Reading - Books - Love

It's been a little over three months since I last posted the books I've read.  I think I may do this every six to eight weeks instead of every three months because as you'll see, October, November and December were very productive reading months.

Here's what I read . . .

1.  The Kept by James Scott
2.  The Good Girl by Mary Kubica
3.  Displaced Persons by Ghita Schwarz
4   Land of Dust and Tears (A Prairie Heritage) by Vikki Kestell
5.  Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
6.  Looking for Alaska by John Green
7.  Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson
8.  What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty
9.  The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty
10.  The Pact by Jodi Picoult
11.  Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King
12.  The Paris Wife by Paula Mclain
13.  One Plus One by Jojo Moyes
14.  The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
15.  Wild by Cheryl Strayed

And here's what I think . . .

The Kept - This book currently has a three star rating on Amazon.  I decided to read it because it had the historical element to it.  I would probably give it 3.75 stars.

The Good Girl - Reads almost like Gone Girl.  A definite page turner.

Displaced Persons - I found the topic of this novel interesting but it wasn't a quick read.  A slower book, mainly because there is no plot, per se, but a good read.

Land of Dust and Tears - This one was a freebie from Amazon.  I quickly discovered that it is offered free with the hope that you'll purchase the remaining books in the series.  As much as I liked the historical aspect of the book, I didn't like the book enough to purchase the remainder of the series.  (I am cheap too.)

Me Before You and One Plus One - Loved these!  Great character development, different topics, couldn't put them down.

Looking for Alaska - I was not a fan of Paper Towns but I decided to give John Green another chance as I did like his writing style.  After reading Looking for Alaska, I can say that I probably won't read any more of his books.  The plot lines of both books follow the same pattern and maybe it's because I'm old enough to be a parent of a main character but I felt like there was too much "young adult" going on.  I also don't like how the first part of the book is a build up of some great question/issue that needs resolving, the second part of the book is an attempt by the main characters to answer that question/solve the issue and then the ending is basically nothing.  Don't get me wrong - I think he's a talented author.  His books just aren't my cup of tea.

Hattie Big Sky - I forget how I found this book.  I think it popped up as recommended as I was searching for an available book through my library's website.  I had maxed out with books on hold and couldn't find a book without a wait list.  This was a quick read with the historical aspect, similar to Land of Dust and Tears, appealing to me.

What Alice Forgot and The Husband's Secret - Loved both of these!  They are page turners.  I really felt connected to Alice's sister and felt that the author does an excellent job developing the characters.  Although the secret in The Husband's Secret seemed obvious to me, I thought the ending was extremely clever.

The Pact - I like Jodi Picoult and have read several of her novels.  While I would rate this 4 - 4.5 stars, I didn't like the opening at all and felt the book would have been better off without it.

Mr. Mercedes - I've been a Stephen King fan for 25 years now and I really, really enjoyed this book.  It wasn't "classic King" but very well written and a page turner.  It did have that disturbing quality to it but because the character development almost explained it, it was more tolerable to me than the disturbing features in some of Gillian Flynn's books.

The Paris Wife - When I was in the sixth grade, my dad was stationed down in Key West, FL for two weeks.  My family spent that time down there on vacation while my dad worked.  My introduction to Ernest Hemingway came through touring his house and I went on to read some of his books.  Although at this point in my life, I can't remember which ones.  I liked The Paris Wife and found it to be quite intriguing.  I should note that this book is a slower read and I found the first few pages to be utterly confusing.  The book peaked my interest in Hemingway's novels but my library doesn't have any kindle versions available.  Someday. . .

The Handmaid's Tale - Excellent book.  What I found most interesting about this novel is when it was written/published.  It has almost become timeless in that it could have been written a few years ago.  Some of the negative reviews I read stated that this type of society could never exist.  Um, do you read the news?  Do you know what's happening in other countries?  If you do read this, be sure that you don't skip the last section titled "Historical Notes."  My kindle version told me that I was done with the book when I reached this point and a box popped up asking me to rate the book and gave me reading recommendations.  I clicked out of the box and happened to skim over a sentence in the Historical Notes, which is when I realized that it was actually a continuation of the book.

Wild - I had come across this book earlier in the year but didn't think I would like it and it had somewhat mixed reviews.  It popped up again in early December while I searching my library online and I decided to pass by it again but about a week later, I happened to catch an interview with Reese Witherspoon on 60 Minutes.  Hmmm, I didn't even know the book had been made into a movie.  Yeah, I don't get out much.  So the interview peaked my interest and I checked the book out from the library, especially after seeing that a good lot of the negative reviews it had received seemed ridiculous.  Almost like when a traveler gives a hotel a one star review on Trip Advisor because it rained during their vacation.  Anyway, I could not put this book down.  I also didn't know much, if anything, about the Pacific Crest Trail and found that aspect of the book fascinating.

So . . . what have you been reading?  Anything good?