Book Review: Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes/Bout of Books Day 5

Bout of Books Day 5 requires a day 4 update---I finished a book!  Here is my first book review of the year.

Title: Year of Yes

Author: Shonda Rhimes

Genre: Memoir/Self-Help

Rating: 5 out of 5

Why Did I Read? Honestly, it was a bit of an impulse. I love Grey's Anatomy, Scandal, Private Practice, and How to Get Away With Murder---all four TV shows she has done. As a result---I buy book because I'm curious what she has to say.

Summary: Shonda was the type of person who was shy, introspective, and addicted to her work.  She never said "yes" to anything that challenged her--which was almost everything.  She decides to start saying yes to everything.  What results is a complete change and renewal of the person that she wants/is/needs to be.  She goes through her year explaining her experiences, what she felt, did, and what she learned.

What Did I Love:

 How inspiring it was! I felt rejuvenated every time I listened to this book.  I did do the audio which Shonda reads herself--I loved that she did because she reads so beautifully. I could feel her passion, and honestly I felt like we were just having our little class every time I turned it on.  This is also a book that I want to read again and again.  I want to buy it in print now so I can mark it up and annotate it.  I very rarely say that! This is a book that I'm really wondering if I listen to when I have depression come up or I am feeling like I can't do life anymore.  This is one of those books that I feel like you could learn something new from each time you read or be reminded again of something that you knew you knew but needed someone to tell you again.  

What Did I Hate:  Honestly nothing....I love this book!

Thank you audible for this great quote wall paper
--now to figure out how to download it to my phone

Book Review: Chasing Lincoln's Killer

This is my effort to restart this thing! Wish we luck :)

I am on a mission right now to try to finish a book every day or two. I finished this book Saturday and another book today!

Title: Chasing Lincoln's Killer

Author: James Swanson

Goodreads Listing

Genre: Young Adult Non-fiction/Non-fiction written in more story form

Rating: 5 out of 5

Why Did I Read? The 8th grade students are reading this at our school this year.  While I'm teaching 7th grade English, I am teaching 8th grade US History and I will have 8th graders in my ESL class so I wanted to make sure that I read it before the school year.

  

Summary: John Wilkes Booth is frustrated with the end of the Civil War. He has been wanting to take Lincoln out of the equation.  Now, the war is over and he really needs to stop Lincoln.  He finds out that the Lincoln family will be attending a play at the Ford's Theatre.  As an actor, he knows the theatre very well and feels that this is his opportunity to kill the president.  He gathers his fellow conspirators to also assassinate the vice president and the secretary of state. The next twelve days starts off a huge manhunt for the man that just killed the president.

What Did I Love: It was very well-written.  It was very readable and I miss being able to read a book that fast--it only took a couple of hours.  I appreciate learning a lot about that night in a really fun easy way.

It is a great book for teachers to use! With really needing students to read higher level things and read non-fiction that they can really connect to--this book really fits the bill!

What Did I Hate: It was only from the John Wilkes Booth perspective.  I really liked thinking about how it would fit in with some facts about the other conspirators--like how Mary Surrat was the first women hung by the federal government.  If you're interested--watch The Conspirators on Netflix.

From Google

Book Review: The Brothers

Title: Prologue: The Brothers

Author: Chris Stewart

Genre: Religious Fiction/Drama

Rating: 5 out of 5

Why Did I Read? My book club suggested it.

Summary: It is before the Earth has been formed and the spirit children of Heavenly Father have just been presented the Plan of Salvation. This plan allowed for us to come to Earth and be able to grow and progress.  We meet four spirits: Samuel, Luke, Ammon, and Elizabeth.  They are getting prepared for their time on Earth, but are also being tempted to join the side of Lucifer.  Will they give up their chance for salvation or take the risk of going to Earth?

What Did I Love:

• I really love the story line--the fictional characters become very believable and the liberties that the author takes with sacred figures becoming characters in the book is done very tastefully. 
• I loved the insights that I learned about myself and why I am tempted the way that I am.  If you aren't LDS but just Christian, you will still benefit from the insights and the Spirit that is in this book.
• The narrator for the audio book does a great job!

What Did I Hate:

• Honestly nothing--I immediately wanted the next five books in the series. Currently listening to #2.  This is the Great and Terrible Series

Book Review: The Wish List

Title: The Wish List

Author: Eoin Colfer

Genre: Drama

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Why Did I Read? My book club suggested it.

Summary: Meg Finn has gotten herself in some trouble...really big trouble because it got her killed! On her way to either heaven or hell she gets stuck in limbo.  She has an equal amount of good and evil in her "aura". She goes back to Earth to try to help with the amount of good and helps out the man that she was robbing when she died.  He has three things that he wants to do before he dies, and she helps him get it done.  

What Did I Love:

• I liked the plot line--it seemed very well planned out and I liked how the characters developed. 
• Speaking of characters--Meg is a strong female character that seems to learn a lot and tries to improve.  

What Did I Hate:

• The audio book is unique.  It is read by a British narrator, and he probably does it right--with the Irish accents too.  However, it made it hard for me to multitask and listen at the same time.  

Book Review: The Ocean at the End of the Lane

Title: The Ocean at the End of the Lane

Author: Neil Gaiman

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: 3 out of 5

Why Did I Read? We chose it for book club in June.

Summary: Sussex, England. A middle-aged man returns to his childhood home to attend a funeral. Although the house he lived in is long gone, he is drawn to the farm at the end of the road, where, when he was seven, he encountered a most remarkable girl, Lettie Hempstock, and her mother and grandmother. He hasn't thought of Lettie in decades, and yet as he sits by the pond (a pond that she'd claimed was an ocean) behind the ramshackle old farmhouse, the unremembered past comes flooding back. And it is a past too strange, too frightening, too dangerous to have happened to anyone, let alone a small boy.

Forty years earlier, a man committed suicide in a stolen car at this farm at the end of the road. Like a fuse on a firework, his death lit a touchpaper and resonated in unimaginable ways. The darkness was unleashed, something scary and thoroughly incomprehensible to a little boy. And Lettie—magical, comforting, wise beyond her years—promised to protect him, no matter what. (From Goodreads.com--which was nice because I'm not sure how I would start to summarize this!)

What Did I Love:

• It is a quick read--though it does take a minute to get going
• Analyzing the symbols

What Did I Hate: A bit boring and strange. I started with a 2 rating because it was really just okay...but I came to like it a bit more when discussing it with the book club. It has a lot of symbolism and enjoyment that comes from analyzing it.  I probably won't read it again, but if you like Neil Gaiman I highly recommend it. 

Book Review: The Fault in Our Stars

Title: The Fault in Our Stars

Author: John Green

Genre: Drama/Romance

Rating: 5 out of 5

Why Did I Read? On my TBR Pile Challenge List--and I wanted to read it before the movie came out.  Which I really want to see!

Summary: Hazel has been living with cancer for a couple of years now.  She is trying to keep her lungs pumping--despite the awkwardness of her oxygen tank. Her mom tries to get her to be social--so she goes to a support group.  She meets Augustus Waters at support group, which starts a great friendship that blossoms into more than just a friendship.  But there is still in the back of Hazel's mind....I am a ticking time bomb.  

What Did I Love:

The realness of the way it dealt with the disease and living in a hospital.  Personally, I haven't had cancer, but I feel like I understood it a lot more because of this book

The writing is PHENOMENAL! The number of one liners in this book was amazing. 

When you are in the right mood, a book that can make you cry is great--this is one of those books. 

The characters are great and well-written. 

What Did I Hate: I loved the whole thing!

Split Second Book Review

Title: Split Second

Author: David Baldacci

Genre: Drama/Fiction/Action

Rating: 4 out of 5

Why Did I Read? So this is the first book in the King and Maxwell series.  I had been wanting to read a book by Baldacci and they sounded like a great series but then I accidentally got the 3rd book....went back in time of the books to start with the real 1st one. 

Summary: After Michelle Maxwell messes up her job with the Secret Service, she needs to fix it. Sean King can totally relate--except the whole fixing part since his guy died. They start on a journey to solve the weird turn of events that are happening around King while Maxwell tries to fix her job, they realize that the cases are related. 

What Did I Love:

• I liked how the plot just seemed to twist and turn the whole time.  I would think I had it figured out and then something else would happen.  
• The characters seem to have this likability.
• It was very well written 

What Did I Hate: So while I liked the plot twists, it almost had too many plot twists...it was almost like--just be done already! I think that things could have been wrapped up a bit quicker so that it didn't seem to drag on.

The Book Thief Book Review

Title: The Book Thief

Author: Markus Zusak

Genre:  YA/Historical Fiction

Rating: 5 out of 5

Why Did I Read? We decided to read it for book club and it was on my TBR Pile Challenge List.

Summary: It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will become busier still. Liesel Meminger is a foster girl living outside of Munich, who scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement. (Summary from Amazon.com)

What Did I Love: EVERYTHING! Seriously though, this was a great book.

• My favorite part of the whole thing was the fact that the author puts in all of these great history moments throughout the book.  It can be a great help to history and/or English teachers that need a resource to teach about the Holocaust and/or foreshadowing.  A great companion book to Number the Stars, Diary of Anne Frank, etc. 
• The idea of having Death be the narrator
• The way that it told a story with little stories inside of it

What Did I Hate: NOTHING! It got the coveted 5 out of 5.  Though I do not recommend listening to it on audio....I tried that back in the day---it gets a bit confusing with the definitions and interjections if you haven't read the book before.

Love the One You're With (book review)

Title: Love the One You're With

Author: Emily Griffin

Genre: Fiction/Chick Lit

Rating: 3 out of 5

Why Did I Read? I liked the movie Something Borrowed when I caught it on TV. I have wanted to read an Emily Griffin book ever since because I really enjoyed the story line.  I found this audio book on OverDrive as well narrated by Katharine McInerney. 

Summary: Ellen and Andy have been married for a year now, and everything has been going great.  Marrying her best friend's brother was the greatest thing that had happened to Ellen-or so she thought.  She runs into her old boyfriend Leo--and all of those old feelings came back. Ellen then starts to flirt with that line of do I cheat or do I not cheat? 

What Did I Love:

• The narrator did a really nice job
• I liked the what if storyline overall but..
• It was nice for a chick lit--mindless goodness :)

What Did I Hate:

• I didn't really like the cheating aspect

Dune Road Book Review

I need to do some serious catching up on book reviews--so like I seem to do on this blog--there will be a lot of consecutive posts so that I can get these all out of the way. Here comes one of 6 :)

Title: Dune Road

Author: Jane Green

Genre: Fiction/Chick Lit

Rating: 3 out of 5

Why Did I Read? I started using OverDrive Media Console to borrow books from the library--and this was the first one that I tried out. I don't know for sure why I picked this one...because really it was the first book I stumbled on that looked halfway decent. This audio was nice to have on my Kindle and in my car. The audio was by Cassandra Campbell

Summary: Kit Hargrove has divorced her Wall Street rich husband for the simpler life. She has gotten a lot less stress, but now must provide for herself.  She has gained a new job with bestselling author Robert McClore. We learn about her friends and their lives as they all try to start over after dealing with unexpected events.  Romance comes to Kit--but is it real?

What Did I Love:

• The storyline...it was very entertaining
• There were moments of amazing wisdom tidbits that were very profound and really made me think about my own life

What Did I Hate:

• The language got bad toward the end....it was really weird that it kind of came out of nowhere
• The story seemed to kind of drag a bit toward the end--I feel like things could have been wrapped up a lot quicker and cleaner--hence the 3 

S is for Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary (Book Review)

Final catch up on this series :) 

Title: Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary (Fablehaven #4)

Author: Brandon Mull

Genre: Fantasy/YA

Rating: 4 out of 5

Why Did I Read? Continuing with the series! 

Summary: (from Goodreads) Two hidden artifacts have been found. Three more remain unrecovered. More preserves face destruction as the Society of the Evening Star relentlessly pursues new talismans. Reading in Patton’s Journal of Secrets, Kendra learns the location of the key to a vault housing one of the artifacts. In order to retrieve it, the Knights of the Dawn must enter a death trap — a dragon sanctuary called Wyrmroost. The mission cannot proceed without stealing a sacred object zealously guarded by the centaurs. Anybody seen Seth?

The race is on to acquire all five of the artifact keys to the great demon prison. Will the Knights of the Dawn conquer Wyrmroost? Who can stop the Sphinx? Can Vanessa be trusted to help? What artifact will be found next?

What Did I Love: He sucked me in again with Kendra and her stuff!!! And then he took it away again.  I yelled at it---but in a good way :) Excited to read the 5th one. 

What Did I Hate: I think I'm still bitter about the way things turned out :)

R is for Rise of the Evening Star (Book Review)

Continuing to catch up on the Fablehaven series book reviews. 

Title: Rise of the Evening Star (Fablehaven #2)

Author: Brandon Mull

Genre: Fantasy/YA

Rating: 4 out of 5

 

Why Did I Read? I really enjoyed the first book--especially the audio, so I really wanted to get the second one. 

Summary: (I finished this book back in December so I am stealing this summary so that it is just book 2 from Goodreads). At the end of the school year, Kendra and her brother, Seth, find themselves racing back to Fablehaven, a refuge for mythical and magical creatures. Grandpa Sorenson, the caretaker, invites three specialists--a potion master, a magical relics collector, and a mystical creature trapper--to help protect the property from the Society of the Evening Star, an ancient organization determined to infiltrate the preserve and steal a hidden artifact of great power. Time is running out. The Evening Star is storming the gates. If the artifact falls into the wrong hands, it could mean the downfall of other preserves and possibly the end of the world. Will Kendra learn to use her fairy gifts in time? Will Seth stay out of trouble? Can they overcome paralyzing fear?

What Did I Love: I loved the introduction of the new characters.  They really helped the story to evolve and get better. 

What Did I Hate: Umm...honestly can't think of anything.  I really enjoyed the book. I think the reason I gave it a 4 out of 5 was the fact that it is hard to get a 5 :)

P is for Plague Legacy: Acquisitions (Book Review)

I have been wanting to do a book review on this book forever.  This is one of the few books that I have read in which I know the author.

Title: The Plague Legacy: Acquisitions

Author: Christine Haggerty

Genre: YA/Dystopian

Rating:  3 out of 5 stars

Why Did I Read? I love this woman! I have loved her short stories and I was excited to see the novel form.

Summary: Cameron Landry lives in a world that was practically killed off by a plague.  The world is separated between the mutants (living with the plague) and the immunes (people who can't get the plague). The immunes seem to hold all the power, especially in the area called Salvation, but Cameron isn't apart of that world so he has to figure out where he fits in.  This first installment of the trilogy has Cameron being becoming an acquisition of the "government" and headed to Salvation and the speed bumps along the way.

What Did I Love: The character development is superb.  I really am attached to the characters and want to know what happens next. 

What Did I Hate: Hate is a strong word because she is my friend :) But I marked it down on my rating because it seemed to drag a bit.  I felt like we could have/should have made it to Salvation before the book ends. It seems like a lot of set up and I'm hoping that the next two books help give the first one more perspective.  But seriously check it out if you are in to the dystopian world.  

O is for Omens, Good Omens Book Review

Title: Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch

Author: Terry Prachett and Neil Gaiman

Genre: Science Fiction/Fantasy

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Why Did I Read? We recently started a book club in my neighborhood and this is what we read for our meeting at the beginning of April.

Summary: The world is about ready to come to an end.  Demon Crowley and Angel Aziraphale have started to really enjoy living on Earth and they do not want to go back.  They have to stop the events from exploding out of control and deal with players that don't realize that they are moving everything forward. 

What Did I Love: I loved the writing!! I wanted to own the book or have an electronic copy so I could highlight/underline the awesome lines quickly.  I loved how the story had cool little foils and plot twists.

What Did I Hate: Hate does not fit this book--I didn't hate anything.  It just wasn't what I would pick out on my own....I might read it again but I did enjoy it.  It just didn't grab me at points :(

N is for Northanger Abbey Book Review

I finished Northanger Abbey a little while ago.  It is the next on the list of books to finish by Jane Austen.  It was also my completion of my book for the TBR Challenge (which I realized today that I forgot to do a check-in on....I started The Book Thief).

Title: Northanger Abbey

Author: Jane Austen

Genre: Classics

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Why Did I Read? I want to get through all of Jane Austen's books. I have loved Pride and Prejudice and Emma. I liked Sense and Sensibility.  Mansfield Park has been a struggle...need to try it again at some point. 

Summary: This story is about Catherine Morland. She is apart of a large family and has the opportunity to go with some neighbors to Bath.  At Bath, she meets the Tilney and Thorpe families.  The story discusses the drama that occurs between the families, especially as she goes to stay with the Tilneys at Northanger Abbey.  

What Did I Love: When it started to pick up a bit more towards the end. 

What Did I Hate: So I don't usually give out 2s, but this book would make a good study of Victorian England and Gothic novels but that is about it.  It felt a lot like Austen was trying to be a newspaper columnist and explain her opinion on something.  She also seemed to really be mocking the novels idea. I was bored a lot, but it isn't horrible. 

  

A is for Allegiant: Book Review

So in my theme of catching up, there will be quite a few book reviews on this A to Z Challenge.  I have been trying to keep up with my reading, but I haven't kept up with blogging about them.  And a lot of these book reviews are books that I finished end of 2013 too, so yeah--when I stopped blogging, I also stopped writing about the books.  Sad day...but I am trying to fix that with this challenge (though I will admit...today it is tricky to get motivated to write).

So I actually finally finished Allegiant this past weekend after reading it for months--I started reading it when everything at work changed and it is really hard to find time to read a book.

Title: Allegiant

Author: Veronica Roth

Genre: Dystopian/YA Fiction

Rating: 4 out of 5

Why Did I Read? Well I read Divergent (see review here) and I read Insurgent (review to come on Day "I"). I really wanted to know how it ends. And I had heard interesting things about the ending. 

Summary: (Note if you haven't read the other two books, this might contain spoilers of those...they have become one long story to me.) We follow Tris and Tobias outside the fence to figure out what is out there and what they are suppose to do.  They are surprised when they learn the truth about their own existence.  Tris feels like she has walked into another world just like hers--will she change it or just let the status quo remain? 

What Did I Love: I loved how everything was explained in this book--that's why I have got all three of them in my head now.  She takes all of the loose ends from the first two books and really ties it all in a bow.  I actually really did like the big ending.  I won't say it here to avoid spoiling it for others--but I accidentally came across the ending to the story right before I finished the book.  And I actually wasn't too surprised, I kind of saw it coming.  I loved the theme of the book that really came out through the end and she had some great quotes and writing at the end. 

What Did I Hate: I really didn't like the perspective changes with the chapter changes.  I get why she did that now that I've read the whole book, I don't think she could have done it any other way.  But it was very disorienting and it took me awhile to get use to it.  Towards the end I would still see the character name at the chapter heading...read a few pages and then go back to the chapter heading to make sure I had the first person right.  I wonder if a third person would have made it better....I doubt it but that would have helped the confusion.

What did you think of Alleigant? I haven't seen the new movie yet, what did you think of that?

Thank you Wikipedia 

Book Review: Jane Eyre

Title: Jane Eyre

Author: Charlotte Bronte

Genre: Classics

Rating: 3.5/4 out of 5...I'm not sure if I want to do a 3.5 or a 4...hence the slash

Why Did I Read? Part of the English curriculum and I focused on it with my honors class this past block.

Summary: Jane Eyre is an orphaned young girl living with her aunt that doesn't want her.  The aunt eventually ships her off to a boarding school.  Jane becomes a teacher at the boarding school and then a governess for Mr. Rochester's ward.  As she lives at Rochester's home of Thornhill, she begins to develop feelings for her boss.  Does he return those feelings or is he going to marry someone else? And what will Jane do when she figures out where Rochester's true heart lies?

What Did I Love: I loved how the book kept you guessing.  There were twists and turns, which helped it to be very entertaining.  I enjoyed the themes of the story as well :)

  

What Did I Hate: She often gets on her soap box about something and it occasionally felt like Rochester and Jane would just talk to talk---and it doesn't seem to move anything forward. I also think it is great for the seniors--a lot of good review of symbols/foreshadowing/themes etc. without feeling like it is too simple. And I have had a majority of my students enjoy the story.

Bottom Line: The reason I gave it the slash on the rating was the fact that I wouldn't necessarily recommend it--because I wouldn't recommend it to just anyone.  I would recommend it to people that enjoy classics and have maybe enjoyed Jane Austen and would like something different. 

Book Reviews and #ReadingCram Update

So....today's challenge for the #ReadingCram was actually really simply....submit a review you've done this year.  So I submitted The Storyteller which was by far my "favoritest" book of the year.

As I looked for my reviews today--I was like wow....I have these page things that I probably haven't updated in FOREVER--sure enough just clicked on Bookland and I haven't updated that since February. Wow, I'm sad! This prompts a couple of comments. First of, I have been thinking about what I'm going to do in 2014 with my blog because I do NOT want to just let it die.  But I also get a bit sick of writing everyday--especially when I have nothing to say--or I'm tired like tonight.  Hence I think the stream of consciousness you're getting now. I have been thinking about coming up with a schedule with the blog so I have regular writing topics, goals etc.  And I have decided that January is going to need to be serious housekeeping time!  And maybe a new background....spice it up a bit--I dunno...I like the flying seeds with the Inspirefly and I don't want to go to like birds or something.

Second off, this also prompted a thought about book reviews.  I have been mentioning to some people in person that I do book reviews on my blog.  Talking about that and reading other people's reviews a lot more--it has been getting me thinking about how people get into this whole authors sending you books for reviews.  And I know everybody has these disclaimers and stuff....I haven't looked into this a lot--but if anyone wants to point me in a direction of where to even get started with this I would appreciate it!

Third of all--I wish there were more hours in the day! I am behind on books and I am behind on work and laundry and sleep and...ugh. Which brings me to the final thing....I have probably read for about an hour in the last two days, hence my lack of #readingcram updates.  So best of luck to the people that are still going...I will probably be like this until Friday when I have a weekend and then three days off so no work can be done :) So lots of reading will hopefully happen then!

Don't know if it is a picture that really fits..but it is where my ramble ended up :)

Day Three of #ReadingCram--Top Ten Challenge

So my day 3 of the read-a-thon--I have finished Fablehaven! I am so glad I finished this book, first because it was really good.  I will catch up on reviews of the books when the read-a-thon is done. However, the depressing realization of how many books I have read this year.  The challenge today is to list my top 10 books from the year.  My original goal this year was to read 30 books in 2013--problem? According to my calculations is that I have only read 10 books this year.....I feel really really silly for setting such a goal now--but I met it last year no problem! Well...I hope that I at least gain some ground this month so that it is not so depressing.

So I thought for the challenge I would list my top 3 (in order) and give you my reviews at the same time:

http://inspirationflies.blogspot.com/2013/11/book-review-storyteller.html

http://inspirationflies.blogspot.com/2013/11/book-review-divergent.html

http://inspirationflies.blogspot.com/2013/07/book-review-safe-haven.html

Book Review: Divergent

Title: Divergent
Author: Veronica Roth
Genre: Futuristic/Drama
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Why Did I Read? I have had this on my list of things to read FOREVER...ever since my good friend Christine (who has a book coming out--go look!) suggested that I read it.  The students at school have recently started passing it around as the third one recently came out and we purchased the second book (yay to finally have money for books). So when I saw this for $4 on Kindle, I just had to!!

Summary: Beatrice lives in the faction of Abnegation and she feels like she really doesn't fit in.  Choosing Day is coming up, and she chooses to leave her faction for the daring Dauntless faction. This faction requires her to be brave and stand up for herself. She learns a lot about herself as she goes through the requirements that this faction has, but will she meet them all or will she become factionless? And then what is going on with the faction leaders--there sure seem to be a lot of secrets.

What Did I Love: The suspense and new world that this book creates--it really sucked me in and became quite unpredictable.  It also really has some great morales taught inside it as well.

What Did I Hate: I wish it had some less characters or some better development of all the characters....I feel like it is just one of those how many people can we squeeze into one book?

Can't wait to start the second one!!!