The Good Thief

Ren is a twelve year old orphan who is missing his left hand.
He doesn't remember how he lost it or who his parents are.
Ren wants a family badly, and has been desperately trying to figure out his past.
One day a man named Benjamin appears at the orphanage.
He claims to be Ren's brother and persuades the monks at the orphanage to release Ren.
Is Benjamin really Ren's brother?
The book follows Ren on his adventure to find out what his true past is.

I really enjoyed this book!
It was a little different from what I normally read,
which is what made it so fun.
I like how Hannah Tinti put together this book
and look forward to reading more of her work.

Matched

I have to say, even though this was entertaining and a pretty quick read,
I didn't love it.
Maybe I am reading too many young adult books or something
but I just found this book to be very similar to other books I have read.
I did enjoy the characters and really felt for the main character, Cassia.
This book is set in a society where the government (or "officials") control everything.
What you eat, where you work,
when you have kids and how many,
when you die, and of course, who you marry.
It all starts when Cassia turns 17 and is off to her matching ceremony
where she will find out who the society has decided is the perfect match for her.
She is thrilled to find out it is her best friend, Xander,
but then something strange happens.
When she pops in the micro-card that has all the information about her "match"
and what rules are now in place,
the face of a different boy,
Ky,
who is also her friend, pops up.
The officials try to reassure her that it was all a mistake and that Xander is in fact her match.
But the society rarely makes mistakes.
Now Cassia is starting to doubt the society
and everything she has known,
and is beginning to fall in love with Ky.
Cassia has to decide if she wants to continue following the rules
with no question and stay with Xander.
Or break all rules and expectations,
go against everything she has been taught and told to do
so she can be with Ky.
It is a pretty good book, and definitely a easy and quick read.
I have just read other books like Delirium, Hunger Games, etc., that I like better.
This is a series but I am not sure if it will be one I keep up on.

The Paris Wife

This was my book club book this month.
I thought it was pretty good. Not my favorite though.
The book follows Hadley Richardson as she becomes Ernest Hemingway's first wife.
It was set in the early 1900s, first in Chicago and then follows them to Paris.
I really enjoyed the first half of the novel.
The courtship of the two characters and seeing them fall madly in love.
The second half was still enjoyable but seemed a little slow.
I so felt for Hadley while she was desperately trying to find her role in Ernest's life.
Ernest seemed like such a complex and moody individual
and Hadley was so patient and seemed to always try to put him first.
But their life was very fast paced and somewhat racy,
which was difficult for Hadley once they had a child.
So in all, I liked this book,
I just found it somewhat slow in some places.

Hotel on t he Corner of Bitter and Sweet

This was our book club book this month.
I would have to say it wasn't my favorite, but I did enjoy reading it.
It is set in the 1980's and follows a Chinese-American man who
finds something that reminds him of his past.
This starts the flashbacks back to his childhood, the 1940's.
His childhood was difficult.
He was mistaken for a Japanese boy throughout his childhood,
who given the time period, were unfortunately passionately disliked.
He finds a friend, who happens to be a Japanese-American girl,
and they quickly bond.
Unfortunately his tumultuous relationship with his father and this new friend
being shipped away to a internment camp got in the way of this relationship.
In the present, his wife recently died from cancer
and he and his son are growing farther and farther apart.
This novel is more than a love story.
It is a story about heartbreak, loss, life, and love.
I would recommend this book,
but I did find it somewhat slow.

Happy Reading!

Don't Blink

I really enjoy James Patterson and I haven't read his books in a while.
I got hooked on his Alex Cross series for awhile
but then I took a little break from murder mystery type books.
This book was really good!
A typical James Patterson book.
It is set in New York City right as a very gruesome and very public murder unfolds.
Nick, a journalist, finds himself wrapped up in the middle of everything
after being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Nick is in for a very eventful couple of days.
He encounters close call after close call as he tries to figure out what is going on
and why he is in the middle of all this.
I definitely recommend this book if you are into these sort of books.
I read this book in about 3 days so it is a pretty fast read.

Happy Reading!

A Goal Change

Earlier this year I made a goal to read 100 books this year.
A little difficult, but I thought I could maybe do it.
Then I got pregnant and super sick.
I didn't read a book for about 2 months straight (it made me nauseous for some reason).
So I am somewhat behind,
and with me having a newborn before the end of the year,
that might put a damper in my reading again.
So I changed my goal to 75 books.
Still a little steep
so don't be surprised if I change it again.

On another note, a couple weeks ago I was looking at some new releases and came across this.

I know what you are probably thinking,
but the former cheerleader in me thought I should read it.
It was fine, pretty much what you would expect.
A good read for teens!

Do you have any suggestions for me?
Do you have a reading goal this year?

Happy Reading!!

Books about Love

This week I read two books that are about love.

Even though they were about love, they were SO different from each other.
One about love and the triumphs and failures that come with it.
The other banning love and calling it a disease that needs a mandatory cure.

The first book is The Lover's Dictionary by David Levithan.


The title pretty much tells you what it is about.
The author takes you through a relationship by filling you in on small, intimate stories
in the form of a dictionary.
It is a very cute, interesting, moving and unique way of writing about love.
The book is also a very quick read and would make a great coffee table book!

The next book I read was Delirium by Lauren Oliver.

This book was fantastic!
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book.
It reminded me a little of The Giver and Hunger Games (not the violence, but how the government tries to control everything).
Anyways, Lauren Oliver takes you into a world where Love is thought of as a horrendous disease.
A disease that can kill whether you have it or not.
Once you turn 18 you have to be cured. After that you are matched with a partner and pretty much go on with your life with no feeling, no emotion.
The story follows a young girl who is scheduled to be "cured"in 95 days.
It follows her journey of believing wholeheartedly in the system set up by the government
to uncovering truth after truth that could shake everything she ever knew.
This is a series, but I am not sure when the next book comes out.
I sure can't wait to read them though!
I have also read Before I Fall by the same author and really enjoyed that as well.
You can see what I thought about it here.

Any suggestions???

Happy Reading!