Tuesday, March 8, 2016

What I Read: Feb 2016





When Did I Get Like This? by Amy Wilson- A mom book that I picked up because I thought the title was funny. I thought I would relate to this mom more and in the first few chapters I did but then she moved on to when her kids were a bit older and I'm not at that point yet. Also she has three children and I only have the one so that was a factor as well. This book was cute at times but when she started talking about the craziness of preschool and applications being harder than college applications well...she kind of lost me. Benefit of being small town I guess is that I don't have to jump through all those hoops but yet I can't help but think that this author would totally judge my child and me for not going through all those hoops. 

Just an okay read and definitely just for the mommy/parent crowd.
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Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai- This is a super quick read. I think I read it in about an hour. It is set up in poem style and at first I wondered just what I had gotten myself into since it suddenly seemed so short. However this story didn't need a lot of prose to make it a great story and it was a great story. I was immediately drawn in by the characters and once they reached the United States and started facing the daily trials of being different and "outsiders" I really related to them a great deal. I'm Hawaiian in a sea of Middle America White and there were plenty of times that I didn't fit in or that I was sorted out because I looked different.

This is a really beautiful little story and if you have an hour to spare to read it I would highly recommend it.
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Hidden Bodies by Caroline Kepnes- This is the sequel to YOU and I admit I was eagerly awaiting this one to come in at the library. I really enjoyed YOU so I had high expectations for this one. Maybe my expectations were too high. Once again I really enjoyed Joe as a character and the writing is very well done but I found myself getting really bored at times and some of the situations and characters tedious. Then some of the more important parts were over so quickly that I had to reread them again to make sure I didn't actually miss something. The last 100 pages or so captured my attention again and I am wondering if there will be another book after this one now....

Over all I liked the book but not nearly as much as the first. Won't stop me from picking up the next one. (If there is one.)
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Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman- I really like Neil Gaiman's work. I'm not much of a fan of Terry Pratchett's however but I tried to give this book a shot. It had all the elements of a book that I would really love but I just couldn't finish it! I kept getting lost over various narrators and tedious tangents that I finally gave up. I'm not normally one to give up on a book and usually will stick with any book to the end, even if it isn't good but I just couldn't with this one. It was ALL OVER THE PLACE. I had no idea what time period we were in from one moment to the next or in fact who was talking at any given period of time. Maybe my brain was just too scattered this month to really focus on it or something but honestly unless you are really driven to read everything these authors write...I'd give this one a miss. 
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That's it for me this month. Have you read any of these? What were your thoughts? Be sure to join the linkup and share the books you read last month!! 



Life According to Steph

10 comments:

  1. Inside Out & Back Again sounds super cute! I need to add it to my TBR.

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  2. I've yet to read Terry Pratchett OR Neil Gaiman. Must remedy this.

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  3. i really enjoyed the last part of hidden bodies as well and i think my curiosity will get the better of me if a 3rd book comes out.

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  4. Too funny, I read Inside Out and Back Again this month as well! Hidden Bodies has been on my to read list. Too bad you didn't think it was as good as the first.

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  5. I was super happy to be reading Joe again, the book was fine for me. I didn't expect it to be as good or better than You, so I think it hit the mark for me because of that!

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  6. Inside Out and Back Again sounds good. I'm adopted (born in South Korea) and lived in Midwest in a small rural community, so I can completely relate to being singled out for being different. You is on my read list and I've added Hidden Bodies because everyone raves about You. :)

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  7. There is actually supposed to be a third Joe book but she's writing a couple of others before she gets to it. Hidden Bodies wasn't quite as good as YOU but I thoroughly enjoyed it anyway.

    I think I might enjoy that first one.

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  8. I share much of your thoughts on Hidden Bodies. I thought the book, overall, seemed less focused than YOU. Like you, I will read the next one, if there is one. (Well, I'll listen on audiobook b/c I have an audio crush on the voice artist, Santino Fontana.) A follow up may be possible. Kepnes left it wide open at the end of HB and she tweeted something a few days ago in response to a question about a follow up and she said "Eventuallydefinitely." So...we shall see.

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  9. I just had a few books arrive from Amazon, and coincidentally, Inside Out & Back Again is one of them!

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  10. I was so glad that Inside Out and Back Again was a quick read. I was worried that it was going to be super heavy and in the end, I liked it more because of the format.
    I still don't think I'll read Hidden Bodies. Joe wasn't my favorite character and I was reading comments on another blog and someone said they found themselves laughing at Joe throughout the book. ME TOO! I couldn't take him seriously.

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