One Plus One. This is the second book that I read by Jojo Moyes, and I feel a bit the same as I did after the other one. It was an easy read, entertaining, a little predictable, but also worth turning the pages. It was a little all over the place with multiple narrators, especially as two were adults and two were children, all with widely different personalities, which sometimes annoys me, but in this case it was alright because the book wasn't too complicated to keep up with.
"She couldn’t believe losing someone you had known such a short time could feel like losing part of yourself, that it could make food taste wrong and colors seem dull."
The Maze Runner. I have wanted to read this since I saw that the movie was coming out, and even though I was unsure how into it I'd be, I loved it. I thought it was smart, kind of unpredictable, and definitely full of a similar type of action as in both the
Hunger Games and
Divergent series. I'm excited for the second one and to have another series to chip away at, and the movie was pretty good, so that's always a bonus.
"Sometimes you don’t look very hard for things you don’t believe will or can happen."
An Abundance Of Katherines. Ah, John Green. What a gem. All of his books are sooooo similar, but they all have enough differences that I still love his stories. It's like a tiny bit of mystery with the feeling that I'm in a familiar, comfortable place. This story about a boy named Colin trying to figure out what he's meant to do in life and how to get back the the girl who broke his heart was really cute, and like Green's other novels, just made me feel good.
"[He] wondered only how something that isn't there can hurt you."
The Good Luck Of Right Now. If you're a fan of
The Curious Incident, or
The Rosie Project, you'll love this novel. Bartholomew has lost his mother, the person he's spent every day of his life with thus far, so he begins corresponding with Richard Gere, an actor whom his mother admired. Never having known his father, he looks to Gere as a role model, a father figure, and a friend throughout the novel, telling him stories, asking him questions, hoping for a response and some guidance. The letters reveal more and more about Bartholomew and what he's been through, and continues to go through, and ultimately help him to realize more about himself. I thought it was an interesting novel, and was definitely hooked all the way through.
"We don't know anything. But we can choose how we respond to whatever comes out way. We have a choice always. Remember that!"
I'll Give You The Sun. Rarely does a book leave me as speechless as this one has. As soon as I read the last word I wanted to read the whole novel again. The story is told from the point of view of California twins Noah and Jude over two years' time. Both children are artists, growing up much like every other teen around them, but with artistic talent unlike most. The language aptly paints pictures, the words spin together to form poetry, and throughout the entire story the reader can feel what Noah and Jude are feeling and see what they are seeing. I've never felt more connected to two characters, and the multi-narrator format was so perfect for this novel and its events. This book has no doubt slipped into my top spot as my favorite book, and I can't wait to read Jandy Nelson's other novel.
"It's never occurred to me that the stars are still up there shining even in the daytime when we can't see them."
Landline. I was a bit disappointed in this book. I think the concept could have really gone somewhere cool, but it turned out to be really repetitive (literally the entire novel repeating the same three things in not even that many different ways over and over again), and the main character and narrator, Georgie, was super whiney. Georgie is away from her husband and children over Christmas while they are in Omaha, and she's back home in LA working on the show she's writing with her best friend, Seth. The same few small points are reiterated through the entire story, and her thought process and deductions about her life are the same, just repeated a million times. It got a little old and I was glad to finally get to the ending of this one.
"Just because you love someone...that doesn't mean your lives will fit together."
That's 6/25 of my yearly reading goal, which is a crazy start. Next up,
Big Little Lies and
Love, Rosie.
February 2 - February 8.
What went on this week: This week it snowed a hell of a lot again (so. sick. of. it.), so me and the kids spent a lot of time inside. Max wanted to get a haircut, which is insane because a little less than a year ago the kid would cry hysterically at the thought of a haircut. This particular one was huge because he let the woman use the buzzer on his sideburns and neck, something I never thought he'd want, so I was super proud of him, and it was kind of an adventure for the two of us because he's never let me take him for a haircut alone. Little things that are kind of big things are my absolute favorite.
Details + interesting tidbits: I've been dying to use that "you make me..." card with the gold foil, so finally getting a chance to use it kind of made me pick everything else based on that one little card. I got a new pen for photos, the zig photo signature pen, and it works so well on the canon selphy paper that I'm not even that upset about it's glossiness anymore (mentioned here), so that was a win.
Photo Breakdown: phone photos: 10 // DSLR photos: 1 // polaroid photos: 0. Taken by me, the self-timer, and shutter remotes.
Materials Used: PL Core Kits: seafoam edition (striped card), Studio Calico PL kits: camelot ("you make me happy..." card); cirque ("today's adventure" card, week card), calendar card, fiskars corner rounder, fiskars paper trimmer, staz-on jet black ink, smash date stamp, zig photo signature pen in black (on photos), zig writer marker in black (on journal cards), canon selphy wireless printer, canon selphy ink + paper kit.
