2016 in Books

My #hottake on 2016 - I probably wouldn't have gotten married this year if I had known it would open the seventh circle of hell. Holy smokes this year was terrible. BUT! I made it past the goal of 52 books. 56 books in 52 weeks! It was nice to escape the dumpster fire for a little while in some good (and not-as-good) reads. The bolded ones are my top recommendations. Some random thoughts below.

Thirteen Reasons Why
The Martian
The Invention of Wings
The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up
Jane and the Waterloo Map
Selfish, Shallow and Self Absorbed
The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P
Death of Cancer
Missoula
Orphan Train
Life After Life 
The Clasp
A God in Ruins 
Emma: a Modern Retelling 
The Language of Flowers 
The Prince of Nantucket 
Men Explain Things to Me
The Crown
A Study in Charlotte 
Eligible 
Everything Everything
All the Single Ladies
If I was Your Girl
The Girl Who Fell from the Sky
The Thing About Jellyfish
Rosemary The Hidden Kennedy Daughter
Belzhar
Asking for It
Breath Becomes Air
Why Not Me?
Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit 
Being Mortal
* A Short History of Nearly Everything
Morning Star
Let's Pretend this Never Happened
Boys in the Boat
Sharp Objects
Smarter Faster Better
Dark Places
The End of the Perfect 10
Dear Mr. You
Pre-Suasion
Vassa in the Night
The Girls
Luckiest Girl Alive
The Hike
A Life in Men
In the Garden of Beasts
Ghostly Echoes
Love Warrior
Hag-Seed
In the Heart of the Sea
An Ember in the Ashes
November's Fury: The Deadly Great Lakes Hurricane of 1913
Crazy Rich Asians
I'm Thinking of Ending Things

Crazy Rich Asians is a perfect beach read. Hag-Seed made me fall in love with words (again). The Hike and In the Heart of the Sea are the best "books for boys." Asking for It and Men Explain Things to Me will make you angry. Breath Becomes Air and Being Mortal will make you sad. Dear Mr. You will give you every emotion ever. If I had to pick a worst book, its probably The Prince of Nantucket. Triumphs in young adult literature include The Thing About Jellyfish and Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit. I'm Thinking of Ending Things was an appropriately titled book for last book of the year.

Happy reading in 2017!!

Three Books. One Shame.

As I mentioned on Monday, I managed to coast through three books in the past couple weeks.  Two of which I flew through, the other one that took me ages and ages, partly because I kept reading other things because I didn't want it to end.

(turns out kindles make for bad blog photos, that kindle screen says How We Do Harm: A Doctor Breaks Rank About Being Sick in America).

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay takes some patience at the beginning. You have to want it. Keep reading and you will be eternally grateful for the opportunity to go on this journey and you will be sad.

How We Do Harm confirms the fact that everything in America is the worst particularly in terms of Healthcare. Not only are we being scammed by health insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies, but also apparently doctors. So that's a new thing to be worried about.

A Long Way Gone has been on our bookshelf for years and I finally opened it and then read it in about three days. If you're looking a direct punch to the gut and some real rude perspective, give this guy a whirl. Yikes. You will be #firstworldprobz-all over the place.

So after three brutally emotional sadbadnot-glad books in a row I needed a palate cleanser and luckily there was one on the shelf.

Guys, first things first - this book is terrible.

You know how you have that friend who name drops like, as much as humanly possible (note: I might be that friend sometimes. I am working on it)? This book is just "how many Nantucket-y things can I mention on one page?" I love it but I hate that I love it.

Also, its got that Dan Brown device where you feel like a genius because you solve everything fifteen pages before the characters do. How does someone write people that stupid?

And it is Salacious. What you may not know about me is that I a giant blushing prude. All kissing makes me uncomfortable anything more scandalous and I am sure that everyone on the train knows that people are totally naked in this book. I just want to die.

It's gotten away from the "Reginald's quivering member" themes and now is just absurdest mystery. But, I can't stop. I will read this whole book and then if someone wants to get boozey with me and talk about the overarching themes and Elin Hilderbrand's place in the cannon of post-modern feminist literature, I am in.

Sometimes after a flavorful, huge, delicious meal you just want some month-old Easter candy.