13. How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell
Rating: 2 stars
Disclaimer: HTTYD is my favorite animated film of all time, and among my favorite movies overall.
I think the fact that the movie is spectacular really highlights the missed marks of this book. Obviously, the concept had a lot of potential, and the movie just capitalized on it much better. This is why the movie ended up being so different from the book. As for the book itself, it just didn’t have enough action and high stakes to really be taken seriously. It didn’t captivate, either in plot or characters. The characters are less enthralling and emotive, and the plot doesn’t have a ton of direction. The outcome of the book was anticlimactic, and I don’t really feel any desire to read another book in the series. I think that if I hadn’t watched the movie, or if I’d read the book before I watched the movie, I’d be less harsh with it. Still, I give the book two stars because the world and concept inspired one of my favorite movies ever.
14. You'll Miss Me When I'm Gone by Rachel Lynn Solomon
Rating: 2 stars
This book was infuriating. For one thing, I couldn't tell if this was intentional or not, but the protagonists are both insufferable. Adina is clearly much worse than Tovah, but there were lots of moments that I was just shocked at their horribleness, both of them. To learn my very specific reasons for thinking this, check out my full review HERE.
15. What Happened by Hillary Rodham Clinton
Rating: 4 stars
In trying my best to rate this for the quality of the book, and not my personal opinion of the author, I think that this book was a moving autobiography that blended politics and personal emotion almost seamlessly. I was very moved by this memoir. For my full thoughts, check out my review HERE.
16. Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
Rating: 4 stars
It's fine I'm just crying really hard over this book. I understand why this is considered a classic, and while I'm sure I read this when I was a small child in primary school, I don't know if this should be in school curriculum because why would you break these small children's hearts like that...
17. Noteworthy by Riley Redgate
Rating: 4 stars
This is a really good book to read if you love diverse contemporaries, and I think that after the popularity of Pitch Perfect, this would make a great film too. Read my full review HERE.
18. One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus
Rating: 3 stars
So basically... Pretty Little Liars meets Gossip Girl meets Breakfast club.
It’s an interesting twist/mishmash of a bunch of different well known stories, but nothing groundbreaking. Kept me interested enough to keep reading, but never super shocked or invested in the characters.
19. Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel
Rating: 3 stars
Contrary to popular belief, I didn't think this book was groundbreaking in its premise. Some alien life force has left enormous robot pieces across Earth, and the humans are trying to figure it out. It just doesn't seem like a new concept. Also, while sometimes I liked the interview/mission report format of the book, it was also limiting in terms of getting to know the characters and their development, and extremely limiting during action sequences. 3 stars because I can recognize that plot and content of the book was still good, I just probably won't continue with the series.
No comments:
Post a Comment