Book Reviews

My new book reviews for the end of May through end of August. I've been trying to whittle down my Goodreads to-read list, but it just keeps growing! (Also, the spell checker here suggests that maybe instead of Goodreads, I meant goo-dreads. Goo-dreads? Really?)

The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker
The worlds rotation starts slowing and this brings interesting consequences. An 11-year-old girl whose life is changing and falling apart tries to decide whether these changes would have happened even if the world wasn't slowing down. I did not love the plot or characters and for me she's way too young to have a crush/love interest. The most interesting part was to think about the day-to-day effects of the slowing rotation of the earth, like when the day gets longer do you stick to the time on the clock even though it becomes out of sync with the day/night cycle? Would plants survive? Would we get fried? That scientific aspect is interesting and thought-provoking, but overall, meh. 3 stars.

To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis
Definitely a step down from The Doomsday Book, Blackout, and All Clear, which all come from the same time-traveling world created by Connie Willis. A cat (now extinct) gets brought forward into the present and must be returned so as to not mess up history. The travels and exploits of the time-traveler who returns it, though he has no idea that is what he is doing. 3 stars.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
This was a fanciful book of mystery, romance and magic. Celia learns real magic from her father and is the one of the competitors in a magic competition between her father and his nemesis, who has a talented boy he has trained in magic. Celia and the now young man compete in the venue of a fantastical circus, but each additional piece of magic saps their strength and their growing relationship saps their desire to beat the other. Pretty good and very light and fantastical. 4 stars.

All about Emily by Connie Willis
This is kind of an old book, and I don't feel like it has aged well. An insecure actress meets a sweet, young robot, Emily, whom she feels threatens her career. Emily sees the Radio City Rockettes perform and decides she wants to become a Rockette, which is a desire the robot should not be able to have. I guess the book explores humans relationships with machines that can do their job better and what makes a person a person. Two stars.

Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson
I liked this book a lot and lucky for me it is the first in a series. The world is in trouble. Ash falls constantly from the sky, a dark Lord rules the land, and the people are oppressed by the aristocracy. A young girl, Vin, is unaware of her magical potential, when she is recruited by a mysterious stranger who wants to overthrow the apparently immortal god ruler. I really liked what one random Goodreads reviewer, Chris, wrote: "It reminds me of Ocean's Eleven meets The Italian Job, but set in Mordor after Sauron has ruled for 1000 years or so." The environment and the magic is really well developed and explained and altogether it is just an awesome book. 5 stars.

Evidence Not Seen: A Woman's Miraculous Faith in the Jungles of World War II by Darlene Deibler Rose
This non-fiction autobiographical book is about Darlene and her husband, who go as missionaries to New Guinea right before the outbreak of WWII in the Pacific. They are taken prisoner and she lives for four years as a prisoner in a Japanese prison camp. Her strength and faith are amazing and inspirational. I have always heard it can be helpful, even saving, to memorize many scriptures and good music, but Darlene's reliance on these is perhaps the biggest motivator I've come across for doing so. Really, really good. 5 stars.

A Girl Named Zippy by Haven Kimmel
A quick hilarious read. This is an autobiography of a girl growing up in a small Midwest town and remembering her family and adventures. My favorite is the part where her neighbor complains about their dog barking in the night. I won't spoil it. Anyways, it's pretty funny. 4 stars.

The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson
The sequel to Mistborn, this picks up again with the continuing story of Vin. More good magic, answers to more questions and more of a troubled world to try to save. Still a great book, but not quite as great as Mistborn. 4 stars.

The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson
The third Mistborn book, this one is a bit darker. See my description for Well of Ascension. A nice conclusion to the series. 4 stars.

Ship of Ghosts: The Story of the USS Houston, FDR's Legendary Lost Cruiser, and the Epic Saga of Her Survivors by James D. Hornfischer
Innnnnnnteresting. I know much more now about the WWII war in the Pacific. The USS Houston was a favorite ship of FDR and it went into an early battle in WWII where the Japanese navy easily outmatched the allies while the allies were busy fighting their top priority front in Europe. The Houston and its fleet of allied ships disappear and neither the Navy nor the families back home know what has happened to it or its crew. The Houston was sunk and many of its crew were captured by the Japanese to be imprisoned in POW camps and forced to endure unbelievable trials, trauma, illness, and labor. There is some gross content, death, injury, illness, and brutality, but that is war so not too surprising. 4.5 stars. Maybe 5 stars.

Elantris by Brandon Sanderson
Another good Sanderson book, not quite as good as Mistborn, but still interesting and engaging. I found the beginning a bit confusing and hard to follow, but if you stick with it, it's worth it. Kind of zombie-esque, but with magic and mystery, intrigue and a dash of romance. I liked it. 4 stars.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
A teen cancer support group brings Hazel and Gus together. Hazel is struggling to live and cope with terminal cancer when she meets Gus, who lost his leg to cancer. The fact that someone like Gus would want to spend time with her turns Hazels world upside down. This book was really powerful and well-done, worth the read. And it's worth being reminded that caring about others can take our minds off our own problems. 4 stars.

The Darcys Give a Ball: A Gentle Joke, Jane Austen Style by Elizabeth Newark
This wasn't totally awful, but I think the "Gentle Joke" was that there is no plot. I think the author had had fun imagining how the future children of many of Jane Austens beloved and be-loathed characters (not just from Pride and Prejudice) might be brought together. Jane and Lizzie throw a ball, inviting all their friends and some interesting new acquaintances, with a chance for some match-making. Spoiler: That is the entire plot. But if you are curious about what their families might be like, it is somewhat entertaining. 2.5 stars.

Making Rounds with Oscar: The Extraordinary Gift of an Ordinary Cat by David Dosa
This non-fiction book is about dementia, mostly Alzheimer's. And cats, specifically Oscar, who seems to sense when the residents of the full-time care dementia home where he lives are about to pass away. Dr. Dosa investigates Oscars activities, but mostly we see the transformation of Alzheimer's and the effect on their loved ones. Oscar's presence comforts the families and indicates that the time is short. This is a sad but sweet book. 4 stars.

The Great Train Robbery by Michael Crichton
This is a classic heist story. When I started reading it I told Jeran it was pretty good and he might like it and he said, "Yeah, I think I read it in 8th grade." WELL! This is the true story of a robbery that shocked a nation (Britain), mostly because of the novelty of the railroad setting. With actual information from court documents and the like, we follow the robbers throughout the planning, the actual heist, their capture and trial. It's fun to hear the old-timey criminal slang, and even funner to hear the frustrated judge get a translation from the bailiff after a witness makes a undecipherable statement. 4 stars.

1 Wedding + 1 Wedding = Lots of Pictures!

We went to two family weddings in the last three months. Yes, we had fun and had good times, or as Jeran would say, "It was a wedding." Since most interested people have already seen pictures on Facebook, I won't go overboard on the pictures.

The first was my lovely sister, Jessica. She got married in Atlanta to the dashing Chase and they are now living happily ever after.

Maybe some hugs now or something?

Relaxing before the reception

The other lovebirds

Bridesmaids

Us

The second wedding was Jeran's brother, Rylen's. He and Desi got married in Idaho Falls (which was gorgeous - good choice guys!). We flew out west and got to go to the wedding and spend some time with both our families even though it was a quick trip.

Rylen and Desi

So happy!

Idaho Falls panoramic

What a beautiful morning around the temple!

Brothers and nephews

In between these two weddings, we had a month full of getting lots of work done and still making time for some fun summer activities like going to the beach, hiking, and bowling. Here's a picture from Topsail Beach. It makes me sigh every time I look at it. Sun, sand, water, warmth, ocean breeze...

Since October Book List

I didn't think I had read this many books since I last posted, but apparently I have, so here goes a long list, starting in October 2012 and ending in May 2013. (By the way, probably my favorite feature of Goodreads is that you can mark what date you finished reading a book. There is something I love about that.)

The Wise Man's Fear (The Kingkiller Chronicle, #2) by Patrick Rothfuss
I thought this was pretty good, but not great. It definitely held my attention but wasn't any great work of art. I will undoubtedly read the next book when it comes out. 3.5 stars.

The Maze Runner (Maze Runner, #1) by James Dashner
Unlike almost every other popular YAF dystopian book, this one seemed targeted at boys more, which seemed a nice change. Thomas wakes up with no memory of his life and is put into a world surrounded by walls. He and many other boys are essentially in a mouse maze and they must figure out how to survive and how to escape. 4 stars.

Delirium (Delirium, #1) by Lauren Oliver
This YAF dystopian novel is about a society where love is labeled a dangerous disease and young adults are given a cure that essentially removes their emotions or feelings. Lena is all for following the rules and being cured until she meets a boy and then everything she thought she knew goes out the window. This is kind of a weird, sappy book but it is still entertaining and interesting. 3 stars.

Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James
I honestly don't remember much - if anything - about this book, but I apparently liked it well enough just after finishing it to give it 4 stars on Goodreads. It is set in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice world and is a mystery about who murdered Wickham. Honestly, it may have been too soon after Pride and Prejudice and Zombies to read this, because I remember thinking, "Wait a minute: incongruity! Didn't this happen in P&P?" and then realizing that that was only in the zombified version. 3 or 4 stars. I apparently liked it but it was not very memorable. I really should write each of these just after finishing reading instead of months later all at once.

The Scorch Trials (Maze Runner, #2) by James Dashner
Picking up where The Maze Runner left off, this book covered such a small amount of terrain and territory that I wasn't too impressed. It was not as exciting or engaging as The Maze Runner, but still not bad. Pretty much any info about the plot here would be a bit of a spoiler for The Maze Runner so I won't say anything. 3 stars.

Sex on the Moon: The Amazing Story Behind the Most Audacious Heist in History by Ben Mezrich
Although this book centers on a wayward Mormon teen and some issues I prefer not to dwell on, if you ignore that, this was a good book. I think the main title is misleading and stupid and was designed just to grab a wider audience's attention. It actually is just a true heist story about a young guy who aspires to be an astronaut, and while working in relatively close proximity to valuable moon rocks, decides to steal them. Especially for being a true story, it was a really good read. Jeran even read and liked it. 4 stars.

Divergent (Divergent, #1) by Veronica Roth
Divergent is about a dystopian or futuristic world where people are separated into one of five defining characteristic groups: essentially bravery/courage, intelligence, peacefulness, honesty, and selflessness. Beatrice doesn't know where she will be sorted (haha) and then faces some hard decisions about family and about herself. I liked this better than Delirium. 4 stars.

Pandemonium (Delirium, #2) by Lauren Oliver
I thought this was about as good as Delirium, maybe slightly less. Some of these really fall into the "Meh" category, meaning they were entertaining enough to read but I don't have any lingering feelings of either "I liked that book" or "I didn't like that book". Lena is back, but this time with a mission to undermine or ruin the society that calls love a disease. 3 stars.

Insurgent (Divergent, #2) by Veronica Roth
A decent follow-up to Divergent, war between the factions seems imminent and there is more going on below society's surface than meets the eye. There is also a mystery about who/what Tris is and what that means. Good, but not great. 3 stars.

Spark (Sky Chasers, #2) by Amy Kathleen Ryan

After reading Spark, I'm more interested to read the next book than I was after reading Glow. For these books, I alternate between thinking they are more realistic than many and that they are full of chaotic randomness throughout the book. When I'm leaning towards realistic, I like it because life really is unpredictable and other people mess up your plans or do things that don't make sense and weird things just happen sometimes. When I'm more inclined to think of these books as filled with randomness, I get a little frustrated that the plot is not more linear and the characters and situations more understandable and engaging. 3.5 stars


Birthmarked (Birthmarked, #1) by Caragh M. O'Brien
In a society where the elite can't have healthy children, they turn to "advancing" babies from the lower class and raising them as their own. Gaia is a girl whose mother is a respected midwife in the lower class, and Gaia is learning the skills to follow in her footsteps. They advance babies as they are required, but Gaia's mother has a secret that gets her into trouble and Gaia must take over her duties and figure out what is going on. 4 stars.

The Death Cure (Maze Runner, #3) by James Dashner
I was about ready to be done with this series but I decided to finish it out. Again, really a "Meh" book, but there are elements about learning to trust and learning who to trust that make it better. It also had elements of "If the characters would just talk to each other or make decisions that will gain them more knowledge, they wouldn't be in this mess", which is one of the things that really frustrates me in movies and books. 3 stars.

The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom
This was a really good book about a courageous Dutch woman helped many Jews find a hiding place and escape to safety. She was eventually caught and put in a camp, but makes it out alive and with an amazing story to share. 4 stars

The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings, #2) by J.R.R. Tolkien
I was impressed while reading this and the other LOTR books how closely the movies stuck to the books (with a few exceptions, which I can forgive because they are irrelevant to the overall story or make the movie more compelling or explainable). I like the ents and the detail you get about them and the forests that aren't in the movie. My only complaint is that the book is split into two very separate parts, one with Frodo/Sam/Gollum and one with everyone else, and the Frodo/Sam/Gollum part comes second. I don't like those parts of the movies nearly as much as the rest so I was dreading a whole half a book just on that, but it really wasn't that bad and was just as interesting. Excellent story, excellent writing. 4.5 stars.

One Second After by William R. Forstchen
This is more of a cautionary/informative novel than a just-for-fun story. It isn't particularly well-written, but based on the subject and the realism, it is a thought provoking and perhaps action-provoking book. It is focused on a small town, and particularly one man and his family in a small North Carolina mountain town. EMPs are detonated above many sections of the USA, essentially knocking out everything that uses electronics, from cars to gas pumps to phones, etc. It is a sobering catalogue of the issues that could arise if this threat were actually realized. From drug addicts stealing medicine from retirement homes and pharmacies, or foreign disease and infections coming in with no way to treat, to quickly running out of food and depleting the surrounding wilderness, and people dependent on regular medication, this book examines many hard topics like who are the least valuable members of society when it comes to overall survival and what would each person be willing to do for their own or other's survival. 3 or 4 stars. I think the story is a 3 star story, but I like books that make me think, especially if I can still think about it months afterwards, so for that I would give it 4.5 stars.

Listening Is an Act of Love: A Celebration of American Life from the StoryCorps Project by Dave Isay
This is a collection of short stories from regular people, recording incidents in their lives as they tell it to a friend or loved one. It is quite a bit more interesting than I anticipated and it reiterates that everyone has a story to share and has knowledge and experiences of worth. 4 stars.

The Eden Hunter: A Novel by Skip Horack
I didn't finish this book, mostly because it fell right at the end of a reading spree when I was ready to take a break from reading. This is one that I randomly pulled off the shelf at the library, and I think the part I read was pretty good for being a totally random pick. It is about an African tribesman that is sold into slavery and escapes into the Florida wilderness. I might pick it up again someday so I'll reserve judgment until then. (Actually, I was browsing randomly around the library again last week and my eyes were drawn to a book on the shelf. Maybe that one, I thought. Looking closer, I saw it was that Eden Hunter book again! I guess they did a good job on the cover design.)

Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
I loved this book. Granted, I listened to it as an audiobook and sometimes slow sections are easier to get through this way, but I thought it was excellent. There were several places near the beginning when I just really loved something in the book and wished it wasn't an audiobook so I could highlight those lines. It is a sad book, full of sad circumstances and people, but it was beautifully written and made me think and reflect on the topics of the duties and responsibilities of parents friends in providing a person a support network, avoiding bad situations, turning away from repeated temptation or bad situations, making the most of hard circumstances, etc. 4.5 stars.

The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings, #3) by J.R.R. Tolkien
Just like in the movies, my biggest complaint is that there are about a million loose ends to tie up so it goes on and on through so many potential endings. The actual story ends about halfway through the book, with the wrap-up taking the remainder. Still, it is an excellent read. This one has a few more discrepancies to the movies, like the Path of the Dead and subsequent result, but that's okay. 4.5 stars.

Prized (Birthmarked, #2) by Caragh M. O'Brien
This was a sold follow-up to Birthmarked. I enjoyed it and thought the story was pretty good. My only complaint is that, perhaps in trying to be unique from comparable books, the author avoids a love triangle by making... a love square! or a love trident or something with three potential love interests for Gaia instead of the normal one or two. Seriously? Is that any better? Oh well, it's still pretty well done. 4 stars.

Promised (Birthmarked, #3) by Caragh M. O'Brien
Following up Prized, this book takes Gaia back to her roots to try to change things for everyone living outside the wall. It is a pretty good tale with some ups and downs. I have really liked this series and would recommend it, as each novel is fairly consistently strong. 4 stars.

Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West by Blaine Harden
This is the true story of a young man who was born in a North Korean camp housing political undesirables or troublemakers. He tells of his experiences and his escape, and between that and the author's explanations of the past and current situation in North Korea, I learned a lot about the country and it's political climate (it was published March 2012 so it is fairly current). As with most labor or concentration camp stories, it is a bit gritty and definitely saddening. 3.5 stars.

Passage by Connie Willis
Weird. But in a good way. Connie Willis' books always make me think and they present interesting concepts and topics in unique ways that make me think about them and decide what I believe. She is, perhaps, one of my more favorite authors now. Passages is about a psychologist studying near-death experiences in a hospital by interviewing people who have essentially died and come back to life or been revived and comparing/analyzing what they say. A new doctor comes to do research on a related topic, but he wants to find out if there is a physiological or chemical effect in the brain that could account for the similarities between  the near death experiences people recount. They team up and conduct experiments trying to figure out what is going on. Very interesting. Also talks a lot about the Titanic so if you like that, this might appeal to you also. 4 stars

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
This was also a somewhat weird and interesting book. The main character gets a job in an eccentric book store, but there is something weird going on in one section of the book store. Only odd characters come in and they check out archaic books in weird patterns, which require careful notation as to which book they check out, how they look and seem, etc. This book talks a lot about supposed Google research and advances and partly because of that I feel like it could seem quite dated in several years. 3.5 stars.

What the Dog Saw and Other Adventures by Malcolm Gladwell
I started this book a long time ago and just finished listening to it. It is a compilation of articles the author wrote for the New Yorker about topics ranging from Cesar Milan, the Dog Whisperer, to ketchup, to advertising and everything in between. Gladwell always has so many interesting stories and research to present that it is always entertaining and educational to read or listen to his books. 4 stars.

Requiem (Delirium, #3) by Lauren Oliver
Finishing up the Delirium series, Lena tries to survive in the increasingly dangerous wilds. When there is nowhere else to run, they decide to return to Lena's hometown where the rebellion has planned an attack. This was an okay finish to the series, but I didn't love it. 3 stars.

Bellwether by Connie Willis
Another thinker. Sandra, a sociologist (I think) is studying fads and how they get started and spread (too bad she couldn't read Gladwell's The Tipping Point) at a big company that is trying hard to be innovative and win a secretive prestigious grant. She becomes intrigued by another researcher studying chaos theory and information dissemination because unlike seemingly everyone else, he doesn't follow or is oblivious to apparently all fads and trends. They team up to try to combine their fads and information dissemination projects and get some unlikely results. My main two complaints about this book are that it is dated, which is important because it uses a lot of attitude fads that make you either roll your eyes or gag; and that it gets super, super repetitive with the talk about fads and Sandra's CONSTANT thinking about fads. Fads fads fads fads fads. You start to hate fads. (And now that sounds like a weird word to me.) Anyways, despite these, it still has some very interesting points and brings everything back together in a creative way that made me think about the concepts presented. 3.5 stars.

The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
This saddening, and yet happy book is about a girl who grew up as a ward of the state and was in and out of foster homes and group homes her entire childhood and adolescence. Despite being extremely difficult and distant, she did have one person and home that she loved, and there she learned about the language of flowers. When she turns 18, she uses this one skill that she has to get a job, and it simultaneously returns her to her troubled past and heals her future. 4.5 stars.

Well that's all (finally)! Enjoy.

Christmas 2012

This Christmas we finally(!) made it back to Utah to spend the holiday with our families. We decided to keep it a secret and surprise both of our families. I thought it was going to be super hard but it didn't turn out to be that bad, except for hearing the disappointment in people's voices when we said, "It doesn't look like we'll be able to make it."

We flew out without any troubles, rented a car and stayed overnight with our good friends Dan and Carrie. We were reintroduced to Dominion, which we now love (thanks, guys!). The next morning we drove up through the snowy canyon to surprise everyone. We first stopped at Grandma and Grandpa Briscoe's to drop our stuff off and borrow a car so we could return our rental. After that we went to the Briscoe household with a plan for how to best surprise them. When we got there no one was home so we called Mom and found out they were all out shopping. We didn't let on where we were but let ourselves in and tried to decide what to do. We started dishing up some soup for lunch when we saw the van pull in. We ran into the living room and waited. Jessica and Alyna, my sisters came in carrying shopping bags and a sleeping nephew. They were suprised when they saw us but we said Shhhh so they wandered around in circles waiting for whatever was going to happen. Then Mom came in, which we knew would be the funnest surprise. She came around the corner and saw us and put her hands over her mouth, screaming internally, I believe, so as to not wake aforementioned baby. Then she cried (a given) and everyone was all surprised and happy and confused and "don't ever do that again"-ing. A pretty good reaction.

We later went to Stratfords. We had been trying to figure out their plans all day but it was difficult to pin it down without being obvious so we just drove up and walked inside. We encountered family members one by one: again confusion, happiness and hugs, etc.

Anyways, we had a nice Christmas and New Years. I think Jeran shoveled driveways 15 times. We got to see all our grandparents and a lot of aunts, uncles, cousins and other family. We had previously met one of our nephews but we got to meet the other four nephews and one neice. Hooray! Unfortunately I was sick about the entire time and Jeran got sick near the end so we weren't always having the greatest time possible or being the best company, but that's how it happens sometimes. Here are some fun pictures from the trip:

 My brother Andrew and his wife Lindsay and little Riley.

 My sister Alyna.

 Silly Benjamin ready to run through the wrapping paper over the door.

Mom, Jessica, and Dad on Christmas morning. 

 My sister Lisa and her husband Cameron and Benjamin. Little Caleb was sitting in a seat just out of this picture.

 Dad, Andrew, Lindsay and Riley checking out gifts.

Jeran and me on Christmas morning at the Briscoe's.

Jacie and Amanda

Rylen

Kaydee

Isaac, Jacob, and Jaleece

Raymond (yes, this was the best shot of him)

Jacie with Amanda, Jeran, Isaac and Molly

Denae ready to go snowboarding.

Jeran: "This is very sturdy construction."

Denae, Desi, Rylen, Jeran, Mindy, Kenny at Beaver Mountain!!! Raymond took the picture.