What I Read

What I Read in December

December 31, 2015 by Abbigail Kriebs 4 Comments

Decembers are busy months, filled with parties and lists and shopping trips. They’re not often filled with books. I wrote this year about how I was not excited for Christmas, and I think part of the reason is that I hadn’t been reading. My heart gets a little grumpy when I haven’t been reading often enough.

This year, my December was also filled with a semi-secret new project I am working on with a friend. While it’s been super fun and energizing, it has also been time- and emotion-consuming. It won’t launch until February, so I really can’t talk about it (yet!), so instead I’ll talk about the books I did manage to squeeze into the month of much.

Here’s what I read in December:

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by J.K Rowling

This short book is a fabulous companion to the Harry Potter series, and you’re absolutely going to need to read it before the movie comes out in November 2016.

Touching Wonder: Recapturing the Awe of Christmas by John Blase

This collection of readings for Advent was a settling place for my soul this year, and inspired reflection on Christmas Eve.

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

This book was a well-woven mystery. You don’t see the end coming until the very, very moment that it happens. Moriarty is just vague enough throughout the whole book that you know something is about to happen and when it does – WHAM! – you are shocked and thrilled. And the ending is very satisfying, so that’s a plus, too. If you like a little mystery, layered characters and a spider web of a plot, read this.

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

On the exact opposite end of the spectrum from Big Little Lies, Jojo Moyes Me Before You is a love story through-and-through. It’s not very apparent at the start, but you can soon see what is coming and how you think it will end – and then it ends completely differently than you expect and you are left crying in the backseat of the car while your husband drives and your dad navigates on the way home from Christmas at Grandma’s four states away. True story.

Quidditch Through the Ages by J.K. Rowling

I added this to my Amazon cart in December after needing just $4 more to get free shipping. It sounds silly, but I’ll pay $3 extra for a book but I’m not willing to pay $5 for shipping. #BookAddictProblems.

Just as with Fantastic Beasts, this short novel was vintage Rowling. Short, punchy, and full of tiny little details that capture the imagination and tie the magical world and muggle world together. If you like Harry Potter, read this, of course.

What did you read in December to wrap up the year? I hope it was something great!

What I Read in October

November 3, 2015 by Abbigail Kriebs Leave a Comment

Oh, October. You used to be my favorite month, and this year you were such a disappointment. Too many weekends at work, a car accident, and a thoroughly delightful (not) governmental paper chase led to too many sleepless nights, too many full nights and weekends, and too few books. On the flip side, I’m writing this just one day into November and I’ve already started and finished an entire novel, so November is looking up! :)

Here’s what I read in October:

Stiltsville By Susanna Daniel

In June, I reviewed Susanna Daniel’s Sea Creatures glowingly. I loved the language, the plot twists, and the conundrum that the main character faced. I was excited to dive into Stiltsville, Daniel’s previous novel and one also set in the same place, hoping to yet again experience the magic of Sea Creatures. While I could see Daniel’s language and storytelling developing in this first novel, it didn’t have the same spark as her second. The novel was the story of the marriage: no enormous plot twists, no startling discoveries, but I felt it gave an accurate picture of an average, real-life love story, the small ups and downs that make up a thirty-year relationship. It was a good book, but I would not recommend it quite as highly as the one I read first.

And Then There Were None By Agatha Christie

My book club chose this novel for our October read, trying to pick something that fit the season without diving into the true horror genre (none of us are scary-movie people!). After hearing so much about “the queen of mystery,” I was underwhelmed in reading my first Christie novel. There was very little character development, and I found myself rooting for no one throughout the entire book. The best part were the concluding 5 or 6 pages where a mysterious tell-all letter recreates the entire plot and reveals who was responsible for the murders on the island. It only took about two hours to read, but I don’t think I’ll add any more Christie novels to my list anytime soon.

Inked by Eric Smith

If you are a book person and you aren’t following Eric Smith on Twitter, go do that now. He’s hilarious, gives great book recommendations, and has an adorable corgi named Augustus of which many photos are shared.

Eric handed out copies of his YA novel Inked a few weeks ago on Twitter, and I was lucky enough to snag one. I started it on Thursday night and finished it Saturday morning before 10 AM, so it’s safe to say that I’m pumped to read the sequel releasing in May 2016. Full review coming soon.

So, that is what I read in October. What about you? Did you fall in love with any new words?

What I Read in August

September 1, 2015 by Abbigail Kriebs 2 Comments

August was a month of travel: we spent three days on a sailboat, another four in a cabin up north, a day in Illinois with family, and a weekend hosting family ourselves. Luckily, all that travel involved a lot of books – I read 9 books, all fiction. Here’s what I read in August:

All Fiction, All Month

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

I’ve been meaning to read this book for years. Achebe’s novel was referenced in almost every literature class that I took and it seemed like I was missing such a big puzzle piece in my classics department. While I can see why this was such an important novel at the time – and why it has so influenced other African writers – I felt like the book was nothing that I expected. It was hard to follow, it jumped from person to person and topic to topic, not following a clear narrative for most of the book. Perhaps it is meant to echo an oral history in the tradition of the area, but it was hard to read as a novel.

The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare

This was one of my favorite books when I was in junior high, and a friend recently gifted it to me as part of my very bookish surprise birthday party. It follows Kit, a young girl moving from Barbados to Puritan New England to live with relatives and the very different culture she finds when she arrives. Re-reading it as an adult allowed me to see the agenda that Speare had for the book – and while a worthy agenda, it read very much like a novel written for the education of young people in schools. I enjoyed it anyway, the way it tidily wraps up all the loves stories at the end and includes a happy finale for all. Truly a fun summer read, and a good one if you have children around ages 11-14.

Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal

I’d not heard a whit about this book before a friend gave me an extra ARC she had laying around. Since then, I’ve seen it pop up everywhere around the internet! I hadn’t gotten a chance to read it yet, but did while on vacation and can see what the fuss is about. My full review coming soon.

The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman

This was a book I was looking forward to with much anticipation. It got a lot of buzz when it was released earlier this year, and a friend told me I had to read it. I love stories set in remote places, and the Janus lighthouse is just that. You can read my full review here.

The Magicians Trilogy by Lev Grossman

I discovered this series on the Greenlight Bookstore Radio Hour podcast. Pitched as a “Harry Potter for adults,” I could not wait to read them, Harry Potter-fanatic that I am (I threw Harry a birthday party this year, in case you doubted). It was a great discovery: three books filled with bits of Hogwarts, Narnia and other fantasy elements all at once, but truly original in the end. Full review coming soon, but do take caution that this is not a series for children.

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

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. Full review coming soon!

Across the Nightingale Floor (Tales of the Otori, Book 1) by Lian Hearn

This was the second book that I read this month from my Very Bookish Birthday. My friend Cassie gushed about it – and she has good taste, so I was excited to dive in. It’s the story of a semi-mythical island in Japan, full of strong characters and action and empires to be won or lost in an instant. It ends in a bit of a cliff hanger, so I’m hoping to get ahold of the second book in the trilogy soon.

Phew.

So that’s what I read in August. Next up, I think I might tackle some non-fiction – we’ll see. :)

I tend to read lighter, more “fun” books when I am on vacation. What about you?