Sunday, December 31, 2017

Top 5 Books I Read in 2017

The year of 2017 was a good reading year for me. I read a total of 62 books, and I had more four- and five-star reads than the previous year. On this last day of the year, I want to share my top five favorite books of 2017 with you.

1. The Light Between Oceans by M. L. Stedman
This was one of the most breathtaking books I've ever read. The story is about a lighthouse keeper and his wife who live alone on a small island, simply maintaining the lighthouse from day to day, when one day a boat washes ashore with a dead man and a live baby inside. Believing this baby's family is all dead, the couple decides to raise the baby as their own. It isn't until months later when they travel back to the mainland that they discover they may have been wrong, and there is a woman mourning the loss of her husband and baby at sea. Now faced with a difficult decision, the couple must decide whether to keep the secret safe they now harbor or to come forward with their crime. Stedman's writing in this novel is lyrical and elegant, and the story is truly spectacular. This book immediately became one of my favourites.


2. Love That Lasts by Gary and Joy Lundberg
This nonfiction handbook helps couples in all stages of marriage achieve a more fulfilling and intimate relationship with their partner. The book is full of anecdotes and tips from a variety of couples, and the stories really provide perspective into your own marital relationship. Although written by an LDS couple and directed primarily at LDS couples, this book will guide couples of all faiths toward a happier marriage. This book is very enjoyable and easy to read, and I see myself revisiting it year after year. To read my full review, click here.





3. The Dark Hills Divide (Land of Elyon series) by Patrick Carman
This series was one of my favourite trilogies when I was younger, back when it had only three books. Now a decade later, I reread the original books then finished the additional two, and I love the series more than ever. This is one of the most adventurous and exciting middle-grade fantasy stories out there (that I've read). We follow Alexa Daley on a journey across the land to discover hidden secrets and solve mysteries, all with the help of some forest animals that she can communicate with. This is one of those stories that did not lose its savor with age, and I would recommend it to readers of all ages. To read my full review of the first book, click here.


4. The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau
This is a steampunk post-apocalyptic young adult novel about a city that was built underground to withstand a massive war above ground. Over two centuries after its inception, the city is falling apart and the lights that keep the city alive are starting to flicker and go out. Lina and Doon are two kids that find some clues to a world beyond their crumbling city, and they are determined to discover what's out there. This novel is full of real problems that face the protagonists, which I loved to see in a kids' book. The underground setting it authentic and the writing is excellent. Again, I would recommend this book to all fantasy lovers. To read my full review, click here.




5. Reincarnation Blues by Michael Poore
I read an arc of this book earlier in the year, and I never expected an arc to become one of my favourite books of the year. This was a very original story that truly covers all genres of literature from science fiction to historical fiction to contemporary to fantasy. We see Milo, who has already lived 9,995 lives, trying to achieve perfection before his ten thousandth life. The reason this achievement is so hard for him is that Milo is in love with the persona of death, who he calls Suzie. We read through the last of Milo's lives as he struggles to truly reach perfection, making mistake after mistake along the way. This book was funny and sad and crude and thought-provoking, and I loved it all, even the hard-to-read parts. To read my full review of this novel, click here.

Wednesday, December 27, 2017

Review: LOVE THAT LASTS by Gary and Joy Lundberg

Rating: 5/5 stars

This book is excellent. This is the kind of book I will revisit year after year because of the effect it has (and will have) in my life.

Written by a long-time married couple, Love That Lasts is about how to strengthen your marriage in all ways. The Lundbergs discuss secrets to a happier marriage, including communication, finances, parenting, humor, intimacy, kindness, and enduring to the end as a couple. The format of the book is very easy to read with each chapter covering one of the fourteen "secrets," and the book is full of personal experiences of many couples across the country. These anecdotes were my favourite parts because I can see how other couples face their problems and how overcoming them strengthened their marriage. It was also very humbling to read about the trials that others faced because it puts into perspective how blessed I am in my own life, but also how much I need to improve upon.

Although this book is written by an LDS couple and is written primarily for LDS couples, I believe anyone will benefit from the guidance and counsel found within its pages. There is only a very little bit that has references specific to LDS culture. I would honestly recommend this book to anyone looking to create a deeper and more meaningful and loving relationship with their husband or wife.

The most important lesson I learned from Love That Lasts is to always keep your spouse at the top of your list. He or she should be your number one priority and should be the most important person to you. If you make all other decisions based on that thought, your marriage will flourish and your love for them will deepen. Over the past four months that I've been taking my time reading this book, I've been implementing some of the suggestions and I've seen a difference in my own marriage. I've become more patient and I'm learning to love my husband's idiosyncrasies. Next year we even plan to read the book together to strengthen our marriage even more.

Sunday, December 24, 2017

Review: DANGEROUS CREATURES by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Rating: 2/5 stars

If I didn't already own this book, I probably wouldn't have decided to read it. I bought it years ago when I read the original Caster Chronicles because I loved that series, though I don't think I wanted to read this spin-off series much when I bought it or I would have done so by now. At least I finally read it this year.

Dangerous Creatures follows our favorite bad girl, Ridley, and her boyfriend, Link. They move to New York City to follow Link's dream of being in a band, or so Link thinks that's the plan. It turns out Ridley's keeping from Link the real reason she came to New York with him: she has a debt to pay. Honestly, this book felt a lot like a typical YA novel, full of unnecessary drama. If I didn't already know the characters, I probably wouldn't have cared much about them.

But speaking of characters, Ridley had a different disposition in this book than in the original series. In Beautiful Creatures, she was dark and rebellious, not caring what anyone else thought of her. She forged her own path regardless of the situation. She is a siren, after all. But in Dangerous Creatures, she has turned soft. She suddenly cares about these "friends" she's known for only a few weeks. She whines about doing mortal work. She even sheds a tear. Ridley just wasn't the same siren I've grown to love in the other books. Link, on the other hand, was every bit the same.

One nice thing about this story is a cameo appearance from Ethan, Lena, Liv, and John in the beginning. They make a pact and Lena forges these rings for them to keep them all bound together. She tells the group they will warn the others of danger, and they will all jump to the rescue if anyone needs it. This sounds great and all, but this concept was left open. Throughout the story, the rings Link and Ridley wear change color and burn them, but we never learn what that really means. Shouldn't the crew back home be warned that the two in New York need their help? Wasn't that the whole purpose of the rings? We never hear from Ethan and Lena, etc. again in the story though, so we can't know what they were experiencing and thinking while Link and Ridley were fighting for their lives up north. I was a little disappointed the authors didn't put a deeper purpose behind the rings.

I listened to this book on audio, and the audiobook was done really well. The narrator did voices for the characters, so it was easy to keep the dialogue straight. There were even sound effects and music in the background. My favorite thing, though, was that whenever Link and his band performed, there was a snippet of a band playing with Link singing his lyrics about chicken wings, etc. It was a nice touch.

Overall, this book was just alright. While I want to reread the original series someday, I won't be rereading this book. However, I'm probably going to read the next book just to finish out the series and because Dangerous Creatures ended on a cliffhanger -- and not a very good one at that; it was more of an afterthought thrown in there for suspense.

Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Review: THE MIRK AND MIDNIGHT HOUR by Jane Nickerson

Rating: 3/5 stars

The beginning of this book was so agonizingly slow and devoid of any plot that I almost considered not finishing it. But then I read a review that said it picked up after page 100, so I decided to stick it out. On exactly page 149 the story got interesting and continued climbing from there. While the beginning was barely two stars, the middle and ending were a solid four stars.

The Mirk and Midnight Hour is blurbed as a retelling of the fairytale Tam Lin. I’ve personally never heard that tale before reading this book, but kudos to Nickerson for retelling an obscure fairytale. I don’t know how closely this book follows the original story, though. The back of the book simply says, “A southern girl. A wounded soldier. A chilling force deep in the forest. All collide at night’s darkest hour.” (Though I would not say that’s a very accurate description of the plot, and I definitely wouldn’t use the word “collide.”)

That back-cover blurb gave me vibes of Beautiful Creatures, which I loved, and that’s why I originally wanted to read this book. However, I can say that the two stories are vastly different. While both are set in the South and revolve around the Civil War, those are about the only similarities. This book had significantly less magic than I was expecting. The only magic in this book comes in the form of a “witch doctor” and his family, whereas Beautiful Creatures is straight-up paranormal and features many characters with blatant powers, for comparison.

Although I did like this book and the journey that Violet takes in befriending the soldier and rescuing him, it was fairly easy to see the outcome. Any reader could guess what the end would be, no matter what obstacle stood in the characters’ way. This is just one of those books that you think to yourself while reading, “Well they’ll surely get out of that predicament,” or, “It looks bad now but they’ll be okay; no worries.” I find that to be true of most YA novels, when you know that the characters will survive and what the happy ending will be, but you keep reading to find out how they get there. Nonetheless, this book was still entertaining. There was a lot of great character development throughout the story, and not just with our protagonist, Violet. We see significant changes in Sunny, Miss Elsa, and Seeley as they overcome trials presented to them and become characters with real depth instead of the superficial plot devices they started as.

Even though The Mirk and Midnight Hour started out with a slow burn, it ended with a blazing fire. Looking back, I did enjoy the story, and I can see how the backstory was necessary, although I wish Nickerson would have presented it differently to make the beginning more enjoyable. Overall, I would recommend this book to those who like classical fairytales and historical fantasy stories.

Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Review: EATS, SHOOTS & LEAVES by Lynne Truss

Rating: 3/5 stars

I have been interested in reading this book for a long time because I love the English language and all its formalities. I am a grammar Nazi--and a punctuation Nazi and spelling Nazi for that matter. So needless to say, this book seemed right up my alley. And it was . . . kind of.

This book was, at times, funny, and I literally laughed out loud at some of her comments and examples. But I also got the feeling that Truss's vigor and violence were not just for show. "If you still persist in writing 'Good food at it's best,' you deserve to be struck by lightning, hacked up on the spot and buried in an unmarked grave." I, like her, am also a stickler for punctuation, but that's going too far; I simply shake my head at people who punctuate like that instead of wishing for their demise.

Since Eats, Shoots & Leaves was written by a Brit and therefore includes British language rules, there were quite a few differences in how she writes compared to how Americans write, and she discusses those differences in her book, which I found to be helpful. Similarly, she has that dry sense of humor true of most Brits, and I only sometimes connected with it. Some examples and jokes she made were too much for me, and I was left wondering what their appeal was. This is probably the biggest disconnect I had with the book: there came a point where even I was thinking, calm down lady, it's not that big of a deal.

One disagreement I did have with her was in the history of the use of the apostrophe. Her rant about the apostrophe's many tasks is unnecessary, as the apostrophe has one main task that all other tasks fall under: to indicate omission. Even when used to show a possessive in a singular noun (e.g. "the girl's book"), the apostrophe still indicates an omission. Historically (as I learned in my English language classes at university), the suffix -es was added to words to show possession, and nowadays the apostrophe stands in place of the "e" in -es (e.g. "the girles book" became "the girl's book"). Whenever an apostrophe is used in English, it almost always indicates an omission of something.

Overall, this book was a nice refresher of the rules of English punctuation while providing lovely examples of historical use and humor along the way. Somewhere in the chaos of her rants, Truss actually does explain the proper uses of the comma, apostrophe, period, ellipsis, dash, bracket, quotation mark, exclamation point, question mark, hyphen, and even the interrobang. While not a book I would read again, Eats, Shoots & Leaves is still one I would recommend to any over-the-top English language fanatic like myself.
We are like the little boy in The Sixth Sense who can see dead people, except that we can see dead punctuation. 

Saturday, December 2, 2017

Review: THE TWILIGHT SAGA: THE OFFICIAL ILLUSTRATED GUIDE by Stephenie Meyer

Rating: 4/5 stars

After finishing and loving the Twilight series, I discovered this book's existence and had to check it out immediately. Honestly, this is one of the best series companions I've ever seen; it is very comprehensive.

We start with a question and answer session between Stephenie Meyer and fellow author Shannon Hale. This was fun and easy to read, and we learn a lot about what went on in Stephenie's head while writing the Twilight saga, and how the story turned from a dream to a novel to a movie in such a short amount of time.

Next, the book is divided into sections: vampires, werewolves, and humans. Each section goes into great detail about that species as a whole and then breaks it down by coven/family. We get to read about each and every character in the entire series, even ones that were just mentioned in passing. For each person, we find out some raw facts plus a story of their personal history and their most famous quotations. This section basically tells you everything you wanted to know about everyone. There are even beautiful illustrated photos of all the main characters, plus photos of different locations and items from the series.

a picture of human Bella from the book

After that, there's a section that includes all the vehicles from the series and includes a photo of each one. Following that are pages and pages of timelines and key plot points throughout the whole series. (If you ever wanted to reread all four books in one day and get only the important information and skip the non-essential stuff, the key plot points section is the thing to read.) Then there are tons of fan drawings and international covers for the books (I loved looking at these visual sections). Next is a playlist of songs that inspired Stephenie while writing, and it includes the corresponding scene that matches each song. The book concludes with outtakes from the series and frequently asked questions.

I learned so much about the Twilight universe that wasn't covered in the books or was only hinted at. There are so many details and background stories and new facts contained in this illustrated guide. This book truly does complete the puzzle, and I would 100% recommend it to any hardcore Twilight fan; it's a must-have.