I hope to share another list of books at the end of NEXT year! Happy New Year!
1. Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty. Really enjoyed this read, it was suspenseful and exciting but also a little over exaggerated for Kindergarten drama in my opinion! I also had the opportunity to watch the HBO mini-series starring Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman, and really loved the show! It was based in CA... and the book was based in Australia. So, quite a few differences, but if you enjoyed the show or the book, I recommend trying out the show or book you did not try out!
2. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. I re-read this book since it had been at least ten years since I read it last. My husband and I went to Paris in April and I wanted to see and experience The Da Vinci Code in person! We saw the Mona Lisa at the Louvre, saw the Compass Rose Line at Sainte-Chapelle, saw the Pyramid Inversee at the Louvre, among other places that were referenced in the book. I just love a good suspense that is full of factual knowledge - Dan Brown wrote an amazing book!
3. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Original Screenplay by J.K. Rowling. This is an original screenplay about the fantastic beasts of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter world. One man sets out to find these beasts and protect them, although runs in to quite a bit of trouble with the Ministry of Magic! This was a quick and fun read and I really enjoyed the movie as well.
4. Tulip Fever by Deborah Moggach. LOVED this book! Such a fun read in a different time period that we read for Book Club. There is suspense, there is history about an actual real thing called "Tulip Fever," there is love and deceit, and without giving anything away - the ending of this book SHOCKED me!!! I recommend this book, it was worth the twist at the end!
5. The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware. This book was well done suspense-wise, but I caught onto what was going on early in the book so it was not as exciting as it could have been for me. I read it pretty quickly on a plane ride.
6. The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri. LOVED THIS BOOK! READ IT!!! This was my favorite book this year to read. Some schools recommend it as reading in colleges and it came highly recommended to me. It is a beautifully told story about an Indian couple coming to America and how their culture and lives are changed. Their story follows their children and how their lives are viewed as they grow up in America, as Americans. It is a story of acceptance and love and loss. I have recommended this book to friends and am actually gifting it to my sister for Christmas this year.
7. Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie. My Book Club read this one together and watched the original movie. A "whodunit" murder mystery at its finest, set on a stranded train in a snowstorm with numerous passengers who all become suspects.
8. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. This is a classic story that was recently made into a HULU miniseries. I have not watched the show, but I did like this book. It was a tad confusing for me and literally left me hanging at the end. I do hope the world never becomes like it is in this book- where the government controls everything everyone does in extreme ways.
9. All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda. This book was written in reverse order to unravel what happened in this story. Super exciting read - I think I read it in two days!
10. Snowblind by Ragnar Jonasson. This book was super fascinating because it takes place in a very small village and has a lot of characters that become suspicious. Good read and I wouldn't be surprised if it becomes a series!
11. The Chemist by Stephanie Meyer. OK - READ THIS BOOK! I know the author's name may look familiar to you, she wrote the Twilight Series. However, this is not a Twilight book! This is a surprising CIA spy book with so many twists and turns I could not put it down. I actually want to re-read it in the New Year.
12. Into the Water by Paula Hawkins. This book totally sucked me in and creeped me out. There are so many characters in a small town that are covering up a murder... and an affair! However, it leaves a young girl mother-less, so it is essential the truth is revealed about her mother's death. Justice is served.
13. The Sinner by Petra Hammesfahr. I am a big Jessica Biel fan and saw that she would be starring in a TV miniseries called "The Sinner." So, naturally, I just had to read the book. It was pretty disturbing and different than the miniseries, but well written. I had no idea who had taken Cora in and messed her up so she would not remember the night in question accurately. It really does show you how parents will do anything to protect their children, and how the past comes to haunt.
14. Truly Madly Guilty by Loraine Moriarty. I checked this book out at the library and really thought I'd like it as much as "Big Little Lies," but it was just an ok read for me. The story was pretty drawn out and it dealt with some strange topics, such as hoarding.
15. Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult. This, by far, was the hardest book for me to read. It follows an African American labor and delivery nurse who is told not to touch a white supremacists newborn son. She is left alone to watch the baby and notices that he stops breathing and has no choice but to try and save his life. She is fired from her job and accused of killing this baby, who dies under her watch. The book tells the story from the nurses's perspective, lawyer's perspective and the white supremacists couple's perspective. The way racist people think and act was really hard for me to read. The book ends beautifully and you really reflect on yourself as a human.
16. The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena. Now if you are driving across the country and want to listen to a book on tape, this is your book. It is equally frustrating, suspenseful, and goes around and around before giving you the ending! I'm glad I was forced to listen to this story, because I think the written version would have not been finished by me.
17. Wonder by R.J. Palacio. If there is one book that has been recommended to me to read, it is this book. I loved it. Beautifully told in a mere 100 pages, it will touch you and make you cry. I only hope I can instill acceptance of all those who are different in my children so that they treat everyone as equals. I look forward to reading this story with my son and watching the movie with him. Bullying is terrible, and I do not want my kids to be either the bully or to be bullied.
Enjoy!
Brittney
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