10 books

It's nearly half way through the year, and I'm nearly half way to my goal of 20 books in 2014. 

Here are my first 10:

1. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, by: Ransom Riggs

Basically, a teenage boy must solve the mystery left to him by his grandfather on his deathbed. The author uses creepy vintage photos as inspiration for this quirky and imaginative story. This young adult novel is the first book in a series, so don't be surprised when it ends abruptly, like I was. It's a quick and fun read. Perfect for a beach afternoon.

2. Gone Girl, by: Gillian Flynn

I've already read Gone Girl, but to stay awake during a long drive on our honeymoon, I decided to reread it out loud to Ryan. First of all, it was fun to read together, second of all, it's a fairly entertaining book. It has twists and turns galore, although Ryan was able to see it all coming. I have to say, it starts out a lot stronger than it ends. Read it before the movie is released this October.

3.  The Language of Flowers, by: Vanessa Diffenbaugh

Set in San Francisco, Victoria enters the world as an adult after a life spent in foster care. She deals with a grievous past mistake, learns to move on, and to love for the first time. I enjoyed this book, but the other members of my book club felt differently, finding it trite and unrealistic. 

4. Me Before You, by: Jojo Moyes

After losing her job, Louisa takes up a new position as caregiver to a paraplegic. Louisa's new position results in self discovery and the realization that she is selling herself short. It took a few pages to get into, but once I was there, I couldn't put this book down. As you can imagine, it's a tear jerker, you have been warned.

5. The Storyteller, by Jodi Picoult

The Storyteller flashes between present day and WWII. Sage, a shy baker, befriends Josef, a former Nazi. The pieces fall into place as we hear the stories of Sage, Josef, Sage's grandmother, and a fictional tale by The Storyteller. This was the kind of book that I wanted to cancel plans for. I just couldn't stop reading.

6. The House Girl, by: Tara Conklin

The House Girl has so many glowing reviews on Amazon. I wanted to like this book, but I just thought it was terrible. I actually had to walk away from it for a bit, and only finished this mess of a novel because I had nothing else to read. If Tim Gunn were to comment on this book, he would call it an "overworked and tortured mess." Conklin could deliver an engaging story of the Underground Railroad, but instead she offers up a book rife with unlikeable characters and page after page of superfluous details. In one word: meh.

7. The Aviator's Wife, by: Melanie Benjamin

The Aviator's Wife will leave you wondering, "was Charles Lindbergh the biggest horses's ass of all time?" Anne Morrow, an aviatrix in her time, is completely glossed over as she lives in the shadow of her hero husband. I'm definitely a fan of historical fiction, and love filling in the gaps on wikipedia, or doing image searches on Google as I go. It's a good, well written read.

8: The End of Wasp Season, by: Denise Mina

There's a rich guy who commits suicide, there's a call girl who is brutally murdered, there are some boarding school brats, there's some down on their luck folks in Glasgow, there's a pregnant cop, and it's all connected. It was an ok story, and the author truly wraps up every loose end, but I just didn't care about any of the characters. No one was likable and there was no one to root for. When I finished, I thought, "what was the point of that?"

9: Tell the Wolves I'm Home, by: Carol Rifka Brunt

June is a nerdy teenager with few social skills. When June's uncle loses his battle with AIDS in the early 80s, she must learn to face a world without the one person that she felt truly understood her. It's a moving tale that focuses on an unlikely friendship.

10. Hollow City, by: Ransom Riggs

I'm working my way through this one right now. Hollow City is the sequel to Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. So far, it's a thrilling page turner. The writing isn't the most sophisticated, but sometimes it's nice to have a quick and easy read that requires very little thinking. Plus, I love that he creatively uses the vintage photos to propel the story.

Happy reading!