Reading Challenged: 2019

Sunday, December 29, 2019

Lost Roses

Title: Lost Roses

Author: Martha Hall Kelly
Publisher: Random House Audio
ISBN: n/a

Why Read?: For Fun

Thoughts: Interesting story during an interesting time, but unfortunately, I only cared about the characters in very specific settings and situations.

Rating: 3/5

Tuesday, December 24, 2019

This Time Will Be Different

Title: This Time Will Be Different

Author: Misa Sugiura
Publisher: HarperTeen
ISBN: 9780062473448

Why Read?: For Fun

Thoughts: Needed a more sympathetic main character.

Rating: 2/5

The House on Mango Street

Title: The House on Mango Street

Author: Sandra Cisneros
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 97800679734772

Why Read?: For Fun

Thoughts: A collection of poetic vignettes that have a nostalgic feel.

Rating: 4/5

Saturday, December 21, 2019

Stacking the Shelves: 12/8-12/21

For possible review (on Bookloons):

Nameless Queen by Rebecca McLaughlin

Received as a gift:

Return to the Altar by Rev. Mathew C. John

Thursday, December 19, 2019

The Golden Hour

Title: The Golden Hour

Author: Beatriz Williams
Publisher: HarperAudio
ISBN: 9780062930255

Why Read?: For Fun

Thoughts: Intriguing historical fiction about some events that I knew nothing about.

Rating: 5/5

Sunday, December 15, 2019

Leaving the Witness

Title: Leaving the Witness: Exiting a Religion and Finding a Life

Author: Amber Scorah
Publisher: Viking
ISBN: 9780735222540

Why Read?: For Fun

Thoughts: Very interesting memoir, but the last chapter has a very different tone.

Rating: 4/5

Witch Hunt

Title: Witch Hunt

Author: Patti Larsen
Publisher: Patti Larsen
ISBN: n/a

Why Read?: For Fun

Thoughts: Started off slow, but really picked up halfway through.

Rating: 3/5

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

The Night Fire

Title: The Night Fire

Author: Michael Connelly
Publisher: Hachette
ISBN: n/a

Why Read?: For Fun

Thoughts: Fast-paced, enjoyable read, and interesting that all of the cases featured did not relate.

Rating: 4/5

Monday, December 9, 2019

How Could She

Title: How Could She

Author: Lauren Mechling
Publisher: Viking
ISBN: 9780525559382

Why Read?: For Fun

Thoughts: Very much a slice-of-life story that left me wondering about the title and the point, but not necessarily in a bad way.

Rating: 3/5

Anne Frank's Diary

Title: Anne Frank's Diary: The Graphic Adapatation

Author: Anne Frank, Ari Foleman, & David Polonsky
Publisher: Pantheon
ISBN: 9781101871799

Why Read?: For Fun

Thoughts: Very true graphic adaptation that honors the original source.

Rating: 4/5

Saturday, December 7, 2019

Stacking the Shelves: 11/24-12/7

LibraryThing Early Review:

Celestina's Burnings by Annemarie Schaivi Pedersen

Wednesday, December 4, 2019

The Wedding Party

Title: The Wedding Party

Author: Jasmine Guillory
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 9781984890535

Why Read?: For Fun

Thoughts: Very fun romance with realistic and likeable characters.

Rating: 4/5

Monday, December 2, 2019

Very Nice

Title: Very Nice

Author: Marcy Dermansky
Publisher: Knopf
ISBN: 97805256555633

Why Read?: For Fun

Thoughts: Enjoyable beach read, but all over the place - and definitely needs a different title.

Rating: 3/5

The Stones, the Crows, the Grass, the Moon

Title: The Stones, the Crows, the Grass, the Moon

Author: Walter Kirn
Publisher: Amazon Orignals
ISBN: n/a

Why Read?: For Fun

Thoughts: More a personal essay about dealing with his mother's death than anything.

Rating: 3/5

Monday, November 25, 2019

They All Fall Down

Title: They All Fall Down

Author: Rachel Howzell Hall
Publisher: Forge
ISBN: 9780765398147

Why Read?: For Fun

Thoughts: A modern And Then There Were None, but without Christie's master mystery-weaving.

Rating: 2/5

The Lager Queen of Minnesota

Title: The Lager Queen of Minnesota

Author: Pamela Dormann
Publisher: Tantor
ISBN: 978399563058

Why Read?: For Fun

Thoughts: Charming story that truly is about what leads three women to the final moments.

Rating: 4/5

Saturday, November 23, 2019

Stacking the Shelves: 11/17-11/23

For possible review (on Bookloons):

Starsight by Brandon Sanderson

Friday, November 22, 2019

An Invisible Thread

Title: An Invisible Thread: The True Story of an 11-Year-Old Panhandler, a Busy Sales Executive, and an Unlikely Meeting with Destiny

Author: Laura Schroff & Alex Treseniowki
Publisher: Tantor
ISBN: n/a

Why Read?: For Fun

Thoughts: Wonderfully uplifting true story.

Rating: 5/5

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

To Kill a Mockingbird: A Graphic Novel

Title: To Kill a Mockingbird: A Graphic Novel

Author: Harper Lee & Fred Fordham
Publisher: Harper
ISBN: 9780062798183

Why Read?: For Fun

Thoughts: Even though I have read the original, watched the movie, and seen the play multiple times, this graphic adaptation helped to bring out some of the finer points of the story.

Rating: 4/5

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Three Women

Title: Three Women

Author: Lisa Taddeo
Publisher: Avid Reader
ISBN: 9781451642292

Why Read?: For Fun

Thoughts: I have never read a work of non-fiction that has read so much like fiction - highly engaging even if the premise is a little hard to explain.

Rating: 4/5

The Woman in the Strongbox

Title: The Woman in the Strongbox

Author: Maureen O'Hagan
Publisher: Amazon Orignals
ISBN: n/a

Why Read?: For Fun

Thoughts: I know this was true crime, but there were still way too many unanswered questions at the end.

Rating: 2/5

The Family Upstairs

Title: The Family Upstairs

Author: Lisa Jewell
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: n/a

Why Read?: For Fun

Thoughts: Good atmospheric mystery with lots of twists.

Rating: 4/5

Stacking the Shelves: 11/10-11/16

Swapped for on My Subscription Addiction:

The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena

The Architect of Song by A.G. Howard

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Mine

Title: Mine

Author: Courtney Cole
Publisher: Gallery
ISBN: 9781501184543

Why Read?: For Fun

Thoughts: I did not like either of these women and thought they both went too far, and the ending was rather unsatisfying for that level of crazy.

Rating: 2/5

How to Forget

Title: How to Forget: A Daughter's Memoir

Author: Kate Mulgrew
Publisher: William Morrow
ISBN: 9780062846815

Why Read?: For Fun

Thoughts: Mulgrew looks at her life with her father and then her mother in this intimate memoir.

Rating: 3/5

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Pimp My Airship

Title: Pimp My Airship

Author: Maurice Broaddus
Publisher: self
ISBN: n/a

Why Read?: Early Review

Thoughts: I could see the idea that Broaddus was trying to convey in this steampunk novel, but it was a little long and convoluted.

Rating: 2/5

Stacking the Shelves: 10/27-11/9

LibraryThing Early Review:

Virtual Velocity by Anthony Mora

Thursday, November 7, 2019

The Dutch House

Title: The Dutch House

Author: Ann Pachett
Publisher: HarperAudio
ISBN: n/a

Why Read?: For Fun

Thoughts: Beautiful and engaging story, but it felt like it was missing a reason for being.

Rating: 4/5

Friday, November 1, 2019

Daisy Jones & the Six

Title: Daisy Jones & the Six

Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: n/a

Why Read?: For Fun

Thoughts: Listening to the full-cast audio book of this was like listening to a serious version of This Is Spinal Tap.

Rating: 3/5

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Summer of '69

Title: Summer of '69

Author: Elin Hilderbrand
Publisher: Hachette
ISBN: n/a

Why Read?: For Fun

Thoughts: A great summer read, but I had a lot of trouble remember it took place in the past and then historical elements would through me when mentioned.

Rating: 3/5