The Name of the Wind
by Patrick Rothfuss
Not often does a book come along that so easily moves up the ranks of "Top Books in Erin's Mind". For many years now, the Harry Potter series has dominated those coveted top positions with few true adversaries. I started that series when I was twelve and grew along with the characters, basically making them my life and loves for ten years. I am a true believer that Post-Potter-Depression is real. No book could grip me the way Harry Potter did. But like all old loves, we must move on. So I was doing some interweb browsing and came across this flowchart of fantasy/science fiction books that had a bubble titled "Give me more precious lads at schools of magic please", thus Name of the Wind came into my consciousness.
I will tell anyone who asks, this has got to be one of my favorite books of all time. I'm not really a synopsis kind of girl, so I'll leave that up to Goodreads and just give you my reaction. This series is right up there with Harry Potter. The characters are so intricate and developed that you feel like you know them intimately. The story has some plot lines that end within the first novel and some that are going to be overarching through out the series. Everything about this book screams epic fantasy, and it's the best sort. The world building is highly believable and painted by a true wordsmith. The dialog is witty and quick with many laugh aloud moments and pacing that works. This is a book for fantasy lovers and anyone else who loves a good story with characters they can get invested in. I could go on and on about the love I feel for this book and I feel most people who have read it would echo this sentiment.
My Rating: 5/5
Goodreads Rating: 4.55/5
A Wise Man's Fear
by Patrick Rothfuss
So thankfully I started this series when A Wise Man's Fear was almost out, otherwise there was a four year wait between books one and two. I'm hoping that Sir Rothfuss is actively writing as much on the series finale (The Doors of Stone) as he is on Goodreads. This book, A Wise Man's Fear is just as good as the first and longer with much more story to enjoy. For all of the positives I have to say, see above review. Best. Series. Ever.
(Note: If you like Game of Thrones, this is for you times 10,000.)
My Rating: 5/5
Goodreads Rating: 4.52/5
A Discovery of Witches
by Deborah Harkness
This book didn't capture my heart like the last series did, but that's like comparing apples to oranges. Discovery of Witches is more of a paranormal, current/historical fiction, if that makes any sense. It focuses on witches, vampires and daemons, which, since Twilight, is a overly used plot line, but this is done well. What I like about this book is the educational aspect, it's set at Cambridge in England, and there is a very modern-victorian feel about it. There is a romantic aspect to the novel which doesn't really help or hurt it any but just moves the story along. I was really excited to learn the second book (Shadow of Night) that came out this year, and I purchased an advanced copy. To be honest though, I got about 40 pages in and had to put it down. Maybe it was too much time between novels, maybe I need to read the first again, but it didn't propel me forward. It's still sitting in my to-be-read bin.
My Rating: 4/5
Goodreads Rating: 3.97/5
Thirteen Reasons Why
by Jay Asher
You might read the synopsis of Thirteen Reasons Why and think to yourself, "Why would I ever pick up a book about teen suicide, how awful." Me too. After reading this, I might think twice. There was something soft and understated about the telling of this story. There isn't a focus on suicide itself, but the events that lead up to this girl, Hannah Baker taking her own life. The parties involved, the cruelness of high school but also the beauty. This story is told posthumously via tapes left by Hannah which are heartbreaking and touching. This could have been my story, it could have been your story, it could have been anyones story. I found it very relatable and moving. It's a simple read, but I found it has stuck with me long after I've put it down. It's the kind of book that makes you want to hug everyone you see and reach back into your past and say I'm sorry to those you might have wronged. But on a more disappointing note: This is going to be a movie. With Selena Gomez. Bah.
My Rating: 4/5
Goodreads Rating: 4.6/5
Honorable Mentions:
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn- I was in love with the first half of this book. By midway, I was texting my mom, Ryan's mom and all other book-ies I knew telling them to acquire this book. By the last page, I was retracting that statement as quick as I could. It seriously was like reading two different books. The two halves didn't jive at all. I don't think either of the halves would have made for a particularly bad book, but it didn't work together. Overall, I'd give this book a 3/5 (aka get it in the bargain bin).
The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak- There's a lot of hype about this book. People LOVE this book. It's different. It tells a story from the eyes of death, the grim reaper, angel of death. Kind of like Meet Joe Black. And Death in this instance is actually kind of funny, sarcastic if you will. Death narrates the story of a girl in Nazi Germany during the Holocaust. It's set up to be a horribly sad book. And as I said, people FREAK over this book. Does it make me a bad person that I just didn't get it? I didn't get what the hubbub was all about. I shed a tear or two, but I've read some reviews where these people were literally needing BOXES of tissues. Am I soul-less? I mean it basically tells you what's going to happen in the book on the first few pages, so all shock and awe is gone there. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed this story, but I didn't think it reinvented the wheel by any means. If you've read this and know what I'm missing, please let me know. My Rating: 3.5/5
A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray- In my Goodreads review I likened this book to a more grown up version of A Little Princess (for those of you who haven't seen this movie, or who didn't grown up with this, shame on your parents). I really wanted to like this book. Like I gave up on my whole "book box" idea where I would just grab a book at random and start reading with out the premeditated thought processes of choosing a book. A Great and Terrible Beauty jumped ahead in line of the now 20 books I have to read. It didn't live up to my expectations at all. I was pissed at first. This book was literally 300 pages of back story, character building, setting description and mundane daily life of English boarding school girls. What saved me from burn-piling it, were the last 100 pages. After my initial anger, I started watching some of my YouTube book brethren, and they told me not to be discouraged, that they too felt cheated, but the next book in the series is WORLDS better. I feel like this is one of those "fool me once" type of situations I might regret later. My rating: 3/5
Now that I've shared some of my favorites with you, I have a confession to make. I feel like I'm in a world of confusion. I'm a 26 year old girl who is having a total book-genre-identity-crisis. I keep purchasing books that are of the YA (young adult) variety that I really WANT TO like, but something doesn't resonate with me the way I want it to, have I become too old for these? Am I over the YA hill? I don't like contemporary chick lit, I've never (nor will I ever) had the desire to pick up a Nicholas Sparks, Judi Picoult or Sarah Dessen book because I know it's totally NOT my jam. Fluffy, feel good, discover yourself love story? Where's the trash receptacle. The dystopian novels are getting redundant and played out. Adult fiction can be too real. So where does that leave me? Do you need to have a reading niche? A set genre? I guess not, but it makes for picking your next read a real game of chance. Which I suppose is half the fun. But every now and then I want to have a go to option that I know is going to be good. What does everyone else do? How do you pick books? I guess every now and then you get a few stinkers.
Well for now friends, that's all I've got. Enough writing about reading, time to actually get down to business and do it! I'll leave you with this:
Happy Chip Kelly Day Eve.
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