book butterfly - december

Quite enjoying the chance to do something other than study with my free time.

Are you assuming I'm referring to reading?  Bah hah hah.  No.

Pinterest has sucked me in.  Easy to get lost in the pretty things, tasty looking meals, funny quotes, quirky pictures, and amazing projects.  And then I discovered the GEEK section, and all bets were off.  Love that site.  Officially.

I did get to a few more books last month though, when I could pull my eyes away from my PinBoard.

"Silence" ("Hush Hush" series #3)  by Becca Fitzpatrick)

I think I would mark these books higher if they just concluded already! There are so many series out right now, they start to blend together for me if I do not read them back-to-back.

This third installment of Hush, Hush is good, kinda different from the other two in relation to plot. Nora's lost her memory and has to relearn who all the good and bad guys are and has to rediscover Patch and fall in love with him all over again.

This series has been likened a lot to the Twilight series and this book follows that trend. *spoiler* Example: The bad guy uses Nora's mom to get her to agree to his wishes (a la Twilight). Example: There is a semi-love triangle which almost ends with Boy #2 having to leave at the end after a big dramatic kiss (a la Eclipse). Example: Nora gets changed into one of the paranormal creatures (a la Breaking Dawn). And in the next book, there is to be a Big War (also seen in Breaking Dawn).

Even so, it is still very creative and well written...I just kind of wish the stories would conclude and wrap up nicely so I don't have to try to retain this plot until the next book is published in the Fall of 2012.

 

"The Death Cure" (Maze Runner #3) by James Dashner

This wasn't the best series in the world--I like a little more closure to my books, even within a series--but it was interesting enough to keep me reading. In fact I may have liked 3 better because I read it as opposed to listening to the other two on audio. Plus, I read it just about all in one day, so that's always better.

I could totally see this being made into a movie (or a trilogy? ugh). I'd watch it.

 

"Lone Survivor" by Marcus Luttrell

This is an autobiographical tale of a US Navy SEAL--the story takes the reader initially through his training, and that right there is jaw-dropping. I had no idea how incredibly difficult it was to become a SEAL. After going through what they do, it's amazing that any of them make it out of their 'boot camp', and then understandable that they can pretty much withstand anything. The second part of the book is about the true event that happened in 2005 in the middle East when 4 Navy SEALs went behind enemy lines to capture one of the leading forces behind Al Queda. After an ambush, the author describes the next several days in which they were hunted down and repeatedly shot and injured, until only Marcus Luttrell lives, in hiding, with the eventual aid of a Pashtun village.

It is a simply remarkable story, very exciting, yet completely awful. It reminds me to be so grateful for our freedoms and luxuries here in the United States, and to be so proud and thankful for the men and women who put their life on the line for us over seas. I highly recommend this book.

 

"Sizzling Sixteen" (Stephanie Plum #16) by Janet Evanovich

We're losing our patience with these books...our main complaint is that the story/characters never seem to progress. It's the same challenges/issues/situations book after book. Evanovich writes these pretty much so you could pick up any book at any time and not need any of the others for background. The same few things happen: Stephanie is going to be a bad bounty hunter and continue to make ridiculous mistakes (like leave her FTA in the back of her car while she goes into the quick-E mart for a lotto ticket, only to find him gone when she returns), she's going to have constant hem-hawing over the Morelli/Ranger issue, Lula's going to eat chicken and donuts and nearly pop out of her clothes, and Stephanie's going to blow up car after car. Nothing changes, so we are losing interest.

However, at this point, there are only 2 more to go in the series. Reading others' reviews, I find that most fans have the same opinion, so the author is bound to change something at some point. If she decides to quit the series, she'll hopefully have Stephanie finally pick a guy, which would be the payoff I guess.

This has been our least favorite so far. Having just finished it, I'm still not really sure who the bad guy was and why, which guy she ended up with, or who her FTAs were and if they were caught. That's not the mark of a good book.

 

"Saving CeeCee Honeycutt" by Beth Hoffman

This was a really sweet, sometime-tear-inducing story about a young 11 year old gal who had to suffer through a mother's mental illness and ultimate death. Her father can not take care of her and basically abandons her (in her best interests) with a great-aunt in Savannah.

The ensuing story is of development for Cee-Cee, forgiveness of her father, growth and bravery and change, and learning who she is and that she does not have to follow in her mother's footprints.

The made very sweet relationships with her great-aunt, the african-american cook, and all of their older Steel Magnolia-type lady friends. My only complaint is that though she makes beautiful relationships and has lovely life-learning experiences, all of her friendships are with 80-some-year old women, and I would have liked there to be more of a Normal Childhood Experience for this poor gal who had to grow up too early. A new friendship with a schoolmate is hinted at towards the end, but I was disappointed that the bulk of the story kept Cee-Cee way too old and grown up as opposed to developing any kind of childhood memories.

 

"Winter Garden" by Kristin Hannah

This was a really amazing story, a story within a story, which I don't usually like, but hooked me from early on. It's about a Russian mother and her two daughters in their late 30's. Daughters never really got to know Mom--she is standoffish, does not smile, does not talk, in fact does not seem to love them or want anything to do with them, even when they were children. As 80-year old Dad lays dying, he challenges them to get to know Mom by listening to her Fairy Tale stories she occasionally told them as children. As they coerce Mom to finish the fairy tale, they learn the stories are about Her, their mom, growing up in Leningrad during Stalin's tyrade in Russia, about all she had to suffer as her family was taken one by one, by war or by hardship. It is a heartbreaking story that had me bawling more than once. Very well written and very well worth the read.

Beware of some strong language mature content.

 

"Smokin' Seventeen" (Stephanie Plum #17) by Janet Evanovich

Coming off of the failure that was Book 16, this one was much better. A much more interesting plot premise, more romance, and Stephanie and Lula actually capture their escapees several times. I guessed the bad guy early on, but it was still enjoyable.

 

 

On a side note, went to reserve the next (and last) Evanovich book, only to find there are something like 150 people on the wait list before me, so it'll be a while til we get to that one.  Have coerced hubby into starting the Harry Potter series, which he already admits he surprisingly likes (did not like the movies). 

What are you reading?