Well, it’s time for my monthly book review.
And I’ve got some bad news: I’m in a terrible reading slump.
Oh, I’m still reading- on a daily basis- but I didn’t read a single GOOD book this month. There were a few that put up a valiant effort, but the ending or the vibe took a turn and left me feeling all whomp whomp about the book.
I have a theory that we rate books with TONS of bias, and that our moods actually affect the rating of a book more than the actual book itself. And in my book reading? I’m in a bad mood. And all my ratings/reviews are showing it.
I’m pushing through- I’m reading the books and hoping that one will come along that will just absolutely blow me away and will put me in a wonderful reading mood. Here’s to hoping for some good, good books in February!
I read 8 books this month and DNF’ed 3. 2 books were nonfiction 6 were fiction- two were Newberry Medal books – one a read-aloud with the kids and one I just read to myself.
Emma on Fire
WHAT did I just read? I gave this book ONE star on Goodreads. I think it came onto my radar because it was a James Patterson book and boy oh boy was this not the book for me. It was about a girl who is going to set herself on fire to protest climate change. That’s it. That’s the whole book. No conflict/resolution, no twist, no character arc to be found anywhere. I actually wonder if this book was written by AI?
Buckeye
People are LOVING this book, but I ended up DNF’ing about halfway through it. It had quite a few plot points that are no-go’s for me- an affair, a homosexual relationship, WWII. Sometimes I will still read a book with one of these plot points, but when all three were present I just couldn’t do it anymore. The writing itself was great and the only reason that I kept reading was because I really did want to know what would happen, but I decided to just read a plot spoiler and that was enough for me.
Roller Skates
Here is where my reading grumpiness kicks in- this was a quaint little read about a girl who gets around on her roller skates making friends with everyone she runs into. I was a bit confused – is she an orphan or a rich kid left behind in the country with unlimited resources? And what’s with everyone dying in a kids book- two dear characters tragically die in this short book. Otherwise, she was a cute little girl with no filter, adored by everyone around her.
The River is Waiting
I have some mixed feelings about this one. It drew me in with a rip-my-heart-out beginning and I couldn’t wait to find out what happened. Once we got into the middle section of the book, it started to drag and I started to feel like I was being beat over the head with political commentary. The ending made me so mad and it felt equivalent to one of those “but then he woke up from a dream” stories- none of it was real, what was even the point? Two things slightly redeemed my anger at the ending of this story -1. The author blurb says that he has worked in prisons for much of his life. Direct experience with this reality did make me feel a bit more compassionate for the author’s desire to beat me over the head with political prison commentary 2. I still can’t stop thinking about this story.
Hunger Like a Thirst
Another great read that started out so promising but pretty quickly made me annoyed and bored. I love a good memoir, and I was excited to read about this food critic and all the juicy details about being in the restaurant industry. Instead, this woman complained the entire story about how hard her life has been. Reviewing a memoir is hard because, maybe she has felt like her life has been incredibly difficult, but I was just frustrated that she never seemed to have any growth in character no matter how much time or circumstances had passed or changed.
59 Minutes
This was the best book I read this month and it truly kept me engaged and interested the entire way through- until the ending (whomp whomp). This is the story of three different people who get an alert on their phones that a nuclear missile is set to hit in 59 minutes. And the countdown begins. A lot of exciting things happen in those 59 minutes until – plot twist- something else happens entirely. I didn’t mind the plot twist at all, but what I did mind was the “10 years later” chapter. I was SO confused. Who were these people and how were they connected? Why did two of them change their names and then where was the other person? Perhaps I was confused because I was reading this on a plane and was rushing to finish it before we had to deboard, but I just closed the book thinking “huh”?
The Eyes and the Impossible
I read this one as a read aloud to the kids and none of us were overly impressed. It’s about a dog who runs around his island and observes everything going on. He has a whole posse of other animal friends who also run around. The animals all work together to try to free the bison from the island. It was ok- it had some great quotes, and the animals were endearing and a fun group, but we all just felt a little bit bored by the story? Not very much happens until the last 75% of the book, but it took us a lot of effort to get to that part.
Heads in Beds: A Reckless Memoir of Hotels, Hustles and So-Called Hospitality
Have any of you watched that show Hotel Impossible? Theo and I used to love that show, and after running an Airbnb for a few years I’m very fascinated with the hotel/hospitality industry. I love a good, juicy tell-all from behind the scenes of a hotel! And this memoir did deliver that- I learned so much about how the inner part of a hotel works. Unfortunately, this book lost a lot of my respect with the sheer amount of cursing and vulgar behavior. I’m not sure I ever want to stay in a hotel again just knowing what some of the gross behavior that goes on from employees in the hotel. I also wasn’t very impressed with this author’s attitude towards his superiors – he acted extremely disrespectful, went behind their backs, pocketed a lot of money, etc- and spent most of the book bragging about it. I wasn’t impressed. It’s one of those really interesting stories that was kind of marred by the character of the author himself. Again- whomp whomp.
And that is a wrap on my January reading! Such a bummer month. I guess it can only go up from here, right? Right?!?! What are you reading right now that you are loving?