books I've read this year
1 Mar 2013 03:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jennickelsI'm really bored and in the mood for an organizational project. Yes, I'm weird. I like to organize stuff (objects, stuff in storage, books, information, whatever). It destresses me, calms me down, gives my brain something to do. I actually do this crap for fun, like create databases and spreadsheets of information.
Anyway, this list will look at the books I've read in January and February, grouped mostly in the order I read them except for series that were split up by other books (I will list them together). If I can remember my thoughts about said book I'll mention them, but by now, they kind of all blur together, lol.
#1 Swipe (12/30-1/3) 2/5 stars
#3 Sneak (1/3-1/6) 2/5 stars
by Evan Angler
These are the books I complained about with the head hopping back in January. The story is a familiar dystopian sci-fi theme of people being forced to be microchipped to live in society as full citizens. I like these kinds of books. The storyline follows 13yo Logan as he comes of age and has to decide to accept the "Mark" or not. Not accepting means expulsion from civilized society, living on the fringe in abject poverty with no way to make money (can't get a job without the mark) or any place to live. He's afraid of getting the mark because his sister supposedly died during her marking. What follows is an interesting story of him finding out the secrets surrounding his sister's "death" and his downfall into the criminal unmarked society. The second book has him and his friends trying to rescue his sister from the government. Only she doesn't want to be rescued. He almost single handedly causes a revolution and exposes the government's plots to take care of the unmarked problem. I assume book 3 (coming out this year) would show his triumph. Now the story was kind over the top and unbelievable but it's written more fore middle grades (since the character is only 13). I don't mind the silliness of the things Logan and his friends do (sneaking into government prisons, escaping armed guards pretty easily, causing riots) because I can suspend my disbelief for the story. If the rest is interesting or funny or something else that catches my attention.
But the head hopping was intolerable. Especially in the 1st book. The second wasn't quite so bad so I was able to get through it. I noticed towards the end of the 2nd book that the story was leaning more towards the religious idea of the mark. I kept thinking about that reading both books but there wasn't really much in the way of that. Until the end of book 2 and I could see how it related to that aspect. But it wasn't a big deal. I gave the books 2 stars each for the head hopping that drove me crazy. I probably won't read the last book.
#2 Death Without Company (12/28-1/14) 4/5 stars
#20 Kindness Goes Unpunished (2/4-2/6) 4/5 stars
#21 Another Man's Moccasins (2/6-2/7) 4/5 stars
by Craig Johnson
These are books 2-4 of the Walt Longmire mystery series. Ever since I read Julia Spencer-Fleming's Clare Fergusson series (which I dubbed Millers Kill Mysteries and wrote several fanfics for) I've been looking for more mystery series similar with the humor, interesting cases and sexual tension I love. Walt Longmire does that for me. I love his character. He's a 50-something sheriff of a small town in Wyoming where's he grew up before going off to college in California and ultimately ending up in Vietnam after he's drafted. The supporting cast of characters in the series is hilarious. From the Walt's predecessor, Lucian--an ornery old man with one leg who reminds me of Cotton from King of the Hill--who has a standing chess date with Walt every Tuesday night to his deputies who give him all manner of trouble like disappearing to fish for days at a time and being exceptionally good looking but cusses like a sailor to his best friend, Henry Standing Bear--an Indian (Henry's preferred term) living on the North Cheyenne reservation.
The cases are always interesting, pertaining to small town life or living in a secluded, rural area to Indian affairs. The 2nd book deals with the death of a Basque woman that Lucian had been in love with briefly married to (for like 10 minutes) in his past. Walt is still reeling from the death of his love interest in the 1st book and has a hard time trusting again. The 3rd book takes Walt to Philadelphia to visit his lawyer daughter. While there he is injured and suffers brain damage that nearly destroys Walt. The only thing keeping him going is the will to find her attempted killer with the help of Vic's family (all cops except one brother). He's kind of sweet on Vic's mom until Vic, herself, shows up in town to help because she's worried about Walt. So begins a relationship between the two. The 4th book they are all back in Wyoming, including his daughter who is still recuperating from her injury. Things between him and Vic are weird and he's confused about his feelings for her. It doesn't help that he spends half the book flashing back to his first case as a Marine investigator in Vietnam where he befriended a Vietnamese prostitute, found her murdered and solved the case.
I really love the series and I'm patiently waiting for books 5 and 6 to arrive at my library (whoever has them now is a slow reader). I highly recommend them just for the crazy characters.
#4 The Twelve (1/6-1/10) 4/5 stars
by Justin Cronin
This is the sequel to The Passage, a post-apocalypse/vampire creature story. It's your typical biology gone wrong plot where a virus creates twelve mutated human/vampire hybrids. These aren't your typical vampires, though.
What I like about this book (and it's predecessor) is the stream of conscious style writing. The first book is told from multiple viewpoints spanning generations and jumping between them (POV and time) until the entire story unfolds. Most of it is about a group of young adults that have lived in a colony set up generations before they were born. They are forced out and have to find out if there are any other humans left alive. The 2nd book starts on stuff that happened before, detailing some of the events that are touched on in the first book. Then progresses until it follows the characters from the first book, 5 years later, as they try and kill The Twelve (the original infected/vampires). All leading up to the climatic battle at the end where all twelve are killed. Only problem is they don't get Zero--the original vampire (a human infected straight from the source many, many years before) used to create the virus that turns the twelve. So I assume book 3 will follow the hunt for zero.
The book is pretty gory and and can be confusing in the way events are laid out. Like I said, it's stream of conscious writing so whoever has the POV at the time might meander through many thoughts before actually answering a question or coming to a conclusion. But it works. I also like the backstory of the twelve, how they escape and ravage the country (maybe the world). It's different in that there are no zombies, lol. The vampire creatures are freaky, and they sure as hell don't sparkle. They are creatures but you learn eventually that they are captive to their sire (one of the twelve) and do his bidding. The twelve were each in prison for some heinous crime (mostly murder and sexual assault) heading for death row. Carter, ends up not actually being guilty of his crime (that comes out in book 1) so after he's infected and turns lots of people to vampires he still has a conscious of some sort and realizes he's a monster and goes into hiding, turning off his subjects. They only feed when they are starving and don't turn humans any more. Carter ends up helping the humans defeat the other eleven. Once they are dead the rest of the vampires (they are called many different names in the book) are set free and let themselves be killed to kind of save their souls.
Anyway, the books are really good if you like that kind of dark, creepy story.
#5 The Disenchantments (1/11-1/12) 4/5 stars
by Nina LaCour
This falls into my guilty pleasure group of young adult contemporary romance. I realized while reading a ton of dystopian stuff I really loved the romance in them so started branching out to contemporary stuff. The Disenchanments is about two friends, Colby and Bev, who go on tour with Bev's band (a girl punk group) after graduating high school. Once their tour is over Colby and Bev are supposed to leave the country to backpack around Europe. Colby has been planning this trip for years but then Bev destroys it all by tell him she decided to go to college instead. The rest of the story has Colby trying to come to terms with the betrayal and his feelings for Bev who has been his best friend for as long as he can remember. It's a coming of age kind of story. And like many other YA books it has a focus around music.
I'm not much of a music person. I like all kinds of music (including current pop which people thinks sucks) but I don't really know names of bands, songs or albums. I mean, I can sing along to quite a bit of stuff (from oldies to classic rock to early 90s rap and modern pop stuff) but I'm not "in" to it like some people. So I don't always get the whole music theme in the books. But I learn a lot about music, genres and artists while reading which is cool. I love when the authors leave a playlist for their novels (whether it's songs they listened to while writing, were inspiring or actually play a part in the novel itself) that way I can check it out for myself. Other things I liked were that the story is from a boy's POV--Colby and that it takes place in the Pacific Northwest (as have been quite a few novels I've read lately). Since I now live here I can picture the settings more fully. It gets me into the story.
#6 Counting Backwards (1/12-1/13) 4/5 stars
by Laura Lascarso
There are two kinds of YA romance that I read--the light, fluffier stuff that can be silly and slightly unbelievable at times (like The Disenchantments) and the more realistic, dark and gritty kind (I guess there's a third kind that's a hybrid of the two--gritty and dark but slightly unbelievable which makes it silly). Counting Backwards is the dark kind.
The story takes place in a psychriatic correctional facility for teens where Taylor is sent after she steals a car and resists arrest. She spends most of the novel plotting ways to escape and avoid therapy. There's also a cast of interesting, if mentally unstable, supporting characters. Eventually Taylor befriends AJ, a quiet (he never talks to anyone but her and his therapist) and secretive boy. He helps her try to escape which fails. When she tries again he turns her in because he doesn't want her to get hurt or in trouble which destroys their budding relationship at first. Eventually Taylor comes to terms with her demons, straightens out her life and falls in love with AJ. She leaves a model patient, even mentoring new girls. AJ is still stuck there for a few more years but he's talking now and getting over his own past.
I liked the portrayal of the troubled and/or mentally ill teens in the facility. As someone that suffers from a mental illness I like to see these kinds of books that look into it deeper. It's not easy being a teenager. Add in mental instability for whatever reason (on top of the usual instability of a teen) and it's a recipe for disaster. Sometimes I'm surprised I surved my teen years considering I got zero treatment or help all those years.
#7 This Is Not a Drill (1/14-1/15) 3/5 stars
by Beck McDowell
This falls into the darker side of my romance preferences although it's kind of unbelievable (in the way the teens react to the situation). Reading this just a month after the whole Sandy Hook shooting made this book even more intense. The story follows two teens, Emery and Jake, who spend mornings helping in a 1st grade classroom at a local elementary school. They used to date but now there is a huge elephant sitting in the room between them. While they are helping one day a crazy father arrives to retrieve his son. When the teacher refuses him access and the office won't allow him to take the boy he snaps and pulls a gun on the teacher. Things escalate from there.
The guy is a soldier just back from Iraq who lost custody of his son because of his instability due to PTSD. He's been drinking. Not a good mix. The unbelievable part isn't the set up (because obviously this can happen) but the way the two teens handle everything. They are perfecly calm during the whole thing, keep 20+ 1st graders under control (for the most part) and plot on how to take the guy down safely. Jake even turns hero at the end. I'm not saying teens can't be like this but it seems highly unlikely they'd be so put together and calm. They also have time to rekindle their relationship while a madman points a gun at them through half the book.
In the end three people are dead (a security guard who comes to investigate the trouble, the gunman and the gunman's best friend--also suffering from PTSD--who can't handle everything going on and kills himself. The teacher almost dies from complications of her diabetes but survives thanks to the quick thinking of the kids and the kindness of the gunman who allows her to leave as long as the kids and teens stay. Jake is shot trying to disarm the gunman. The gunman's son is also almost shot when he runs from the room (damn trigger happy SWAT guys). Being that the main plot of the story was all too real at the time made this book a little creepy. Meagan refused to read it because it was too realistic for her taste.
#8 Carter Finally Gets It (1/15-1/15) 3/5 stars
by Brent Crawford
This is another book written from the boy's POV. The story is pretty silly--about Carter (a lazy nickname because it's actually his last name) who has trouble navigating high school. He's got ADHD bad and stutters when he tries to talk to girls. He's starting high school and is totally not ready. He tends to screw up just about everything he does. The story is raunchy at times (it is from a 14yo boy's POV), obsessed with sex and girls, but mostly just silly. And funny. Carter's is such a screw up. This is the first in a series about Carter. I'll probably read the others eventually just to see what other antics this kid gets up to.
#9 Glitch (1/16-1/17) 3/5 stars
by Heather Anastasiu
Starts out as your typical sci-fi dystopian novel with a controlling government that chips every person at birth to control their emotions and create the perfect citizenry. There is no color or emotions in the world, just drones. Except for Zoe and a few others who "glitch" or have their chips deactivate for short times letting them feel emotions and see the world how it is. Zoe's glitches become nearly constant which cause her to freak out because she's sure the government will find out and deactivate her (just as it sounds). Whe meets a boy that was never chipped who works for an underground movement that infiltrates the cities to save the glitching kids before they are adults and have permanant never-glitching chips put in. Then they add in the x-men like powers which always livens things up.
I forget why I only gave it 3 stars. I believe the 2nd book comes out this year which I'll probably read.
#10 Lola and the Boy Next Door (1/18-1/20) 4/5 stars
by Stephanie Perkins
This book is by the author of Anna and the French Kiss which I have not read yet. It's not a sequel although Anna and St. Clair make an appearance. This is the kind of cheesy romance that I like. Lola is this really weird girl who lives with her two dads in San Francisco. Her signature style is the weirder the better. Her outfits are just all over the place. She has a boyfriend her dad's can't stand and has secretly been in love with the boy next door for years. But he breaks her heart right before he moves away for two years. Now he's back rekindling feelings Lola long-hoped buried for good. This is the angsty, goofy kind of stuff I live for. It's even got a love triangle. I'm probably the only adult woman alive that loves love triangles even if they are cliche or idiotic.
Hmmm. I think I'm going to have to stop with this post. That's a lot of books I've listed already and it's hard to remember what they are all about and why I liked them, lol. I'll make another post documenting books 11-20 (or thereabouts) tomorrow. Or later today. Whenever.
Anyway, this list will look at the books I've read in January and February, grouped mostly in the order I read them except for series that were split up by other books (I will list them together). If I can remember my thoughts about said book I'll mention them, but by now, they kind of all blur together, lol.
#1 Swipe (12/30-1/3) 2/5 stars
#3 Sneak (1/3-1/6) 2/5 stars
by Evan Angler
These are the books I complained about with the head hopping back in January. The story is a familiar dystopian sci-fi theme of people being forced to be microchipped to live in society as full citizens. I like these kinds of books. The storyline follows 13yo Logan as he comes of age and has to decide to accept the "Mark" or not. Not accepting means expulsion from civilized society, living on the fringe in abject poverty with no way to make money (can't get a job without the mark) or any place to live. He's afraid of getting the mark because his sister supposedly died during her marking. What follows is an interesting story of him finding out the secrets surrounding his sister's "death" and his downfall into the criminal unmarked society. The second book has him and his friends trying to rescue his sister from the government. Only she doesn't want to be rescued. He almost single handedly causes a revolution and exposes the government's plots to take care of the unmarked problem. I assume book 3 (coming out this year) would show his triumph. Now the story was kind over the top and unbelievable but it's written more fore middle grades (since the character is only 13). I don't mind the silliness of the things Logan and his friends do (sneaking into government prisons, escaping armed guards pretty easily, causing riots) because I can suspend my disbelief for the story. If the rest is interesting or funny or something else that catches my attention.
But the head hopping was intolerable. Especially in the 1st book. The second wasn't quite so bad so I was able to get through it. I noticed towards the end of the 2nd book that the story was leaning more towards the religious idea of the mark. I kept thinking about that reading both books but there wasn't really much in the way of that. Until the end of book 2 and I could see how it related to that aspect. But it wasn't a big deal. I gave the books 2 stars each for the head hopping that drove me crazy. I probably won't read the last book.
#2 Death Without Company (12/28-1/14) 4/5 stars
#20 Kindness Goes Unpunished (2/4-2/6) 4/5 stars
#21 Another Man's Moccasins (2/6-2/7) 4/5 stars
by Craig Johnson
The cases are always interesting, pertaining to small town life or living in a secluded, rural area to Indian affairs. The 2nd book deals with the death of a Basque woman that Lucian had been in love with briefly married to (for like 10 minutes) in his past. Walt is still reeling from the death of his love interest in the 1st book and has a hard time trusting again. The 3rd book takes Walt to Philadelphia to visit his lawyer daughter. While there he is injured and suffers brain damage that nearly destroys Walt. The only thing keeping him going is the will to find her attempted killer with the help of Vic's family (all cops except one brother). He's kind of sweet on Vic's mom until Vic, herself, shows up in town to help because she's worried about Walt. So begins a relationship between the two. The 4th book they are all back in Wyoming, including his daughter who is still recuperating from her injury. Things between him and Vic are weird and he's confused about his feelings for her. It doesn't help that he spends half the book flashing back to his first case as a Marine investigator in Vietnam where he befriended a Vietnamese prostitute, found her murdered and solved the case.
I really love the series and I'm patiently waiting for books 5 and 6 to arrive at my library (whoever has them now is a slow reader). I highly recommend them just for the crazy characters.
#4 The Twelve (1/6-1/10) 4/5 stars
by Justin Cronin
What I like about this book (and it's predecessor) is the stream of conscious style writing. The first book is told from multiple viewpoints spanning generations and jumping between them (POV and time) until the entire story unfolds. Most of it is about a group of young adults that have lived in a colony set up generations before they were born. They are forced out and have to find out if there are any other humans left alive. The 2nd book starts on stuff that happened before, detailing some of the events that are touched on in the first book. Then progresses until it follows the characters from the first book, 5 years later, as they try and kill The Twelve (the original infected/vampires). All leading up to the climatic battle at the end where all twelve are killed. Only problem is they don't get Zero--the original vampire (a human infected straight from the source many, many years before) used to create the virus that turns the twelve. So I assume book 3 will follow the hunt for zero.
The book is pretty gory and and can be confusing in the way events are laid out. Like I said, it's stream of conscious writing so whoever has the POV at the time might meander through many thoughts before actually answering a question or coming to a conclusion. But it works. I also like the backstory of the twelve, how they escape and ravage the country (maybe the world). It's different in that there are no zombies, lol. The vampire creatures are freaky, and they sure as hell don't sparkle. They are creatures but you learn eventually that they are captive to their sire (one of the twelve) and do his bidding. The twelve were each in prison for some heinous crime (mostly murder and sexual assault) heading for death row. Carter, ends up not actually being guilty of his crime (that comes out in book 1) so after he's infected and turns lots of people to vampires he still has a conscious of some sort and realizes he's a monster and goes into hiding, turning off his subjects. They only feed when they are starving and don't turn humans any more. Carter ends up helping the humans defeat the other eleven. Once they are dead the rest of the vampires (they are called many different names in the book) are set free and let themselves be killed to kind of save their souls.
Anyway, the books are really good if you like that kind of dark, creepy story.
#5 The Disenchantments (1/11-1/12) 4/5 stars
by Nina LaCour
This falls into my guilty pleasure group of young adult contemporary romance. I realized while reading a ton of dystopian stuff I really loved the romance in them so started branching out to contemporary stuff. The Disenchanments is about two friends, Colby and Bev, who go on tour with Bev's band (a girl punk group) after graduating high school. Once their tour is over Colby and Bev are supposed to leave the country to backpack around Europe. Colby has been planning this trip for years but then Bev destroys it all by tell him she decided to go to college instead. The rest of the story has Colby trying to come to terms with the betrayal and his feelings for Bev who has been his best friend for as long as he can remember. It's a coming of age kind of story. And like many other YA books it has a focus around music.
I'm not much of a music person. I like all kinds of music (including current pop which people thinks sucks) but I don't really know names of bands, songs or albums. I mean, I can sing along to quite a bit of stuff (from oldies to classic rock to early 90s rap and modern pop stuff) but I'm not "in" to it like some people. So I don't always get the whole music theme in the books. But I learn a lot about music, genres and artists while reading which is cool. I love when the authors leave a playlist for their novels (whether it's songs they listened to while writing, were inspiring or actually play a part in the novel itself) that way I can check it out for myself. Other things I liked were that the story is from a boy's POV--Colby and that it takes place in the Pacific Northwest (as have been quite a few novels I've read lately). Since I now live here I can picture the settings more fully. It gets me into the story.
#6 Counting Backwards (1/12-1/13) 4/5 stars
by Laura Lascarso
The story takes place in a psychriatic correctional facility for teens where Taylor is sent after she steals a car and resists arrest. She spends most of the novel plotting ways to escape and avoid therapy. There's also a cast of interesting, if mentally unstable, supporting characters. Eventually Taylor befriends AJ, a quiet (he never talks to anyone but her and his therapist) and secretive boy. He helps her try to escape which fails. When she tries again he turns her in because he doesn't want her to get hurt or in trouble which destroys their budding relationship at first. Eventually Taylor comes to terms with her demons, straightens out her life and falls in love with AJ. She leaves a model patient, even mentoring new girls. AJ is still stuck there for a few more years but he's talking now and getting over his own past.
I liked the portrayal of the troubled and/or mentally ill teens in the facility. As someone that suffers from a mental illness I like to see these kinds of books that look into it deeper. It's not easy being a teenager. Add in mental instability for whatever reason (on top of the usual instability of a teen) and it's a recipe for disaster. Sometimes I'm surprised I surved my teen years considering I got zero treatment or help all those years.
#7 This Is Not a Drill (1/14-1/15) 3/5 stars
by Beck McDowell
The guy is a soldier just back from Iraq who lost custody of his son because of his instability due to PTSD. He's been drinking. Not a good mix. The unbelievable part isn't the set up (because obviously this can happen) but the way the two teens handle everything. They are perfecly calm during the whole thing, keep 20+ 1st graders under control (for the most part) and plot on how to take the guy down safely. Jake even turns hero at the end. I'm not saying teens can't be like this but it seems highly unlikely they'd be so put together and calm. They also have time to rekindle their relationship while a madman points a gun at them through half the book.
In the end three people are dead (a security guard who comes to investigate the trouble, the gunman and the gunman's best friend--also suffering from PTSD--who can't handle everything going on and kills himself. The teacher almost dies from complications of her diabetes but survives thanks to the quick thinking of the kids and the kindness of the gunman who allows her to leave as long as the kids and teens stay. Jake is shot trying to disarm the gunman. The gunman's son is also almost shot when he runs from the room (damn trigger happy SWAT guys). Being that the main plot of the story was all too real at the time made this book a little creepy. Meagan refused to read it because it was too realistic for her taste.
#8 Carter Finally Gets It (1/15-1/15) 3/5 stars
by Brent Crawford
#9 Glitch (1/16-1/17) 3/5 stars
by Heather Anastasiu
I forget why I only gave it 3 stars. I believe the 2nd book comes out this year which I'll probably read.
#10 Lola and the Boy Next Door (1/18-1/20) 4/5 stars
by Stephanie Perkins
Hmmm. I think I'm going to have to stop with this post. That's a lot of books I've listed already and it's hard to remember what they are all about and why I liked them, lol. I'll make another post documenting books 11-20 (or thereabouts) tomorrow. Or later today. Whenever.
