Best Books of 2012

I just wanted to let you know that Goodreads has announced their Best Books of 2012 winners.  Check them out here.

Home Front

 Home Front by Kristin Hannah

My Rating - 4 out of 5 stars

I haven't read a Kirstin Hannah book in awhile and I forgot how good they are. They are full of emotion and this book is no different. Love, loss, grief, friendship, they are all packed into this book. It has a great message and rings true to a lot of peoples lives.

Jolene is not only a mom to two daughters, she is also a Black Hawk pilot in the marines. Her marriage is falling apart and then suddenly she finds out she is being deployed to Iraq. She has to leave her girls behind, she has no idea where her marriage stands, and she is extremely scared but has no one to talk to about it. She puts on a strong front for her family while she is gone but that can't last long. This story is about friendship, about losing and then finding yourself, and about grief. A very powerful story!

The Undomestic Goddess

The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella

My Rating - 3 out of 5 stars

The book was okay. I don't know if I feel this way because I just finished reading a couple of really, really good books but it just wasn't my favorite. It is good, just not a can't stop thinking about, I so wish it wasn't over, kind of book.

Samantha is a highly successful lawyer who is extremely busy. She has absolutely no life. She barely has any friends, no significant other, she hardly talks to her family (who are also all extremely busy business people). And Samantha loves her job, or so she thinks she does. All of the sudden Samantha makes a huge mistake, has a nervous breakdown, gets fired and ends up on a train to who knows where. Now she has been mistaken as someone applying as a housekeeper. The problem is that she has no idea how to cook, clean, or do anything pertaining to keeping a house. Despite all this Samantha starts to find herself and possibly love.

Edenbrooke

Edenbrooke by Julianne Donaldson

My Rating - 5 out of 5 stars



Oh my goodness! I am so in love with this book! It was such a cute, sweet, innocent yet mature read! For some reason I was a little skeptical about it but as soon as I started reading I was hooked! Marianne and Philip are just adorable and so like able! Ahhhhh, I think I am going to sit down tonight and read it again!

This magnificent book is set in England in 1816 and is a beautiful romance novel. Marianne Daventry was sent to her grandmothers shortly after her mother died. Now over a year later she is still waiting for her father to come home, is hearing all about the wonderful life her twin sister leads in London, and is bored stiff! Now she is off to Edenbrooke to meet her sister. On this journey she falls in love with the Edenbrooke, encounters a few life-threatening situations, and meets a charming stranger who she just can't seem to get out of her mind.

Please, please, please give this book a try. It is just that good!

Insurgent

 Insurgent (Divergent #2) by Veronica Roth

My Rating - 4 out of 5 stars



Oh I just love Tris and Tobias! I just think they are perfect for each other. Granted they had a lot of arguments in this book but they stick together so I am okay with it.

I just adore this series. I think i am kind of obsessed with it because I was so sad when I finished this book. Now I have to wait all the way to Fall 2013 for the next book to come out. Noooooooooooooooooo! Ugh, I hate waiting!

Insurgent starts up right where Divergent left off. Tris is grieving all the lives that were just lost, including her parents and Will (who was her friend yet she killed him). Now Tris and Four are trying to figure out whose side they are on. There are so many groups forming their own plans and opinions while this war is starting and Tris needs to take in every one's opinion and see who she thinks are the good guys. The problem with this is that Tobias and her brother Caleb seem to be joining the wrong sides.

Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie

 Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick

My Rating - 5 out of 5 Stars

What a good book! I really enjoyed this. I loved how it was in Stephens point of view. I feel like too many books about seriously ill children are in the point of view of the parents or the sick child. I found it refreshing to be from the thirteen year old big brother who obviously gets annoyed by his little brother. Plus I just really liked Stephen.

Stephen is a thirteen year old boy who has a somewhat normal life for a young teenager. He is an amazing and talented drummer, he has a crush on a girl who doesn't even know he exists, and he has a annoying younger brother who gets most of his parents attention. But one day he finds out his younger brother has Leukemia. Not Stephen doesn't know how to deal with all this and his parents are being much help.

Endlessly

 Endlessly (Paranormalcy #3) by Kiersten White

My Rating - 4 out of 5 stars

What a cute series! I really liked these books and I enjoyed this last book in the series. Evie is such a cute narrator and so funny. I just love how she is quirky and not afraid to be afraid. And Lend is just so dreamy! I even found myself liking Reth in this book too.

Evie is still seeking that "normal" life she has always wanted. She is madly in love with her boyfriend Lend. She is planning the winter formal, and has made some really good friends. But of course, all this "normalcy" doesn't last long. There are some really weird creatures lurking around her, and IPCA is undergoing some not so good changes. Soon Evie learns that she holds all the paranormals future in her hands and she quickly needs to pick what side she truly is on.

The Golden Lily

The Golden Lily (Bloodlines #2) by Richelle Mead

My Rating - 4 out of 5 stars



Sydney's life isn't getting any less dramatic.  Sydney is still in Palm Springs helping Jill (the Moroi queen's sister) stay in hiding.  Sydney takes her job as alchemist extremely seriously but it is starting to get a little complicated. Alchemist do not like vampires!  They tolerate Moroi and work with them to keep their existence hidden from humans.  They take their work seriously and drill into all Alchemist's how unnatural any vampire is.  Sydney's values however are getting a little muddled.  She is finding herself actually liking the Moroi and Dhampirs that she is working with right now.  And what is even more troubling is that she particularly likes Adrian. What does this mean about her values, her job, and what if fellow Alchemist find out?

I really enjoy this series!  I was pleased to see that Dimitri was in this book more but still want to see what Rose is up to.  I miss the Vampire Academy series but am glad that Richelle is doing this sister series. Now I have to wait till February for the next book to come out...

Bloom

Bloom: finding beauty in the unexpected by Kelle Hampton

My Rating - 4 out of 5 stars

Kelle Hampton had a pretty good life. She has a wonderful husband, a beautiful daughter, is expecting her second girl and is an amazing photographer. Kelle was extremely ready and prepared to finally hold her little girl in her arms. But that all changed as soon as her baby girl, Nelle, was born. Nelle has Downs Syndrome. Now Kelle is mourning the life she had planned for her little girl and gearing up for the difficult life that lays ahead. This true story follows Kelle and Nelle during Nelle's first year and is such a beautiful story.

What a emotional read! I definitely could not sit down and lose myself in this book, but it was good all the same. It definitely reminded me how truly blessed I am to have two healthy kids! And I absolutely loved the pictures! All the pictures helped break up all the emotion in the book.

Sister

 Sister by Rosamund Lupton

My Rating - 4 out of 5 stars

I so thoroughly enjoyed this book! I loved how it was written and reading it felt so effortless. The diary-like style it was written in flowed so well. Also I liked the main character Beatrice, I felt for her and enjoyed getting to know her in such horrible circumstances.  My only criticism is that I wanted just a little more.  Like always I like my endings wrapped up in a neat little bow...

Beatrice's sister Tess is missing. Beatrice quickly flies to London to later find out that Tess committed suicide. Beatrice however is not convinced. She knows Tess better than anyone and even though Tess was going through a extremely hard time, there was no way she would commit suicide. The police on the other hand are positive in their finding, so that leaves Beatrice to figure out what actually happened to her little sister. Is this just a silly obsession of a mourning sister, or is Beatrice really on to something?

A Girl Like You

 A Girl Like You by Maria Geraci

My Rating - 4 out of 5 stars



*This was a first-reads book on Goodreads.*

This is my first time reading Maria Geraci and definitely think I will read more of her books. This was such a fun, quick, chick-lit book! I enjoyed the story but most of all I enjoyed the characters. They were easy to identify with and were very likable. I have to say that at first I thought this was going to be a predictable and somewhat generic story. But I definitely was wrong. Once you get into the story a little more you are hooked and invested in the characters. I was actually pleasantly surprised with the ending and loved that the last chapter was a sort of follow up chapter that lets you know what is going on with characters after the fact. I always feel disappointed when I read chick-lit books, I am left wanting more closure. Maria left me satisfied with the ending and that was definitely refreshing.

Emma is a thirty something journalist who isn't the typical, stunning beauty. In fact while in the bathroom at a local bar she overhears people refer to her as the "ugly friend". Can that be true? Is she that much less attractive then her friends? Well, unfortunately her friends are drop dead gorgeous and she is, well, not. She keeps her head up and tries to impress her boss, Ben, who she has been crushing on for the last few months. In order to do this she offers to get an exclusive interview with the NASCAR hottie Trip who she happened to go to high school with. The only problem is that she hasn't talked to him since. While she is trying to track Trip down she works on her self-esteem, finds an unexpected crush and learns a ton about herself.

Birds of Paradise

 Birds of Paradise by Diana Abu-Jaber

My Rating - 3 out of 5 stars

 

Well, I am not really sure what I think about this book. It was good. But it left me a little confused. And the language! Wow, the F word is used so much in this book. I understand that one of the characters is a teenage runaway and she is living a hard life on the streets with other runaways, but really do they have to have such language? Anyways....

We follow the Muir family. Felice is about to turn eighteen but she isn't really living a normal teenage life. She ran away when she was thirteen and has basically been living on the streets since. Her mom is obviously heartbroken and confused and she deals with her feelings through baking. Felice's dad on the other hand dealt with this by working a ton. Their marriage is somewhat distant and rocky and neither one is sure how to get back on the right path. And then there is Felice's older brother Stanley. I just felt like he was ignored and put aside after Felice ran away. Now he is in his late twenties and has started up his own business. I felt like the whole story was about how distant this family has become and if they could find their way back to each other.

11/22/63

 11/22/63 by Stephen King

My Rating - 4 out of 5 stars.

Wow! This book is so big! I have to admit that I kind of felt winded when I finally finished it, haha.

I enjoyed this book. I did find it a little long and admittedly skimmed parts of it. For the most part it was extremely interesting, intense, and fun to read. I was a little disappointed with the ending though. I am such a sucker for happy endings and although this didn't end tragically, it wasn't particularly happy either.

Jake Epping is a recently divorced English teacher who is asked to do a somewhat strange favor for a friend. Al embarks Jake on a extreme adventure and an extremely difficult task. Al has found a portal of sorts in his storeroom that takes you back to 1958. He asks Jack to go back and spend 4 years in history so that he can try to prevent the Kennedy assassination. Crazy as it sounds Jake finds himself agreeing and next thing he knows he is back in a very different time. Of course while he is back in time he changes a lot more history than he originally meant. Is this going to have a huge influence on the future that he once knew???

I've Got Your Number

 I've Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella

My Rating - 4 out of 5 stars

Cute! This was such a fun read and I actually found myself laughing out loud at parts. Not a hysterical laugh, but a little chuckle here and there. I really enjoyed the characters and wish that it was maybe 10 pages longer. I would have enjoyed an epilogue of sorts to see what the characters were up to after all the drama went down. But I always find myself wanting more closure with characters and books that I really like.

Meet Poppy, a fun and likable woman who is a week or so away from getting married. Unfortunately, she has lost her wedding ring. She frantically searches for it and gives everyone her number in case they come across it. Then her cell is stolen. Poppy is hysterical, rightly so, and starts to have a little bit of a freak out. Then she spots a cell phone in the garbage can. Poppy takes this as a sign and grabs the phone, gives everyone this number and goes on her way. Little does she know that the owner needs this phone badly and soon their two lives are tangled together.

Happy Reading!

Vanishing Acts

Vanishing Acts by Jodi Picoult

My Rating - 3 out of 5 stars

Interesting book. I always enjoy Jodi Picoult's books but this definitely wasn't my favorite of hers. For some reason I didn't really like Delia, the main female character. I don't really have a good reason, I just didn't care for her. I much preferred the chapters that were in Eric's perspective. However I did enjoy reading this and was curious in how it all was going to end. I felt like the book was a little too wordy and long at times, and I didn't care for the ending. I wanted a little more closure I guess...

Anyways, Jodi Picoult writes this book in five different perspectives. Delia, her fiance Eric, her best friend, her father and her mother. Delia was raised in New Hampshire by her father. Her whole life she has thought her mother died in a car accident when she was four. Now 28 years later the police show up and arrest her father for kidnapping. She is enraged thinking they got the wrong guy until he tells her that they are charging him for kidnapping her. Now her life is upended and she is struggling to remember important details from her childhood.

Happy Reading!

Eden Close

 Eden Close by Anita Shreve

My Rating - 2 out of 5 stars

I have to say this book was a little on the boring side. It was just so wordy and I really didn't get into it until it was about half over and the secrets were finally coming out. I pretty much skimmed the first half of the book. So all in all, not the best read ever but here is what it is about:

Andrew comes back to his home town for his mother's funeral. While he is home memories start flooding back about his neighbors. Eden is a couple years younger than him and one night when he was seventeen a tragedy struck. Eden was left blind and her father was murdered. There was a lot of speculation of what happened but no one knew for sure. Now Andrew is sucked back in to figure it all out and to get close to Eden once again.

Still Missing

 Still Missing by Chevy Stevens

My Rating - 3 out of 5 stars

What a disturbing book! Overall it was a good read, but definitely a little dark and depressing. We follow Annie, a thirty something realtor who experiences most women's worst nightmare. We meet Annie as she is consulting with her therapist and recounting the last years horrific experience. Annie is kidnapped at the end of her open house. She is then held captive for over a year in a cabin somewhere in the mountains. She refers to the man who kidnapped her as "the freak", which I think is very appropriate. The things that Annie experienced while in this cabin with "the freak" are horrible.

I have to say that I did have a few issues with the book. To begin with I had a hard time understanding and liking Annie at first. You don't really understand what happened to her until you get into the book a little bit but she is just so bitter and angry right off the bat. I know, who wouldn't be, but it just took me awhile to understand her. My other issue is how she got away from "the freak". I won't go into detail but it is just odd to me because he was always so careful with everything. And lastly, the ending was pretty much awful. So not realistic at all. Other than that I did enjoy this book and was so anxious to find out what happened to Annie and how she was dealing with everything.

Happy Reading!

Love the One You're With

Love the One You're With by Emily Griffin

My rating - 3 out of 5 stars

Meh.... This was just a okay book. I definitely have liked other Emily Griffin books more than this one. I was just kind of annoyed with the main character Ellen. She was just so quick to doubt her marriage just because an ex waltzed back into her life. Anyways, not the worst book but I just don't have much to say about it.

Happy Reading!

The Winters in Bloom

The Winters in Bloom by Lisa Tucker

My Rating - 4.5 out of 5 stars

What a page turner! I seriously could not put this down. It was just so mysterious. I just had to know, why are Kyra and David so protective? What are these secrets they have been holding from each other? Who did actually take Micheal? What is going to happen next? The author did such a great job keeping the reader's interest and only sharing a little bit of information at a time. It was amazing how she put this book together in a mysterious but not too confusing way.

We are introduced to Micheal, a five year old boy who is extremely sheltered. His parents are way too over-protective and are always worried something is going to happen to him. Well, today something does. Someone kidnaps Micheal from his front yard. Now his parents, Kyra and David, delve into their pasts, both so sure that someone they know took Micheal. Both Kyra and David have extremely painful pasts that they don't really like to talk about. Now they have no choice but to go back and relive those moments so that they can hopefully find their son.

Happy Reading!

If I Stay Series

If I Stay (If I Stay #1) by Gayle Forman

My Rating - 4 out of 5 stars

Wow! I just can't stop thinking about this book. Even though this is not a true story (as far as I know), I just feel so bad for Mia. I can't even imagine. This is like my worst nightmare. My whole family gone in one moment. Or worse, my kids left parent-less. Ahhhh, so horrible!

Anyways, If I Stay follows Mia on a average winter day. It is set in Oregon so when they had a snow storm (a pretty small one I must stay), the schools close and Mia, her younger brother, and her parents decide to hang out and go see Mia's grandparents. Unfortunately they never make it. They are in a horrible car accident. Mia is caught between life and death and is able to witness everything that is going on around her. Now she has to decide whether she can fight enough to stay or if she is just too tired.....

I can't wait to read the next book in this series Where She Went, and I already put it on hold at the library so hopefully I will get it soon! 

Happy Reading!

7/1 - Just finished Where She Went, the sequel to If I Stay.  It is pretty good but not as good as the first one.  This book was in Adam's voice (Mia's boyfriend) so that was interesting.  Adam is clearly extremely depressed which just made the tone of the book kind of a downer but it was still pretty good.