The Stand by Stephen King

I realized that I never posted my new years resolutions on this blog. One of them was to read 20,000 pages this year. I chose pages instead of books so that I wouldn't look at big books and think that it would take too long to get through them.

On July 6, I have read just over 6,000 pages. Not close to where I should be. But some things have changed since the beginning of the year and I probably won't make 20,000 pages for the year.

But, this book gave me 1,153 pages to add to my total. I am pretty sure it is the longest book I have ever read. It took me 2 weeks and 3 days to complete it.

And I hated it. I realized this when I got around page 600. I didn't want to read it anymore, but I was so far into it! It had taken a creepy turn. I really wanted to read another Stephen King book after reading 11/22/63 but I didn't want it to be horror.

The Stand wasn't really a horror. There were some parts that I just didn't like. And now that I am pregnant, anything I am watching/reading/doing before bed is what I dream about that night. So I had to stop reading this book before bed or I would have dreams that were too crazy and just creepy.

Here's the story: A superflu wipes out the world population except for maybe one or two people per town. These people start to gather together and as they do, they all start to have the same type of dreams. Dreams with an old woman in Nebraska (the good) and dreams with a dark man in the west (the bad). As they have these dreams, all the people choose sides. Eventually it was supposed to be some big, end-of-the-world show down between the two sides.

So I wouldn't recommend it.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

This book has been on my to-read list for years. I had thought that it would be boring, I am not sure where I got that from.

For reasons that would take too long to explain, I needed something to read and this was the only book available at the time. So, I started reading it and I immediately loved it.

First of all, Harper Lee starts the book with a plea to never put an introduction on her book. I hate introductions! I always skip them because by the time I am half-way through, I am disinterested in the book. So, thanks Harper Lee.

I didn't know the book was told from the point of view of a 9 year old girl, Scout. I knew the basic premise of the book but that was it apparently it. The book is set in a county in Alabama during the 1930s. It tells the story of a girl and her older brother and their journeys together throughout school and summer vacation. Their father, Atticus Finch, is a lawyer. His main case throughout the book is defending a black man who was accused of raping a white woman.

For the most part, his children don't know much about their father's trials. But this one is dividing the town apart and his children feel the effects of it.

The book is also full of mini-lessons, which I suppose is what has made it great.

"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view...Until you climb inside his skin and walk around in it."

"I like to think there's just one kind of folks. Folks."

"Atticus told me to delete the adjectives and I'd have the facts."

“Before I can live with other folks I've got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience.”  

Like I said, I absolutely loved it. It was a book I was sad to see end. And it is the only book Harper Lee ever wrote. If anyone else hasn't read the book, do it now. 

Favorite Books of 2012

I tried to narrow my lit down to 10, but I could only get it to 12. These are just in the order that I read them. I don't know if I can say I had one favorite this year, but these are all books I would recommend to anyone. There's two from my favorite author, Jasper Fforde. Two from my new favorite discovery this year, John Connolly. But all of these books were "I need to go to sleep after one last chapter" type of books. 

Ella Minnow Pea, Mark Dunn

The Revisionists, Thomas Mullen

The Book of Lost Things, John Connolly

Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen

A Million Suns, Beth Revis

The Rook, Daniel O'Malley

I've Got Your Number, Sophie Kinsella

11/22/63, Stephen King

The Gates, John Connolly

The Devil in the White City,Eric Larson

The Woman Who Died a Lot, Jasper Fforde

The Last Dragonslayer,Jasper Fforde

The last ones on the list, were after I stopped blogging for 6 months, so no link to them. Possibly later. 

2012 Books Read

Yea, it really has been almost 6 months. Life has been busy. I started my third year of teaching and picked up some new hobbies and didn't think any of it was post worthy. I can't promise I'll post more this year.

But this year I read 54 books, for a total of 18,300 pages. Goodreads keeps track of how many pages I read.

Here is all of them before I delete my list on the side and start 2013 books read.

This year I read 3 nonfiction books and 1 classic. Two types of books that are so difficult for me to read.

This next year, I made my goal based on pages and not books. This way I might be more willing to read longer books and not worry about making it into my count. The goal is 20,000 pages.

I don't know how long I will be able to keep up reading 40+ books a year. One day, I'll probably have to cut back, but I'll get as much out of it as I can.

I'll list my favorites from the year a different day.

The Thirteen Hallows, Scott and Freedman

Crossed, Ally Condie

Gathering Blue, Lois Lowry

Prized, Caragh M. O'Brien

Ella Minnow Pea, Mark Dunn

Damned Lies and Statistics, Joel Best

The Revisionists, Thomas Mullen
The Language of Flowers, Vanessa Diffenbaugh
Genesis, Bernard Beckett
Dawn of the Dreadfuls,Steve Hockensmith

The Case of the Missing Books, Ian Sansom

Veracity, Laura Bynum

When She Woke, Hillary Jordan

Overbite, Meg Cabot

The Book of Lost Things, John Connolly

A Long, Long, Sleep, Anna Sheehan

The Leftovers, Tom Perrotta

Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen

The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins

Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins

Build A Man, Talli Roland

The Last Town on Earth, Thomas Mullen

Mockingjay, Suzanne Collins

A Million Suns, Beth Revis

Wtiches of East End, Melissa de la Cruz

The Rook, Daniel O'Malley

MWF Seeking BFF by Rachel Bertsche

Epitaph Road, David Patneaude

The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers, Thomas Mullen

Pandemonium, Lauren Oliver

How to Get a Literary Agent in Two Murders or Less, Ellie Burmeister

I've Got Your Number, Sophie Kinsella

Death of a Dreamer, M.C. Beaton

The Uncommon Reader, Alan Bennett

The Postmortal, Drew Magary

The Hangman's Daughter, Oliver Potzsch

11/22/63, Stephen King

Twenties Girl, Sophie Kinsella

The Gates, John Connolly

The Infernals, John Connolly

12.21: A Novel, Dustin Thomason

The Devil in the White City,Eric Larson

The Woman Who Died a Lot, Jasper Fforde

Size 12 and Ready to Rock,Meg Cabot

The Woman in Black, Susan Hill

Getting Rid of Bradley,Jennifer Crusie

The Scorch Trials, James Dashner

The Death Cure, James Dashner

The Last Dragonslayer,Jasper Fforde

666 Park Avenue, Gabriella Pierce

Pottermore

Everyone has heard of it, but does everyone know what it is really about?

It isn't just a place to play games, make potions, and duel. What I love about it the most is the new content. J.K. Rowling has written new content to go along with the books. The only one that is done is The Sorcerer's Stone. But by exploring, you learn about Professor McGonagall's background. You learn more about Lily and James Potter and much more.

You can also explore each books and there are very cool graphics to go with each chapter.

And you get sorted. But I am not particularly happy where I got put. Hufflepuff. Although I am loyal. And Cedric Diggory was Hufflepuff, so I guess I'll survive.

So if you can't get enough of Harry Potter, I suggest checking it out.

I am PotionAuror26731.

Books to Read

There are a couple of sequels coming out soon for books I have read. I would recommend reading all of these series. (Obviously.)

1. First on the list (not a sequel), The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling. Duh. Sept 27, 2012

It sounds like an completely different from Harry Potter. But some of my favorite authors happen to be British and I just love most of the stuff they write.

2. The Woman Who Died Alot, by Jasper Ffrode Another British Author

Another Thursday Next novel. I absolutely love these books. They are smart and funny. Seriously, if you like books, you should like these books. All of them. Plus there are now 7 in the series, isn't that exciting to find a good series with so many books already out?

3. Size 12 and Ready to Rock by Meg Cabot

This is the 4th book in the Size 12 is Not Fat book series. It is definitely chick-lit, but fun. I read one of the books one night after work. Fast and fun.

The problem with all of these, is being patient while on the waiting list. Except for The Casual Vacancy, which I will buy.

11/22/63 by Stephen King

This has been on my list for a while. The waiting list was so long last time I checked the library a few months ago. Then I finally looked last week and it was there! It is my first Stephen King novel and it is classified as Sci-Fi. Although it is light sci-fi.

Jake Epping is a recently divorced high school English teacher. One day towards the end of the school year, the owner of the diner he frequents, Al,  invites him over. Al shows Jake a "rabbit-hole." When a person walks through it, they enter September 9, 1958. The same day and same time, every time. When the person returns to the present day, only 2 minutes has passed. No matter how much time was spent in the past.

Al had been on a mission to stop the assassination of JFK, but finds he is unable to complete his task. He now implores Jake to take over the task.

Stephen King did a great job of making me understand the key differences between 1958 and 2011. I also was connected to the characters. Jake goes back in time as George. He is supposed to blend in, but not form relationships. However, he forms those relationships anyways. I loved the characters he bonded with.

At 851 pages, it seemed like no easy task to read this before I left, but I couldn't put it down. It was a fabulous story. And while I don't think I'll read any of Stephen King's horror books, I would love to read one similar to this in the future.

The Postmortal

This was a pretty depressing book. I was reading on my first two days of summer vacation and it didn't help my mood while I was doing nothing but laundry and other chores.

In this future United States, there is a cure for aging. If a person gets this cure, they can still die from cancer or a car accident, but they will not age.

The main character gets the cure at 29, while it is still illegal in the United States. Eventually, it become legal and chaos ensues. People no longer want to be married, because now it can be forever. Resources run out quickly because the population jumps with no one dying.

This guys life was just depressing. So many things just go wrong for him. The book's format is basically his blog and it follows about 80 years. In all this time, he is still 29.

I thought the author did a good job of imagining what life could be like in a society were there is no aging. I thought the consequences he described were realistic, even if they were depressing.

The Uncommon Reader

I have been trying to read books that are on my Goodreads to-read list, since I am constantly adding to it all the time. This was one of them. It is very short, only 120 pages so it was a quick read.

The uncommon reader is the Queen of England. In a series of events, she finds herself hooked on books. Unfortunately, her staff hates it. She is supposed to show interest, but not favor any habits or hobbies so that she can appeal to all her subjects.

Because it was about books, there were a few quotes that I really liked.

"Can there be any greater pleasure than to come across an author one enjoys and then to find they have written not just one book or two, but at least a dozen."


"The appeal of reading lay in its indifference. Books did not care who was reading them or whether one read them or not. All readers were equal."


"What she was finding also was how one book let to another, doors kept opening wherever she turned and the days weren't long enough for the reading she wanted to do." (Explains my growing list of to-read books.)

I do not like the use of "one" when speaking about oneself.  I had a professor once who used "one" all the time and it bothered me so much. That was the only downside about this book. But it is a petty downside.

How to Get a Literary Agent in Two Murders or Less

I won this book as a Goodreads First Reads winner. As soon as I read the title, it had my attention. The title is clever, and unfortunately the best part of the book. It would be a book to read on the beach or by the pool this summer. I was interested in the story as I read, there were just parts when I felt it could have been written or done so much better.

Amanda Anderson is an aspiring writer. She has written several books, but can't get any published. She ends up spending her life savings on a publishing conference which turns out to be worthless. However, while there she meets Jonny Goodsnuff, famous author who has actually published books. Soon, he proposes and a month later she has sold all her stuff in Ohio and is married to Jonny living in LA.

Jonny completely changes after marriage, or Amanda didn't know him long enough to even make a judgement call. But Jonny is sexist, obsessed with work and overly obsessed with his agent. A month into her marriage, she wonders if she makes a mistake.

But the title promises some murder, right? It doesn't happen until about halfway through the book. After we have been rushed through backstory and the set up for the actual story.

The main character was someone I could relate to, until she married some old rich guy after knowing him for less than a month. If she did it because she was desperate, depressed or just needed a change in life, that wasn't communicated well enough in the first part of the book.

I like that premise of the story. It was interesting. The characters were good starts. But I felt the writing was rushed, especially when we got to what the story was actually about.

The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers by Thomas Mullen

This is the third Thomas Mullen book I have read this year. And unfortunately he has only published 3 novels. Each one is completely difference from the others. The first I read was The Revisionists  which had more of a Scify feel. The second I read was The Last Town on Earth which was historical fiction. The Many Deaths had a mixture of historical fiction, and scify.

It is set during the beginning of Great Depression as the FBI is starting and the infamous bank robber gangs were at their peak. The Firefly brothers are founding members of the firefly gang of bank robbers and have just woken up in a morgue. They have bullet holes in their bodies and the police department is claiming victory for killing them. However, they walk away.

The book is divided into each of their deaths. They don't seem able to die. As they continue to rob banks "just one last time" before they go into hiding, we learn more about why they became bank robbers. And about their brother at home who is trying to live an honest life.

The writing was excellent. It drew me in and it wasn't too much. It seemed effortless, but I know that most people cannot write like that.

I don't know when Thomas Mullen's next book is coming out, but I will read it.

The Rook by Daniel O'Malley

I loved this book. The book jacket had it as a cross between Harry Potter, X-Men, The Bourne Identify, Indiana Jones, Ghostbuster, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. A lot of things to fit into one book. I'd say it had mutations like X-men, memory-forgetting like Bourne, paranormal hunting like Ghostbusters and a strong female lead like Buffy.

Basically, lots of things that I like. Myfanwy wakes up in London surrounded by dead bodies. She doesn't remember anything and finds a letter in her pocket addressed to her. The Myfanwy 24 hours ago knew that she would be losing her memory soon and left letters and instructions to the future memory-loss self. Myfanwy discovers she can control others and works in a secret governmental agency controlling people with unusual talents like herself. Some are good, others like to cause problems.

As Myfanwy puts together the clues to find out what happened to her, she finds there is a mole inside the agency trying to take it over. Her new life is trying to pretend she is good as normal while making it up as she goes.

I couldn't put it down. The bad thing about reading an author's first novel is they don't have other novels for me to pick up.

A Million Suns by Beth Revis

I loved the first book Across the Universe and this is a rare case where the sequel just got better. If you want a great YA book to read, these two are my recommendations.

It is still Sci-fi, but there is a dystopian twist. There is no love triangle, but there is still some teenage angst. Can you have a YA novel without it?

It is really hard to review this book without spoiling it. Just know that I was glued to the book the whole time with anticipation. Not anticipation where I am annoyed with the author. She reveals enough stuff at just the right time. And the ending was not disappointing, as most books that build up all the anticipation. My only complaint is that it ended too soon. But that is why it is a trilogy.

Read it!

The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly

This would be a book I would read to my kids one day. (10-12 year old kids) I loved it. Plus it has been added to my favorite books.

David's mom has just die and while he still mourns, his Dad remarries and he finds himself with a stepmom and a new baby brother who he despises. He only finds comforts in his books who whisper to him. When he moves into his stepmother's house, he adds to his book collection. These new books add a layer of mystery to the house.

The book takes place during WWII in England. One night a plane crashes at the house and David finds himself in a new world. This world is a combination of fairy tales with a twist. The way original fairy tales were written. As David travels to see the king, he meets lots of different characters.

The combination of all the fairy tales is what I love. Plus it has a good moral of the story, as all good stories do. I would suggest it to anyone.

Pride and Prejudice

I read this my freshman year of high school. I didn't really get what the big deal was. It was an okay story, but it was tough getting through all of it.

I was just in the mood to try it again. I love it the second time around. It gets a spot in my favorite books of all time.

This time around I highlighted my favorite lines. I'll share them now.

After Mr. Collins has been rejected in marriage by Elizabeth a few times.

Mr Collins: "When I do myself the honour of speaking to you next on the subject, I shall hope to receive a more favourable answer than you have now given me; though I am far from accusing you of cruelty at the present, because I know it to be the established custom of your sex to reject a man on the first application."

Mr Bennet: "Your mother will never see you again if you do NOT marry Mr. Collins, and I will never see you again if you DO.

Elizabeth: "Mr. Collins is a conceited, pompous narrow-minded, silly man; and...the woman who married him cannot have a proper way of thinking."

Elizabeth to Mr. Darcy: "You could not have made the offer of your hand in any possible way that would have tempted me to accept it."

And my favorite

Mr. Darcy to Elizabeth (towards the end of the novel): "You are too generous to trifle with me. If your feelings are still what they were last April, tell me so at once. MY affections and wishes are unchanged, but one word from you will silence me on this subject for ever."

3 Books

Overbite by Meg Cabot

This was sequel to a book I read about a year ago. I just happened to be checking the Meg Cabot section our in the library and I saw it.

I liked the first one better. It continues the story of Meena who has decided to get over her dead vampire boyfriend and now works for a special group inside the Vatican that hunt supernatural creatures.

While the first one seemed to mock other vampire love stories, this one just fell right into the mold. It was kind of predictable and I just wasn't feeling it. Lets hope her next sequel to Size 12 is Not Fat does not fall like this one.











The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta




Weird book. I almost had to force myself to finish it because I kept waiting for the climax and it never came.

3 years ago, something like the Rapture occurred all over the world. Except there was no rhyme or reason to the people who disappeared. Now everyone is just trying to get back to normal and some cope better than others. The book follows at least 6 characters, a small family and a few other people. Each person has dealt with the Sudden Departure in their own way.

The thing that bothered me the most was that the book just ended. Most of the characters didn't have any wrap up, which bothered me.









Build a Man by Talli Roland

I got this book for free for my Kindle. It is the first free book that I have started and finished on there (besides Pride and Prejudice, but I feel like that is in another category.)

Serenity is an aspiring tabloid writer. (I have never heard of anyone wanting to be a tabloid writer. That seems to be a career that people settle for.) She works for a cosmetic surgery practice and gets a brilliant idea to write an article about a male client in secret. She tricks him into answering questions by pretending to be a free life coach provided by the clinic, she hides the fact from her boyfriend (the doctor) and you can see how all of this would unravel.

I almost stopped reading because I cannot handle tense situations were people are lying and you know they will be discovered. Hence, why I do not lie. I would be too anxious to handle it. I gave it 2 out of 5. It was just meh.

A Long, Long Sleep by Ann Sheehan

This is a retake on the story of Sleeping Beauty. I love fairy-tale retellings and just eat them up. But it also had a dystopian twist on it which made it even better.

Rosalinda was woken up one day by a boy trying to give her CPR. He found her in the basement of a building as he was exploring. As she wakes, she learns she has been asleep for 64 years. Everyone she has every known is gone but she the heir to her parent's company.

As she tries to adjust to her new life, she starts to learn things. While she was sleeping, the world around her turned apocalyptic. She wakes up to new technology, new species, and new vocabularies.  She learns more about what her parent's company does and she tries to understand why her parents left her. The more she digs, the more she questions everything about who she was/is.

This book had a love triangle (what YA novel doesn't) but it was different than the others. It had all the ingredients for my favorite book, and it does rank up there. I hope there is a second one.

Working Out

I have been working out more consistently. Extra motivation always helps. 

When She Woke by Hillary Jordan

I almost loved this book. Until I got to near the end. Some people (especially people who are conservative) will not like it.

This is a reworking of The Scarlet Letter. Hannah Payne has become pregnant and she has an abortion. In this book, an abortion is illegal and considered murder. Criminals also have their skin dyed a color based on their crime. Because Hannah is convicted of murder, her sentence is to have red skin for 16 years.

I liked the basis of the book. A dystopian society where the government has extra control over its people. There were a few bits in it that I could do without. But overall it was a good read.

Veracity By Laura Bynum

I loved this book. It was the first book I read in a while the I devoured. It took me 2 days to finish it and would have been shorter if not for work.

It is a dystopian novel. This society monitors everyone and controls the words that they speak. There is a chip imbedded in everyone's neck that shocks them if they say a forbidden word. Words like revolution, library, discriminate, and fossil are on the Red List. It is a police state and the Blue Coats have authority to arrest, judge, sentence and carry out punishments all at one time.

The book starts with Harper Adams running away from this society. She is a monitor and she works for the new government targeting people who might be dangerous. Her backstory is told every other chapel and we learn more about why she chose to run.

The book was suspenseful and had more background about the society than other dystopian books I've read. I was a bit unsure exactly how Harper Adam's job worked and would have liked more information about her and her boss. He seemed more important to the story than we were told.

For the most part, it is a clean book. Whenever the Blue Coats show up, it gets vulgar.

This book shows what society would be like if the government were to take all our rights. While it is an extreme position, I think we should cautious now when laws and acts are passed that limit our rights in the United States. While little steps might be taken to protect us, I don't want to see our rights slowly taken away.