Saturday, January 2, 2016

2015 Audiobook Challenge Wrap-Up

This is my wrap-up post for the 2015 Audiobook Challenge hosted by the ladies at The Book Nympho and Hot Listens. I signed up for the "Stenographer" level (10-15 books) and met my goal! Listening to audiobooks in the car has significantly increased the number of books I can get through in a year, and it's an experience on a whole new level of storytelling, I think. Very fun!

 
  
 
  
  
 
 
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2015 We Read Diverse Books Challenge Wrap-Up

This is my wrap-up post for the 2015 We Read Diverse Books Challenge hosted by Janet Ursel at Gourmet Reading. The challenges were only posted through September, so what you see below is the full list. I finished most of them and really enjoyed the diverse reading options that popped up from challenging myself like this!

Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales by The Brothers Grimm

May Challenge: Age
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2015 TBR Pile Challenge Wrap-Up

This is my wrap-up post for the 2015 TBR Pile Reading Challenge hosted by the ladies at Bookish! My level of choice was "A Friendly Hug," so 11-20 books, which I accomplished! I got through quite a few books in 2015 that have been sitting around waiting for me for a while--woohoo!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Then Again by Diane Keaton

 
Dragonriders of Pern: Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey

Don Tillman: The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
 
Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper

Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer by John Grisham

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2015 Banned Books Challenge Wrap-Up

This is my wrap-up post for the Banned Books Challenge 2015 hosted by Christine at Buckling Bookshelves. I started out with the "Trouble-Maker" level (3-5 books) and re-set my goal to the "Rabble-Rouser" level (6-9 books), which I've met now as well. Some of these were really great books, and I love supporting Banned Book Awareness! 

 
 
 
 
 
 
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Audiobook: The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making is the first book in Catherynne M. Valente's Fairyland series. I just happened to stumble across this book at my library and can't believe I've never heard of the series before, but what an epic fantasy world! Kudos for Valente's funky title, because that is what first grabbed my attention.

(picture taken from Goodreads)

First Impression: Enchanting. If I had one word to describe this book so far, that would be it. I love how lyrical the writing is, and Valente practically mesmerizes me reading her words. I keep finding myself drawn so far into September's Fairyland that I'm confused for a second each time I turn it off. The experience is very similar to the first time I read Harry Potter, but the world is very different. It's hard to describe without giving anything away, but my favorite things are the unique little details from Valente throughout the book: the love of the green smoking jacket; the heaviness of Saturday's hand; the dutiful, always-belated trail of the little key brooch; the textile fairy city, Pandemonium; wild velocipedes; and so on. Just amazing. And very unique. I'm curious to see where it goes.

Conclusion: The whole ending to this thing was an emotional whirlwind! Valente's re-imagining of the overbearing monarch backstory with the Marquess was brilliant. Her pain is so vivid, so strong and unexpected, and you want to help her but also everyone else. September also gives up quite a lot in this story and has to make hard decisions every step of the way. The separation from her shadow is particularly memorable, rendering her in two painfully, and yet the shadow seemed happier that way (darker itself perhaps than I expected). The one thing that's a little inconsistent is the explanation of the Ravished and how they visit Fairyland versus other people visiting. It's impossible to explain without giving something away, but it's also not significant enough to dwell on, so I'll let it go. Anyway, I loved this story. Simple as that.

Recommendation: You will probably enjoy this book if you love magical worlds and words and don't mind a narrator with an outside view and a main character who's a child. And you might have an extra bit of love for this one if you loved the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis.

This is my thirteenth listen for the 2015 Audiobook Challenge. Crushed that challenge!
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Friday, January 1, 2016

Audiobook: The Rosie Effect

The Rosie Effect is the second book in the Don Tillman series by Graeme Simsion. Don has moved and started a new portion of his life, but no matter of openness or planning can prepare him for what comes next!

(picture taken from Goodreads)

Conclusion:  Simsion ended his story well. Although I was angry for a good portion of the book, he stayed true to the characters. What I really like about Simsion's writing is that it's honest. I feel as though these characters could be real people dealing with their own issues and their friend's problems, as well. You have one unusual, caring guy who's kind of holding together this random assortment of people who have little in common. And all of them are well-developed, flawed characters. But I kind of hope he writes something different next, not another book in this series. As much as I love Don and can think of lots of crazy adventures for his family and friends to have next, I'm afraid the series has already run its course. I was mad enough Rosie for most of this book, not sure I could handle her in the next step of her life. But if he does write another in the series, I'll read it, hopelessly curious as I am. Oh, and shout-out to Dan O-Grady for being a fun audiobook narrator! He does a great job with this series, and I'd love to find what else he's narrated.

Recommendation: If you've read The Rosie Project and want to see what happens next for Don Tillman, this is the book for you! I wouldn't really recommend this one separate from the first book.

This is my twelfth listen for the 2015 Audiobook Challenge.
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Book Club / Diverse Books: The Remedy

The Remedy: Robert Koch, Arthur Conan Doyle, and the Quest to Cure Tuberculosis by Thomas Goetz--well, the title pretty much says it. This book is about tuberculosis and how Robert Koch specifically contributed to the search for a cure and the medical field in general.

(picture taken from Goodreads)

First Impression: This is really interesting! Maybe it's because I spent two-thirds of my life mocking science with my disregard, but books and articles with a scientific basis have fascinated me a lot in the last few years. There's a lot of information to absorb in this book so far. Goetz knows how to pick a historical topic of interest, and I'm intrigued. At the same time, there are a lot of pages of background information that lose me a bit. It puts everything into context, but it also makes the book move pretty slowly. Heavy on historical facts.

Conclusion: I liked The Remedy, but it wasn't what I expected from the title. After I read most of this book but before I read the Acknowledgements, I just kept thinking about how it reminded me more of an article in a scholastic journal than a book. Then I read the Acknowledgements, and it made more sense. Goetz's inspiration for the book was, in fact, a scholarly article. And while the information was all interesting, I think this was the reason for my issues with his format. He approached the story on a smaller scale and kept circling back to cover different details. Arthur Conan Doyle's part of the book is really very small in the sense of how much he contributes to the search for a tuberculosis cure. I did learn some more about his life as a doctor before he started to focus more on writing, so that was interesting. Overall, I liked elements of the storyline, and I learned quite a bit, so this book was alright but not fantastic. Good information, okay composition.

The Remedy was my July read for the "Time" portion of the 2015 We Read Diverse Books Challenge.
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