I read about The End of Your Life Bookclub a long time ago, I am not even sure what made me start reading it. But I am so glad I did. It was probably the best non-fiction book I read all year.
I loved the mother-son connection of the book. I loved the way he wrote about his mom. I loved the connecting through books. I loved the gentleness of the book. I can’t remember the last time I slowly savored a book as much as I did this one. If you’re into books like this, I recommend this one.
I loved the whole thing.
Before I go to Sleep is another one from the Amazon Book of the Month list. I read this whole book in one sitting. It was weird, interesting, obvious, captivating all at once.
The premise was very interesting and I was confident the author could have done so much more with the plot. And yet, I felt like it was relatively melodramatic and predictable towards the end. But, if you’re into mysteries and psychological ones at that, you will possibly like this one.
I decided to take a bunch of books recommended by Amazon and read them. They have a Book of the Month list each month, and I just picked a bunch. The Dinner was one of those.
The Dinner was quite an interesting read. I can’t say it was fun or uplifting. But it was interesting. The plot twisted and turned a bunch and the narrators were unreliable at best, unlikeable to boot.
But I still thought it was a worthwhile read. Not sure why. Especially since I don’t think I liked it. But there we are.
Sometimes it’s like that.
I will admit that I resisted reading Lean In for a long time.
I had a lot of my own ideas about the topic. I’d read a lot of articles about Sheryl and I wasn’t sure how much the book could add to what I had already listened to in her TED talk.
But I finally did read it and I am so glad I did.
I really really liked this book. I have no inspiration to be a CEO, CFO, CTO or C-anything. I really like working but I am not sure how much I like the corporate world and a lot of the politics that is invariably a part of that world. While it’s still a struggle, my current balance seems the closest thing to ideal I have at this moment. And I’ve never really thought of myself as a feminist in any way.
I’ve been good at “male-dominated” subjects my whole life. As early as third grade, I went head to head with a boy in my class for which one of us could do math faster. (I won by the way.) I was never told that, as a woman, I wasn’t supposed to be good at math. It truly never occurred to me to question my love of math, computers or anything else. Even though my mom didn’t encourage me to go to college specifically, she and my dad supported me a 1000% and helped me make all my dreams true. Not once along the way did I hear that I was a girl and that I shouldn’t aim to go to the US or study computers or anything along those lines. I personally never felt like being a woman stood in the way of my choices, career and life.
And yet.
Reading this book, I could easily see that I stood in my own way many, many times.
This is not to say that I would have done much differently but I definitely agree with a lot of what’s outlined in this book and it gave me a lot of food for thought. I am still processing much of it.
It is also well-written and easy to read. I recommend it.
I read The Great Gatsby before the movie came out. (Yes, this review is a bit late.) I hadn’t read it since high school and didn’t remember any of the story at all. I knew I wanted to watch the movie and I wanted to make sure I reread it before I saw the movie.
I actually listened to it on audio which allowed me to “read” it while I was driving around. And while I liked the storytelling and the visuals and even the interesting characterization, I didn’t actually like any of the characters (maybe except the narrator) and I really didn’t care much for the story and how it ended.
It didn’t make me feel so great about the people in the story. And even about justice.
Alas, a lot of the classics aren’t really “happy” stories, are they?
    
I read Delirium a long time ago and have been a big fan of Lauren Oliver since her first book. Delirium wasn’t my favorite compared to her first book so I decided I’d wait until the full series was out before I read the next book. So I finally read Pandemonium and Requiem and the Delirium Stories. It was quite fun reading them all together.
While I liked the series, I still don’t like it nearly as much as I’ve loved Before I Fall. To me, that book was magical, profound and thought-provoking. This one was okay. Especially since the ending wasn’t all that amazing, unpredictable or even profound for me.
If you’re into dystopian stories, you will likely enjoy this. I think Lauren Oliver is a good writer and develops her characters well so they are not 2-dimensional. I know I will always enjoy her writing.
I picked Life After Life on a total impulse. It was an Amazon Book of the Month book and there was something about it that drew my attention so I dove in.
I kept wanting to put it down but I couldn’t get myself to do it. I don’t even think I liked any of the characters. (Maybe the brother and the mom a bit.) and the book was quite depressing in many of the sections, much more depressing than I like to read.
I still couldn’t put it down.
The style was interesting of course. And there were a few fascinating turns but overall I still am not sure what kept me wanting to read the book.
I can’t decide if this is recommended or not. You’ll have to pick it up and decide on your own.
I read March for book club, too.
It’s been on my list to read this book for a long, long time. I am not usually a fan of historical fiction and even though I wanted to read it, I kind of thought this would be a hard read.
It was not at all.
I sat and read it in two days. There was something about it that pulled me in and I just wanted to keep reading. I think Geraldine Brooks’ storytelling was beautiful and I loved remembering Little Women which I really should reread at this point.
If historical fiction is your genre or you liked the Little Women, you might like this one.
I read Where’d You Go Bernadette for book club, too.
And I will say, I am not a chick lit person. I mean I was but I think I read a lot of them at some point and they all started resembling each other so I grew sick of it. (Same thing happened for John Grisham, too) So I wasn’t even sure I wanted to read this book.
And when I started it, I liked it even less.
But then I kept reading it and I couldn’t put it down. I just kept wanting to read more and more. I really liked Bee and Bernadette.
In the end, I am glad I read it.
I read Seating Arrangements for book club.
I had heard about the book and wanted to read it. For some reason I thought it would be a slow read but it wasn’t so at all. I read it in two days and I felt like the story flowed very well. Maybe cause Jake’s from New England, I thought that I understood the kind of people the characters were and could feel some connection to the story.
But I am not sure how much I liked it.
I mean I didn’t dislike it, I just don’t feel hugely connected to it. Considering how many wonderful books there are to read, this wouldn’t go on the top of my list.
I read about The Life Organizer in another book I was reading (and for the life of me, I can’t remember which one.) but something about it was compelling immediately and I just bought it.
This is not one of those books you read end to end. It has an intro section that explains some thoughts, the idea behind the life organizer, and how the book is structured. And the rest of it is weekly thoughts, intentions, and questions.
I picked this book up in April and started doing the weekly questions as a way to keep track of my own thoughts and to be more intentional about my life and my weeks.
It’s actually the book that got me back into journaling.
highly recommended.
I read Wonder for book club. I had seen it on and off but hadn’t managed to pick it up for some reason. I wasn’t sure if it woud be good.
and it is good.
no, it’s excellent.
I really, really loved it. Just about everything about it. The style, the topic, the variety of perspectives. The whole book is just wonderful.
I recommend it wholeheartedly.
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projects for twenty twenty-four
projects for twenty twenty-three
projects for twenty twenty-two
projects for twenty twenty-one
projects for twenty nineteen
projects for twenty eighteen
projects from twenty seventeen
monthly projects from previous years
some of my previous projects
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