My November To Be Read List

This is hosted by Michelle @ Because Reading. I took a break in October, because I just was not reading fast enough and my book club books were huge. I want to try to finish out the year doing the meme. For this month's choices, I am going to give second chances to a few books that did not make the cut at the end of voting.

First Choice:

Putnam

I booktalk this series all the time and loved the first two books, but yet I haven't read this one. Legend is one of my all time favorites and still I can't bring myself to finish the series. This is a romantic dystopia with a strong female lead.

Second Choice:

HMH Books

I loved the first two books in this series about sisters Saturday and Sunday. This one follows sister Friday who is a seamstress. The books are based on the lives of seven sisters whose brother was the famous Jack of the Jack tales.

Third Choice:

Atheneum

Oblivion by Kelly Creagh. Kelly worked at Louisville Free Public Library until her writing career took off. I loved the first two in the series, with their gothic type horror and romance based on Edgar Allan Poe. This finishes the series and I am anxious to see what will happen to Isobel and Varen.

Which second chance book do you think I should read this month? Remember you don't have to be participating in this meme to vote!

2015 Bookish Resolutions Challenge: October Update

So September did not go well and I did not do an update, but I am back on track with October's update. This is hosted by Michelle at Because Reading is Better Than Real Life and Laura at Trips Down Imagination Road and you can sign up at this link.
My resolutions:
1. Read at least 6 Classics this year.
2. Finish at least half of the challenges that I signed up for this year.
3. Finish at least 4 series this year, particularly ones where I have only the last book in the series left to read.
4. Try to blog more, like at least 10 posts a month.
5. Get healthy!
1. I have finished 4 Classics and hope to finish 2 more this month. I am about a third of the way through Dracula and I have to read Wuthering Heights for book club. Wuthering Heights is a reread, so it will not count for the Classics challenge, but will count for this challenge.
2. Well, I am about halfway through most of my challenges. I have reached my goals for 2 of 10, so I just need to work on the other 8. Ha!
3. This one is completed! I still need to finish a couple of more series for some of my year long challenges, but for this challenge this goal is done!
4. Well, I only did 8 posts last month, so I will work harder on this one!
5. I am back on track on this goal. I am back at my starting weight, so I just need to actually lose weight and not keep eating like an elephant and I am good. I do need to get some more fruit and veggies in, so I may make that the goal for this month.

Hope you all are doing great with your goals! Thanks again to Michelle and Laura for hosting!

The Broke and the Bookish Secret Santa

I just signed up for this! This will be my third year participating and it is so much fun. The link to sign up is here. I highly recommend it!

Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee

This will count for the Reading Road Trip Challenge as my book for Alabama. This was also a book club book.


So I debated back and forth on reading this, decided not to read it, and then our book club chose it as a book. I had also been tempted by an older woman who told me, you need to read it and listen to Atticus' defense of his actions. I struggled with the idea that Harper Lee never wanted this to be seen again, but after reading it, I can see its importance and hope that she will be at peace with the decision that the publisher made.

HarperCollins

To Kill a Mockingbird is one of my all-time favorites and is one of most people's all-time favorites, mainly because of Atticus Finch. In Go Set a Watchman, 26 year old Jean Louise Finch is returning home from New York to visit Macomb County, Alabama, her home. Called Scout when she was younger, she is now Jean Louise and is expected to act like a southern lady, virginal and demure. Jean Louise tries to behave to please her Aunt Alexandra, but as usually she gets into a bit of trouble. Jean Louise has one issue that she feels most people in her world do not have, she is color blind. Being raised by Calpurnia, a black woman, and Atticus, a white man who represented a black man in a rape trial, Jean Louise never developed the idea that races are different. Now it is the time of segregation and the fight against integrating the schools and Jean Louise is trapped with knowing integration is right and hating that the Federal Government has forced it on her beloved South. Along with this, she witnesses Atticus and her boyfriend/ best friend Henry Clinton attending a Citizen's Council meeting and she feels everything she has ever known was a lie. What do you do when your idol falls and how do you rebuild when your hero becomes human? What is the truth and how do you live with views that differ from those you love?

I was sad about Jem being gone by the beginning of the story and that some of the beloved characters from the first story were absent or only had minor roles. Harper Lee examines the South after WWII and Jean Louise returns home to fear between the races and the struggle of reconciling the past with the present. The South was still entrench with state's rights and fear of a strong government and where the poor whites and blacks fight to survive. Lee does not sugarcoat all of the racism in the South or in the North at the time, but brings it to light in a way that does affect our view of the characters of To Kill a Mockingbird. This is a powerful book and Lee has not destroyed Atticus in this, but rebuilt Scout. We all face the moments when our parents become fully human to us and when we have to build our own consciences that may not fit in with our pasts or with the ones our loved ones hold. Growing up is hard and fighting for what we believe is hard, but it is something we must do. Sometimes we must be the Watchman, the one who embraces the role of being the only voice dissenting a majority opinion, the only voice that is willing to stand up for what you believe. A Watchman does not abandon its community, but stands strong in it. As is To Kill a Mockingbird, this is a beautifully written book and one that needed to be told. It is not as polished as To Kill a Mockingbird, but it is powerful. This ranks right up there with To Kill a Mockingbird to me. 5 cups of cocoa!

Hero by Mike Lupica

So I read this for my September TBR and am just now writing the review, which is why I did not participate in the challenge this month. I hope to do so again in November. This will also count for Reading Road Trip, since most of the story takes place in New York.

Philomel Books

Zach knows his dad Tom Harriman is a hero who is always fighting the "bads," but he has no idea how much of one he is, until his dad dies. When Tom dies, his powers pass to his son Zach. Zach had no clue his dad could run like the wind or defeat men twice his size, or take on an entire gang and destroy it. Zach goes through all the emotions of being a "hero," anger at his dad, fear of himself, and finally the same sense of duty his dad had. As Zach's powers grow, he realizes that his dad did not die accidentally in a plane crash, but was murdered. With the help of a mysterious old man and his best friend, Kate, he will have to unwrap the mystery, find out who the "bads" really are, and save the possible future President of the United States. It is all in a day's work when you are the Hero.


Great quick read that is full of action and twists. It is also an easy read, which will be perfect for our freshman reading challenge! Lupica throws in Knicks basketball, a school bully, a best friend/future potential girlfriend, and a family legacy and wraps the story up nicely in barely over 300 pages. He also leaves it open for a sequel. I think for our challenge it is perfect, since it would interest a young teenage boy, particularly one who may struggle with reading. 3.5 cups of cocoa!

The Sign of the Book by John Dunning

This was a book club read, a Reading Road Trip read, and a read for RIP X. This is part of a series, but the only one in the series I have read. I hope there will not be any spoilers, but since I have not read the first three in the series, there may inadvertently be spoilers.

Pocket Books

Cliff Janeway is a no nonsense kind of guy who enjoys books and running his bookshop and who still remembers the rough and tumble life of being a cop. His bookshop is in the rough side of town, but his former career prepared him well for it. Cliff has another love, his girlfriend Erin, who has a past he does not know about completely. When Erin asks him to investigate the murder of her first love, Robert, Cliff goes to Paradise, Colorado to meet Robert's wife and Erin's childhood friend, Laura. Laura just so happens to be the prime suspect in the murder. Laura seems to be innocent, but claims to have shot her husband, which leads Cliff to believe she is hiding something. Along with Laura's confusing admission of guilt is the fact that in the Marshall's home there are rare signed books, which would be worth thousands. Was this a crime of passion, a crime by a hurting child, a crime of greed, or something even more sinister? Cliff must get to the bottom of the crime, before he loses the one person who means everything to him, Erin.


This seemed to be a cross between a hard-boiled detective novel and a suspenseful mystery. This is full of language, so it was interesting trying to listen to the audio and turning it down every time the f-bomb was dropped, which was about every 10 minutes. Despite a bit too much language, this was a surprising and suspenseful read. I did not completely see the end coming and the twist with the child who had autism were really well done. I can tell we have learned more about autism since 2005, but much of the materials was actually well-informed for the time. Cliff was a likable character, but a bit of a chauvinist in his responses to women and it almost cost him everything, so well done to Dunning on creating a character flaw that was not necessarily obvious, but played a big role in the end. Despite the language, I would read more in this series and I loved the discussion of books in the mystery. 4 cups of cocoa!

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

I read this book for the Classics Challenge as a Classic with a Person's Name in the Title. This was also a book club book.

Signet

Marissa and Matthew Cuthbert decide to adopt a young boy to help Matthew, who is getting older and is a little unwell, with the chores. Imagine Matthew's surprise when a red headed talkative girl is waiting for him at the train stop. Anne is everything Marissa and Matthew are not. Anne talks and imagines while the Cuthbert's are private and practical. Anne obsesses about her looks, while they are more interested in the farm. The whole community of Avonlea wonders about Anne, including her friend Diana and Gilbert Blythe who seems to have a crush on her. Anne worries that the Cuthberts will take her back, since she has been with two families already and worries about her red hair. Anne's temper and stubbornness earn her a few foes, but her charm and love of life make her more friends. As she grows from 11 to 16, she matures and decides teaching is the career for her. When tragedy strikes, Marissa realizes just how much she needs Anne and Anne learns that sometimes home is the best place to be.

This story is as charming and heartwarming now as when it was written a hundred years ago. I was surprised how easy a read this was and about how the humor translates so well in this day as it did way back when. I can see why elementary students all the way to adults love this book. I am only sorry I waited this long to read it and I would love to find time to read other books in the series. This is definitely a 5 cups of cocoa read! I highly recommend this classic and if you have not read it, you need to pick it up!