Tuesday, January 10, 2017

SUYB: Book Talk January 2017


Who is pumped for another year of great books and talking about them once a month with this awesome self-made reading community of Show Us Your Books people? This girl. 

Linkup Guidelines:
This link up happens the second Tuesday of every month.
The next regular monthly one is  Tuesday, February 14, 2017 - celebrate your love of books
1. Please visit and comment with both of your hosts, Jana & me
2. Please display the button (need it? let me know) or link back to us on your blog post
2. Please visit a few other blogs who've linked up and get some book talk going!

Here's what I've read from the last linkup.

Engrossing Reads

All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood - A compelling tale that makes your hair stand on end a little if you've been raised in a normal family with normal parents instead of the fucked up situations these kids were in. Greenwood does a good job of making you examine a way of getting by that feels not normal but that is actually the most normal some people can hope for - a good lesson in judging situations and people too. library hardback

Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen - This 500+ page monster was started on December 27. I sort of thought it would take me into the new year, but then I started rolling with it and finished it after midnight the next day. Honestly, I stayed up until 1:30 a.m. reading it not because the end was any more compelling than the rest of it, but because I could not haul this monster on the train again the next day. I cried at some parts, laughed at some parts, and really felt like everything I've thought about listening to The Boss my whole life was spot on. I don't know if it's a good one if you're not a fan, but if you are, it's awesome. hardback, owned

I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh - This one was on a few of the Best of 2016 lists in the last linkup. For good reason! Twisty and glorious. Few things in the reading world excite me more than a twist that leaves me thinking did I miss something? Did I read that wrong? because I was so utterly convinced it was another way. Read it! paperback, owned

The Lauras by Sara Taylor - I flew through this book. It was like sinking into something foreign but delicious. There were a lot of dots not connected for me - a lot of why was this included and why wasn't this - but I loved it anyway. Free copy from netgalley for an honest review. 


Passed the Time Just Fine

Burn Baby Burn by Meg Medina - I absolutely loved the cover of this. I liked the characters too, and the story told against the backdrops of music and an infamous summer in New York City. Poor timing on my part, MFD looked at this cover with second degree burns on his hands for the 24 hours I was reading it. Hardback, owned

An Unnecessary Woman by Rabih Alameddine - I'm trying to be a little more inclusive in my reading habits this year. For a while I thought this book was about nothing, but I enjoyed the way the story was told, so I kept with it. A little heavy on literary references and depressive episodes, the end was worth it. library hardback

You Will Know Me by Megan Abbott - Good lord some people are fucking insane...like, every person in this book. Really slow and tedious for a good portion of the book, it sped up when everything started to click towards the end. free e-copy from Netgalley

All the Pretty Girls (Taylor Jackson #1) by J.T. Ellison - This was a little rough in spots, but I did like the characters and I'd give a second one a chance. $2 Amazon e-book

The Invisibles by Cecilia Galante - The best parts of the novel are the ones looking back on the past. I thought the secret at the heart of all this and the tiny twist with it was contrived. I wish Galante would have built more of the background story and less of the present. $2 Amazon e-book

Rosarito Beach (Agent Kay Hamilton #1) by M.A. Lawson - This book was really well prepared for entree into a series...not like I'm a crime expert or anything but I have put in 10+ years watching Criminal Minds and CSI and L&O SVU and reading countless crime thrillers. hahahah. Seriously though, sometimes it was TOO detailed and thorough. I liked Kay Hamilton and another main character though, so I think I'll go back for the second. $2 Amazon e-book

The Drowning Game by L.S. Hawker - So what I thought was going on for most of this book was actually not going on and it turned out to be absolutely nothing that I thought it was about. That in itself was engrossing but not enough for the whole thing to wind up there. $1 Amazon e-book

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - The first book I read in 2017. I did not love this book like the world at large loved this book. There was a lot of thought provoking commentary on race and immigration and America, and I was engaged with all of that. But it felt like it read more like nonfiction and less like a novel to me, like the characters and their lives were vignettes followed by commentary on an issues examined therein. It was not what I thought I was getting and I was having trouble reading it as a novel. Adichie also writes nonfiction, and I wonder if that's what I was picking up on...I'm sort of of the school that you do one or the other really well. paperback, owned


Not Worth It
n/a

What are you reading?








36 comments:

  1. Definitely have I Let You Go on my list.. that sounds so good. Ugly and Wonderful sounds intriguing. I like a dysfunctional family book to remind me that mine wasn't all that crazy. Just a little crazy.

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  2. I read All the Ugly and Wonderful things this month too and really liked it for the same reasons you mentioned. I really need to read I Let You Go soon!

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  3. I'm so glad you enjoyed I Let You Go! I was very impressed with the twist and the story overall. All the Ugly and Wonderful Things is already on my TBR and I'm adding Rosarito Beach to my TBR because I have countless years of CSI and murder mysteries experience too, which does make us experts. :D

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  4. show us your books on valentines day!!!! HOW EXCITING. not that i even care about v-day lol.
    so glad you liked i let you go. i really had to stop and say now wait just a minute! when i was reading it lol. all the ugly and wonderful things is on my list, so good to hear you liked it too.
    haha i read burn baby burn as well, poor MFD and his hands.

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  5. I saw Born to Run and got all excited (because I have a book by the same name on my "game-changers" shelf) and then confused when you mentioned crying because it's not a sad book at all. Lol! My "Born to Run" is by Christopher McDougall and is literally about running.

    Americanah is on my to-read list. And hooray for no "not worth it"s! I actually didn't have any 1 or 2 stars either.

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  6. I'm definitely going to read I Let You Go sometime this year - it has been widely enjoyed, it seems! I will probably read Born to Run someday but I think it will take me a long time!! I'm also hoping to read All the Ugly and Wonderful Things sometime soon. Yay book love on V-day next month!! I have a J.T. Ellison out from the library right now...hoping to get to it someday soon. #somanybooks :)

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  7. I'm going to put All the Ugly and Wonderful Things on my want to read list. I don't know why but reading about kids/families that are way more effed up than mine is slightly comforting but also eye opening. It certainly makes me more appreciative of my own.

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  8. I enjoyed All the Ugly and Wonderful Things, but yes a disturbing read. I Let You Go has been on my to read list. I enjoyed You Will Know Me as well. You had a good reading month with no Not Worth Its!

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  9. All the Ugly and Wonderful Things is already on TBR list, and I have I Let You Go on my list for Erin's book challenge, so I can't wait to crack it open after your review!And I'm always looking for a good thriller, so I'm adding All The Pretty Girls, Rosarito Beach, and You Will Know Me to my list. I'm a huge SVU and Criminal Minds fan, so thrillers and crime books are generally books that I tend to gravitate towards.

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  10. I have so many thrillers on my TBR, but barely touched them in 2016. I hope to read more this year! XO - Alexandra

    Simply Alexandra: My Favorite Things

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  11. Just added I Let You Go to my TBR mountain! It definitely looks like my kinda read.

    www.justmurrayed.com

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  12. I'm heading right now to add I Let you Go to my list.

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  13. Burn Baby Burn is on my TBR.

    I enjoyed Americaneh, but can see your point about nonfiction. That one was an audiobook for me, so that may have helped.

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  14. I haven't heard of The Lauras before but it sounds interesting and different-- just added it. I don't know why I've never had I Let You Go on my list, but I finally added that one too!

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  15. Hmmm. The Lauras sounds interesting. I don't read much thriller, but it sounds like you had some good ones this past month!

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  16. 500 pages about one's life is A LOT but I'm glad it didn't disappoint you. I already have I Let You Go on my list and added All the Ugly and Wonderful things. No participation from me today since I've only finished one book since I last wrote about books. It was Animal Dreams, btw, which I didn't love outright but was so beautifully written and really made me think. It seems like one of those stories with themes I'll still be ruminating on for a while so it may become one I recommend, in time.

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  17. I've never heard of those books before!

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  18. I'm passing on the Abbott book because it just hits too close to home. But the Bryn Greenwood book, I keep seeing it EVERYWHERE so I'll have to get on that train (now that I actually looked it up and know what it's about. Definitely my kind of book).

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  19. I've had I Let You Go on my list for a while but I may have to move it up.

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  20. Reading Lilac Girls, just finished Love Anthony. Sadly, my memory will not tell me what was before these two. My memory is quite secretive sometimes. But I'm enjoying Lilac Girls and liked Love Anthony too. Now I'm going to concentrate on figuring out what went before...

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  21. I have All the Ugly and Wonderful Things on my list and you made me want to read it ASAP!

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  22. How do you read so many books?!? :) I'm lucky to read 4 a month. I say this after I just vowed to not worry about numbers this year. I'm currently reading Homegoing after reading many positive reviews. Burn Baby Burn was on my TBR but I took it off. I'm not quite sure why I put it on there in the the first place. I do love anything set in NYC. Is it set in current times or the past?

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  23. I have not read any of these, so thanks for all the new recommendations. I'm glad there were no Not Worth It books this past month. I only had one, so not too bad!

    -Lauren

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  24. I have not read any of these books but I just added All The Ugly & Wonderful Things to my list!

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  25. I made a post this morning and totally forgot to link back! My sister's father in law is mentioned on the first page of Bruce Springsteen's book. How cool!

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  26. I'm reading A Wedding in December by Anita Shreve. I love her books and this one is not disappointing. I'm ready to get back into my reading routine. I hardly read at all over the holidays and I missed it.

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  27. Thanks to you, I now have four new books on my TBR! :)

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  28. I'm on the (giant) list for I Let You Go at the library and I'm so excited!

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  29. I Let You Go has been on my TBR for a while, but thrillers aren't my first pick, so it will probably live there for a while.

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  30. I love your lists because there are always so many books I've never heard of. The Lauras sounds perfect for me. Thanks!

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  31. All the Ugly and Wonderful things sounds interesting, I will have to keep an eye out for that.

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  32. I Let You Go is the only one I've heard of! And it's been on my wishlist for awhile now. All the Ugly and Wonderful Things sounds really good! Adding that one to my list.

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  33. Many of these are on my tbr already (or I've read), but The Lauras is new to me. Sounds really interesting. Added.

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  34. All the pretty girls is definitely on my list! xo, Biana -BlovedBoston

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  35. Thank you for hosting! I love the list of books- definitely adding to my list!

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  36. I had a work trip this week and missed the linkup grrrrr, I finished my book at 9pm this tuesday HAHA! I am ready for next month though ;) didn't know bruce had a book, my mom is a huge fan so I'll have to pick that up for her. I have owned I let you go for so long now and haven't read it. I just started sweetbitter, but I let you go is next.

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