ABC Reads: May

A:  (The) Atlantis Plague, by A.G. Riddle.  Completed January 2016.

B:  Broken Grace, by E.C. Diskin.  Completed January 2016.

C:  (The) Color of Secrets, by Lindsay Jane Ashford.  Completed February 2016.

D:  Daughter of Sand and Stone, by Libbie Hawker.  Completed February 2016.

E:  E, by Kate Wrath.  Completed February 2016.

F:  Fangirl, by Rainbow Rowell.  Completed March 2016.

G:  (The) Guardians of History, by Elisabetta Cametti.  Completed March 2016.

H:  (The) Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared, by Jonas Jonasson.  Completed March 2016.

I:  Ice, by Kevin Tinto.  Completed March 2016.

J:  Jackaby, by William Ritter.  Completed March 2016.

K:  (The) Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini.  Completed April 2016.

L:  (The) Light of the Fireflies, by Paul Pen.  Completed March 2016.

M:  My Name is Lucy Barton, by Elizabeth Strout.  Completed April 2016.

N:  (The) Nightingale, by Kristin Hannah.  Completed January 2016.

O:  Orphan Train, by Christina Baker Kline.  Completed May 2016.

P:  Papyrus, by John Oehler.  Completed April 2016.

Q:  (The) Queen's Poisoner, by Jeff Wheeler.  Completed May 2016.

R:  Regret, by Dan Dawkins.  Completed April 2016.

S:  (The) Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, by Gabrielle Zevin.  Completed March 2016.

T:  Take Me With You, by Catherine Ryan Hyde.  Completed May 2016.

U:  Under the Ice: A Gus LeGarde Mystery, by Aaron Paul Lazar.  Completed May 2016.

V:  (The) Vilcabamba Prophecy, by Robert Rapoza.  Completed May 2016.

W:  Wonder, by R.J. Palacio.  Completed May 2016

X:  (The) X, by Lorena Bathey.  Completed April 2016.

Y:  Yesterday's Gone: Season One, by Sean Platt and David Wright.  Completed May 2016.

Z:  Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald, by Therese Anne Fowler.  Completed May 2016.

Orphan Train

Yay for another historical fiction!  I loved reading about both Molly and Vivian fka Dorothy fka Niamh and I thought it was cool (though a bit cliche) that both main characters were completely different yet had many similarities since they were both orphans.  I loved that Molly was able to help Vivian share her experience as an orphan on the Orphan Train and that Vivian was so kind to Molly who was pretty much a stranger to her.  I really can't explain more about what I liked about the book without spoiling it, but Vivian went through some tough shit and in the end she was finally able to clean out all the secrets of her past.

The Queen's Poisoner

This book was like an adventure for me.  It was set in medieval times and I loved being able to picture the castles and the scenery and characters in my mind.  I loved that it had ties to real events in history (as I am a historical fiction fan) and also loved the mystery and magic tied into the story as well.  The story is a bit complicating at first because there are a lot of characters in the book, but it gets easier to follow as you go along.  Favorite quote:  "When enough people believe something of you, it can distort your view of yourself.  We mimic the judgments of others."  (Ankarette explaining to Owen about why King Severn acts the way he does).

Take Me With You

Another book that I almost finished in one night!  I absolutely loved this book!  The story was so well written and I thought the author did an amazing job in describing the scenes, characters, sounds, everything.  I loved this story from the beginning to the end.  It was hard to believe that someone would actually put their kids in the hands of a stranger for the whole summer, though.  If it were me in that situation, I would much rather my kids be put somewhere stable, not roaming all over the country in a trailer with some random guy.  But I guess then it wouldn't have made such a great story.

 

Under the Ice: A Gus LeGarde Mystery

Though this was book 9 in a series, it was written in a way that it could be read with the series or as a standalone and I really liked that.  The book did have some references to previous adventures that Gus had, but it wasn't hard to follow along with the story.  Basically, Gus's step-daughter's (Shelby), biological father (who is in jail for abusing his ex-wife, now Gus's wife) gets in contact with Shelby and convinces her to run away with him claiming that he's a changed man - which of course he isn't.  The story was slow going at first, and I didn't understand how Shelby could be so stupid as to run away with a man who she didn't even really know.  She was sneaking around, lying to her parents, etc. all to talk to her psycho father - if I were Shelby's mother you can bet your ass that she wouldn't have gotten off the hook that easily.

The Vilcabamba Prophecy
Though I love a good adventure story, this one was a little too far fetched for my tastes.  A lot of parts of the story seemed repetitive and I think the author could have been a bit more descriptive about certain scenes, characters, etc.  All in all, it was not for me.  The thought of aliens living in the rainforest was too hard to swallow, and I felt like the author could have used a bit more imagination when it came to his description of the alien creatures because all I was picturing in my mind were the cliched aliens with a big head, small body, slits for eyes and no nose or mouth.  Also, there were a bit too many characters thrown in to the story that it got a little difficult for me to sort out who was who.

Wonder 

Love love love love!  Started and almost finished this book in one night!  I seriously could not put it down, and would have finished the entire book in one sitting if my eyes had stayed open.  I especially love how the story is told from different points of views and written how the characters would have written it.  With all the descriptions of August, I still cannot imagine what he looks like but that's what makes the story so wonderful.  You don't really have to know what he looks like to know who he is.





Yesterday's Gone
I really didn't think I'd like this story as much as I did.  I'm not a fan of the whole post-apocalyptic event where there are few survivors and zombie/alien creatures are trying to take over the earth.  Surprisingly though, the way this story is written I was hanging on every word.  Each chapter tells the story of a different character so that you get to know a little bit about each one as you go along.  This is the first book in a series and so I'm not really clear yet on what the creatures are or where they came from or why everyone disappeared at 2:15 in the morning but I can't wait to read the next book to find out more!




Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald
I cannot tell you how much I loved this.   So beautifully written in a way that allowed me to imagine myself at that time period living as Zelda.  I absolutely loved her wit and sass and was impressed with how well she handled everything that life dealt her.  If it were me, I'm sure I would have lost my temper with Scott or divorced him long ago.  This was a romanticized story about Zelda Fitzgerald at her best and worst and though I know it is a fictional retelling, it seemed so real, as if it were written by Zelda herself.  I knew nothing of Zelda Fitzgerald before reading this and now I cannot wait to learn more about her, read her stories and see her paintings.  I definitely recommend this book to everyone especially my fellow bookworms out there in blog land. 

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And that's it!  I'm done with my ABC list!  So glad I decided to join in this challenge because I learned so much about not only the stories but about myself as well in what I like to read, what I don't like to read, what styles of writing I prefer, etc.  Read some really great books and some not so great ones, but loved being able to go on each adventure regardless.

Are you participating in the challenge?  What does your list look like?  Want to know which books are my top faves?