List of Books

Just want to have a post that includes different lists of books for future reference... as if I don't have enough on my TBR list! Will continue to add.

Books with Unreliable Narrators
http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/6473.Books_with_Unreliable_Narrators
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/931944-unreliable-narrator-wanted

Stories about characters becoming real
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1102782-stories-about-characters-becoming-real

Dystopian
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1088673-dystopian-fiction-ya-or-adult

Fairy Tale Retelling
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1013993-fairy-tale-retellings



All reviews and posts are copyrighted by Christa @ Mental Foodie. Please do not use or reprint them without written permission.

Just how behind am I?

Not reading much nowadays make it much easier for me to blog reviews... since I actually don't read everyday... that means there is no fallen behind since I am not under the pressure/thrill to start a new book right after I finish one! So that makes blogging a bit more enjoyable but it also means blogging less since I am reading way less...

Thought I'd take a lot to see how many books I am still behind though, since this year is almost done you know?

8 Fiction and 2 Non-Fiction from 2011 (yep you read that right!!)

11 Fiction and 8 Non-Fiction and 2 DNF in 2012.

Total = 31.

Sigh.


I'd list them all here, maybe it'd motivate me to catch up. Or do mini-reviews...

Fiction

1. The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt: A Novel in Pictures by Caroline Preston (3 Stars)
2. I Heart You, You Haunt Me by Lisa Schroeder (3 Stars)
3. Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross (3.5 Stars)
4. Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach  (2 Stars)
5. Q: A Novel by Evan Mandery  (3.5 Stars)
6. Paper Angels by Jimmy Wayne and Travis Thrasher (3.5 Stars) 
7. The World We Found by Thrity Umrigar  (3.25 Stars)
8. Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys  (4.75 Stars)
9. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs (2 Stars)
10. Dirty Little Secrets by C.J. Omololu (4 Stars) 
11. The Restorer (Graveyard Queen #1) by Amanda Stevens  (3.5 Stars)
12. 1222 (Hanne Wilhelmsen #8) by Anne Holt (3.5 Stars) 
13. Half-Past Dawn by Richard Doetsch (3 Stars) 
14. The Devotion of Suspect X 容疑者Xの献身 by Keigo Higashino 東野圭吾(4.5 Stars) 
15. The Three Coffins (Dr. Gideon Fell, #6) / The Hollow Man by John Dickson Carr (3.5 Stars)
16. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (4 Stars)
17. Cinder (Lunar Chronicles, #1) by Marissa Meyer (4 Stars) 
18. Legend by Marie Lu (4 Stars) 
19. Delaney's Shadow by Ingrid Weaver (3.5 Stars)

Non-Fiction

1. Missed Connections: Love, Lost & Found by Sophie Blackhall (3.5 Stars) 
2. The Wisdom of Big Bird (and the Dark Genius of Oscar the Grouch): Lessons from a Life in Feathers by Caroll Spinney and J. Milligan  (3.5 Stars)
3. A Tiger in the Kitchen: A Memoir of Food and Family by Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan (3.5 Stars)
4. How to Avoid Making Art (or Anything Else You Enjoy) by Julia Cameron (2 Stars)
5. Helicopters, Drill Sergent and Consultants: Parenting Styles and the Messages They Send (Love and Logic series) by Jim Fay (4 Stars)
6. What I Thought I Knew: A Memoir by Alice Eve Cohen (3.5 Stars)
7. French Kids Eat Everything: How Our Family Moved to France, Cured Picky Eating, Banned Snacking, and Discovered 10 Simple Rules for Raising Happy, Healthy Eaters by Karen Le Billon  (4 Stars)
8. Bringing the Baby Home: An Owner's Manual for First Time Parents by Laura Zahn (4 Stars) 
9. HypnoBirthing: The Mongan Method by Marie F. Mongan  
10. The First Eight Days of Being a Mom by Gea Meijering

DNF

1. The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic--and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World by Steven Johnson
2. The Lover's Dictionary by David Levithan

And of course there are still a bunch of ARC I was supposed to review... well I'd need to read them first wouldn't I. I have stopped taking in ARC since I don't think it'd be fair... will I ever read up to 100 books a year again? Not including children's books of course :) So far I'd read 28 this year (19 Fiction and 9 NF, and 4 DNF).



All reviews and posts are copyrighted by Christa @ Mental Foodie. Please do not use or reprint them without written permission.

Book Review - On the Island by Tracey Garvis-Graves

On the Island by Tracey Garvis-Graves

Sixteen years old TJ and his thirty years-old tutor Anna survived a plane crashed, and ended up on a remote island by themselves...

The beginning was a little slow, then I got into the story once they were on the remote island trying to survive. The last part of the book was a little slow again...

This is probably a bit more chicklit-ish for my taste, though it did make me wonder how I'd handle the situation if I were Anna (esp since I'm just a few years older than her). Made me think of the TV show Lost (though with just 2 people, instead of a whole plane load of them, and no weird stuff like time traveling happening lol :))

Good beach read... well or at least I hope I was at the beach during this colder weather now... okay maybe NOT a totally remote island beach though :)

3 Stars. It's okay for light reading.



Note - The book was borrowed from the library.



All reviews and posts are copyrighted by Christa @ Mental Foodie. Please do not use or reprint them without written permission.

Book Review - UnWholly (Unwind Trilogy #2) by Neal Shusterman

UnWholly (Unwind Trilogy #2) by Neal Shusterman

Unwind was one of my fav YA dystopian books (see my review here).  At that time, there was not going to be a sequel, but I guess its popularity demanded one and now it's a trilogy.

I was disappointed in the beginning - it was very choppy, alternating between many characters and "announcements"/newspaper clips. The 3 main characters from the first book were hardly mentioned and many new characters were introduced. I didn't really get engaged until about half way through the ~400 books when you get to know the characters better, and have a better sense of the plot.

I like the theme of the book, and "Cam" is an intriguing character. I am glad I didn't give up the book, because now I'd for sure read the last book to find out what happened. Unwind was a 4.5 Stars book for me, but this one is only 3.5 due to its choppy, slow start. 



Note - The book was borrowed from the library.



All reviews and posts are copyrighted by Christa @ Mental Foodie. Please do not use or reprint them without written permission.