March Book Reviews

Each year I make resolutions to try new things. I have always loved setting down goals and then planning out how to accomplish them step by step. Some goals this year were big but I would say on average, most were fairly small. 

One of these small goals was to keep better track of the books that I have read throughout the year. I will often recall stories that I have read over the years and I will think to myself

"I should read that book again" 

but then I have the dilemma of trying to recall the author and title of the book. I can always remember the characters and plot but I read so many books that titles start to jumble together. Hence the need for this goal!

One of my other small (but surprisingly hard!) goals was to blog at least 2 - 3 times a week. 

You would think this would be fairly attainable, right? 

Take a few pictures and then write about them. 

How hard can it be? 

I'm sure for some, not hard at all!

Me writing frequently = hard work. 

I don't journal. I don't love writing. But I do enjoy blogging. The main reason being that it helps me keep track of what is going on in our little world (and since I don't scrapbook like I used to, it gives me a place to put my pictures also!). 

So, to make a long story short, I decided this week to combine two of my goals and use this blog to keep track of the books I'm reading as well as counting it towards one of my posts of the week! Sheesh! What a great idea right? I'm sure no one else has ever thought of this!

So that being said, here are the books I have read over the month of March along with a few from February. I would love to hear your opinion if you have read some of these also! 

A Song of Fire and Ice 

Now, I normally hate (and I mean hate!) reading a series before all the books are finished but I still find myself doing this on occasion. I stumbled across these books on a trip to the Tri-Cities last month and I decided to buy the first one and see what I thought. I loved it and I was immediately hooked. I quickly read the second one and I loved it too. The third one is where things started to happen that I wasn't in love with but I kept reading, hoping things would get better. The fourth one I read because I had to in order to read the fifth one but I wasn't crazy about it. The fifth one started to get better again but after reading the ending I'm not so sure. There are a bloody lot of characters, which isn't a bad thing, but the problem is, as more and more things keep happening to the characters it is looking to me like there is no end in sight. At least not a happy one. And while I am a realist and I know that not all of my books can end happily, I am also going to be seriously disappointed if things don't start getting marginally better for some of these main characters. I mean - come on, there lives have sucked for 5 straight books now! All in all, though, I have to admit that even with the slow parts and the parts I would never read again, this is a heck of a book series and I would give it an overall 8 out of 10. (Book 1 would be a 10 out of 10 but book 4 only a 6 out of 10, so to average things out it scored an 8). 

                                              

Every once in a while I will read a Nicholas Sparks novel. I really loved The Notebook since it was a love story unlike most, but a couple of his books were so predictable I could have read them in my sleep. Sometimes though, when I am wanting just a quick, easy romance I will pick up one of these. This book I enjoyed for those very reasons. It was quick, it had romance, and I ended up liking the main guy a lot. He was a strong, silent type and you end up liking what he has to say about things and how he says them. Could you see the ending coming a mile away?

Yes. 

Was it still ok?

Yes. 

Will I ever read it again?

Probably not, but maybe (if I get really bored and can't get to the public library and my kindle is broke). 

Final score: 5 out of 10

P.S. I probably won't watch the movie either but that's just me! This is probably your favorite book and I'm insulting you right and left - Sorry!

The same weekend that I read The Lucky One, I started to read Delirium. I loved it instantly. I liked how it was set in a world where the cure for the disease of "love" has been found and now everyone undergoes a surgery at age 18 to make sure they won't catch it. I instantly fell for the main boy - Alex - and enjoyed every minute of how he and the main character fell in love (of course!). The ending is tragic but it leads you into the second book well. I would give this one a 8 out of 10.

Of course I had to read book 2 the minute book 1 was over! Literally, I think I had it ordered on my kindle before the first book had a chance to cool off from my hot little hands! While this book wasn't as good as the first one, I still liked it and I really liked the surprise ending (which of course leaves you dying to read book 3 which isn't out yet! Have I told you that I HATE reading book series that aren't done yet! You would think that I would look into these things before I pick up the first book to read it!)

I would only give book two a 6 out of 10.

Once I had read these two books by Lauren Oliver, I got curious and looked into her first book that she wrote titled before i fall. It's about a girl who has it all in high school - she's popular, pretty, dating a popular boy, etc. But then she dies. The catch is she wakes up the next day and gets to live the day all over again. How does she react? What does she change? This happens 7 times (I think) where she gets to relive the same day over and it gets really, really interesting. I loved how this was different from anything I had ever read and I will definitely read it again - someday! I gave it a 8 out of 10. 

The next book was one that has been making the rounds of my book club and it's a fantasy that is set in Portland (Yeah Davolts!) and the writer's are from there as well. They have a great website and seem like really cool and fun people and it makes me feel bad that I have to criticize their book a wee bit. First of all - I love fantasy books. But in order for a book to be a great fantasy, you have to have great characters to pull you through the story because all of the imagination in the world isn't going to matter if you don't care what happens to the characters. It was kind of like that for this book. You never get a real sense of the two main characters. You get a small picture of them but not enough to make you think about them while you are away from the book or even to wonder too much what is going to happen next. It was way too easy to put this book down and do something else, which in my opinion is a death knell for a book. I have to sadly give this book a 4 out of 10. (Great imaginations though and good luck with Book 2 sweet authors!)

Happy reading my friends!

(let me know of any great books you have read also so I can add them to my list of must-reads!)