Books...

I've been meaning to make a little review of all the books I've read so far this year and Blogtember's prompt is perfect for today.  One of my 2013 goals was to read at least 15 new books and I can happily cross that off of my list!  So far, I've read 22 new books and I'm half way through 23! Go me!

I get most of my books from my favorite used book store Crazy 4 Books or my mom's bookshelf so they're kind of random.  I am no professional book reviewer what-so-ever so I'm going to keep this short and sweet!

The View from Mount Joy, Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons and The Tall Pine Polka are all by Lorna Landvick.  They were all good books but it took me awhile to get through all of them. I'm not sure why because they had decent story lines. Maybe they just dragged on? I just don't know guys!

The Quickie and Now You See Her are by James Patterson.  I don't know how I've just discovered James Patterson but his writing is fantastic.  Of course, the story lines are way dramatic but I read through both books in no time at all.

River, Cross my Heart by Breena Clarke... Umm...I honestly don't remember a thing about this book. So, I guess it wasn't that good.

I picked up How to Meet Cute Boys by Deanna Kizis as a complete joke.  I was with my boyfriend at the bookstore and was just trying to be a jerk, but then I actually read a few pages and laughed out loud.  It was a funny, easy read.

B is for Burglar by Sue Grafton was the first mystery novel I've ever read and it was great! Definitely picking up more Grafton books in the future.

Seriously...I'm Kidding was AWESOME.  Ellen Degeneres is a hysterical genius.  That is all.

I never read Little Women by Louisa May Alcott when I was younger so I picked it up now.  It's a great classic.

The Reader by Bernhard Schlink was alright.  I need to watch the movie now.

Found this sweet dried flower in Tuesdays with Morrie

Half Broke Horses and The Glass Castle, both by Jeanette Walls were PHENOMENAL.  And true stories, which will blow you mind. No joke. Jeanette tells the story of her Grandma's life in Half Broke Horses (her Grandma is my hero) and her own life growing up in The Glass Castle.  Jaw-dropper fo' sho'.

Go Ask Alice, an anonymous diary of a drug user.  Very interesting.

Gratitude: Affirming the Good Things in Life by Melody Beattie is a great, quick and inspiration read.  All about bringing gratitude into your life and becoming much happier.  A great reminder.

 The Lovely Bones is a perfect example of books being (way) better than the movie.  I honestly couldn't sit through that weird movie but the book was good!

The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver was great.  Kingsolver is an awesome author.  I need to pick up more of her books asap!

The Rescue, The Notebook and A Walk to Remember all by Nicholas Sparks...Yeah, I know. You're all rolling your eyes 'cause I'm a big romantic sap. And *confession* I totally teared up at work reading The Notebook... Don't judge me.

And of course I had a photobomber while setting up...

Everyone was talking about Divergent by Veronica Roth this summer so I had to read it. It was AWESOME. It's kind of like The Hunger Games.  Set in the future with some crazy, crazy stuff going on. But I'm kind of disappointed with the second book in the trilogy, Insurgent. It's not as good as the first.

And last, but certainly not least, Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom was the BEST.  It quickly became my all time favorite book.  If you haven't read it...DO IT NOW!

Read any good books lately?

xo