I tried this last year, but only managed about half of the books. This year I was so excited to finish all 25 right before Labor Day! My primary criteria was to purchase as few books as possible and I only bought one. I borrowed a couple from my mother in law, a bunch from the library, and I had a few on my bookshelf. This is such a neat challenge I hope someone will do something similar next year not that Books on the Night Stand is no longer podcasting. Here are my books-I included a little bit about them without doing a full fledge recap of the stories.
Young Adult Novel The Paul Street Boys-Ferenc Molnar just okay-this book is a Hungarian translation
written during the early 1900s. It was supposedly
critically acclaimed, but I think something was lost in the translation or the
time period.
Epistolary Novel The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie
Society-Mary Ann Shaffer really
enjoyed this book-such a fun bunch of characters
A Play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof-Tennessee Williams I think I need to actually see this to appreciate it. I’ve never read anything by Tennessee
Williams so I’m glad to add him to my list of authors.
That You Can Finish
in One Sitting/Day Sula-Toni Morrison an interesting story, I
really didn’t like Sula at the end of the story.
By or about a
Celebrity Shop Girl- Steve Martin very good a fun read-who knew Steve Martin was so
versatile!
A Newbery or
Caldecott Winner-A Gathering of Days-A
New England Girl’s Journal, 1830-32 Joan
Bloss-this was written in the
format of journal entries by a girl in 1800s Massachusetts. I’m a sucker for anything that is historical.
By an author whose
last name begins with X, Y, or Z I am
Malala-Malal Yousafzai true
story about life as a girl in Afghanistan. Makes me appreciate that I live in
America.
With an Alliterative
Title Love Letters Debbie Macomber- A typical Debbie Macomber novel with a happy ending.
Set during a War or
Conflict All the Light That We Do Not
See Anthony Doerr-loved this book-I
was really hoping that some things would have turned out differently.
A Classic Mystery Death
in the Stocks-Georgette Heyer I
think Agatha Christie is a much better author.
There was some dialogue that made the characters appear to be shallow
and insipid. Perhaps that is in keeping
with the time period of the writing. I
might give this author another try as I’m a big fan of Dorothy Sayer and Agatha
Christie maybe this one was a dud.
Told by a Child
Narrator Lovely Bones-Alice Sebold Loved this-even though it
is a sad story, I was captivated until the very end. I wish the bad guy had been caught, but the
icicle was pretty clever.
Set in
Australia/Oceania Big Little Lies-Liane Morarity Liked this book better
than The Husband’s Secret. This was an audio book, and while it took me
a bit to warm up to the sound of the narrator’s voice. The narrator was one of the reasons why I
didn’t like The Husband’s Secret it;
however, she does a fantastic job of bringing the kids in this book to
life. I chuckled out loud lots of
times. I also think the overall plot of
this book was better than The Husbands
Secret
Free Square Tempting Fate-Jane Green another just
okay, this book has a similar to plot Love
Letters. A much different ending
from Love Letters which I didn’t find
plausible.
About Art or An
Artist The Painted Kiss-Elizabeth Hickey great book about an
Austrian artist and some of his well-known paintings. I plan to look into more books by this
author.
Written by Two or
More Authors Mycroft Holmes-Kareem ABudl-Jabbar and Anna Waterhouse-this
was another great book. I have to say I kept
visualizing Benedict Cumberbatch as Mycroft vs Sherlock.
That Spans Multiple
Generations The Family Corleone-Edward Flaco and Mario Puzo this was pretty good. Having been familiar with The Godfather, I sorta knew what was
going to happen. The alliances and
loyalties were interesting to read.
Popular Psychology Girl Interrupted-Susanna Kaysen wow-I’m glad we know a lot more about mental health
than we did back in the day.
Published the Year
You Were Born A Small Town in Germany-John Le Carre-good spy book. I’ve noticed a distinct writing style with
books that were written 40+ year ago. I
really had to read this one to keep
up with the players.
A Short Story
Anthology Runaway-Alice Munro I’ve read Alice Munro
before and I don’t quite get her
short stories.
About an Epic Journey
In the Heart of the Sea-Nathaniel Philbuck loved this, there
were some grisly parts as it goes into detail about the whaling industry in the
18/19th century, but I learned a lot about the whale ship Essex.
I even looked up more details after I was finished.
Set in the Place
Where you Live Peachtree Road-Anne River Siddons I loved reading
about my hometown, the time line was
a bit confusing because some of the landmarks mentioned were not in existence
at the time of the character setting.
Fiction set during a
Plague In the Shadow of Blackbirds-Cat Winters this was pretty good and it
was interesting to learn about the flu epidemic and some of the “cures”.
With a Day of the
Week in the Title Tuesdays with Morrie-Mitch Albom-this was really
good. The character Morrie reminded me
so much of PJ and the man he would have been.
This is a book I’d definitely re-read at some point.
With a Number in the Title Station Eleven-Emily St. John Mandel-this was pretty good for a post-apocalyptic
world plot. I was afraid it would be too
sci-fi-y, but it wasn’t I enjoyed reading how the survivors were able to
rebuild the world.
By an Author Who
Shares your First Name How to Tell
Toledo from the Night Sky Lydia
Netzer this book was pretty hoakie, maybe it was just me. Star crossed lovers, destiny, etc. or maybe
the narrator’s voice just annoyed me.
