Book Review: The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

This Book was Almost the End of Me

Months. I have months into this book. That was why I was gone for so long. I started this late summer and somehow was stuck deep within it until well after the first of the year. Months. Literally months.

Usually, I just switch to a new book when I'm stuck. I am not sentimental and am ruthless about ending a book in the middle but I just couldn't do that with this one. I somehow became connected to Theo, our main character and protagonist that I wanted to personally strangle many times through our journey, that I couldn't give up on him, even when he gave up on himself.

This book is almost a series of smaller books about Theo that could be compartmentalized. First his mother is killed in a terrorist attack in New York City when a museum is bombed. This begins the connection and obsession with the Goldfinch painting that Theo steals during the incident. His connection to this painting is a common thread in this whole book as he goes from NYC to Las Vegas and back to New York as we follow the chronicles of his life.

I went through this book in spurts, putting it down but always coming back. In the end it was worth it. It won a Pulitzer Prize for a reason. I just had to remove myself from Theo and his world many times so I could come back and still enjoy it.

Book Review: Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion

Zombies: A More Human Version

Yes, another movie that apparently I'm the only one who had not seen so the book was new for me. I also am not the hugest Zombie fan and can't stand to sit through an entire episode of Walking Dead as they moaning gets on my nerves.

This is different. R, a zombie, is having an existential crisis. See he kind of remembers being a human and is trying to reconnect the circuits to his memory. He's also madly in love with the girlfriend of one of his victims. . . he has absorbed the emotions of the young man along with his actual brain.

This is comedic of course, and also very sweet. It's not my typical book but I really did enjoy it. Looking for clip art today, I found that there's a prequel and another book in the series. I will have to check them out.

Book Review: The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

Momentum Builds

Yes, I know it's a movie and maybe I'm the only one that didn't know the twists that would come but I so loved this book. I highly recommend it. Watch a woman who at first seems desperate and miserable with her life, unravel the story behind her personal failures to realize that not everything is how it seems.

Great book.

Book Review: Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng

This Book is Both Beautiful and Sad.

I had to sit with it for a while. It's been months to reflect (I read it in the fall) if I enjoyed it our not. It was complex and had me running through a series of emotions that were often hard to decipher.

The story is about Lydia, who has died, drowned in a pond near her home. Lydia was scared of water and how did she end up there?

This story is about so much more than Lydia as we watch the family struggle to come to terms what happened and why. Lydia is the beloved daughter in a Chinese American family. That heritage is important to this story as we watch the family untangle in their grief. Each member plays an important role in this story.

Besides for the intrigue, and often melancholy content, this book is beautifully written. I wouldn't call it a happy read by any means but the prose is often like poetry.

Book Review: Gypsy Brothers by Lili St. Germain

This was a Moment of Weakness that Lasted 7 Books

Yes, you heard me right. I'm going to call it a "moment of weakness". 

I absolutely devoured these books. Then I read the epilogue too.

This was recommended as the series to read if you were having withdrawal from Son's of Anarchy. Yes, I love SOA too. I'm admitting all kinds of things that maybe I should keep to myself.

Now these books aren't deep and they aren't going to be life changing, but they are fun. Follow Juliette's plan to avenge her family's betrayal at the hand's of his motorcycle club, which includes the new leader (who betrayed him) and his seven sons. She has some pretty diabolical plans on ending all of them.

This is violent of course, and not very realistic, but neither was SOA. Somehow in a book form without the actual blood and guts to see, I found it very easy reading. Sometimes I did have to turn away when I watched SOA.

This is a good escape. I read them in a weekend. Short and easy to read. Enjoy.