I’ve been reading quite a bit over the last few months, but I haven’t been in a mood to review anything. But all of a sudden, I want to at least share some of what I’ve been reading. I’m a bit fuzzy on some of the books, since it’s been a while for some of them, but I’ll do what I can.
I’ve read The Lines We Cross by Randa Abdel-Fattah. I checked out this book from the library, and having read some of her other books, I knew I had to read this one. I really liked it, and she has such unique characters. Even though the book is set in Australia, the characters and beliefs are ones I can see happening here in America. I liked seeing how much Michael changed, and I can see, very clearly, how he didn’t really think about what his parents thought and why they thought that way. He really does make an effort to change how he thinks and to come up with his own beliefs. I also liked seeing Mina’s experience, and how not everyone is like their parents. My rating for this book is 4 stars.
Let’s see…I did read Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler. This book seemed right up my alley when I bought it years ago, but when I finally read it over the summer, I didn’t like it as much as I thought I would. I wasn’t a big fan of Anna’s best friend Frankie. She seemed really self-absorbed and not willing to hear Anna out. I get why she was upset, and that she was dealing with the loss of her brother, but that’s no reason to act the way she did. Anna seemed to be there for her, which is good, but at the same time, it seemed like her parents were absent, and weren’t really around to help their daughter grieve. I’d rate this book 3 stars.
I also read Control by Lydia Kang. This one has a really cool idea- it sort of reminded me of X-Men, at least a little. That’s pretty much all I remember. That, and I was vaguely interested in reading the sequel. I remember it being a futuristic world, with a lot of interesting technology. It’s too bad I have forgotten it, but I’m pretty sure I liked it, so this book gets 3 stars.
The Shadow Land by Elizabeth Kostova. I really liked The Historian when I read it years and years ago, and I didn’t know that the author had a relatively new book out. I didn’t like The Shadow Land as much as The Historian, and I found myself skimming the more historical half of the book. It didn’t really hold my interest the way her other book did, but it is written in a very similar style, which I liked. I’d give this book 3 stars.
I finally read The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood! I feel like I need to do a post talking about the book and the movie, but for now, I’ll talk about the book briefly. It’s scary how relevant this book still is, and how much of it still rings true. I listened to the audio book, and I really liked it. Claire Danes did a great job narrating The Handmaid’s Tale. The only thing I didn’t like about it were the flashbacks. They didn’t translate well to audio, and it wasn’t clear at first if we were in past or present. I also could have done without the symposium epilogue part of the book. It really took away from the horrors of what happened in the book, and while the idea of trying to piece together sources and the accuracy of said sources is interesting. But I don’t think it really fit with the rest of the book. The Handmaid’s Tale gets 4 stars.
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