Monday, August 4, 2014

Goodreads Purge Part Two: Fiction

I'm back with the rest of my recent reads. This time, I'm sharing fiction! If you have Goodreads, feel free to visit my profile and add me as a friend! I love seeing what everyone is reading.

John Green

    

I had already read & loved The Fault in our Stars. It was a quick, entertaining read, so I immediately set out to read more from this amazing author! These books did not disappoint, either! They are all young adult and deal with the relationships frequently encountered in that time of life.

Looking for Alaska (5/5; this one was my favorite!)
An Abundance of Katherines (3.5/5; not bad, just not as good as the others)
Paper Towns (4/5)

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Rainbow Rowell

      

The first experience I had with Ms. Rowell was Eleanor & Park, and that was one of the best books I've ever read! The style reminded me of John Green. The rest of her books (above) are a little more adult in content, and they read wonderfully! They are all light reads about relationships. Great for the summertime.

Attachments (4.5/5)
Landline (4/5; this one just came out!)
Fangirl (5/5; this one was my favorite!)

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The Program & The Treatment


I clearly love dystopian YA! The premise of this series is that suicide has become an epidemic. If you show any signs of depression, you get sent to "The Program," where your memory is wiped. The Treatment follows how a group of teens fight back against the program. It was a good book to read; I couldn't wait to read what happened next!

The Program (4.5/5)
The Treatment (4/5)
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Gone Girl


This book was recommended to me a few times, but I'm not into mysteries, and that's what I thought this book was. Um, it isn't! Well, not really. About half way through, everything you thought was happening gets turned upside down. I can't wait to see the movie!

Gone Girl (5/5)

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Ready Player One


Another dystopian, but the backstory here does not seem too far from where technology is headed. The back story is that the economy has crashed and people escape to the "OASIS," which is a virtual reality that is free to access using a headset. The creator of the OASIS died, and he has left a quest (based on 80s pop culture). The first person to solve it wins the creator's fortune. It is impossible for me to paint the picture of the OASIS in a short summary, so you should definitely check out this book. If you grew up in the 80's and know a lot about the pop culture of that time (movies, video games, music), you'll really enjoy this book.

Ready Player One (4.5/5)

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Where'd You Go, Bernadette?


This is old fashioned chick-lit. Bernadette is an eccentric mother (with an incredibly strange past) who goes missing. The text is mostly made up of emails, documents, and other correspondences that tell the story of the main characters. (I previously read Love, Rosie and enjoyed the format, which is why I read this book.) All of the characters were so out there, so I couldn't really attach myself to them. But, it was an entertaining story that I was able to finish, and I did like the format.

Where'd You Go, Bernadette (3/5)
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The Book Thief


This booooooook. I just loved it. It tells a story of the Holocaust from the point of view of Liesel Meminger, a young German girl who is sent to live with a foster family in Munich. She learns to read and so much more. I watched the movie (it is on Amazon Instant), but it didn't do the book justice at all. It is such a long, deep book that it was impossible to fit everything into a film. But I definitely recommend it!

The Book Thief (5/5)

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A Long Way Down


A Long Way Down focuses on four people who end up at the same location on New Year's Eve. Sounds great. But the place where they meet is actually the top of a building that is famous for people committing suicide. The book sounds dark, but it really isn't. The story is told from all of their points of view on how the next few days are spent. This is also a movie, but I haven't gotten around to watching it yet (with Pierce Brosnan, Toni Collette & Aaron Paul).

A Long Way Down (3.5/5)
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The Kite Runner


Another great book. This is a story of an unlikely pair, a rich child and his servant's son, who live in Afghanistan. The story chronicles their lives, as Afghanistan crumbles and their relationship is tested. It is a really long book, but worth the read!

The Kite Runner (5/5)




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Thanks for indulging me in my summer Goodreads purge!

My reading with no doubt slow down once I go back to school in two weeks, but I hope to try to keep up with it. Right now, I'm reading Life in a Jar (on my Kindle) and This Is Where I Leave You (on audiobook while I'm walking on the treadmill). 

What did you read this summer? Anything to recommend to me?!

3 comments:

  1. Reading books I love like nobody's bIz is one of my absolute favorite parts of summer! I have read several of the ones on your list. I am about to start an abundance of Katherine's but kinda sad that it's not as good :P

    Hope
    Teaching with Hope

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  2. Just loaded up my Amazon cart...this blogging is getting expensive ;0) hahaha, thanks for sharing your goodreads!

    Little In Betweens

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  3. Thank you so much for sharing these wonderful books! Some I've read and really enjoyed, which makes me think we probably have similar reading interests. So excited to read some of these books!

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