Book: Natalie Tan's Book of Luck and Fortune

 Book: Natalie Tan's Book of Luck and Fortune

Author: Roselle Lim

Pages: 320

This is my 57th read for the year

What Amazon says:

At the news of her mother's death, Natalie Tan returns home.  The two women hadn't spoken since Natalie left in anger seven years ago, when her mother refused to support her chosen career as a chef.  Natalie is shocked to discover the vibrant neighborhood of San Francisco's Chinatown that she remembers from her childhood is fading, with businesses failing and families moing out.  She's even more surprised to learn she has inherited her grandmother's restaurant.  The neighborhood seer reads the restaurant's fortune in the leaves.  Natalie must cook three recipes from her grandmother's cookbook to aid her struggling neighbors before the restaurant will succeed.  Unfortunately, Natalie has no desire to help them try to turn things around - she resents the local shopkeepers for leaving her alone to take care of her agoraphobic mother when she was growing up.  But with the support of a surprising new friend and a budding romance, Natalie starts to realize that maybe her neighbors really have been there for her all along.

This book was okay.  I listened to it and it passed the time.  It is a fluffy read that is a bit underdeveloped.  The love story was not necessary - that character could have been left out all together.  And I agree with other reviewers who found it odd that Natalie has not spoken or seen her mother (who was a recluse) for 7 years but comes back and announces to everyone who will listen that she misses her every day?  It didn't make sense.  I liked a lot of the side characters.  I liked that the story included the diary entries from her mother and that she got to see what her mother was going through.  I loved the recipes.  Just overall - not a strong read.

Stars: 3

Book: Pride: The Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag

 Book: Pride: The Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag

Author: Rob Sanders

Pages: 48

This is my 58th read for the year

What Amazon says:

In this deeply moving and empowering true story, young readers will trace the life of the Gay Pride Flag, from its beginning in 1978 with social activist Harvey Milk and designer Gilber Baker to its spanning of the globe and its role in today's world.  

This was a good book.  I knew the story of Harvey Milk and have seen the movie they made on his life.  I read this book for a reading challenge.  It is of course a very surface look at his life and his work, but a good introduction to Harvey for young children.  Glad I read this one.

Stars: 4

Book: Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell

 Book: Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell

Author: Susanna Clarke

Pages: 864

This is my 56th read for the year

What Amazon says:

In the midst of the Napoleonic Wars in 1806, most people believe magic to have long since disappeared from England - until the reclusive Mr. Norrell reveals his powers and becomes an overnight celebrity.  Another practicing magician then emerges: the young and daring Jonathan Strange.  He becomes Norrell's pupil, and the two join forces in the war against France.  But Strange is increasingly drawn to the wild, most perilous forms of magic, and he soon risks sacrificing his partnership with Norrell and everything else he holds dear.  

This was a pretty interesting book.  What a tome!  Even me reading 120 pages a day, it still took me over a week to tackle it.  Susanna tried to put about 3 books/stories into one book here, and I could see the benefit of spreading it out some.  This is not a difficult read, but a long one, so it takes patience.  I felt at times I was not in the right mindset to read it.  I have read quite a few fantasy novels this year already - some books part of series - and I had trouble getting into this one and figuring out the world building.  I found it lacking. And I am not a big fan of the early 1800s time period books.  It is a personal problem.  I did like Mr. Norrell and Mr. Strange the characters - actually I liked a lot of the characters.  It was nice to read an adult fantasy book for a change. And overall, Clarke is a good writer, I would be anxious to read another of her (shorter) books.  

Overall - a solid read.  If you like magic, a bit of humor, adult fantasy, and 1800s London - this book is for you.  Check it out.

Stars: 4

Book: The Colorado Kid

 Book: The Colorado Kid

Author: Stephen King

Pages: 208

This is my 55th book for the year

What Amazon Says:

On an island off the coast of Maine, a mna is found dead.  There's no identification on the body.  Only the dogged work of a pair of local newspaperment and a graduate student in forensics turns up any clues, and it's more than a year before the man is identified.  And that's just the beginning of the mystery.  Because the more they learn about the man and the baffling circumstances of his death, the less they understand.  Was it an impossible crime?  Or something stranger still?

This one was okay.  I listened to it, which was probably a mistake.  I didn't like the narrator - his voice was a bit distracting, so this one would probably have been better as a straight read.  It is a short book/audio.  Feels more like a short story, and plays out like one as well.  Ending wasn't great - it just kind of ends.  I liked the characters, but I was left wanting more.

Stars: 3

Book: Happiness for Beginners

 Book: Happiness for Beginners

Author: Katherine Center

Pages: 322

This is my 54th book for the year

What Amazon says:

Helen Carpenter can't quite seem to bounce back.  Newly divorced at 32, her life ha fallen apart beyond her ability to put it together again.  So when her annoying younger brother, Duncan, convinces her to sign up for a hardcore wilderness survival course in the backwoods of Wyoming - she hopes it'll be exactly what she needs.  Instead, it's a disater.  It's nothing like she wants, or expects, or anticipates.  She doesn't anticipate the surprise summer blizzard, for example -or the blisters, or the rutting elk, or the mean pack of sorority girls.  And she especially doesn't anticipate that her annoying brother's even more annoying best friend, Jake, will show up for the exact same coure - and distract her.  It gurns out sometimes disaster can teach you exactly the things you need to learn.  Like how to keep ging, even when you think you can't.  How being scared can make you brave.  And how sometimes getting really, really lost is your only hope of getting found.  This is a story that looks at houw our struggles lead us to our strengths.  How love is always worth it.  And how the more good things we look for, the more we find.

This books wasn't great.  I did see the movie and enjoyed it, but the book just didn't capture my attention.  It was a bit boring and predictable.  A large section of the book takes place before they even get camping, which I felt was unnecessary.  It did have some interesting parts when they were in the wilderness, but the ending was super cheesy.  

Stars: 2.5

Book: The Art Thief

 Book: The Art Thief

Author: Michael Finkel

Pages: 240

This is my 53rd read for the year

What Amazon says:

Stephane Breitwieser is the most prolific art thief of all time.  He pulled off more tha 200 heists, often in crowded museums in broad daylight.  His girlfriend served as his accomplice.  His colletion was worth an estimated $2 billion.  He never sold a piece, displaying his stolen art in his attic bedroom.  He felt like a king.  Until everything came to a shocking end.

This was a very interesting book.  I did not know the story of this art thief, and that he actually stole a few pieces from various museums in Basel, Switzerland where we used to live.  It was fascinating how he stole the pieces and got away with stealing so much over the course of 10 years.  It is well written and well researched.  The author spoke to the art thief to gain the insight of the story and then built on that.  It is a page turner for sure to find out if he was going to get caught and how.  Glad I read this one.

Stars: 5

Book: A Study in Drowning

 Book: A Study in Drowning

Author: Ava Reid

Pages: 384

This is my 52nd read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Effy Sayre has always believed in fairy tales.  She's had no choice.  Since childhood, she's been haunted by visions of the Fairy King.  She's found solace only in the pages of Angharad - author Emrys Myrddin's beloved epic about a mortal girl who falls in love with the Fairy King and then destroys him.  Effy's tattered, dog-eared copy is all that's keeping her afloat at Llyr's prestigious architecture college.  So when Myrddin's family announces a contest to redesign the late author's estate, Effy feels certain this is her destiny.  But Hiraeth Manor is an impossible task: a musty, decrepit house on the brink of crumbling into a hungry sea.  And when Effy arrives, someone else has already made a temporary home there.  Preston Heloury, a stodgy young literature scholar, is studying Myrddin's papers and is determined to prove her favorite author is a fraud.  As the two rivals piece together clues about the reclusiv author's legacy, dark forces, both mortal and magical, conspire against them - and the truth may bring them both to ruin.

This book wasn't good.  I know it is YA, but I was hoping from reading the premise that I was going to like it.  And it is a beautiful book on the outside - gorgeous cover and binding.  But that is where the beauty ends.  The writing is terrible.  The story was so choppy, I should have quit reading it.  It has moments where I thought it might redeem itself - the story IDEA is a good one.  But it never did because the writing did not improve.  The main character is very weak and I did not ever feel connected to the characters or the story.

Stars: 2