Tuesday, January 5, 2016

November and December Books!

It has apparently been a WHILE since I've shared what I've read. I finished out the year SIGNIFICANTLY under my reading goal. I didn't anticipate (when I made the goal list) working four days a week AND I have been surprised at all the GO that comes with kindergarten. Sheesh! ANYWAY. I set my goal last year at a whopping 75 books and I read 32 books. Womp, womb. I lowered my goal to just 52 books this year and I've already marked off TWO so I'm hoping for better things! 

The boys and I read A Cricket in Times Square by George Selden. I really loved this one. I can remember watching the movie (I love Chuck Jones!) as a child. The book was really good and both boys enjoyed listening to it! The cricket, Chester, finds himself inside a picnic basket going by train from his home in the country to New York City. He finds two friends, a mouse named Harry and a cat named Tucker, and takes up residence in the newspaper stand of a little boy's family. This is a whole series and I think that Santa brought us the next one. I'm looking forward to reading more!

I bought an Audible subscription with a Groupon and my first book I listened to was The Heir by Kiera Cass. This was a great book for me to listen to because most of my listening time comes in the car line for James and this was a book that was VERY clean and I didn't have to worry about Will hearing it. I'm going to have to be careful about what I choose for my Audible selections. (I'm listening to Christy right now and I love it, too!) If you have favorite Audible recommendations, let me know. I have LOVED this subscription. The book itself was great, too. I have recommended the other titles (this is the Selection series) before on the blog. It is Hunger Games meets Cinderella meets The Bachelor. It is a little cheesy, but I've enjoyed every single book in the series. A new one comes out in May so I'm looking forward to how the series ends. If you need a traveling book or a beach book, these are great!

I finally finished A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson. I THOROUGHLY enjoyed the first part of the book in which Bryson decides on a whim to hike the Appalachian Trail and, because no one else will go with him, picks his old college roommate Stephen Katz to walk with him. Katz is an overweight alcoholic who, it turns out, is on the run from the law (he is supposed to do 30 days in jail but decides hiking sounds like a better deal). The second part of the book (where they leave the trail for a book tour for Bryson) is mostly about the US Park Service and it got a little dull (and that's why I say I finally finished it). Katz makes the book HILARIOUS and he wasn't in the second part. Thankfully, they do reunite at the end. It was a funny story, but it was also touching. Katz's character evolves and their friendship grows. I know it's an older book, but it's a good one! I enjoyed it a lot!

The Royal We by Heather Cocks was the cheesiest of all titles this month, but I LOVED it. This book was ripped from William and Kate's headlines and because I am a HUGE fan of William and Kate, I loved the book. It is not, by any means, high literature, but it's another one of those travel/beach books. If you enjoy reading about the British monarchy (in the tabloids...not in the history books), you'll fly through this one! Rebecca, an American college student in England, meets William...errr, Nick...on her first day at school. The two hit it off and become friends and then begin a secret romance. It is SO ripped out of the headlines, but I think that makes it even better. Ha! Just good old trashy, mindless reading!

And that finishes up my books for 2015! I have a handful already started for January. My book club is reading Dogwood Blues by Brenda Sutton Rose, I'm finishing up a Disney travel book, a book club book from months ago, and Outlander. I'm listening to Christy and I'm most looking forward to starting the Anne of Green Gables series which I have NEVER READ! What are you reading?

1 comment:

Jen said...

I LOVED the Royal We. You need to read Crazy Rich Asians. Sounds crazy, but so amusing!