2016 Challenge - Book 14, Let's Pretend This Never Happened

Today I am reviewing my first book for February.  I wonder if Feb. will be as good as January.  If we have bad weather here in New England my guess is....YES.

Today's book review is for:  Let's Pretend This Never Happened

This was in the category:  A Satirical Book

This is a non-fiction book about the life of the author.  She writes about her father who was an eccentric taxidermist and her childhood.  She takes us through her life growing up and getting married and having a family of her own.

This book was hilarious.  There is no other word for it.  I died laughing on about every page, and read several pages to my husband.  I have read a lot of serious books, and okay books, so this was a nice change.  She keeps her life story light, and you find yourself shaking your head in disbelief.  I love sarcastic humor, so this book was right up my alley.  There is a lot (a lot) of language so consider yourself warned.

Stars: 5

2016 Challenge - Book 13, Will Grayson, Will Grayon

It is almost the end of January and I have read 13 books.  I am pretty proud of myself, so I am going to pat myself on the back for just a minute.

pat pat

Today I am going to review the book:  Will Grayson, Will Grayson

This was under the category:  A Book With Two Or More Authors

This is a story of a boy - named Will Grayson who meets another boy named Will Grayson.  One Will is straight, and one is gay.  They run in two completely different circles.  Once they meet, their lives intertwine.  The story is told by the points of view of both Wills (one chapter was straight Will, the next - gay Will) and even though they are from different sides of the tracks, they both experience love and sadness and friendship in the same way.

This was a pretty good book.  I like one book that John Green wrote, and I find myself trying many of this books.  This one was better than "Looking for Alaska", but not as good as "Fault In Our Stars".  I loved one character in this book - Tiny Cooper.  We never really learn what his actual first name is, but Tiny is huge.  Over 6 feet tall and 300 pounds.  And gay.  He becomes the common factor between the two Will Graysons and the reason their lives intertwine.  The book ends on a high note, but I do wish it would have gone on a few more pages.  It doesn't really tell me what I wanted to know about one of the  Will Graysons - even though I think it is implied.  But I felt unsure, so I felt a little let down by the end.

Also - there is quite a bit of swearing in this book.  It is a YA and I think of my own almost 13 year old and think I am not ready for her to read these books yet.  She probably hears enough of it on the bus to fill a book on its own, but I think that for YA novels - they could keep the swearing to a minimum.  It doesn't add to the book at all.  A few is one thing, but this one was worse than most.

Now that I have given my "mom" thoughts on the book, my final word is - give it a try.

Stars: 3

2016 Challenge - Book 12, Stiff

Today I am going to review

Stiff - The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers

This was under the category:  Non-Fiction Book about Science

This is a non-fiction book about different avenues cadavers can take after a person dies.  The author explores bodies donated for science, bodies cremated, bodies used to test car crash survival, bodies in religion, bodies whose organs are donated for transplants, and more.  She gives a good history of how many of the post-life practices began and how far we have come.

This was a great book.  Yes, I am a nurse and the human body is completely fascinating to me, but I think a non-medical person would enjoy this just as much.  Did it have a few cringe worthy paragraphs?  Of course it did - it is about cadavers.  But overall, it was well written and the author did her homework.  I would have never thought about donating my body to science before this book, but now I see how much there is to gain with that option.

Although, I don't want to be a crash test dummy.  And that is a choice.

It is amazing what you can learn from a body after a person dies.  We would not be as far as we are in organ transplantation as we are now if someone didn't donate their body for doctor's to learn.  We would not know what happens to a body after the brain dies if we didn't have people who permitted their brains to be studied postmortem.  If what they learn saves my life or a life of my loved ones, then those cadavers are my heroes.

Check this book out.  It really was a great learning experience.

Stars:  4 1/2

2016 Challenge - Book 11, Into Thin Air

The book I am going to review today is:

Into Thin Air - Mount Everest Disaster

This was under the category:  A Book that Came Out the Year You Got Married

This is a true story written by one of the climbers that was on this trip in 1996.  He is a reporter, but also an avid climber, and had always wanted to climb Everest.  He got the people at his magazine that he wrote for to fund his trip (did you know the trips cost $65,000?  And that was in 1996) and so he went.  The book tells of his trip, and what happened to cause the death of 5 people on that trip.

I liked this book.  If nothing else it taught me that people who want to climb Everest are borderline crazy.  If not completely insane.  The account from the author makes it sound terrible - every single second.  From getting altitude sickness to major frostbite to cerebral edema to death.  He talks about being so deprived of oxygen that he couldn't think straight when it was most critical.  And how he lost so much weight for having to work so hard that he almost froze to death.

And the Sherpas.  The people who live at the base of Everest who are hired to go on these climbs and set the ropes and carry the loads and care for the people who paid for these trips.  There are no words for how awful their jobs are but how they don't see it that way.  These mountain climbs of things of honor for them, but I felt nothing but terrible for them.

Many of the people on these trips have families that they leave behind to climb a mountain.  And die trying.  They are not fighting in a war for their country.  They are not putting themselves in harms way to save the life of another.  They have paid an exorbitant amount of money to have a team help them climb a snowy mountain.  It seems beyond silly.

But I am getting off track.  The book was well written and definitely worth the read.  He tells the good with the bad (mostly bad if you ask me) in taking on a climb to 29,000 feet.

So check it out.

Stars: 4 1/2

2016 Challenge - Book 10, The Great Gatsby

Today I am going to review

The Great Gatsby

This book was in the category:  A Book On The Modern Library's 100 Best Novel List

This is the story of a rich man named Jay Gatsby who is trying to reach the love of his life - Daisy. The story is told by Nick - Gatsby's neighbor - who becomes his closest friend and confidant.  Gatsby approaches Nick to have Daisy come his way so that he can reconnect with her.  Gatsby is much wealthier than he was when he last saw Daisy, so he hopes this will attract her attention.  Daisy is used to a life of privilege and she is now married to Tom to continue this way of life.  Tom is not a faithful husband, and so Gatsby hopes this will lure her away from Tom.

In the end - the love triangle spirals out of control and has a tragic end.  But I won't share with you what happens because you should read for yourself to find out.

I liked this book okay.  I am not a huge fan of books from this period (gasp), but it wasn't terrible by any stretch of the means.  I found Gatsby and Daisy shallow, and couldn't really muster up pity for either one of them in the end.  Daisy especially seemed like a total flake and I found myself making faces and shaking my head on some of her lines in the book.

It isn't a long book, so I am glad I took the time to read it.  Now I have.  But I don't think this would be one I will be reading again.

Stars:  3

2016 Challenge - Book 9, The Time Machine

The book I am reviewing today is

The Time Machine

This was under the category:  A Book With Time Travel

Perfect fit right?

Did you know this novel was published in 1895?  And that HG Wells coined the term "time machine"?  These are your fun facts for today.  You are welcome.

This book is about a Time Traveler (who is never named in the book) who built a time machine.  He travels to the year 800,000+ and stays for 80 days there before returning to the 1800s to tell his tale.  The book is mostly the Time Traveler telling his friends of his experiences with the people in the distant future (who are named the Murlocks (undergrounders who only come out at night and are dangerous) and the Eloi (overlanders who are out during the day and are child like).  He falls for a girl named Weena who he plans to have return with him to the 1800s, but it was not to be.

The reason he spends so much time in the distant future is because the Murlocks have hidden his time machine and he needs to figure out how to get it back.  Once he does, he actually goes forward in time - curious to see what happens to the earth millions of years into the future.  Once he travels to the end of time, he reverses his course and goes home.

Do his friends believe him?  Does he stay in the past?  Does he prove his travels?  You will have to read to find out.

I did enjoy this book.  I found the part of him going to the end of time especially gripping.  Wondering always, as we are, what it will be like when the earth is no more.  HG Wells theories are not far from what science believes today.  The air is thin, the earth is quiet, and life is basically non-existent.  No reason to stay.

This book is really (really) short.  I have a small copy and it was 120 pages.  If you get a typical sized book (like the one they sell on Amazon) it is only 58 pages.  A quick, yet enjoyable, read.

IF you have not read this classic, you should.  And then try one of "The Time Machine movies" (the one I saw was only a little like the book.)

Stars:  4 1/2

Adding more books

While I am reading my next book, I wanted to state that I am adding another 24 books to my 50 book challenge.  It is a weird number.  Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge is what another one of my friends is doing (along with the 50 book challenge), so I thought why not.  I have already read 8 books and it isn't even the end of January, so I think I might be able to add a few more.

If you want to see the first 50 books I chose (or the categories in case you want to try your own), go HERE  (click on the word here, and it will take you to my list)

Here are the categories and the books I chose for the extra 24 books.  We will see how far I get.  Last year I read 58 books.  Think I can beat that?  I think I can.  If you click on the title of the book, it will take you to its Amazon link, so you can read about it if you so desire.

PS - I have no idea why two of the books have white backgrounds.  I have tried to fix it, but alas.....

Horror Book	Ghost Story - by Peter Straub
Nonfiction Book about Science	Stiff - by Mary Roach
Collection of Essays	Naked - David Sedaris
Read A Book Outloud to Someone Else	Humphrey the Hampster
Middle Grade Novel	Wonder - RJ Palacio
Biography	Steve Jobs - Walter Isaacson
Dystopian or Post-Apocalyptic Novel	The Infinite Sea - Rick Yancey
Book Originally Published in the Decade You Were Born	The Stand - Steven King
Audio Book that has one an Audie Award	The Elephant Whisperer - Lawrence Anthony
Book Over 500 Pages	A Game of Thrones - George Martin
Book Under 100 pages	The Yellow Wallpaper - Charlotte Gilman
Book By a Person Who Identifies as Transgender	Stuck in the Middle with You - Jennifer Boylan
Book Set in the Middle East	And the Mountains Echoed - Hosseini
Book by an Author from Southeast Asia	The Gift of Rain - Tan Eng
Historical Fiction set before 1900	Fireflies - Bartlett
First Book in a Series By a Person of Color	The Fifth Season - Jemisin
Non-superhero Comic that debuted in the last 3 years	Hark A Vagrant - Kate Beaton
Book That Was Made Into A Movie	The Light Between Oceans - Stedman
Nonfiction Book about Feminism or dealing with feminist themes	The Story of Jane - Laura Kaplan
Book About Religion	If - Mark Batterson
Food Memoir	My Life in France - Julia Child
Play	The Crucible
Book where Main Character has a Mental Illness	It's Kind of a Funny Story - Ned Vizzini