This month was a good reading month for me. Mainly because so many of my holds came available this month, and I had to keep on top of my reading so I didn’t miss out. I read some good books this month.
The title is linked to Goodreads and the cover is linked to Amazon. The Amazon link is an affiliated link*. I’ve pulled the description from Goodreads.
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Spanning decades, moving back and forth in time, and vividly depicting life before and after the pandemic, this suspenseful, elegiac novel is rife with beauty. As Arthur falls in and out of love, as Jeevan watches the newscasters say their final good-byes, and as Kirsten finds herself caught in the crosshairs of the prophet, we see the strange twists of fate that connect them all. A novel of art, memory, and ambition, Station Eleven tells a story about the relationships that sustain us, the ephemeral nature of fame, and the beauty of the world as we know it.-Goodreads
I LOVED this book! I want it to be a series. I want to find out more about where the lives of the characters go and what happens next. I loved the plot, the characters, the writing. This is definitely up there for books I’ve read lately. I do like post-apocalypse novels, so this probably is part of my enthusiasm for the book. I didn’t enjoy the before parts of the story-line as much, but it added to the story. What would be the probability that all those people who were connected by that one man would survive into the post-plague world? While I was reading I had so many questions pop into my mind about society and how I would feel in that situation. Like would getting electricity/internet be a major priority? When do those modern conveniences come back into play? It’s weird to think of having to re-invent so much of the world. To go from a world where everything that you ever want to know (almost) is at the touch of your fingertips, to struggling to eat and traveling on foot. I want a second book!
“No more Internet. No more social media, no more scrolling through litanies of dreams and nervous hopes and photographs of lunches, cries for help and expressions of contentment and relationship-status updates with heart icons whole or broken, plans to meet up later, pleas, complaints, desires, pictures of babies dressed as bears or peppers for Halloween. No more reading and commenting on the lives of others, and in so doing, feeling slightly less alone in the room.”
“It’s possible that no one who didn’t grow up in a small place can understand how beautiful this is, how the anonymity of the city life feels like freedom.”
“I think people like him think work is supposed to be drudgery punctuated by very occasional moments of happiness, but when I say happiness, I mostly mean distraction.”
“….but then by four or five o’clock the day’s just turned into yet another day, and you go on like that, looking forward to five o’clock and then the weekend and then your two or three annual weeks of paid vacation time, day in day out, and that’s what happens to your life.”
Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars. Now, he’s sure he’ll be the first person to die there. After a dust storm nearly kills him & forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded & completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive—& even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive. Chances are, though, he won’t have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment or plain-old “human error” are much more likely to kill him first. But Mark isn’t ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills—& a relentless, dogged refusal to quit—he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?-Goodreads
I loved this one too!! Another, read in a day book. I found myself rooting for Mark, and could imagine the tension that every household felt while watching this story unfold. It really pulled me in and I felt emotionally attached to Mark. If I find myself wondering about what happens next, it’s usually a sign of a good book for me. Yes, there is a lot of numbers/science/math involved, but it was not presented in a overly complicated manner or boring. It wasn’t pages and pages of how he figured out xyz. I loved the humor Mark presented in the story. I would certainly recommend this book to anyone.
“Duct tape works anywhere. Duck tape is magic and should be worshiped.”
“…human being has a basic instinct to help each other out. It might not seem that way sometimes, but it’s true… This is so fundamentally human that it’s found in every culture without exception. Yes, there are assholes who just don’t are, but they’re massively outnumbered by the people who do.”
“Maybe I’ll post a consumer review. Brought product to surface of Mars. It stopped working 0/10.”
The Girl On The Train by Paula Hawkins
Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning. Every day she rattles down the track, flashes past a stretch of cozy suburban homes, and stops at the signal that allows her to daily watch the same couple breakfasting on their deck. She’s even started to feel like she knows them. “Jess and Jason,” she calls them. Their life—as she sees it—is perfect. Not unlike the life she recently lost.
And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough. Now everything’s changed. Unable to keep it to herself, Rachel offers what she knows to the police, and becomes inextricably entwined in what happens next, as well as in the lives of everyone involved. Has she done more harm than good?-Goodreads
I held out and waited for it to come available from the library, so yay me 🙂 I think half of blogland has already reviewed this book, and I was really excited to read it. I was surprised at the number of positive reviews from so many bloggers. I liked this book, I read it in half a day. It is a pull you in story and an easy read. Since it is often compared to Gone Girl, I do think Gone Girl was a better book. The Girl on The Train didn’t have as much shock factor. While I found most of the characters in Gone Girl totally unlikable and really messed up, I found The Girl on The Train characters unlikable, in a I want to shake them and say get your shit together kind of way. I’m sure I read it more critically than I would have it didn’t get SO much hype and I’ve read many reviews on it. I enjoyed this book, but I wanted more of a shock factor.
“….as if I’m playing at real life instead of actually living it. I need to find something that I must do, something undeniable.”
“I don’t know where that strength went, I don’t remember losing it. I think that over time it got chipped away, bit by bit, by life, by the living of it.”
“There’s nothing so painful, so corrosive, as suspicion.”
“His strength, that protectiveness he radiates, it doesn’t mean she’s weak. She’s strong in other ways; she makes intellectual leaps that leave him openmouthed in admiration. She can cut to the nub of a problem, dissect and analyze it in the time it takes other people to say good morning.”
Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
Big Little Lies is a brilliant take on ex-husbands and second wives, mothers and daughters, schoolyard scandal, and the dangerous little lies we tell ourselves just to survive.-Goodreads
I felt like this was almost like a combination of The Husband & What Alice Forgot. It was a page-turner. I love how she presents the plots of her stories, her story-telling style. I think this would be a great beach read. Not super light, but the story grabs you and keeps you guessing.
“ They say it’s good to let your grudges go, but I don’t know, I’m quite fond of my grudge. I tend it like a little pet.”
“If she packaged the perfect Facebook life, maybe she would start to believe it herself.”
In a small New England town, over half a century ago, a shadow falls over a small boy playing with his toy soldiers. Jamie Morton looks up to see a striking man, the new minister. Charles Jacobs, along with his beautiful wife, will transform the local church. The men and boys are all a bit in love with Mrs. Jacobs; the women and girls feel the same about Reverend Jacobs — including Jamie’s mother and beloved sister, Claire. With Jamie, the Reverend shares a deeper bond based on a secret obsession. When tragedy strikes the Jacobs family, this charismatic preacher curses God, mocks all religious belief, and is banished from the shocked town. -Goodreads
I’m a big fan of King, some of my favorites of his is the Dark Tower Series and 11/22/63. This one was good, but I didn’t feel really hooked until about midway through. It started slow for me. It reminded me a bit of the same story-telling style as Doctor Sleep, though I liked Doctor Sleep much more. Good, but not the best King has to offer in my option.
“He spoke with the patience of a true believer. Or a lunatic. Maybe there’s really no difference.”
“The three true ages of man are youth, middle age, and how the fuck did I get old so soon?”
“People have many ways to be lousy to one another, as you’ll find out when you’re older, but I think that all bad behavior stems from plain old selfishness.”
My Sunshine Away by M.O. Walsh
In “My Sunshine Away,” M.O. Walsh brilliantly juxtaposes the enchantment of a charmed childhood with the gripping story of a violent crime, unraveling families, and consuming adolescent love. Acutely wise and deeply honest, it is an astonishing and page-turning debut about the meaning of family, the power of memory, and our ability to forgive.-Goodreads
This is a hard one for me to judge. I think it was written well, but I didn’t enjoy it that much. I wasn’t particularly grabbed by the plot or the narrator. I thought the chapter about hurricane Katrina was so unrelated to the story, it was weird, and obviously just an aside that the author felt compelled to include, but didn’t belong there. Good writing but the plot needed work.
“Once the trust is gone, you know, all of history changes. A person doesn’t know what to believe.”
Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
Lydia is dead. But they don’t know this yet . . . So begins this debut novel about a mixed-race family living in 1970s Ohio and the tragedy that will either be their undoing or their salvation. Lydia is the favorite child of Marilyn and James Lee; their middle daughter, a girl who inherited her mother’s bright blue eyes and her father’s jet-black hair. Her parents are determined that Lydia will fulfill the dreams they were unable to pursue—in Marilyn’s case that her daughter become a doctor rather than a homemaker, in James’s case that Lydia be popular at school, a girl with a busy social life and the center of every party.-Goodreads
This book was well written, but I had trouble with the storyline and characters. I just could not relate, and Lydia did feel whiny to me (I feel like a terrible person saying that). I certainly felt sorry for many of the characters throughout the story, but I was also annoyed by them on a regular basis too. To me, not a very satisfying read. It was very well written though, even if the story was not really my thing.
“Because more than anything, her mother had wanted to stand out; because more than anything, her father had wanted to blend in. Because those things had been impossible.”
“How was it possible to spend so many hours spreading peanut butter across bread? How was it possible to spend so many hours cooking eggs?…It behooves a good wife to know how to make an egg behave in six basic ways.”
“Before that she hadn’t realized how fragile happiness was, how if you were careless, you could knock it over and shatter it.”
The River Cottage Booze Handbook by John Wright*
This is an interesting book, not exactly what I was expecting. The size is nice and it’s a hardback book. It’s a very thorough book. Wright goes into a lot of detail for each recipe including procedures and history, but it’s almost daunting to read over the recipes. Many of the ingredients recommended are exotic, hard to find, and/or must be foraged. One example of this is the moss oak gin. I don’t feel comfortable gathering moss to make an infusion with. He mentions a warning on the oak moss gin, “Although I have been unable to find any indication that oak moss is poisonous if ingested…”. That phrase did not make me feel super confident. The most interesting chapter to me was the cider making chapter. I like that he goes through the process of how to make your own apple juice. This is something that we have been interested in. We have made hard cider before, but with store-bought juice. I personally like dry sparkling cider, which he mentions, but with a backhanded comment about why would anyone want to drink that. Overall, I think this book is only for the most adventurous of infuser. Most of it comes across as old-fashioned, even though the summary says, “the ultimate modern hombrewer’s book”. Not recipes you are going to be able to whip-up in an afternoon or after a simple trip to your grocery store. There wasn’t a recipe that I could find that I wanted to attempt trying. *I received The River Cottage Booze Handbook from Blogging for Books for this review, all opinions are my own.
What good books have you read recently?
Adding Big Little Lies, Everything I never told you and Girl on the train to my list. There are quite a few Girl On The Train’s-I had to make sure I picked the right one. I still haven’t figured out the whole book request at the library thing. I’m lagging.
I hope you like them!! Well this past month was crazy with reading because so many of my holds came available at the same time. It kept me reading 🙂
ugh i felt exactly the same way about girl on a train. seriously girls get your shit together!! haha and that oak moss? i think i will wait until they find out for sure. lol
I just found their characters so unlikable. I know, how do you put something in a book, and say basically, well I’m pretty sure it won’t poison you! Plus I don’t know how you would clean oak moss either before adding it to your infusion. No thank you!
Station Eleven and The Martian are both on my to-read list and I’m glad to hear you liked them so much. I’m a little leery of Girl on a Train because of all the rave reviews. And I sort of feel nothing can live up to the craziness of Gone Girl.
I hope you enjoy both as much as I did. I think The Girl on The Train is worth a read, in the very least so you can form you own opinion 🙂
I really liked The Girl on the Train in the beginning. I thought it’s such a neat idea, something I would do (giving strangers names and imagining their lives). But I didn’t like the ending one bit, it was way too abrupt and didn’t explain enough.
Liane Moriarty is lovely, I really enjoy her books, but Big Little Lies is not one of my favorites of hers. I agree with Amy, The Husband’s Secret and What Alice Forgot were better!
I did like the interview snippets in Big Little Lies, that was a neat presentation. The more I think about the character of Rachel, the more I dislike her. I didn’t hate the book, it was a page turner for me and hooked me. I just didn’t like the characters. I agree with you about the ending, too abrupt.
I’ve heard a bunch of mixed reviews of The Girl on the Train. But I’ve heard only amazing things about The Martian. I might read that one soon…
You must read The Martian!! I think you will like it. The Girl on The Train would be a great one to pick up for a trip or day by the pool.
well, hello you’re putting me to shame! haha I love your honest reviews and you better bet I’ll be referring to your reading lists if I ever finish this ONE book!!
May was a much higher volume reading month than normal. All my book holds became available at the same time! This link-up has really gotten me back into reading. Each month I fill up my library hold list, so I never have to search for a book to read 🙂
I totally agree about The Girl on the Train. I wanted to shake all the characters. It didn’t live up to my expectations.
I really like Liane Moriarty. Big Little Lies was good, but I preferred What Alice Forgot and The Husband’s Secret overall.
I think the Husband’s Secret is my favorite so far of Moriarty’s books, but I enjoyed the other two. The more I reflect on about Rachel’s character, the more I dislike her. I didn’t hate The Girl On The Train, it was a pull you in read and I finished it no time. It’s no Gone Girl in terms of character development though.
Yes, I have to read Station Eleven! And yesssss to The Martian! I cannot wait for the movie. Just cannot! I hope I’m not let down :). Too bad you didn’t like Everything I Never Told You. It’s definitely one of my new favorites and I could relate to the story and characters.
Yes, you should read Station Eleven!! I’m hoping the movie is good, I’m just not sure it’s going to capture Mark’s humor in the situation. I’m disappointed he is married in the movie, I think that is going to give his character a different feel. I do think Everything I Never Told You was really well written.
its interesting that you say that about Station Eleven — I LOVED that book too, until the end . . . then I just felt totally let down that that was it. As soon as I finished I tweeted something like, but this is just the first book of many, right??? I also found a lot of it hard to believe in terms of how things would stop functioning — e.g., what about solar power? But, it kept me hooked!
I totally did not think about solar power. I’m still hoping that there will be a follow-up book (though I saw no indication of that). I didn’t feel the paramedic got very much of the post story, he seemed like such a big character leading in, but we didn’t get very much of his story once he left his brothers apartment. This could so easily be a series, and it should be damn it 🙂
After seeing the trailer for The Martian I am convinced I need to read it. The Girl On The Train was almost a DNF for me. I couldn’t stand most of the characters, no moral in any of them. It didn’t live up to the hype for me either.
You should read the book!! I really enjoyed it. The Girl On The Train certainly hooked me with the plot, but yes, the characters were so annoying.
So many books listed here are already on my “to read” list (Big Little Lies, Everything I Never Told You, The Girl on the Train). I recently opened myself up to Stephen King. In my mind, I kept thinking of all the movies and not reading any of the books. I think I’ll give Doctor Sleep a try based on your recommendation. thanks for sharing 🙂
These were all Show Us Your Books recommendations 🙂 I think a lot of people think King, and think of his movies, which his books are more than that. I liked Doctor Sleep, that one was well done. It’s the follow-up to The Shining.
yayyyy the martian! so glad. i just watched the trailer today, so so good. big little lies is on my list, and so glad to hear you liked station eleven as it’s on my list as well!
Loved Station Eleven. I’m hoping she will release a follow-up book. I didn’t see anything that indicated that, but I’m still hoping. The Martian was a great recommendation!!
Big Little Lies and The Martian are on my list to read. I need to get on those!! I am on the fence about whether or not I want to read Girl on the Train. I have read so many mixed reviews and I think I might just put it at the end of my list to read to give it some time to not be so every where all the time. I will probably like it better that way.
Yes, I might have read Girl On The Train a bit too critically. The Martian was really good, and it seems like a good amount of other reads had positive reviews for it as well! You need to read it before the movie comes out 🙂
Great books! I think I heard Station Eleven is going to be made into a movie. I am starting The Martian tonight! I also loved Big Little Lies and can’t wait to see that movie too. 🙂
I would see that movie!!! I didn’t realize Big Little Lies was going to be a movie too. I’m so behind on what movies are coming out 🙂
I read up after I posted this comment and it looks like it’s going to be a series on HBO with Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon. I’m even more excited!
Wow big name actors!! I think it will work well as a mini-series. I’m guessing Kidman will play the abused wife. I would like to see Station Eleven as a series too, that would be awesome. I just read that a producer bought both tv & movie rights to Station Eleven.
Christina, and please forgive me for asking, but do you have a blog? If so can you give me the link.
So many good books this month! I’ve read The Martian, Everything I Never Told You, Big Little Lies (last month for me and I reviewed it in my post as well), and The Girl on the Train were all excellent!!! Station Eleven and My Sunshine Away are already on my to-read list. I’m looking at the Stephen King one on Goodreads right now and I’m adding it.
This month was all prior Show Us Your Books recommendations for me 🙂 The Martian & Station Eleven were my favorite I’ve read in a while! So good. I love all the great recommendations I’ve gotten from the link-up!
Have you read One Second After? If you like post-apocalyptic, give it a try. I don’t but I did like that book. I keep seeing Station Eleven on my library’s recommended list so I may give it a try. I think we said a lot of the same things about The Girl on the Train. The characters just annoyed me! And I really liked Everything I Never Told You but a lot of people disagree! The idea of the parents’ way they seem themselves as reflected in the treatment of their children was something that I enjoyed seeing from both sides. But yeah, Lydia did need a backbone…
No, I’ve never read that. I’ve added it to my to-read list, it sounds interesting. I loved Station Eleven, though if you aren’t into the post-apocalyptic thing you might not like it as much as me, but I think it was good. It’s maybe worth a try 🙂 Yes, I just popped over and looked at your review of Girl on The Train, we were totally on the same page. I 100% agree with your assessment on Rachel…I just wanted to shake her and say get your SHIT together. Also, I’m moving over to comment on your page.
I read all of these except the King and booze book.
I did not like Station Eleven, I was expecting/thought it could be much more.
I loved loved loved The Martian.
The Martian was so really good. I’m interested to see how the movie is. I’m not sure about Matt Damon playing Mark…it might work. I don’t know who I could see playing Mark per say though. Yes, all of May was recommendations…so many books that became available this month from holds. It’s funny how that works out.
Ahh, I think Damon is the perfect choice! I’ll actually see this movie. LOL
I like Damon, but i’m just not sure how well he will carry the sarcastic/dry humor I thought Mark exhibited. But again, I don’t have better recommendation 🙂 I’m looking forward to it.
I felt the same way about Everything I Never Told You, such a disappointment.
I liked Station Eleven well enough but the end kind of just fizzled out for me. Maybe if it were a series it would make more sense.
I so want it to be a series, it would make so much sense as a series. There were so many unanswered questions and things I want to know. I still really enjoyed the story and for me to want more, is a sign I liked the character development.
sad fact: big little lies came in the library for me and it’s sat on my desk waiting to be read but i was so wrapped up in FNL that i have to return it …. and i didn’t even read one page.
that said, station 11 has been on hold forever so i should be able to read it in the next 6 months LOL
I started Friday Night Lights, but then kind of forgot about it. I think because it was a show you actually have to pay attention to, instead of my normal way of watching tv, which is doing things on the computer with a side of tv 🙂 You have to read Station 11, don’t let that one expire!! I think you might like it, given some of the other books I know you have liked.
Wholy read-a-lot! I love seeing other peoples’ book lists for inspiration and I can’t wait to check some of these out!
Right now I am in the beginning of the first Harry Potter but in french. It’s a challenge I am working through.
-Linds
How cool!!! That is such a neat way to strengthen your abilities in another language. I know, it was a crazy read month. All my books came available at the same time!!
I also love a dry cider! Have you read The Young World by Chris Weitz, it is a bit violent but I really liked his take on the post-apocalypse world and it is the first in a series.
Thanks for the recommendation Bailie! I like post-apocalypse books. I will it to my to-read list but will probably hold out on starting Young World for the other books in the series to come out 🙂 I’m tired of starting series and having to wait YEARS for books to come out. I’ve been scarred by Game of Thrones, LOL. Dry cider is yummy!! I can’t trust anyone who says otherwise 🙂