Books – Page 85

Categories: Books

Book Review: Ballroom by Alice Simpson

Goodreads summary: Told in interconnecting stories, Ballroom is a beautifully crafted debut novel—reminiscent of the works of Elizabeth Strout and Jennifer Haigh—about a group of strangers united by a desire to escape their complicated lives, if only for a few hours each week, in a faded New York City dance hall

Time has eroded the glamour of the Ballroom, but at the end of the 1990s, a small crowd of loyal patrons still makes its way past the floor-to-ceiling columns which frame the once grand hall each Sunday evening. Sweeping across the worn parquet floor under a peeling indigo ceiling, these men and women succumb to the magic of the music, looking for love and connection, eager to erase the drab reality of their complicated lives.

Nearly forty and still single, Sarah Dreyfus is desperate for love and sure she’ll find it with debonair Gabriel Katz, a dazzling peacock who dances to distract himself from his crumbling marriage. Tired of the bachelor life, Joseph believes that his yearning for a wife and family will be fulfilled—if only he can get Sarah to notice him. Besotted with beautiful young Maria Rodriguez, elderly dance instructor Harry Korn knows they can find happiness together. Maria, one of the Ballroom’s stars, has a dream of her own, a passion her broken-hearted father refuses to accept or understand.

As the rhythms of the Ballroom ebb and flow through these characters’ hearts, their fates come together in touching, unexpected ways.

My review: I was really pumped to read this book. The synopsis sounded so perfect, and I love reading from multiple characters’ points of view and reading interconnecting storylines. Sadly, this book did not live up to my hopes.

While I think the book was well-written, it didn’t seem to have any sort of plot. I kept waiting for the story to begin, to feel the push-and-pull of conflict and resolution and drama. But there was none of that. To be honest, it was a struggle to keep reading because there didn’t seem to be a point to the novel.

Another issue I had was with the characters. They were just extremely unlikable! I can usually get over that if the plot is juicy enough to make it worth my while, but with a lackluster plot and characters I didn’t care for, it made it really hard to continue reading the book. There were no redeeming qualities in any of them, the exception being Angel. I did like Angel and would have liked to have learned more about him.

In listing some good qualities of the book, it was well written and the dialogue seemed to flow naturally. I did like the ending, too, and thought it was fairly authentic – not too cheesy and not too depressing.

I received this book for free from TLC Book Tours in exchange for an honest review. All words and opinions, unless otherwise stated, are my own.

Categories: Books

Book Review – Daring: My Passages by Gail Sheehy

From Goodreads: The author of the classic New York Times bestseller Passages returns with her inspiring memoir—a chronicle of her trials and triumphs as a groundbreaking “girl” journalist in the 1960s, to iconic guide for women and men seeking to have it all, to one of the premier political profilers of modern times

Candid, insightful, and powerful, Daring: My Passages is the story of the unconventional life of a writer who dared . . . to walk New York City streets with hookers and pimps to expose violent prostitution; to march with civil rights protesters in Northern Ireland as British paratroopers opened fire; to seek out Egypt’s president Anwar Sadat when he was targeted for death after making peace with Israel. Always on the cutting edge of social issues, Sheehy reveals the obstacles and opportunities encountered when she dared to blaze a trail in a “man’s world.” Daring is also a beguiling love story of Sheehy’s tempestuous romance with and eventual happy marriage to Clay Felker, the charismatic creator of New York magazine. As well, Sheehy recounts her audacious pursuit and intimate portraits of many 20th century leaders, including Hillary Clinton, Presidents George H. W. and George W. Bush, and the world-altering attraction between Margaret Thatcher and Mikhail Gorbachev.

Sheehy reflects on desire, ambition, and wanting it all—career, love, children, friends, social significance—and lays bare her major life passages: false starts and surprise successes, the shock of failures and inner crises; betrayal in a first marriage; life as a single mother; flings of an ardent, liberated young woman; her adoption of a second daughter from a refugee camp; marriage to the love of her life and their ensuing years of happiness, even in the shadow of illness.

Now stronger than ever, Sheehy speaks from hard-won experience to today’s young women. Her fascinating, no-holds-barred story is a testament to guts, resilience, smarts, and daring, and offers a bold perspective on all of life’s passages.

My review: This is the kind of book I like to call a “settle-in book.” It’s a long, long read (over 400 pages), so it won’t be something you can quickly read through. But there’s something so nice about those books that you really have to sink in with and spend a ton of time with. I felt as if I really got to know Gail Sheehy, and it was like losing a friend when I finished the book.

I was really interested in reading this book because I was a journalism major in college and, even though I ended up not taking that career path, I wanted to learn more about someone who went after this career and attacked it with such vigor. Gail Sheehy is one fricken amazing woman! She did so much, saw so much, and went through so much and it was just so amazing to read. And, even though I expected nothing else, it was incredibly well-written. I couldn’t help falling right into her story and her words just absolutely gripped me. Sheehy has led such a cool life, but it was because she worked hard for it. She fought for it. It’s so inspiring and I’m so glad I was given the chance to read it.

I received this book for free from TLC Book Tours in exchange for an honest review. All words and opinions, unless otherwise stated, are my own.

What was the last memoir you read?

Categories: Books

On Reading Habits

I read a lot. Obviously, there are readers out there who completely blow past me, but in the past three years, I’ve read 79, 90, and 102 books respectively. I’m on pace to read 86ish books this year. How do I do it? How do I read so much? I decided to spend a week logging my reading time and seeing what my reading habits look like.

What did I find out? Well, let’s see!

Monday, September 8

6:11am-6:16am – 5 pages read
6:20pm-6:35pm – 15.5 pages read
9:47pm-10:02pm – 13.5 pages read

Total for Monday: 34 pages read

Notes: This was a lower-than-average reading day for me. One reason is that I was reading a book I wasn’t obsessed with. It was a good read, but nothing spectacular, so it’s a lot harder for me to want to sit down and read when the book is just okay.

Tuesday, September 9

6:14am-6:20am – 6.5 pages read
12:20pm-12:42pm – 26 pages read
6:51pm-6:58pm – 9 pages read
7:28pm-7:42pm – 17 pages read
9:59pm-10:39pm – 26 pages read

Totals for Tuesday: 84.5 pages read (and 1 book finished)

Notes: This feels more like an average reading day for me. I took myself out to lunch and was able to get a lot of reading done on my lunch break (my favorite!), and then was up a bit late to finish the book I was currently reading (The Silent Wife). I probably stay up late to finish a book once or twice a week because, really, who wants to go to bed when you only have 15-20 pages left of a novel? Not me!

Wednesday, September 10

6:20am-6:23am – 4 pages read
7:45pm-8:06pm – 32 pages read
10:55pm-11:08pm – 15 pages read

Totals for Wednesday: 51 pages read

Notes: Not much to say here. It was a fairly average reading day. A few pages in the morning, and the bulk of my reading in the evening.

Thursday, September 11

7:29am-7:33am – 6 pages read
9:28am-9:34am – 10 pages read
1:48pm-1:54pm – 8.5 pages read
7:33pm-7:52pm – 38 pages read
11:00-11:43pm – 65 pages read

Totals for Thursday: 127.5 pages (and 1 book finished)

Notes: Wowee… this was an insane reading day for me! Mostly because I stayed up way past my bedtime to finish a book. (Way, way.) I worked from home this day, so I got to sneak in a little reading time in between bathroom breaks. (Didn’t you always want to know about my bathroom habits? HA.) The book I was reading also had shorter pages and larger text so I was able to whip through the pages more easily. And I finished my second book for the week! Woo! I rarely finish books that quickly during the week, but it was a very quick read (I think less than 200 pages?) But anyway, a huge reading day for me! I don’t usually read that much on a weekday. Honestly, this was a bit nuts.

Friday, September 12

6:15am-6:20am – 5.5 pages read
6:34am-6:37am – 6 pages read
2:54pm-3:09pm – 19 pages read
7:04pm-7:32pm – 33 pages read
11:40pm-11:50pm – 13.5 pages read

Totals for Friday: 77 pages read

Notes: Pretty average reading day for Friday! A few pages read before work, and then I had more time to sit down for a little while and read once the workweek was over. During the workweek, I can only catch snippets here and there, but the weekend allows me to just lie down and read to my heart’s content! My favorite!

Saturday, September 13

8:09am-8:13am – 4.5 pages read
12:18pm-12:53pm – 51.5 pages read
6:12pm-6:20pm – 14 pages read
8:31pm-8:37pm – 10.5 pages read
9:04pm-9:14pm – 15 pages read
10:30pm-10:37pm – 13 pages read
11:28pm-11:46pm – 28.5 pages read

Totals for Saturday: 137 pages read

Notes: Ah, successful Saturday! I got a lot of reading done! Unfortunately, I could have gotten even more because I was stuck at the nail salon for THREE HOURS but forgot to bring reading material. I haaaate when I do that! Oh, well. I caught a lot of snippets of reading time in the evening while my nephew was over.

Sunday, September 14

8:47am-8:51am – 5.5 pages read
9:15am-9:22am – 13.5 pages read
9:58am-10:06am – 15 pages
2:05pm-2:30pm – 25 pages
3:53pm-4:04pm – 19 pages
5:30pm-6:15pm – 59.5 pages
10:14pm-10:20pm – 4.5 pages

Totals for Sunday: 142 pages read (and 1 book finished)

Notes: Oh, weekends. How I love thee for copious reading time. This was my highest reading day yet! (And yes, I read while I watch football. My brother thinks I’m ridiculous, but combining two of my favorite hobbies? Yes, please!) I finished up Arranged, and I’m now reading a book that will take me a while to finish (it’s almost 500 pages long!).

***

So, over the course of one week, I read 653 pages and finished three books. (Well, two-and-a-half, since I had already read half of one book before the week began.) Whoaaaa. That feels so high, but it’s actually pretty normal. (I’m averaging 8-9 books read a month, after all.)

I read 83 pages during bathroom breaks (eh, sorry), 102.5 pages while taking bubble baths, 161.5 pages before bed, and the rest while just laying around. The longest time I spent lounging and reading was 45 minutes, but I typically read in snippets of less than 15 minutes (57%).

As you can see, I make a lot of time for reading! There were many, many days that I spent over an hour reading. In fact, two days this week, I almost spent two hours in total reading! In bits and pieces, but still! That’s a lot of time to spend with my nose in a book. But I do it because I love it, because it’s my favorite hobby. Other things fall by the wayside so I can make time for reading. (And sometimes, that “thing” is called sleep and getting to bed at a normal hour. Sigh. It’s something I’m working on!)

What’s the one hobby you give up other things for?

Categories: Books

My 10 Books

I’ve really enjoyed this meme that’s floating around Facebook and blogs. One of my favorite things to talk about is books and reading, and anything that gets people discussing this topic is fine by me! I thought I’d take a page from Amber and Nora’s books (ha ha ha… get it?! Oh, puns!) and write my own blog post on the top 10 books that have affected me the most.

Here we go!

10. The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe – A powerful book on love and the influence we can have on other people. It’s not a depressing book, even though Will’s mother is dying from cancer during it. It’s uplifting and Will’s words had an incredible impact on me.

9. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee – I read this in high school and adored it, and then read it a second-time last year and loved it even more. It’s such a fabulous story, something that sticks with you for a long time after reading it.

8. Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller – You don’t have to be a Christian to enjoy this novel. It’s so much bigger than a simple novel about faith – it’s about passion and living and hope and opening up to all the world has to offer. The writing isn’t flashy, and you can tell it’s written from Miller’s heart – not for fame, fortune, or popularity. I loved it and him.

7. The entire Harry Potter series – Because duh. I read the whole series a few summers ago (Erin organized a Twitter book chat, which was a fun way to experience reading the series!) and it’s just fantastic. Everyone needs to read these books.

6. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn – This book was insane. I didn’t know who to trust, I didn’t know what was happening, and I had no idea how it all would play out in the end. I’m one of the few who actually liked the ending (I thought it was authentic, and any other outcome would have felt trite). I’m not of the belief that in order for a book to be good, the characters must be likable. I’m fairly certain Flynn wanted us to hate Amy and Nick, and she definitely did a good job with that! Anyway, this book wreaked havoc on my emotions. Such a crazy story to read.

5. The Help by Kathryn Stockett – Gosh, I loved the characters in this novel. Between Minny and Aibileen and Skeeter… ah! I kinda want to reread this book because it touched me so much.

4. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green – I’ll admit I’m not the biggest John Green fan, but I loved this book. It was such an emotional journey – so hopeful and happy, but also tragic and sad. It’s one of those books that stayed with me for a long time.

3. Two Kisses for Maddy by Matthew Logelin – Oh, goodness, this book. I knew it would be a sad book since it’s a memoir about a man whose wife dies right after giving birth to their daughter. I just didn’t know how much it would affect me. I was in a severe book hangover for weeks. I read the book in a matter of days – and it was sad, but also engaging and witty and hopeful – and I didn’t know what to do with myself when I finished it. I couldn’t stop thinking about Matt and Maddy, and started measuring time in how long it had been since I thought about the book. (No lie – I was all, “Oh, I made it an hour without thinking about the book! Progress!”) Sometimes, I regret reading the book because it just absolutely gutted me.

2. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini – This book was incredible. It really changed me and made me take a step back to see how much good is in my life. Even my worst days are nothing compared to what oppressed women in other countries are facing. This book was heartbreaking and chilling at times, but there was also goodness and hope and light and happiness. I implore anyone who has not read this book to GO READ IT. It’s simply incredible.

1. Me Before You by Jojo Moyes – And, finally, the number one book that has affected me as a reader. This book is still my number one recommendation when anyone asks, and I’ve yet to find a book that impacts me on such a deep level. It seems like it would be a depressing story – it’s about assisted suicide, after all – but it’s not. It’s written in a way where you get to know these characters deeply, get to understand them, and where they are coming from. I’ve never loved two characters as much as I loved Lou and Will.

What are some books that have affected you?

Categories: Books

August Reads

It’s time for my monthly run-down on books I read over the past month. I ended up reading 9 books in August, bringing my total books read to 60. It was hard to pick a favorite book because I read so many great ones! But I would say Maybe Someday was my favorite, and Code Name Verity was my least favorite.

1. One Plus One by Jojo Moyes – 4.5 stars

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this novel because I have high standards for Jojo Moyes’ books. Me Before You stands as one of the best books I’ve ever read, and I’ve yet to read a book that has touched me in the same way. But I’ve also read The Girl You Left Behind, and I didn’t care for that one all that much. So she either hits it out of the ballpark with me or falls incredibly short of my expectations. This book? Definitely a favorite! I just completely adored all of the characters and the plot was so interesting to me. I love this author so much.

2. Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover – 5 stars

This was my first Colleen Hoover book (many of my friends adore her!), and I can easily see why she is such a beloved author. This was a sweet romance that went so much deeper than your usual YA romance. There was so much emotion, so much maturity, so much depth. It was a book I just couldn’t put down and had a major book hangover when I finished it. I can’t wait to read more from her!

3. Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein – 3 stars

I read this for book club and was even the one who suggested it because I had heard nothing but rave reviews of the novel. And I have no idea why people love this novel so much. I was so bored by it, though the last half saved it from being a truly awful novel. I feel like I missed something because I didn’t even like this book, much less love it. Meh.

4. Landline by Rainbow Rowell – 4 stars

Rainbow Rowell is one of my new favorite authors. I just adore her writing. This novel was a bit of a departure from the love stories I’m used to reading from her, but it was still a wonderful story. While it’s probably not my favorite Rowell novel (Attachments forever holds the #1 place in my heart), she can do no wrong in my eyes when it comes to her novels. My only criticism was that I wish Rowell had made Georgie’s husband a bit more likable. It was hard to root for their marriage to make it because he seemed so whiny at times. Still, a wonderful novel that made me happy sigh when I finished it.

5. Just One of the Guys by Kristan Higgins – 4 stars

I’m rereading Kristan Higgins’ books because I love this author so, so much. Her books just make me so darn happy! They are lighthearted, romantic, funny, and sweet. They feature awesome main characters that have depth and spunk and a cast of secondary characters that you can’t help but love. I wouldn’t say this is my favorite novel of hers (I wanted more from the love story), but it was still a very good read.

6. Born Wild by Julie Ann Walker – 2.5 stars

I didn’t love this book. I read it slowly, during bouts on cardio equipment at the gym. It never truly captured my interest, and I felt that the characters were two-dimensional and some of their actions were inconsistent. And I felt that the sex scenes were just… kinda gross? I dunno. I felt like the author tried too hard to be RACY and SMUTTY, and it just fell flat.

7. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell – 4 stars

If there has ever been a fictional character that I have most closely identified with, it is Cath in Fangirl. She is fantastic. Although I wish my freshman year at college evolved as hers did! Alas, my life is not a cute YA novel, and my whole year was awful and miserable. I can’t tell you how many days I called my mom crying because I hated it so much. But. I digress. This book was good! Everything Rainbow Rowell writes is good. She’s just wonderful. I will say that as much as I wanted to give this book 5 stars, the Simon Snow parts were very boring and I didn’t feel added much to the novel. And now I have read all of Rowell’s novels and I am a sad, sad panda.

8. The Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas – 4 stars

I think this book might be my favorite one of Kleypas’ yet! This is the third book in her Wallflowers series and follows Evie’s story as she proposes marriage to notorious rake Viscount Sebastian St. Vincent. I loved their relationship and seeing it grow. I adored Evie and seeing her mature throughout the pages. Just. Fantastic. So fantastic.

9. Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins – 5 stars

Gosh, Stephanie Perkins is perfection. I love, love, love sweet YA romances. They are just such a nice escape. I couldn’t get enough of Isla and Josh. They were adorable, I loved how much they loved each other. I finished this book in under 24 hours because I couldn’t put it down. I didn’t really want to do anything except read the book, and then, when I finished it, I was in a book hangover fog that took a while to get out of. All signs of a fabulous novel!

What was the best book you read in August?