The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen

This book is by the same author who wrote Flipped, which I read a few months ago. Just before I read this book I decided that I wanted to do a big race before planning to have another baby and, consequentially, getting out of shape. I'd been exercising a lot already so I just needed to pick a race and tweak my training schedule. I thought about doing a half-marathon, but I really hate running so the idea of running 13.1 miles sounds like my idea of hell. My friend mentioned doing a triathlon and the idea stuck with me. I signed up for a sprint triathlon, which is the shortest distance: 1/2 mile open water swim, 15.1 mile bike ride, 3.1 mile run. Easy peasy, right?? Well I worked and I trained and I completed my first triathlon on June 1, 2013. During my training was when I read this book and it was the perfect read to keep my head in the game.

The Running Dream is about a high school track star who loses her leg in a car accident on the way home from a track meet. The story focuses on her personal journey of learning how to cope with losing a leg and adapting her life. She decides that she wants to continue running and works to accomplish her dream despite inconceivable obstacles.

I don't know if this is based on a true story, but shortly after I finished reading came the attacks at the Boston Marathon and I couldn't help but think of those people who lost their limbs and the journey they have ahead of them. I found The Running Dream to be inspiring and it helped me aspire to work harder to accomplish my dreams despite the difficulties life has in store. I definitely recommend this one--uplifting, easy read, all-around good book.

4 out of 5 stars

Hot Money by Dick Francis

Wow, I have been super neglectful of my blog. I've read several books since I last posted so now I get to review them all at once.

Hot Money was recommended by my aunt and I checked it out because I trust her opinion, even though it looked really different from the stuff I usually read. Turns out I should read "different" stuff more often because this was a really entertaining book! It's sort of a classic murder mystery who-dunnit book and I was guessing until the very last chapter. There are a lot of characters, aka suspects, and the author does a good job at making each one seem like the potential killer. Since it's been a couple months since I read it, I can't remember the character names, but the story is centered on an extremely wealthy man who has been married 5 times and has now-grown children from 4 of his marriages. His most recent wife has been murdered and now the killer is coming after him. The only person he trusts is his (I think youngest) son, who helps protect him and discover who is trying to take his life and his money.

I highly recommend this read, especially if you're looking for a good mystery!

4 out of 5 stars

Edenbrooke by Julianne Donaldson

Oh this was a lovely book! The more I read, the more I realize what a hopeless romantic I am at heart. My favorite stories in the world to read are the ones that have a good love story and end happily. That's not to mean that I don't appreciate other literature as well, but there's something special about books like Pride and Prejudice and Jane Eyre.

Edenbrooke is a story set in Regency times, though it was written just a few years ago. Our heroine is Marianne, twin to Cecily, whose father has just sent her to live with her grandmother after the death of their mother. Cecily was sent to live with a cousin while their father went off to France to be alone to deal with his grief. Marianne tries to make the best of her situation though she is perfectly miserable. One morning her grandmother informs her that she intends Marianne to be her heir if she can prove herself to be a proper lady. Marianne is sent to live with her mother's best friend Lady Caroline at Edenbrooke for the summer where she is supposed to learn the ways of elegant ladies. Cecily, who has become great friends with Lady Caroline's daughter, will be there too and has written Marianne about her ambitious plans to marry Lady Caroline's eldest son.

On her way to Edenbrooke, Marianne's carriage is held up by a highwayman (gasp!) and her coachman is shot. The highwayman flees when Marianne's maid shoots a gun at him, and Marianne drives the horses to the nearest inn, where she meets a handsome and arrogant stranger. Marianne soon learns that he is Sir Philip, one of the sons of Lady Caroline of Edenbrooke and they strike up an unlikely friendship.

I loved the sense of humor throughout the book. Marianne is very funny and Philip very much appreciates her wit, resulting in highly entertaining banter. I only had a couple issues with this book. At times I could tell that this was not a genuine Victorian novel and that it was written in modern times. Compared to the classics, you can tell that this is an imitation. Also, as much as I loved Marianne, she was really, really stupid when it came to her own feelings, and that irritated me. She convinced herself for practically the whole story that she wasn't in love with Philip and that he didn't love her, when it was totally obvious that they were both in love with each other. Also I was annoyed that Cecily was completely obtuse and didn't figure out what her twin was going through.

In any case, I loved the book. Even though it wasn't convincingly Regency and sometimes the characters were a little dense, I read Edenbrooke twice in a row. Yep, twice. I read it the first time in a day and when I was done I realized I wanted to savor it a little more, so I read it again. And even after the second reading, I still love it.

Definitely recommend to the other hopeless romantics out there.

4.5 out of 5 stars

(btw, I debated about this rating. I loved the book, but there were a couple things that annoyed me. But I read it twice in a row, that's got to count for something. I almost gave it a 5, but I rarely give 5's. I have to be absolutely raving about a book to give it a 5, so I settled on 4.5.)

The Host by Stephenie Meyer

This is a story I've had on my mental to-read list for years. Really, ever since I read the Twilight series I've been meaning to read The Host, but I kept putting it off. I'd been told that it was sci-fi and had to do with aliens and I couldn't really psych myself up for it, even though I kept hearing that it was "so good." Last week I asked my facebook friends for book suggestions and I received several. After cross-checking with my library and finding that The Host was the only one available, I decided it was time.

Now after reading it I'm not sure why I didn't read it earlier. It actually was "really good," even perhaps great. The world has been invaded by tiny alien life forms who implant themselves in human bodies and take over their "hosts'" consciousness. There are rebel groups scattered across the world who haven't been invaded yet, and Melanie Stryder is one of those rebels. When she is captured and implanted with a Soul named Wanderer, she fights with all her strength to keep knowledge of her brother and boyfriend hidden so they won't also be captured.

I thought the story was really interesting. It is told from Wanderer's point of view, but myself being human, I was sympathizing with Melanie and how wrong it is for these aliens to come and rob humanity of their free will. Though as the story continues, Melanie's personality starts to grate my nerves and I sympathize with Wanderer and all she is going through. Wanderer and Melanie learn to work together to accomplish their joint goal of keeping Jamie (the brother) and Jared (the boyfriend) safe from harm. I loved how Wanderer and Melanie's relationship grew throughout the story from hateful enemies to like sisters and how they learned to take care of each other. I also enjoyed the rather bizarre (at times) love triangle, or I guess it was more like a square...but in any case, it was entertaining.

I definitely would recommend this, even to those who may be hesitant to jump into a fad that might become as crazy as Twilight was (or is...). I can only hope that this great story doesn't get ruined by bad acting/directing/scripting in the upcoming movie like others I've seen.

4.5 out of 5

Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen

Ahh, the perfect, light-hearted thing to read after a depressing WW2 book full of death and suffering. Flipped is about 2 kids who live across the street from each other, Juli and Bryce. Since the day Bryce's family moved in when they were about 6 years old, Juli has been in love. Something about his beautiful eyes made her swoon and forget her senses. So for years, until they hit middle school, Juli is on the offensive trying to be with Bryce as much as she can. Problem is, Bryce thinks she's a freak and doesn't want anything to do with her. Juli is oblivious to his cold shoulder and idolizes him for years. As she grows up a bit she starts to realize he may not be all she thought he was cracked up to be. Of course, this is about the time when Bryce realizes that Juli isn't exactly what he thought she was either and now has to convince her that he is a good guy, worthy of her attention.

This was a sweet, simple and silly story that took me back to elementary and middle school and all the crushes I had on boys. Only, unlike Juli, I was always too scared of the boys I liked to talk to them at all. I would pine for them from afar. It was fun to remember those days and the change in my literary repertoire was welcome. I finished in about a day and it was the perfect reprieve from overly serious stories.

3 out of 5 stars

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

 This is the final (for now) installment of my series of World War 2 related books. After reading The Book Thief, I've decided I really need a break. Not that I didn't enjoy the story, it was just much heavier than I had anticipated. In my search for pictures of the cover I learned that yet another recently read book is being made into a movie. The Book Thief is set to release in January of 2014, according to IMDB. The cover picture to the left is the one that was on the copy that I read, but I found the picture below and really liked it and decided it must be included.

The Book Thief was an interesting book. It was narrated by Death, which I thought was a unique perspective, and it turns out that Death has a sense of humor. So Death takes us around Nazi Germany and showcases various stories, mostly focusing on a little girl named Liesel who is sent to live with foster parents after losing her family. In time her new family offers a hiding place to a young Jewish man in their basement. Amidst the stress and horror of her life during the war, Liesel finds comfort in books and reading and she begins to steal literature where she can, whether that be a graveyard, a bonfire, or even an old lady's house.


It's hard to really say what this book is about since the storyline is interrupted so many times by side stories and glimpses into the future or past. Death kept giving away the endings to characters and I felt that really took away from my interest. I had a bit of a difficult time getting into the story, mostly because of the way it was narrated. I like the uniqueness a story told by Death, but to be honest it wasn't gripping enough to make me fall in love with any of the characters. My favorite character was Rudy, the boy who lives next door to Liesel, but unfortunately I didn't get the story I wanted out of him. I think the thing that put me off the most was the ending: it was horribly depressing. Not that it wasn't probably the most realistic of endings considering the time period, but still depressing.

Overall I would recommend The Book Thief, but don't expect a happy, feel-good story.

3.5 stars out of 5

The House at Tyneford by Natasha Solomons

Next on the list from my friend was another World War 2 book, and just a heads up, the book I'm reading now is also WW2 era. So many good stories inspired by such a colossally horrific chapter in history.

Our heroine is Elise, a bourgeois Jewish girl from Austria, whose mother is a famous Opera singer and father is an author. Her sister inherited her mother's beauty and talent, leaving Elise with little beauty other than her father's jet black hair. Times are changing for Jews in Vienna and the family makes preparations to go to America. Since no visa could be procured for Elise, she is sent to be a housemaid in an English country home where she would be safe and she must learn to adapt from her life of comfort to becoming a member of the working class. Upon her arrival at Tyneford, the house in which she will be working, she meets Kit, the 20-year old son of the master of the house. They strike up a friendship, one that helps her bear the weight of the trials and tragedies that come her way during the upcoming years.

I found this to be a very beautiful and well-written story. I grew to respect Elise and the grace with which she learns to handle her lot, especially compared to the immature tantrum-throwing child of 19 years she was when she left Vienna. This was not a happy, feel-good kind of novel, which I think is actually much more appropriate considering the setting, but I loved it completely. I'm a happy ending kind of girl, and while this one did end well, it wasn't the "happily ever after" I usually hope for when reading a book.

On the cover is printed something to the effect of "Fans of Downton Abbey will love The House at Tyneford!" I had never seen Downton Abbey but kept hearing friends rave about it, so when my husband and I got a week trial of Hulu Plus (to try and catch up on a different show that turns out wasn't actually available, but that's a whole other story) we decided to give it a try. We finished the 2 seasons during our trial and it was kind of fun to be reading this book at the same time. They definitely have their similarities: centered around a world war, give a good view of the upstairs vs downstairs life, in England, etc. So if you are a fan of Downton Abbey, you probably would enjoy this book. However, I wouldn't limit my recommendation to only those people; I think many would enjoy it.

4 out of 5 stars