whatcha readin'? {book 27::goal 24}

i loved this book.

i don’t really know what else
i can say
except…
i loved it (with great enthusiasm).

she is funny and sad,
cautious and bold…

definitely worth your time.
it’ll make you laugh
(but, not gonna lie, it might make you cry, too….)

5 out of 5 ♥♥♥♥♥'s

NEXT UP:  EDUCATED - TARA WESTOVER

whatcha readin'? {book 26::goal 24}

I am not going to lie…
I was a little dubious about this one.

If you know me, you know I am very…
ummmm…
modest? easily embarrassed? very flusterable?
so talking about this book
is going to be
very difficult for me…
(because I am apparently an 8 year old trapped
in the body of a grown woman).

So. Anyway.
What I am going to tell you
is that the book was very good…
it gave me a glimpse into unfamiliar cultures
and language….yet was able to show
the refrains that echo in all of our lives…
the complexity of mother-daughter relationships,
the fear of standing out; the fear of blending in,
the importance of friendship,
of feeling heard, feeling understood.

What I will tell you is
it was a book I was glad I read.

And yes…it is also about exactly what
the title suggests.

4 out of 5 ♥♥♥♥♥'s

NEXT UP:  ELEANOR OLIPHANT IS COMPLETELY FINE

whatcha readin'? {book 25 :: goal 24}

I am not going to lie.
I did not expect to like this book.

I was totally prepared to be fully
underwhelmed…
to push my way through it,
to force myself to finish it through gritted teeth
and bitter irritation.

I was
totally wrong.

It was soooooooo good.
Seriously, that many o’s…
soooooooooo good.
The writing, the words…
the way it made me tear up unexpectedly…
the crush I had on Benji…
and also how the author so skillfully
shifted my anger at different characters
and then made it melt away
without me even realizing it.

It made me think a little of one of my
favorite movies…Mystery, Alaska…
again….just the small town hocky fever idea…
but…it made me want to watch it again.

Anyway….read Beartown.
I hear there’s a sequel (*clapping hands excitedly!)
I also have “A Man Called Ove” but it’s still on the “To Be Read” pile…
:)

5 out of 5 ♥♥♥♥♥'s

NEXT UP:  EROTIC STORIES FOR PUNJABI WIDOWS - BALLI KAUR JASWAL

whatcha readin'? {books 22, 23 and 24::goal 24}

First off,
can I just say...
YAY ME!!!
I have actually met (and passed) my goal of 24 books
for this year!

Secondly...
I love Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman.
I used to read A LOT of Dragonlance books
which are generally by different authors
but the series that were done by Weis & Hickman
were always my favorite.

And these did not disappoint.

Vikings and dragons and magic...
old gods, mythology,
good vs evil...
a little bit of everything that gets
a geeky heart racing.

I know that there is a 4th book in this series
but I haven't read it yet...
but I did hear that the series may not get finished
so that makes me sad.

5 out of 5 ♥♥♥♥♥'s

NEXT UP:  BEARTOWN - FREDRIK BACKMAN

whatcha readin' {book 21::goal 24}

I am so happy that I read this book.

Sometimes I see a book like this
and I think that I really want to read it
but then, once I start, I realize it's the kind of stuff
I already knew or it's a little too "out-there" for me
to be able to make any kind of connection with.

But not this one.

This one was talking my language.

Plus...he made me laugh.

And a lot of it made sense to me.  I found myself taking notes
and nodding my head.  The whole idea of not giving an f
is not about giving up...it's about being aware of where you are
wasting your precious f's.  And using them on the things that matter
(ie not on the guy that accidentally cut you off on the way to work
this morning).

And this. 
This gets me every time.
The whole "backwards law" thing...
how accepting your negative experiences
is actually, then, a positive experience....
and that chasing positive experiences
can actually be a negative experience.

I know, right.

It's like that whole "This sentence is false" thing.
If that's true...then the sentence is actually true...
which kind of makes it false
(but then, that makes it true)
but if it's false, then...IT'S STILL TRUE.

OK.  Not really the same thing.
(I may have breathed in too much jet fuel over the weekend).

So anyway.  This was a good book.
I found myself thinking about it long after I had read it...
and talking about it with 18
(especially around driving offenses that set him off the deep end)
(hence the reference earlier to maybe not wasting your f's
on the guy that cut you off).

I totally recommend this book, if you like this kind of thing.
It was one that was totally worth the hype in my mind.  :)

4.5 out of 5 ♥♥♥♥♥'s

NEXT UP:  BONES OF THE DRAGON - MARGARET WEIS & TRACY HICKMAN