Every now and then, I like to share some of the books that I’ve been reading. While it has nothing to do with couponing, reading is one of the great loves of my life! Plus, I figure a lot of you are library goers and/or Kindle readers and may be on the prowl for a good book to read! I’ve included Amazon links for each book below, but you should be able to easily locate any of these at your local library.
Here are a few of the books that have passed my nightstand over the past several months – many of them were selected by my book club.
11/22/63
by Stephen King
I actually just read this book (and we discussed it last night!) so it’s fresh in my mind. The premise is pretty straightforward: a man has a unique opportunity to travel in time to stop the events of the JFK assassination, as well as other events that have happened in the past. I’m not a huge fan of time travel, but most of the folks in my book club were and loved it. I felt that King did an excellent job of bringing the late ’50s and early ’60s to life, and made me curious to learn more about this period in American history. I did struggle at parts understanding the protagonist’s motives for some of his choices, but overall it was an entertaining (albeit long) read and was excellent material for a book club discussion. I’d recommend this book if you enjoy American history, time travel, and suspense/thriller type stories.
4.5-star average rating after 10K+ reviews
2012 LA Times Book Prize
$11.29 Paperback - Amazon
$2.99 Kindle (with audio feature) – Amazon (that’s the route I went)
Notes from a Blue Bike: The Art of Living Intentionally in a Chaotic World
Tsh Oxenreider
Let me preface this brief review by saying I’m a huge Tsh fan (Art of Simple, formerly Simple Mom). I use her daily to-do list every day (I plan on sharing more about that in the next day or two). What’s more, “intentional” is the word I chose to focus on for 2014. So reading her new book all about living intentionally? Seemed like a shoe-in. On a personal and spiritual level, I was interested that this book was put out by a Christian publisher. I was fully expecting her to approach intentional living from a faith-based perspective.
Unfortunately, my hopes for this book were woefully unmet. While I was definitely curious to hear about some of the choices Tsh has made in her own life in regards to living intentionally, I did not get a sense of how the average/normal person would do this in modern day America. The book read more like memoir and less like self-help. There was also very little emphasis given to matters of faith – it was more about live the life you want to live, the life that seems best to you (with the occasional peppering of scripture to support her ideals).
This book may be good for you if you’re looking for inspiration about how an intentional life might look, but if you’re looking for more “how to,” I’d steer you to her book Organized Simplicity which provides straight-forward practical advice. I will say, Notes from a Blue Bike would be excellent material to spark a discussion, such as a church group or book club.
4.5-star average rating after 139 reviews
$14.99 – $17.36 on Amazon, various formats
And the Mountains Echoed
Khaled Hosseini
Our book club read and loved The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, so we definitely wanted to add And the Mountains Echoed to our list! If you’ve never read a Hosseini novel, I should warn you… the characters will stay with you, and the stories will haunt you for a long time afterwards. That was definitely the case with And the Mountains Echoed. Hosseini is a master storyteller and a brilliant novelist – probably one of my absolute favorites. In this heart wrenching novel, Hosseini explores family relationships and the way those bonds strengthen and sever over time. The theme is given dimensions through the portrayal of several characters, places, and generations. He also uncovers the role memory and separation may play in family bonds. A powerful novel.
4-star average rating after 14K+ reviews
$7.50 – $14.36 on Amazon, various formats
Eleanor & Park
Rainbow Rowell
I loved this book. The characters were sweet and memorable and the ’80s setting? Perfect. Someone please turn this into a movie. PLEASE. Rowell did an excellent job capturing what it means to be a teenager – and a teenager in love. She also explores the impact a family can have on a teenager’s life and view of their self and the world – whether that family is intact or dysfunctional. This was an easy, straight-forward read that would be nice to pack on a plane or enjoy over a weekend. Bonus points if you were a teenager in the ’80s because you’ll appreciate her references.
As a final note – This book is billed as Young Adult, but given the amount of language and some of the themes, you may want to preview this book before deciding whether or not you want your tween to read it.
4.5-star average rating – 3600 customer reviews
$7.99 – $11.99 on Amazon, various formats
Divergent
Veronica Roth
A lot of people are going to hate me for saying this, but I really didn’t like Divergent. I didn’t connect with the main character at all and I found many plot points so unbelievable to the point I couldn’t get past them. I felt like the author was trying to portray a young “tough” girl and the result fell flat for me. In a word, the book annoyed me. The story does move forward quickly and is a light, entertaining read (except for all the violence, I suppose). Like The Hunger Games (which I enjoyed more), this book is categorized as a Young Adult read. After the first book, I had no interest to finish the trilogy.
If you really want to read this book, please don’t let me stop you. I know this book got rave reviews and lots of people are jumping out of their seats applauding wildly about it. I’m admittedly not a fan of Sci-Fi and post-apocalyptic novels, so take my review with a grain of salt.
4.5-average star rating after 42K+ reviews
$4.99 – $10.18 on Amazon, various formats
Wild
Cheryl Strayed
Several of you recommended that I read Wild, an autobiographical book about a gal who decides to hike the Pacific Crest Trail from California to Washington by herself. While the premise sure sounded interesting, I quickly discovered I wasn’t much a fan of Ms. Strayed or the book. I found it to be a bit indulgent and I never really connected with the point of her trip. (Again, I know I’m likely upsetting a ton of people out there because this book got rave reviews. I guess I’m not your average book reader, huh?) In the end, I decided I didn’t care enough about her personal quest for finding herself, so I abandon the book with about 50 pages to go. My book club was pretty equally divided on who enjoyed/didn’t enjoy the book.
4-star average rating after 8K+ reviews
$6.99 – $11.83 on Amazon, various formats
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Wondering what’s on my bookshelf for the next few months? These are the picks my book club has selected for the next few months. Feel free to join in and read them with me!
June: The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho
July: The Beautiful and the Damned, by F. Scott Fitzgerald
August: The Fault in our Stars, by John Greene
We’re always looking for good book suggestions, too! Please leave a comment if you have one you think we should consider. We read all genres.