Reading List 2015

What I Read in September

October 1, 2015 by Abbigail Kriebs 1 Comment

I read less than usual this last month, even with a week off of work. We’ve been out, enjoying the gorgeous weather as summer slips away instead. So, here’s what I read in September:

The Martian by Andy Weir

A friend told me to read this one a couple of months ago and it finally came in at the library. I loved this book. You would think that the story of a man stuck on Mars perhaps forever would be sad and depressing, but Weir interjects hilarity into every page. I bought this book after reading it, and am looking forward to laughing my way through it a second time in the near future.

The Gone-Away World by Nick Harkaway

I heard about this book on the Greenlight Bookstore Radio Hour during my favorite episode: the one with Elizabeth Gilbert. It sounded fascinating and different than anything I’d ever read before, and it was. I’ll be writing a full review soon, but suffice it to say that this book was packed with adventure and mishap and a plot twist like you cannot even imagine.

Spirit of Steamboat: A Longmire Short Story by Craig Johnson

Scott and some friends of ours love The Walt Longmire series about a sheriff out west who solves mysteries in addition to being sheriff. I haven’t taken their word and tucked into them yet, so while in Wyoming Gordy handed me this short story written as a companion to the series. It was really enjoyable: full of action and things going haywire. I’m not sure I’m ready to tuck into the full series yet – that’s a commitment, but I might try and watch the T.V. show with Scott sometime.

1.5 Bazillion Emails

This gets put on the list because it is true. So. Many. Emails. this month.

What about you? Have you been reading anything phenomenal? I’d love to hear about it!

Story in Review: The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George

September 17, 2015 by Abbigail Kriebs Leave a Comment

I wanted to fall in love with The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George. I really did.

The title, the cover, the idea of a quaint bookshop in Paris… they all sound absolutely up my alley. But this book just didn’t land for me and I’m still not quite sure why. Usually I find out why when I type out my thoughts, so look for a more distinct opinion by the end of this review.

Monsieur Perdu is lost, both in name and reality. He owns a book barge where he sells books – or rather, where he prescribes just the right book to a person in need, much like a doctor prescribes medicine. And he’s good at it.

But something – namely someone – is missing from his life and he is miserable and angry and alone.

When a woman moves in across the hall, Perdu begins an adventure to find that missing someone – but in the least likely way of all.

Favorite Quotes:

“He was capable of conjuring all kinds of gaps.” – p. 3

“Over it all drifted the perfume of Paris in June, the fragrance of lime blossom and expectation.” – p. 4

“With all due respect, what you read is more important in the long term than the man you marry, Madame.” – p. 11

“Books keep stupidity at bay.” – p. 13

“Perdu wondered how it must feel to experience things so intensely and yet survive.” – p. 18

“…it was a common misconception that booksellers looked after books. They look after people.” – p. 24

“She loved historical novels in which women dressed as men and outgrew their limited opportunities.” – p. 59

” ‘I think I learned all my feelings from books. In them I loved and laughed and found out more than in my whole non-reading life.’ ” – p. 71

“Wasn’t it terrible that love came in several sizes?” – p. 138

“Max had underlined certain sentences in pencil and jotted some questions in the margins; he had read the book as a book ought to be read.” – p. 142

“Loving requires so much courage and so little expectation.” – p. 253

“…to whom their lives were bund by love, death and grief.” – p. 367

What made it a good story?

To me, this book was worth reading for all of the quotes about books more so than the story or the characters. George’s love for reading and understanding of how a book can change a person gives this book its heart.

What could have made it a better story?

I often felt like the author was telling too many different stories at once. There are a lot of characters introduced very quickly and a lot of information tossed about, but it took me until chapter two or three to even realize that the bookstore was actually on a boat on the Seine. I feel like that could have been more clear at the outset. It forced me to go back and re-read some of the earlier text to see if I was interpreting things correctly.

At times, the plot drug and at others it raced: the pacing was unsettling. And so were the actions of some of the characters. I feel like if Monsieur Perdu had not opened a room in his house for 21 years he would not have so hastily set out on a journey without extra clothes. I also feel like too many people fall “in love” too quickly – or at least into bed – to be believable.

Still, I love the idea of a literary apothecary – and for that, I loved this book. If forced to rate it, I’d probably go with 3/5 starts. If you love books because they are books, give it a read. If you like reading for the plot or the characters, pass this one on by.

Have you read The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George? What did you think?

P.S. The moments about books remind me of The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society.

P.P.S. I received a free copy of this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review.

Story in Review: Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

September 10, 2015 by Abbigail Kriebs 9 Comments

Oh, this book.

Reading it is like being 15 all over again. Rowell tells a simple, lovely story of falling in love but makes it so, so much bigger than a high school romance. This was our book club pick for September, and I was so happy to have an excuse to read it again. It was one of those books that I initially checked out from the library to see what all the hype was about and then instantly bought a hardcover copy of my own.

Eleanor is poor. She’s also chubby, wears all the wrong clothes, and has no way to listen to The Smiths.

Park is Korean-American. His family is firmly middle-class, he does taekwondo, and he has all the comics, batteries, and blank cassette tapes his heart desires.

And Eleanor can’t figure out why on earth Park cares about her.

And Park has no idea what Eleanor sees in him.

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell is their story. From the first time Park slides his hand into hers (“Holding Eleanor’s hand felt like holding a butterfly.”) to their first and only date (“It was just that kind of night. Every time she looked at him, he was looking back at her.”), it’s a story that sticks in your head and your heart and makes you relive those full-color moments that only exist when falling in love for the first time.

Favorite Quotes:

“That’s a voice that arrives on a chariot drawn by dragons.” – p. 15

“Eleanor let her head fall over the box. It smelled like Chanel No. 5 and pencil shavings. She sighed.” – p. 20

“There was no room in that house to be a teenager.” – p. 35

“And when she handed it back to him the next morning, she always acted as if she were handling something fragile. Something precious.” – p. 42

“‘I just want to break that song into pieces,’ she said, ‘and love them all to death.'” – p. 59

“(All he really wanted to do was sit and talk to Eleanor.)” – p. 67

“Because if she was going to cry about something, it was going to be because her life was complete shit – not because some cool, cute guy didn’t like her like that.” – p. 70

“And Eleanor disintegrated.” – p. 71

“When he touched Eleanor’s hand, he recognized her. He knew.” – p. 72

“It was like he dumped all this treasure on her every morning without even thinking about it, without any sense of what it was worth.” – p. 99

“Because every second feels so important.” – p. 111

“It smelled like Irish Spring and a little bit like potpourri and like something she couldn’t describe any other way than boy.” – p. 132

“And when Eleanor smiled, something broke inside him.” – p. 163

“He couldn’t buy Eleanor a pen. Or a bookmark. He didn’t have bookmarklike feelings for her.” – p. 202

“Everything anybody ever said in this house was desperate.” – p. 227

“I’ve never really missed anybody but you.” – p. 232

“Eleanor tried one last time to be embarrassed.” – p. 248

“The world rebuilt itself into a better place around him.” – p. 269

“Everything true was too hard to write – he was too much to lose.” – p. 319

What made this a good story?

Rowell writes top-notch YA Lit. She knows teenagers. And she’s not afraid to give them big feelings in her novels, feelings that are over-the-top and so, so teenager. At the same time, she delivers characters that are smart, that you fall in love with: you can’t dismiss them as silly teenagers for all their emotional turmoil. She writes real people that you can see becoming real adults. Her characters lead big lives.

It is so hard not to read this all in one sitting. I did the first time, and it was equally hard to put it down the second time – the true tell of a book well-written.

What could have made it a better story?

I WANT AN ENDING.

Sequel, please, Ms. Rowell.

Have you read Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell? What did you think? Were you as thoroughly devastated as I?

We’re talking, Fault in Our Stars-level devastated.