Monday, February 5, 2018

January Book Review

Well, January turned out to be a good reading month.  It usually is due to the weather.  I managed to get through a total of six books.  The first three were bestsellers and award winners in 2017.  It was a good way to kick off my reading this year.




I kept seeing this book pop up but when I read what it was about, I wasn't completely interested.  It had to be great though or it wouldn't be a bestseller and on all these lists.  Right?  So, yes, I can confirm that this book deserves all the praise it's received.  If you haven't read this, I highly recommend it.  It is extremely well-written.

Even though this is fiction, I learned a great deal about Korea and Koreans living in Japan.  I always think of it as a bonus when I learn something when reading fiction.




Another bestseller.  Again, extremely well-written with excellent character development.  There is something in the plot that, from reading the ratings, not everyone is a fan of.  My advice is to just go with it.  The author does an excellent job of tying it all together.




I try to avoid reading anything in the fantasy genre because I know that I'll automatically find fault, but this one was listed on several "best book of" roundups for 2017 so I gave it a go.  As suspected, I had trouble getting past parts of the book but the writing was so good, I never felt like giving up on it.  It's not a dense book and it will make you think.  




Little Fires Everywhere is on my ever-expanding reading wish list.  In the meantime, a mom at dance lent me this book.  I thought it was incredible.  Not only is the writing amazing but the book is just so deep and full of emotion.  There's so much in here, from cultural differences to how the roles of women have changed.  The author does an outstanding job of pulling the reader in.




This book is new (published in January 2018) and if you enjoy reading suspenseful page-turners, I highly recommend it.  It's one of those books you'll have trouble putting down.  Am I the only one who tells myself just one more chapter?  Never happens.  That one chapter inevitably turns into five.  There are some good twists here that I definitely didn't see coming.  I found myself saying, "Well played," several times throughout the book.




My last book of the month was a heavy one.  The author is also the creator (and writer) of the HBO series The Wire.  He took a leave from his role as a journalist with a local paper and followed the detectives of Baltimore's Homicide Unit for a year (1988.)  Nothing is held back here.  At times, this was difficult to read due to the horrific details but it was such a fascinating book.  I also felt like I learned a ton, which was not the point in reading it but I like when entertainment is educational.

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I was going to read The Perfect Nanny but then I stumbled upon what I thought was a spoiler (without the alert, I might add) and I lost interest.  That's all I'm going to say so I'm not the one giving anything away.  Has anyone read it?



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5 comments:

Teej said...

Ok, I have just added three of these to my list! I love your book reviews!

Kylie said...

I will say I really did not care for Little Fires Everywhere. It's incredibly shallow. I don't feel like you get to know any of the characters, and some of their motivations are questionable. You're obviously supposed to like and dislike particular characters, but I didn't find any of them endearing or sympathetic. It's a quick, easy read, but IMHO, not well done.

Caitlin Keiko said...

Loved Pachinko too! I'm half Japanese American and was also completely unaware of this part of Japan's history as my family left around the same time Sunja arrived. Eye opening.

Christi said...

Just added The Wife Between and Sing, Unburied Sing to my "to read" list on GoodReads.
This year I'm trying to read more of those books that have been on my list forever or that everyone has read and recommended.

Courtney said...

I just finished Everything I Never Told You. Thank you for the recommendation!