my opinion matters

Because I read so much, not every book is a home run. Some are tedious and others are predictable, equally devastating sins for fiction. Sometimes I choose the wrong books and don't challenge myself to read something different. Even more disappointing, I sometimes judge books by their titles and covers and think they're something else without reading the description. Shame on me. My husband and I celebrate Jolabokaflod, an Icelandic tradition where you gift each other books on Christmas Eve, get in your pajamas, eat chocolate, and read. This past Christmas we had a 3-month-old baby at home and I didn't have time to choose books and my husband chose carefully from high-rated lists on Amazon, and he chose Klara and the Sun  for me, and I am forever thankful. It is rare to read a book that sticks with you and noodles around in your brain months later, and I believe that is the mark of successful fiction. Maybe it's shocking or sad or makes you think about things differentl...

You would think since I’m so obsessed with The Circle that I would immediately know when Dave Eggers wrote a sequel. I blame my eight month old baby for not knowing when anything new comes out. Of course, I devoured this book as soon as I got it. Unfortunately, this one just went too far. There are cute references to Amazon and how they made a movie and it was terrible, but overall it was a bit of a mess. It’s unrealistic that Mae Holland would be the CEO. Sure, she is the reason Ty didn’t destroy everything, but I didn’t like that she was in the book at all. It’s like when a TV reboot references the old show too much, it comes across a bit pathetic. Like if you don’t have any more ideas, don’t write a second book.  To be fair, the reason I love The Circle is because it sounds great - I love tech and the book teetered in the edge of plausible spookiness in a way that was obliterated in The Every , with the weird clothes and the general mania and WHY was Francis back? Ridiculous. I...

 When You  was published, it was like nothing I had ever read before, or since, for that matter. I was in the head of Joe Goldberg, an obsessive murdering stalker who made you root for him. And it was amazing. So amazing, that Netflix optioned it and made it into a series, which is equally amazing even if it doesn't follow the book plot the way all of us book nerds would like. Then Caroline Kepnes [who you should really be following on Twitter because she's hilarious] wrote a follow-up, also starring Joe Goldberg, titled Hidden Bodies . Because the first book was so amazing, I had high hopes for the second, which is usually disappointing. And this was too - the book was great, but not as great as the first, and I figured this is where the series would end. The writing was great but the plot was a little too fantastical. But I'm a huge fan of Kepnes, so when You Love Me , the third in the installment, was announced, I of course pre-ordered on Amazon because even if it was ba...

Once in awhile, you get to read a piece of literature that makes you stop and think about the world in a completely different way. Maybe it was the story of a culture you didn’t know about before, or a thriller with a character you just can’t forget, or a fantasy/sci-fi novel that transported you into a different world. this cover has multiple meanings and they are all Jason. Maybe you read Dark Matter by Blake Crouch. Of course, the cover art is amazing, and really makes you want to pick it up. Whatever, people judge by the cover — don’t care if you’re supposed to or not — we do. Reading the dust jacket, it seems like an okay story that might be interesting. The dust jacket doesn’t even begin to cover it. Ha, cover it. I crack myself up. At the beginning, it seems as though you’re really a thriller that will undoubtedly turn into something ridiculous or unbelievable. However, as the story begins to unfold and you actually find yourself interested in physics concepts you n...

Written by Clare Mackintosh,  I See You  starts like every other psychological thriller I’ve read lately. Vague character details? Check. Swapping narrators? Check. Tone changes in italics? Check. So I figured it would be similar in tone and in narrative. I was still looking forward to the read, but didn’t expect much. Not my copy. Found this picture on google. Same cover art, though. I was wrong. The writing and character development was so intensely realistic and I actually had a nightmare about it last night, and I had only read the first fourth of the book. I know that sounds bad, but it’s actually a really good sign that the book is engaging and feels like real life. I don’t live in London, so other than some of the wording and processes that don’t necessarily make sense to a Midwestern girl from Ohio, I felt like I could be the main character. The dueling narrators didn’t bother me like it has before — I think because they were telling two distinct but c...

F irst of all, I’m jealous of anyone who owns this hardback copy because the water on the front of the dust jacket is bumpy and I think that’s cool. I read this on my Kindle Fire, borrowed from the library. Not the same as bumpy water. This picture is not bumpy. FYI. I was worried I was starting to get sick of this psychological thriller genre — it’s definitely popular at the moment and apparently it’s all I’m reading. This book is also super popular with book clubs, which can be sort of a toss up whether or not that’s positive. The one genre I refuse to read is historical fiction, and for some reason lots of book clubs embrace it — read a biography, if you want to know the history of something. But don’t read  The Other Boleyn Girl  and pretend like it really happened. It didn’t. But I digress. And also, I’m going to do my best not to spoil this book, but I want to discuss it in detail, so you have been warned. There may be spoilers ahead. But if you’re anythin...

I have been waiting to read Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris, this book for awhile, and it seems to be on every book club list I’ve seen in the past few months. Usually that’s a good sign, but most of the time it also means it’s some sort of melancholy love story that takes place in the 1910s or is a court case from the deep south. Still, the premise sounded interesting, and I like this genre of psychological thrillers from a female perspective. They are fast reads, exciting, and they really hold your attention as long as they’re written well. Thankfully, this is one of those. Boring cover art, good read While this story is told only by one narrator, Grace Angel, the timeline moves from the past to the present each chapter. Most of the time it works because you want to understand the secrets and why Grace and Jack act the way they do in public. However, it in the middle of the book it just gets tedious, and I found myself rushing through the “past” chapters to find out what’s ...

Please make a list of every possession you consider essential to your life. Creepy but awesome There are a lot of ways to answer that question, and ultimately it matters if we mean essential to living, or essential to modern life. For example, I don’t have to have clothes depending on my situation, but because I have a job and I live in Ohio, I have to have clothes. How much I have is up to me, but I definitely have to have something. I would also include a laptop/tablet/phone on that list, because you have to be able to be reachable for work and by family. But I totally get the point, and that’s how The Girl Before begins. Apparently, I have a different perspective than most, because I still believe The Circle is the greatest thing ever and I would totally sign up for it today. While reading The Girl Before , I also found myself craving minimalism and how nice it would be to not have a thousand items cluttering up your space and your life. Plus, a super tech-centric home ...

Every year since I think 2011, I have read 52 books each year. I am probably too proud of this, but I think it's awesome and fun and I get to read a lot of great books and some pretty terrible ones. I don't have any sort of requirement, and count graphic novels too. Here is my current hold list at the library (and yes, I said library — I refuse to pay for books to take up more space in my house — I love books, but I also live in a 700 square foot apartment with my boyfriend and dog and there is no room for the thousands of books I read and own — my Kindle rocks): The Woman in Cabin 10  — Ruth Ware → I’m really digging this psychological “I don’t know what’s happening in this book but somehow I’m still reading it” genre, and   In a Dark, Dark Wood   was surprising good Fatal  — John Lescroart → Periodically, I go through the New York Times’ Bestseller list because I like reading books that people are talking about — for this reason, I read the   Fifty Shades   tri...

Sometimes you read a book you loved and then almost immediately forget everything you just read. Sometimes you read a book you hated and remember it forever. When I read The Girl on the Train , I had to tell everyone how great it was. It was before I read Gone Girl and realized there is an actual genre of "psychological-thrillers-where-you-have-no-idea-what's-happening-and-then-it-gets-awesome-and-the-ending-is-crazy" - it's a thing. Anyway, the problem became that whenever I tried to tell anyone what it was about, that was the only way I could describe it. I couldn't tell anyone what it was really about because then they would know and the book wouldn't be amazing for them. Not that I don't like spoilers - I do, probably too much - but in this case if I knew the ending ahead of time, I wouldn't have cared as much while I was reading it and trying to figure out what happened. Then, inexplicably, I completely forgot the entire book. I couldn't re...