UGH, yeah, I know...

Since I last posted...


Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
yes. read this. amazing book. biography of a WWII vet/olympian named louis zamperini...but his life was (is) so exciting that it reads like a page-turning novel. have gifted this book multiple times since i read it. 

One Day by David Nicholls

meh. read it on the beach in san diego. was a great beach read, but i don't really know that i recommend it otherwise. it was made into a movie this summer - the one with anne hathaway. i never saw the movie, nor do i really intend to. the story was uninspired. the layout of the book (checking in with two characters every year for 40 years on the same date) was quite creative, but the story itself was not. 

The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore

True story of two young men who grew up within miles of each other in Baltimore, both named Wes Moore. One turned out to be a huge success (decorated military vet, White House advisor, author), the other ended up in jail again...and again...and again. They became unlikely friends and this book describes the two paths the young men took and the influences in their lives that caused them to end up where they did. Very interesting but maybe not interesting to those who don't live in Baltimore. 

The Magician King by Lev Grossman

Very good but not as good as the original in my opinion. Still great. Focuses more on Julia than on Quentin. If you're going to read one of the two, read the first. Don't read the second without reading the first. 

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

I decided to read this because I was hearing a lot about it and I needed something to get me back in the swing of reading as passionately as I had been in years past. It's the story of a mysterious traveling circus that shows up in the middle of the night with no warning and disappears in the same manner. There's a love story thrown in there, as well as an ongoing story of rivalry and revenge. There were points in the body of the text that really pulled the reader into the text - but the relative level of creativity in the end of the book versus the body was disappointing. I didn't get the big finish I expected. It was almost as if Morgenstern just said "Well...that'll do." 

Is Everyone Hanging out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling 

I had high hopes for this book after how much I enjoyed Tina Fey's book, but I should have remembered that Mindy Kaling (Kelly on the Office, also a writer on the Office) is not yet Tina Fey. She may never be Tina Fey, in fact. Maybe my expectations were too high. There were many funny moments, but overall I expected more. And it was disappointingly short as well. 

And finally - I reread the Hunger Games trilogy over the last few days. If you haven't read the Hunger Games trilogy yet, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? So. Good. Love.