My reading has really slowed down since the beginning of the year what with school and life happenings. Since my last book post in June, I’ve managed to read five books.
1. Never, Never Books 1 and 2, by Colleen Hoover and Tarryn Fisher (Goodreads link and Amazon link)
I was a little disappointed that each of these books were barely 100 pages because I loved them. The story is about a guy and a girl that lose their memories at the same time and have to figure out what is going on and how they’re connected to each other. It’s kind of like Memento with a love story. The second book isn’t as good as the first only because it gets into some really sappy love letters that I couldn’t unread. But other than that, they are both super fast reads (how can they not be at 100 pages?) and really interesting.
2. The Secret Wilderness by Jennifer Bradley (Goodreads link)
This book was written by a friend of mine and she asked a few people at work to read it and give her feedback. It’s a coming of age story about a girl that can shape-shift into a wolf. I don’t think I could really explain the story fully without getting long in the tooth (get it? wolf. tooth. anything?). Anyway, I liked the book but I probably wouldn’t have made it past the first two or three chapters had I not know the author personally. After those couple chapters, it really picked up and I enjoyed it. I did have a few constructive criticisms for Jen that seemed to be the consensus of the girls that read it at work. She’s currently updating it based on everyone’s feedback, which I’m sure will make it even better. She’s already written a sequel and she’s going to re-release the first book, so I hope she has some success with it.
3. A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin (Goodreads link and Amazon link)
After five seasons of watching Game of Thrones, I’ve officially forgotten half the stuff that happened in the show. So I decided to read the first book as a reminder and I really liked it. The first book is very similar to the first season and was a good reminder of who is connected to whom. Also, Sansa is the worst. I don’t remember hating her when I was watching the first season but hoo boy did I hate her in the book. I will definitely read the second book but I need to wait until I’m ready to take on another 800 page monster.
4. Lock In by John Scalzi (Goodreads link and Amazon link)
I’ve been reading a lot of book samples lately to see if they’re worthy of buying and this is the first one that I wanted to keep reading. This book reads like a FBI crime drama married I Robot and had a book baby. I’m surprised I liked it because I don’t even like crime dramas, so I’m happy I listened to Matt’s book review and gave it a shot. I noticed when I bought it, it was labeled as book 1 so that makes me kind of excited that there will be another one. Plus, it’s one of those books that doesn’t end on a cliffhanger so you won’t feel stabby at the end.
Eat:Watch:Run 
Hooray! I’m really glad you enjoyed LOCK IN 🙂 The last time I gave someone a book recommendation, they came back to me about a month later and nearly hit me in the face with it! Sadly this is not hyperbole…
I will hit you with a book no matter if I like it or not. Get that straight. I’m 40+ pages into Armada and I’m bored. Your review has me worried it’s not going to get better.
Have you ready anything else by Colleen Hoover? I don’t really fancy myself as a “chick lit” type person, but hers probably fit the bill close to the romance genre and they’re my current favorite flavor of junk food literature. Glad to see Never Never is worth my time since that’s probably the only one with her byline that I haven’t read.
I haven’t read anything else by her. I’m not a big romance fan myself. Is that mostly what she does? I do like a good mystery.
Some people are born with a devastatingly dazzling smile that makes others just want to stop and lovingly admire them as they twirl and throw their hat up into the air (with a free-frame over the producer credits). I hate those people. Meanwhile everyone just wants to smash me in the face with a book! So maybe a softcover please?
Anyway, Armada does get better before it gets worse again. Much worse. I’m pretty sure Cline wrote the last third of the book over the course of a jacked-up 2 hour break at Starbucks before a madcap D&D session with Wil Wheaton and that Nerdist guy whose name I can’t remember… Anyway I don’t want to poison the well too much so I’d say if you’re about 70% through the novel and find yourself entirely not caring how the story turns out, you should probably trust your instincts.
I’ve read a couple by Colleen Hoover and liked them, so I’ll have to check those out! Thanks 🙂
I like the idea of this 100-page books, but $7 is a little pricy for 100 pages… worth it?
I am currently reading the Night Circus! I don’t know what my thoughts are so far, but I better like it 😉
And good on your coworker for actually writing a book and not just saying she is going to write a book. I’m jealous.
It’s $3 on Kindle or Nook, that’s where I read. $7 is way too pricey.
Write that book already! You already the first part written basically. Goal for September!