A Year of Reading: September 2012
1. The Sins of the Father (The Clifton Chronicles #2) by Jeffrey Archer
2 stars on GoodReads
Soapy, soapy, soapy, and fairly ridiculous. I keep reading because I keep hoping for a repeat of the Archer books I love, but so far, not in this series.
2. The Disreputable History of Frankie Laudau-Banks by E. Lockhart
4 stars on GoodReads
Good feminist YA, and a boarding school story to boot. Loved the wordplay. Recommended.
3. The 7 Laws of Magical Thinking: How Irrational Beliefs Keep Us Happy, Healthy, and Sane by Matthew Hutson
2 stars on GoodReads
Pop science and I love the subject but the writing did nothing for me. Did not finish.
4. Happier at Home: Kiss More, Jump More, Abandon a Project, Read Samuel Johnson, and My Other Experiments in the Practice of Everyday Life by Gretchen Rubin
3 stars on GoodReads
Really more like 3.5 stars. I read this really quickly, I think I need to spend more time with it. But it wasn't as immediately-awesome to me as The Happiness Project was.
5. The Explosionist by Jenny Davidson
2 stars on GoodReads
Did not finish. This is an interesting exercise in world-building based on our world in which Napoleon defeated Wellington at Waterloo in 1815. Spiritualism is mainstream, the narrator is trying to solve a mystery, blah blah blah. Gave up around page 300. I just didn't care anymore.
6. The Vesuvius Club by Mark Gatiss
1 star on GoodReads
Tried it twice, couldn't get into it, sadly.
7. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
4 stars on GoodReads
Really enjoyed this. Best to know nothing going in, it's very twisted and turny. Honestly, I saw some twists coming but I loved them.
8. The Favored Queen by Carolly Erickson
1 star on GoodReads
This is the book where Henry VIII calls Anne Boleyn "PUFF BALL". This book is terrible!! I finished it just to see how absolute BS the author could shovel in. It's like someone challenged her or something. Really sad, seeing as Carolly Erickson wrote some really good Tudor non-fiction back in the day.
9. Room by Emma Donoghue
4 stars on GoodReads
Really riveting and well done, though of course awful given the story. (A kidnapped woman and her son living in a one-room prison.) I do wish some of it had been from the mother's point of view, but the child's point of view is amazing.
10. Garment of Shadows by Laurie R. King
3 stars on GoodReads
I have loyalty to this series, and I found this a lot better read than the previous book in the series ('The Pirate King') but ... meh. I was bored until about page 180, then bored again by page 250. Worth it only if you are a Russell absolutist.
11. Daddy Long-Legs by Jean Webster
4 stars on GoodReads
A comfort book when I was ill. I love this book, love Judy, love the epistolary format, love the drawings, love it all. (Until the end when it is a bit creepy, with her calling him 'Daddy'.) BUT STILL. I love it.
Reading Now or in the 'To Read' Pile
-At Home by Bill Bryson (still rereading)
-The Paris Wife by Paula McLain
-The Given Day by Dennis Lehane
-Into Great Silence: The Great War, Mallory, and the Conquest of Everest by Wade Davis (skimming)
-Regeneration (Regeneration, #1) by Pat Barker
-Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar by Cheryl Strayed
-Out of My League: A Rookie's Survival in the Bigs by Dirk Hayhurst
-Above All Things by Tanis Rideout
-The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
-The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
What are you reading lately? What do you recommend? Are you on GoodReads? If so, please feel free to add me there!