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notesbynnenna's Reviews (513)
I won this book from the Publisher as part of a twitter giveaway! This was a quick and enjoyable read. There are three stories about three different people and it was interesting to see how these people had an impact on her life. My favorite story was the titular one about Aunt Sass, who was the real-life inspiration for Mary Poppins. Aunt Sass is strict and prickly on the outside, but underneath she has a heart of gold. She’s the kind of aunt who’s done all sorts of interesting things with her life and has an anecdote for every situation. This was the first thing I’ve read by P.L. Travers, so now I’d like to check out some of her other work.
In a small, rural town, a teenage girl suddenly falls ill with a mysterious disease. Soon another girl is affected, and then another. Paranoia and panic sets in as the townspeople wonder what’s causing this illness and why only teenage girls are affected.
The premise sounds great, right? There was a lot of buzz when this book came out earlier last year and I really wanted to read it, but I didn’t get around to it until last month. I thought this was good. I was intrigued by the story throughout and I enjoyed the author’s writing style. I was a bit disappointed by the way it all came together in the end, but not so much that it ruined my reading experience.
The premise sounds great, right? There was a lot of buzz when this book came out earlier last year and I really wanted to read it, but I didn’t get around to it until last month. I thought this was good. I was intrigued by the story throughout and I enjoyed the author’s writing style. I was a bit disappointed by the way it all came together in the end, but not so much that it ruined my reading experience.
A few parts made me roll my eyes a bit, but overall I liked it (particularly the fact that it was set in NYC and featured the Strand).
[added 01/15/15]
This book is a perfect read for the holidays. It’s set in December in NYC, which is a magical time of year. Also, it involves the Strand, my favorite bookstore in the city, so I already knew I was going to enjoy this book.
Dash, one of the main characters, is browsing the books at the Strand when he discovers a little red notebook full of clues. He decides to play along and follow the clues . They lead him to the other main character, Lily, and the two of them start to exchange stories and dares through this notebook.
It’s a pretty cute story with a dash of adventure and romance. I’m glad I read this last month because my sappiness threshold was a bit lower than normal (y’all know I’m nutty about Christmas). It is a young adult novel and it is cutesy, which, you know, I’m not always in the mood for. I thought Dash as a character was a bit pretentious and annoying (I feel like he’d grow up to be a wannabe writer in Brooklyn. No disrespect to wannabe writers who currently live in Brooklyn and #nodisrespectoBenAffleck). Overall, I enjoyed this though.
[added 01/15/15]
This book is a perfect read for the holidays. It’s set in December in NYC, which is a magical time of year. Also, it involves the Strand, my favorite bookstore in the city, so I already knew I was going to enjoy this book.
Dash, one of the main characters, is browsing the books at the Strand when he discovers a little red notebook full of clues. He decides to play along and follow the clues . They lead him to the other main character, Lily, and the two of them start to exchange stories and dares through this notebook.
It’s a pretty cute story with a dash of adventure and romance. I’m glad I read this last month because my sappiness threshold was a bit lower than normal (y’all know I’m nutty about Christmas). It is a young adult novel and it is cutesy, which, you know, I’m not always in the mood for. I thought Dash as a character was a bit pretentious and annoying (I feel like he’d grow up to be a wannabe writer in Brooklyn. No disrespect to wannabe writers who currently live in Brooklyn and #nodisrespectoBenAffleck). Overall, I enjoyed this though.
I don’t think I realized I liked thrillers until I read Gone Girl. Or maybe I did know that, but I’d just forgotten. Anyways, ever since Gone Girl became such a huge hit, every thriller that came out afterwards has been compared to that book. And in my mind, I’m measuring all the thrillers I read against that book. Dear Daughter is no Gone Girl, but I did think it was pretty good.
Janie Jenkins is charged with the murder of her mother and goes to jail. Ten years later, she gets out on a technicality and makes it her mission to figure out exactly what happened the night of her mother’s death. She can’t exactly remember the events of that night and she didn’t have the best relationship with her mother, so she’s afraid that she may actually have killed her.
I’d call Janie an unlikable character: she’s shallow, sarcastic, selfish, and mean, but she’s smarter than she looks and makes witty observations about her life. An important part of thrillers is the way the story unfolds and I thought the author did a pretty good job with the pacing of this book. While I could guess at some things, I didn’t predict all of the events that take place. The most interesting part to me was the relationship between Janie and her mother and the secrets that Janie uncovers. I don’t want to say much more than that. If the plot sounds interesting to you and you like fast-paced books, read this and let me know what you think.
Janie Jenkins is charged with the murder of her mother and goes to jail. Ten years later, she gets out on a technicality and makes it her mission to figure out exactly what happened the night of her mother’s death. She can’t exactly remember the events of that night and she didn’t have the best relationship with her mother, so she’s afraid that she may actually have killed her.
I’d call Janie an unlikable character: she’s shallow, sarcastic, selfish, and mean, but she’s smarter than she looks and makes witty observations about her life. An important part of thrillers is the way the story unfolds and I thought the author did a pretty good job with the pacing of this book. While I could guess at some things, I didn’t predict all of the events that take place. The most interesting part to me was the relationship between Janie and her mother and the secrets that Janie uncovers. I don’t want to say much more than that. If the plot sounds interesting to you and you like fast-paced books, read this and let me know what you think.
This book definitely wins the award for the most bizarre book that I read last month, but it’s bizarre in a good way. It’s about a young orphan who’s unloved and unwanted from birth. There’s something unusual about him though- he has an amazing sense of smell. As in, he could smell your food and tell you exactly what ingredients went into it. As he grows up he uses this talent to become a perfumer and one day discovers a scent that he finds completely irresistible- the scent of a young virgin. He becomes obsessed with turning this scent into a perfume and he’ll do anything to get what he wants.
Like I said, this book was strange, but also so interesting. On one hand, you sympathize a bit with this character because he’s basically downtrodden from birth (If I remember correctly, his mother wants nothing to do with him, gives birth in the middle of the street, and promptly dies). On the other hand, his moral compass is set to zero and he does some pretty reprehensible things. I love the way that the author describes scents throughout the book; I almost feel like I can actually smell the things he describes. A few people told me that that this book was adapted into a movie, so I’m excited to watch that at some point.
Like I said, this book was strange, but also so interesting. On one hand, you sympathize a bit with this character because he’s basically downtrodden from birth (If I remember correctly, his mother wants nothing to do with him, gives birth in the middle of the street, and promptly dies). On the other hand, his moral compass is set to zero and he does some pretty reprehensible things. I love the way that the author describes scents throughout the book; I almost feel like I can actually smell the things he describes. A few people told me that that this book was adapted into a movie, so I’m excited to watch that at some point.
This one is part ghost story and part mystery. It’s set in a small town in Vermont, where there are strange disappearances and mysterious deaths. There are also creatures called sleepers- people who died and have been brought back to life. The story is told from a few different perspectives, one in the past and a few in the present. Eventually these storylines overlap and you see how all of the characters are connected.
The Winter People was good, but it didn’t blow me away. I was most interested in one of the main characters and didn’t feel that strongly about the rest of them. Still, it was interesting to see the way the story developed and I would read another book by this author.
The Winter People was good, but it didn’t blow me away. I was most interested in one of the main characters and didn’t feel that strongly about the rest of them. Still, it was interesting to see the way the story developed and I would read another book by this author.
I’ve wanted to read this book since it was released in 2013. The plot sounded very interesting and I’d only read/heard positive reviews. It’s the story of a woman named Agnes who is charged with murder and was one of the last people to be beheaded in Iceland. It’s based on true events and you can tell that the Author really did her research. I thought that Agnes’s story is so fascinating because it demonstrates how much other people’s perceptions of you can really affect you.
Bit by bit, Agnes reveals what truly happened on the night of the murders and it’s a sad and lonely tale. I thought the writing was beautiful- descriptive, but also sparse when it needed to be. The author does a great job of evoking the bleak setting in Iceland. I’ve never really thought about visiting Iceland before, but this book made me want to do so. I really felt for Agnes and the ending tugged at my heart. If you like historical fiction, I’d highly recommend this book, and I also think the setting makes it a great winter read.
Bit by bit, Agnes reveals what truly happened on the night of the murders and it’s a sad and lonely tale. I thought the writing was beautiful- descriptive, but also sparse when it needed to be. The author does a great job of evoking the bleak setting in Iceland. I’ve never really thought about visiting Iceland before, but this book made me want to do so. I really felt for Agnes and the ending tugged at my heart. If you like historical fiction, I’d highly recommend this book, and I also think the setting makes it a great winter read.
The main character, Mark, is part of a US space mission to Mars. After only a few days on the planet, the astronauts experience a terrible storm (way more serious than Juno). Mark is wounded during the storm and the rest of the team believes he’s dead, so they evacuate. Welp, turns out he isn’t dead! Throughout the book, Mark has to figure out how to stay alive on Mars.
Mark is a definitely a wise guy- he’s constantly cracking jokes. A lot of the book consists of entries from his log, which makes the story very personable. I didn’t really know it was humorous, so that was a fun surprise. I’d call this very accessible sci-fi. It was pretty easy to digest and it was fun to follow along with the twists and turns. I think this will translate really well as a movie, although I picture Chris Pratt in the role of Mark, rather than Matt Damon.
The parts that didn’t hold my attention as much were the science bits. Occasionally, Mark would go into a detailed description of a scientific process and I’d be like, “Ehhhh…” I wasn’t bored per se, just not as interested as I was in the more personal aspects. However, if you don’t really read science fiction but you want to try, I think this would be a good book to pick. Overall, I thought it was very engaging and entertaining.
Mark is a definitely a wise guy- he’s constantly cracking jokes. A lot of the book consists of entries from his log, which makes the story very personable. I didn’t really know it was humorous, so that was a fun surprise. I’d call this very accessible sci-fi. It was pretty easy to digest and it was fun to follow along with the twists and turns. I think this will translate really well as a movie, although I picture Chris Pratt in the role of Mark, rather than Matt Damon.
The parts that didn’t hold my attention as much were the science bits. Occasionally, Mark would go into a detailed description of a scientific process and I’d be like, “Ehhhh…” I wasn’t bored per se, just not as interested as I was in the more personal aspects. However, if you don’t really read science fiction but you want to try, I think this would be a good book to pick. Overall, I thought it was very engaging and entertaining.