Book #50

Schindler's List by Thomas Keneally

429 pages

 

 

This accidentally was my last book. After the atrocious book I read last, I decided I need a classic to finish out the year and my goal. I grabbed this at the library and only realized after I began reading it how depressing it was to end the year with this.

This is the story of Schindler, a well-off business owner who had a hand in saving a group of Jewish people in the Holocaust. How it all played out was very interesting, especially since I didn't know much about his story at all (I know, I know -- I've never seen the movie!).
 

I had trouble following some of this, because there isn't much dialogue and I kept getting confused on all the people in the story. I definitely think a re-read will be in my future with this one eventually.

 

Speaking of ... ready to start my new challenge for 2015!! I'm still finalizing my details. 

Book #49

Uganda Be Kidding Me by Chelsea Handler

257 pages

This was pretty much a terrible way to wind down the year. Love Chelsea, loved many of her other books. This one was boring. I practically forced my way through it.

Next up: Schindler's List by Thomas Keneally

Book #48

Animal Farm by George Orwell

152 pages

 

 

Animal Farm got put on my to-read list after reading an article somewhere about all the books you were forced to read in high school. After reading the list, this was the main one that bothered me that I had never read. So I put it on my list ... and there it stayed ... for a long, long, long time.

 

Is it terrible that I probably would have read it sooner if I had realized how short it was? I was surprised when I picked it up this morning (yes, it's been that kind of Saturday when all I've done is read most of the day ... Finished Paper Towns this morning as well).

 

Of course, Animal Farm is one of the most famous (or maybe just THE most famous) satire and allegory in literature. As much as I enjoy history, I will be the first to admit I had Wikipedia pulled up as I read this book so I could better understand the ties. (In other news, how did I survive high school without Wikipedia? I didn't start using it until college. SparkNotes was as good as it got back in high school, and sometimes I felt like I needed SparkNotes for the SparkNotes!!)

 

I felt strongly I needed to add at least one more "classic" to my list (to make up for reading the Teen Mom 2 book, I guess ;) ). This one was a perfect one to add to the list.

 

Next up: (in a completely different direction...) Uganda Be Kidding Me by Chelsea Handler

 

P.S. I am almost done with my 50!!!! I'm feeling great about it!!! Can't wait to start brainstorming 2015's goal!

Book #45

**Shoot ... this post got drafted accidentally. oops!!

Huge by Sasha Paley

272 pages

 

Huge has been on my reading list since ABC Family came out with a TV show based on it a few years back.

Wil is a teenager being forced into fat camp for the summer by her health-conscious rich parents. April has saved all year to afford to send herself to the camp to help her lose weight and become more popular.

The storyline was pretty cute, as the unlikely roommates get into some hijinks together, but the endless brand and label-dropping was extremely distracting.

Next up: Thirteen Reasons Why by John Asher

 

Book #47

Paper Towns by John Green

305 pages

 

 

Paper Towns started off so strong. One night, Q's girl-next-door shows up in his bedroom window, asking for his car and his help. She takes him on a night filled with revenge and pranks around their town.

This book is divided into 3 parts. The first part of the story takes place in this one night. And man, it was fun! If Green had written the first part as a short story and left it at that, I would have been thoroughly entertained with just that.

But no, we move on to Part 2. Part 2 is the aftermath of that night, and it is long ... and boring. It takes place over several weeks leading up to Q's high school graduation day. Part 3 gets better, but sadly, not good enough to save this book, in my opinion.

I was disappointed in this one. Still eager to try out some more of Green's books, though, of course.

Next up: Animal Farm by George Orwell

Book #46

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

304 pages

I love YA. I love well-written YA. I love YA characters that feel so real to me.

These YA characters didn't feel all that real to me. But, I read the entire thing in about 2 hours, so it kept me interested just the same.

Clay receives a strange package one day -- seven cassette tapes. After he begins listening to it, he recognizes the voice on the tape as Hannah, a classmate he knew that recently committed suicide. On each side of the tapes, Hannah describes a person and a situation that led her to her final days before committing suicide.

I enjoyed the descriptions of high school and living in a small town. That was all very familiar to me. But something about the two main characters -- Hannah and Clay -- just struck me as off and I'm unsure exactly of why.

Next up: Paper Towns by John Green

 

Book #44

Wedding Night by Sophie Kinsella

464 pages

 

I thought since I am planning a wedding, I would indulge myself in some mindless chick lit about weddings. Lottie is convinced her long-term boyfriend is about to propose, but when he doesn't, she meets back up with an old boyfriend and decides to run off and get married.

Fliss, her older sister, knows Lottie has just made a huge mistake and attempts to foil the newlyweds by making sure they don't consummate their marriage on the honeymoon so Lottie will be eligible for an annulment when she returns.

This story could have been funny, could have been cute, but it was almost 500 pages, and just too damn long. I could not WAIT to be done with this book.

Next up: Huge by Sasha Paley