July
In July, I picked up book 2 of the Chemical Garden series, Fever. It was not as good as the first, but still entertaining.
***
I read Racing Weight thinking that would help get me on track with running and eating healthy, but it was a bit preachy and unrealistic. I want to be healthy and a strong runner, but I think the more extreme mentality that they talk about would be too much for my brain.
***
I read Fifty Shades of Grey to form an opinion on the book. I think it's horribly written, but understand why so many people are obsessed with it. It's definitely an entertaining read. I'm on and off slogging through book 2. We'll see if I finish.
**
To switch up from all vampires all the time, I picked up Hemlock, which features WEREWOLVES. Oooh werewolves, you are such an underserved population in the YA world, and I love you. I really enjoyed this book, can't wait for the rest.
****
I always read Emily Giffin's books and picked up Where We Belong from the library as soon as it came out. Her last couple of books have been ho-hum IMO. I really loved this book. It was a quick and somewhat predictable read, but the relationship dynamics throughout the book really drew me in.
****
August
I got my fingers on the follow up to Divergent, as quickly as I could, and Insurgent did not disappoint. As most readers have mentioned, it's somewhat confusing to follow for those who haven't read Divergent recently as Veronica Roth just dives right in to the follow up, but there is a great blog post out there that she wrote to help refresh your memory. SO. GOOD.
****
When In Doubt, Add Butter is a Beth Harbison must read. I read everything she writes, as it's so light hearted and enjoyable. Never anything too terribly mind blowing, just a nice read.
****
Gone Girl was another of my "best of 2012" reads. Within a chapter of the book, I was obsessed and recommending it to anyone that would listen. The ending wasn't as I was predicting, which was good, but I didn't thoroughly love the ending either. It was essentially a 6 star book minus the ending, so I ended up with 4 stars.
****
I heart zombies. So I had to pick up This is Not a Test. While it was a book that had zombies, it was not a zombie book. Much deeper than a zombie book but not as thrilling and jam-packed as I had expected. The emotions throughout were great.
****
Shadow and Bone
***
Over You
***
September
I expected great things out of Liar and Spy after being completely enamored with When You Reach Me, but it wasn't as over the moon amazing. Still an interesting read.
***
I picked up Kara Goucher's Running for Women looking for running inspiration, but found myself skimming a lot of it. It is targeted mostly at beginning runners, so I didn't get a whole lot of information out of it that I hadn't already read/learned.
***
I read Sense of an Ending for book club and just loved it. It was a very short book, almost a novella, but a very beautiful story.
****
I would've loved Smart Girls Get What They Want when I was in high school, and still loved it as an adult. A quick read with the nerdy girl as the underdog.
****
I was excited for The Selection as I had seen its praise on multiple book blogs. It's a trilogy, so I expect it to pick up in future books, but not a lot happened in the first book.
****
I had to read some more children's books for my Youth Programming course this fall. I'll list the ratings I would give them, but leave off a "blurb" unless I really feel moved to do so. :)
Germs
***
I thought Ollie would enjoy Chick n' Pug, and I was right. The illustrations were adorable and the demeanor of the pug was pretty spot on.
*****
Night Flight
****
E-Mergency!
I hated this book. The 'e' gets hurt in the story so the words in the text are missing a bunch of letters and it drove me up a wall. I'm sure a kid would love it, but I could barely scan it.
*
I Want My Hat Back
****
I Broke My Trunk
****
I picked The Aviary to read for my book trailer assignment for class (I had to create a book trailer similar to a movie trailer to pique readers' interest). I ended up having to pick a different book because I was so bored by this one. :/
**
I'm enjoying these recaps. I agree with you on Gone Girl. I loved it and continually recommend it. I also think I'm one of the few people who wasn't bothered by the ending.
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