Since You Went Away & Year End Reflection

Since You Went Away by Dean Hughes
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

One day this week, my husband and I went to breakfast with my family, and then we came home and I settled onto the couch to read. I got off the couch when it was time to get some dinner and go back to my parents' house to play games. That's how much I love Wally and Bobbi and the rest of the Thomas family. I ignored the social media posts of people cleaning up their holiday décor. I ate cold cereal for dinner that night. I only wanted to hang out with this family, and pretend we were neighbors. It was delightful.

This book will be my last completed book of 2017. Seems a fitting holiday reread to close out my best reading year in ages. 61 books is pretty great when you consider how many papers I grade and how much time Seth and I try to spend together. Here's to an even better 2018.

Happy reading--

A Bridge Across the Ocean

A Bridge Across the Ocean by Susan Meissner
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I don't usually feel that conflicted about book ratings, but this one is tricky for me. Again - Goodreads and the lack of half stars is ridiculous, but here's the deal: Meissner is a good writer, and whoever designs her covers does a great job. BUT I also felt a bit thrown off by a historical fiction book that is partially a ghost story. The book lost a huge portion of interest for me as soon as that storyline was entered in, and then the twist was even more frustrating. Strangely, I had a creepy experience on the Queen Mary when I visited the ship in Long Beach a few summers ago, but not enough to make me relate to the story. All that said, I will for sure read another Meissner book because she creates great characters and compelling plotlines...

Happy reading...but maybe not this one. Life is too short to not read amazing books.

The Hundred Dresses

The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'm not sure how I missed reading this book when I was younger, but in my attempt close some of my reading gaps, I fell into the school days of little girls. It's a sweet story with powerful imagery. I'd love to read it with my niece. I think it's the type of story we should be sharing more with younger readers.

Happy reading--

Rumors of War

Rumors of War by Dean Hughes
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The nostalgia of stepping back in the Thomas family was perfect for a holiday book choice. The writing is cheesier than I remembered, but the characters are no less loveable. The five stars is purely for how much I enjoy falling back in their Sugar House world and how much I think these characters influenced my younger self...and because I couldn't put them down. It's December 31st, and my tree is still up. Some of the unwrapped gifts are still under the tree, and I'm reaching for the next in the series....

Happy reading--

Harry Potter and the Socerer's Stone...Again

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Sometimes the word needs a bit more magic and bit less realism. Enter Harry Potter. Perhaps it's because my niece and nephew are debating which one of them is the bigger Harry Potter fan or because I cannot wait to read these books with future children. Either way, hours spent listening to Jim Dale spin Rowling's amazing tale are always welcome and strangely reminiscent of holiday times. Perfect for the end of the year--

Happy reading--

ps. I've lost count on how many times I've read this one. It's at least eight or nine....Yes, I'm that person.

The Deal of a Lifetime

The Deal of a Lifetime by Fredrik Backman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I'm not sure this one should even qualify as a full book since it barely qualifies as a novella, but I appreciate this timely Christmas story. It's not the same as visiting the various Christmas scenes with Scrooge in Dickens' Christmas Carol, but it has that same feeling. Powerful message and imagery with the type of vivid character details as only Backman can write. After this story, I think it's time for Jimmy Stewart and "It's a Wonderful Life" while I work on decorating our team. It is that time of year after all-

Happy reading, happy living, and happy Christmas--

ps. I rounded up because, you know...Christmas magic...lots of chocolate...twinkle lights...and that little girl in the story had great lines.

Leap Year

Leap Year by Helen Russell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Dear Helen-

I can't say that your book is life changing the way that Gretchen Rubin's The Happiness Project or Brene Brown's The Gifts of Imperfection were. But I still thoroughly enjoyed your ups and downs as you attempted to figure out how to get more comfortable with life and change. I identify so strongly with some of your challenges that the fact that you added wit and humor to them made me feel better about the world. Your way of describing things is so clever and at times, hilarious, that I couldn't help wishing I was one of your friends and you had given me a not-so-subtle moniker. Perhaps I could be something the "American who wishes she was a Brit"...I'll let you decide when somehow we stumble across each other's paths someday. A girl can dream--

Love,
Jaclyn

ps. Your audiobook reader is everything. She helps make the book.
pps. Am I allowed to say that your original title "The Year of Living Danishly" would have been closer to a five star read, but lost points for the weirdly candid details on Danish sex lives, and this one would probably be more of a 3.5, but I was so happy to listen more of your anecdotes that it gets a four? You won't read this for real, so I'm going to assume yes. Thanks for understanding.

[This book, for the record, is not to be confused at all with that less-than-great Amy Adams movie. Just FYI. :) Happy reading--]