My third annual book review. I read a lot of recommendations this year which means that I read a lot of good books. Enjoy and happy reading!

I love Allie and have read her blog for years– if you did too, this book is a print version of many of her cartoon posts, but contains enough new material to be worth the investment. Highly recommended.

I really like this book although at first I was a little skeptical – expecting the run of the mill chick lit material, but this book far exceeds that. Anyone who was ever a compulsive liar as a little kid will identify with Susan Gilman almost immediately.

Meh. This was a good book and a well written tale, but I found it hard to emotionally connect with the characters or feel strongly one way or another about their situation.

 

I waited too long to write down my impression of this book and by the time I did I honestly cannot remember the story at all – I know it was a very short book and clearly forgettable.

Not my favorite of this year – perhaps if I was a middle aged man, the clear intended audience for this book, I would have. If that’s who you are – give it a try.

This was a great book – although it took me a little to realize this. Written in a very stark almost Hemmingway-esque style it captures a time in history remarkably well and haunts you well after you have finished.

Oh, Carrie Fisher… This was by far better than wishful drinking and almost nearly as good as postcards from the edge. Carrie can be crazy funny and incredibly insightful in a single breath. I loved this book.

  

There is nothing more depressing than the true story pf a novelist that suffered from a major stroke and is left completely paralyzed and penning his last novel by blinking his left eyelid. Read this, but beware it will leave you empty and heavy.

This was a recommendation and not something I would have picked up on my own but I enjoyed it, it was a well written novel that captures a piece of history I was completely unaware of.

  

My sci fi book of the year this was a classic deep space tale and I loved it for all its sci fi ridiculousness I’m just sad that in all this otherwise good literature this was the only really good genre book picked up.

This was a book about a couple that circumnavigated the globe without using any kind of air travel. I had high hopes for this that in the beginning were fulfilled but the more their travel continued the less and less he seemingly took notes about it – I felt he kind of rushed through the last half of their journey and wished the second half could have been as good as the first.

A book that came out after I was of the age to read it I decided to pick it up and really enjoyed it, I thought it was a great young adult look at a utopian society, I was underwhelmed by the ending but all in all thought it was well done. I never saw the movie but just looking at the previews can tell it is far from the original story. If you are interested read it, don’t watch it.

 

Meh. The next few book were $1.00 clearance items in a going out of business sale – some were better than others, I didn’t hate this one but I didn’t love it either.

The next in my bargain bin hunting – I thought this was going to be something it wasn’t. It was enjoyable but nothing to write home about.

 

The last of my clearance finds and this one I really enjoyed, a modern day love story set in New York between a soon-to-be tenured professor and her unexpected protagonist. I honestly thought I would hate this book; not being much for romantic stories but this one surprised me and liked it.

A memoir of a long distance swimmer – I thought this story had the potential to be really captivating or terrifically boring and was by far much more captivating than anything. It lulled in places but overall made up for it, as someone who loves memoirs this did not disappoint.

A great book. Period. I can’t describe it but read it. Trust me.

 

I read everything Erik Larson writes, everything. This was not my favorite book of his, the stories he was trying to connect were too far removed from each other and the history of the wireless telegraph too involved to condense into a coherent story. Not my favorite but will not deter me from picking up his next book.

 

Another recommendation – this was a very good read, written in letter form it was a compelling and heartwarming tale.

Another great book, a multi-generational family drama set in my favorite place, this is a must read.

 

An excellent Novel – one of the best of the year, deeply complex and gripping – run don’t walk.

 

The true story of two men with the same name born within blocks of each other in Baltimore, one went to prison one went to Oxford on a Rhodes scholarship – it was an interesting read and a cautionary tale for people in circumstances different than my own. I liked it but it did not resonate.

 

Hands down the best book of the year, this was an ah-mazingly well written book of different stories loosely connected by one external event. I loved loved loved this book.

 

Another recommendation. A book about WWII from the Nazi perspective – I didn’t expect to love it as much as I did, it was well written and definitely worth it.

A sleeper novel from one of my favorite authors, it took me forever to get through this book but in the end I was glad I invested the time. Not as good as the Shipping News but good nonetheless.

 

I heard a lot of bad reviews about this book and was hesitant to ready it but I was pleasantly surprised. I thought it was witty and funny and enjoyed it very much.

 

Another book set in Maine – I liked this although it was darker and more intense than Sullivan’s book. I watched the HBO miniseries after I finished and enjoyed that too.

Not the book I expected it to be – it began slow and stayed that way until the end. I liked it but not until it was over.

 

I’m not completely finished with this yet, but am enjoying the face pace and modern technical aspects of this book – I know it’s working toward a crescendo and I’m excited to see where Eggers takes it.