2018 Challenge - Book #3 - Bear Town

Today's review is for:  Bear Town

Written by:  Fredrik Backman
Pages: 432

This is the story of a small town who loved hockey above everything else.  Win is the only motto.  They turn out players who go on to be professional hockey players.  One such player has returned to be the GM of Bear Town Hockey.  A family tragedy has sent him and his young family from the NHL team in Canada back to Bear Town.  His wife, who has never understood what all the fuss is about, is a lawyer.  His teenage daugher would rather play a guitar than pick up a stick.  And his young son has big dreams to be a star like his dad.

The story focuses on several boys on the Junior team and their quest to win the National Hockey Championship for high school kids.  The team works like a family and they stick together no matter what.  So when one of their own is accused of a horrible crime, the team has to decide whose side they are on.

I have mixed feelings about this book.  This is my 4th book by this author.  This one was great in its own way, but it also seemed to have a lot of unnecessary dialogue that could have been left out.  A did a few eye rolls at the over "mushiness" of some of the sections - it just didn't fit the story.  However - this small annoyance did not take away from the overall story.

I recommend reading it, knowing that you may find it a bit....much sometimes. 

Stars: 4

2018 Challenge - Book #2 - Britt Marie Was Here

Book #2 Was:

Britt Marie Was Here

This book is about a woman who does not like disorder or mess.  She is a socially awkward busy body who finds out that her husband has cheated on her with another woman.  She had actually known for awhile, but it wasn't until the other woman called her from the hospital after her husband has a heart attack, that her suspicions are concerned.

She leaves her husband and goes to the unemployment office to find a job.  She has not worked for 40 years, so she is not really employable.  The office finds her a temporary - 3 week - assignment in a small town called Borg.  She will run a soon to be demolished recreation center.  The town has been shutting down slowly and now the pizzeria near the recreation center is also the grocery store and the post office.

Britt-Marie soon becomes involved in the lives of these small town folks that come to the center each day.  The children in the town want nothing else but to play soccer, but they are without a coach.  Britt-Marie finds herself being just what this town was looking for in more ways than one.

This book reminded me a lot of "A Man Called Ove" (and it is the same author).  The character is equally set in her ways that Ove was, and under that hard exterior is a warm heart.  I found my self giggling at some of the things Britt-Marie did.  She was overly frustrating and immovable in so many ways that you just had to laugh.

I enjoyed this book for the most part.  Honestly, I didn't love the ending.  I think it was because I was set for it to end a certain way, and it didn't.  The ending was a bit of a mystery to me.  I am still not 100% sure where he was going with that - it seemed to get jumbled.  I may have to re-read the last chapter because it didn't seem to make a lot of sense.

I would not toss it aside because of the ending.  The rest of the book was wonderful, and sweet.

Stars: 4

2018 Challenge - Book #1 - And Every Morning The Way Home Gets Longer

Here we are.  Another year.  Another attempt at 75 books.  This year, like I said, I am going to just read.  I have picked books, and have received a lot of suggestions from friends and family.  I am excited to get started on a fresh list of books and see how far I get.

So - book #1 is under wraps.  I had it read in an hour, so it was a good one to start with.

The book was:  And Every Morning The Way Home Gets Longer

This is the story of an elderly man who is struggling to hold onto his memories and his grandson's struggle to say goodbye.  Grandpa has the onset of Alzheimer's disease.  He takes his grandson to their favorite place to talk about how he needs to say goodbye because soon he won't be able to remember their times together.  The grandson is a bit too young to understand everything that is happening.   The story flips through the younger years of the grandpa and what he was like as a child, what he was like as a father, and now as a grandfather.  He remembers his times when his wife was alive, and thinks he sees her now.  He tells her that he is afraid of losing himself, and she lets him know it is okay to let go.

This was a great novella.  It is under 100 pages, so very quick to read.  I watched my own grandfather slip into dementia at the end of his life, and forget everyone he knows.  It is hard to watch as a family member.  I liked how the grandfather chose to handle it with his young grandson - asking him to say goodbye now when his grandfather is still the person he remembers.  He doesn't want his grandson to see what he will become.

Fredrik Backman is an amazing writer.  A Man Called Ove was probably my favorite book I read last year.  So a lot of Backman's books are on my list for this year!  I am looking forward to reading them all.

Stars: 5

2018 Challenge

This year I am going to do things a little differently.  I am going to just try to read 75 books - no categories assigned.  My ORIGINAL plan this year was to start to read a book from an author of every country, but now that we are in Switzerland, it is very hard for me to get books in English.  So - since I don't have a good library to borrow from, I am just going to pick books I can read on my Kindle or possibly borrow from our small English library here.  Category challenges will have to wait until we move back to the US.

I put a request out on my facebook page and the Ladies Library page I follow for ideas.  I have some avid reader friends, and they did not disappoint.  A large part of my list here are from their suggestions and recommendations.  It is going to be fun to read this year.

I did put 75 books on the list again, so we will see if I can reach it.  I am still going to be abroad this year, and we have a lot of trips planned, BUT - I need to fit in more books.  Take them along more often on my explores. 

So - here is the list as it stands today.  It may ebb and flow a bit as the year goes along depending on what I can TRULY borrow (I have done some research and it looks like I can borrow about 95% of this list) and what I can get when we return for a visit to the USA this summer.

I linked the books to their Amazon page, so if you are interested in reading about any of them - just click the title and it will take you to the description page on Amazon.

600 Hours of Edward

A Fall of Marigolds

A Confederacy of Dunces

A Gentleman in Moscow

A Prayer for Owen Meany

And Every Morning The Way Home Gets Longer

Anything is Possible

As a Man Thinketh

Atonement

Baby ER

Bear Town

Before We were Yours

Britt Marie Was Here

Cujo

Dad is Fat

Dark Matter

Einstein's Dreams

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

Ella Minnow Pea

Evicted

Franny and Zooey

Game of Thrones Book 4

Game of Thrones Book 5

Ghost Boy

Hate List

Helter Skelter

I'm Judging You

In a Dark Dark Wood

Interpreter of Maladies

Into The Wild

Little Fires Everywhere

Mr. Mercedes

My Grandmother Sends Her Regards

My name is Lucy Barton

My Not So Perfect Life

Our Short History

Sing Unburied Sing

Sleeping Beauties

Station Eleven

Tell No One

The Amazing Adventures of Kaliver and Clay

The Art Forger

The Atlas of Forgotten Places

The Book of Lost Things

The Code of the woosters

The Couple Next Door

The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper

The Divine Comedy

The Glass Castle

The God of Small Things

The Godfather

The Great Alone

The Hate You Give

The Hunny Bunny

The Little Prince

The Lost Girls

The Mars Room

The Misremembered Man

The Mountain Between Us

The Namesake

The Outsider

The Secret Keeper

The Tatttoo Artist of Auschwitz

The Tumor - the Non-Legal Thriller

The Underground Railroad

The Weight of Ink

The Zoo Keepers Wife

These Are My Words

This is How It Always Is

Turtles All The Way Down

Unsaid

We Were the Lucky Ones

What ever Happened to Baby Jane

Where'd you go Bernadette

Yellow Star

2017 in Review

Well - I didn't make my challenge of 75 books this year.  I came close and read 67.  Moving does in fact impact my ability to get reading done.  Lesson learned.

I am going to point out my top 10 books of 2017.  I will link them to the pages I reviewed them so if you are interested in learning what they are about, you can check that out.

Here we go -in no particular order

Artemis

The Book Thief

One Plus One

Orphan Train

Life of Pi

Three Cups of Tea

Baby Catcher

Everything I Never Told You

A Man Called Ove

Cinder

2017 Challenge - Book #67 - A Storm of Swords

Finally finished Game of Thrones book 3 - A Storm of Swords.  It was 1100 pages, so it took awhile.

I love these books.  George R.R. Martin is an incredible writer.

Category - none!  Wanted to read it

This is the continuing saga where the 5 contenders of power have become 4.  Joffrey - of house Lannister - is the king of King's Landing and sits on the Iron Throne.  He is a boy of 13, but is vicious and mean.  He was engaged to Sansa Stark to unite the north and the south, but after Eddard Stark is considered a traitor and is killed, the engagement is broken off.  Joffrey becomes engaged to Margery of house Tyrell from High Garden.  Lord Stannis has been defeated.  King Robb of Winterfell and house Stark holds the north and is winning all his battles.  Daenerys of house Targareyn is making her way across the continent with her three dragons.

In the mist of the battles, another rages beyond the wall.  Jon Snow and the Black have found the king beyond the wall, the wildings, and the Others.  The Others are the living dead who seem to be unstoppable.  King Robb and Catelyn must attend a wedding at the Freys to make amends when Robb marries someone other than who he is told to.  Arya is trying to make her way back home, but she continues to be captured.  Jaime Lannister is being taken back to King's Landing in exchange for the safe return of Sansa to Winterfell. 

Who will be left standing?

I loved this book.  It was action packed.  Death everywhere.  Two more kings will fall.  Alliances are forged.  John Snow is no longer just the Bastard of Winterfell, but the head commander of the Wall.  Even though it was 1100 pages, there were days I would read over 100 because the sequence was just too good to stop.

If you love the TV series, you will love the books even more.

Stars: 5

2017 Challenge - Book #66 - Diary of Anne Frank

Today's book:  Diary of Anne Frank

Category:  I read it to my kids so it counts

This is the story of a Jewish girl who hid in an Annex in Amsterdam during WWII.  She and her family went into hiding.  She was 13 at the time she started the diary and went into hiding.  For two years, her family and several others, kid in a small Annex until they were betrayed.  The diary is almost a daily account of Anne's life in the Annex and her feelings about all the people that are there with her. 

This, of course, is a classic.  I haven't read it since I was in the 8th grade.  I still find it amazing that it is required reading among middle schools in the US, and - of course - here with us here in Switzerland.  The kids have been really into the story, and asking a lot of questions.  And our plan will be to take them to Amsterdam in the spring to see the Anne Frank house.  It is great that we can take a story from a book and show them in real life.

If for some reason, you have never read this book - or it has been a long time since you have - pick it up.  I think it is good to be reminded - especially in today's climate - what can happen when power falls into the wrong hands.

Stars: 5