serinde4books's reviews
937 reviews

The description is "A reluctant centenarian much like Forrest Gump (if Gump were an explosives expert with a fondness for vodka) decides it's not too late to start over. After a long and eventful life, Allan Karlsson ends up in a nursing home, believing it to be his last stop. The only problem is that he's still in good health, and in one day, he turns 100. A big celebration is in the works, but Allan really isn't interested (and he'd like a bit more control over his vodka consumption). So he decides to escape. He climbs out the window in his slippers and embarks on a hilarious and entirely unexpected journey, involving, among other surprises, a suitcase stuffed with cash, some unpleasant criminals, a friendly hot-dog stand operator, and an elephant (not to mention a death by elephant). It would be the adventure of a lifetime for anyone else, but Allan has a larger-than-life backstory: Not only has he witnessed some of the most important events of the twentieth century, but he has actually played a key role in them. Starting out in munitions as a boy, he somehow finds himself involved in many of the key explosions of the twentieth century and travels the world, sharing meals and more with everyone from Stalin, Churchill, and Truman to Mao, Franco, and de Gaulle."
I did the audiobook version for this month's read, audiobooks are harder for me to focus on, and I find myself re-listening to large chunks because I loose focus and miss stuff. I like all the characters, they are all screwy and screwed up, in some ways they remind me the Royal Tenenbaums. Their background stories make me chuckle. Overall I would say that it was 3 star. It was chuckle worthy and entertaining, but I wasn't ready to rush out and recommend this book to everyone I know. It ran a little long, and wrapped up a little too nicely. But if you want a light, laughable book this one fits the bill rather nicely.
For additional reviews please see my blog at www.adventuresofabibliophile.blogspot.com

The description is "At least one-third of the people we know are introverts. They are the ones who prefer listening to speaking, reading to partying; who innovate and create but dislike self-promotion; who favor working on their own over brainstorming in teams. Although they are often labeled "quiet," it is to introverts that we owe many of the great contributions to society. Passionately argued, impressively researched, and filled with indelible stories of real people, Quiet shows how dramatically we undervalue introverts, and how much we lose in doing so. Finally, she offers invaluable advice on everything from how to better negotiate differences in introvert-extrovert relationships to how to empower an introverted child to when it makes sense to be a "pretend extrovert."
This was a great read. I'm an introvert myself, although after reading the book I believe I am a highly reactive introvert, which means I can play the role of an extrovert when there is something I am passionate about. I felt the research and write up of the research on personality types was interesting and easy to read, unlike some books were the research portion puts me to sleep, Cain wrote in a manner that kept me interested and awake. There were many parts of the book where she was describing introversion, and I went "Ah yes, that is me" or "Ah yes, that total sense." There were some great tips on how to get along in an extroverted world, but to still be true to your introverted self. Remember, Introversion doesn't mean Anti-Siocial, it just means limited dosages or smaller portions of social interactions.

For additional reviews please see my blog at www.adventuresofabibliophile.blogspot.com

This was a book I received in one of my Book Riot boxes. The description is "In a Nigerian town in the mid 1990's, four brothers encounter a madman whose mystic prophecy of violence threatens the core of their close-knit family. Told from the point of view of nine year old Benjamin, the youngest of four brothers, The Fisherman is the Cain and Abel-esque story of an unforgettable childhood in 1990's Nigeria, in the small town of Akure. When their strict father has to travel to a distant city for work, the brothers take advantage of his extended absence to skip school and go fishing. At the ominous, forbidden nearby river, they meet a dangerous local madman who persuades the oldest of the boys that he is destined to be killed by one of his siblings. What happens next is an almost mythic event whose impact-both tragic and redemptive-will transcend the lives and imaginations of its characters and its readers. Dazzling and viscerally powerful, The Fishermen never leaves Akure but the story it tells has enormous universal appeal. Seen through the prism of one family's destiny, this is an essential novel about Africa with all of its contradictions-economic, political, and religious-and the epic beauty of its own culture."
This book has a ton of great reviews about how magical the writing was and how profound the story was. I found it depressing. Their lives and what happened to the narrator at the age of 10 was depressing and awful. I did not find it magical or enthralling. I was not drawn to the characters or the story, I found myself forcing myself to finish it, telling myself that in the next chapter it would get better. It didn't. Obioma's writing was great, he was smooth and the story moved at a nice pace. I just wasn't invested in the story. I think I may have been in the wrong mood for the book, I wanted something with a happy ending and I didn't get it with this book.
For additional reviews please see my blog at www.adventuresofabibliophile.blogspot.com

This was a short story I picked up as a filler between my book club books. It was a super quick read, novella length. I choose it because I liked Hodge's other book Cruel Beauty.
The story is about Maia (i.e. Cinderella). Maia's dead mother haunts anyone who hurts her, and her stepsisters are desperate for their mother's approval. Then Maia become the messenger for her stepsister trying to win the love of Anax, heir to the Duke of Sardis. Of course nothing goes as planned but maybe there will still be a happy ending.
I liked this story, it was nice to see the Cruel Beauty world again, and the demon king still was granting wishes that were not what the person expected. It was a fun read, I still prefer Cruel Beauty, but it was a nice filler story.

For additional reviews please see my blog at www.adventuresofabibliophile.blogspot.com

This was a quick filler book for me. A quick romance to fill some space between my book club books. It was a pretty typical romance, just set in the wild west of Colorado. There is a girl who can ride and shoot better than any man she’s ever met, but when the threat of losing her ranch forces her to find a husband. What she didn't expect was to find a husband that makes her want to be a lady.
And there is a man guild ridden over the accident that claimed his best friend, then he discovers there was nothing accidental about it. So he sets out for Colorado, to fulfill his friend’s dying wish and to flush out his killer, the last thing he expected was to find was a bride.
It was a quick read, the writing was good, and it filled a need I had at the time for some romance. Plus there was the murder mystery portion. I liked Abby and Cole, they were a little flat, but again its a typical romance and the purpose wasn't to build complicated characters, it was to build the idea that romance and love are possible and for you too like the characters enough to want them to be together and get their happy ending. Which Kelli Ann did wonderfully.

For additional reviews please see my blog at www.adventuresofabibliophile.blogspot.com

I read this book because I was in between book club reads and I needed something quick to read. This turned out to be just that. I had seen the movie, so I knew the basic storyline. I have to say the movie glamorized it much more than the book did. It was a bit of a dry read, I mean the story itself was interesting. Like a I said a quick read, but not a literary masterpiece.

If you want to read my full review see my blog: http://adventuresofabibliophile.blogspot.com/

This is my January BOTM read. The tale is told from two points of view. Molly Ayer, and almost 18 year old foster child. She is just months from "aging out" of the child welfare system, and close to being kicked out of her foster home, as a last ditch effort she takes on a community service position helping an elderly woman clean out her attic to avoid juvenile detention and homelessness.
Vivian Daly, the elderly lady, has lived a quiet life on the coast of Maine but her attic is full of her memories and her past, which was not always as quiet. As she helps Vivian sort through her possessions and memories, Molly and Viviane forma remarkable friendship.
I really liked the book from the very start. Viviane had a really rough childhood, and it made me sad hat she was taken advantage of the way she was. I liked both characters Molly and Vivian, and I found the parallels in their lives fascinating. Parts of the book made really angry, especially when it came to the treatment Vivian received as a child.
The ending feel a little unfinished. But I think Kline did that to leave things up the reader's imagination about Molly and Viviane's future. I like to think it was a happy one, but I would have liked it to end a little more on the tidy side.

For additional reviews please see my blog at www.adventuresofabibliophile.blogspot.com

This was my Feburary NNCC book. It was so good that I sat down and read it in one sitting. And then I read it a second time right before our meeting.
This is told from he point of view of Mia, who has been in a tragic accident, she is in coma and having an out of body experience. She watches her loved ones watch over her and must decide if she wants to stay or if she wants to go.
I don't know why this book was so amazing, but I loved it. I am seriously considering buying the actual book. Some of the characters were unrealistic and the story line was a bit flimsy in places, but something about the writing drew me in and made me love it.

For additional reviews please see my blog at www.adventuresofabibliophile.blogspot.com

So this is the last in the series currently written. And it is true to Martin's form, he has great writing and an in depth character cast. The problem is that I lost momentum with A Feast for Crows. It focused too much on minor characters and was tedious to get through. And because of that I had no built up momentum to carry me through the start of this book, which felt dull and pointless to me, it took almost 600 pages to get to the new "combined" timeline. It was awful, I really had to force myself to read it, I had to twist my own arm. And there was still no story movement, two books and no closer to resolutions, just more cliff hangers, I hope the next one is good and we actually get movement, because if the story stands still for much longer I may not care enough about the ending to read a 7th book.
For additional reviews please see my blog at www.adventuresofabibliophile.blogspot.com

We continue the tale of seven kingdoms in A Feast for Crows.
In 2005, Martin announced that the "sheer size" of his still-unfinished manuscript for A Feast for Crows had led him and his publishers to split the story into two books. Rather than divide the text in half chronologically, he opted to instead split the books by character and location, resulting in "two novels taking place simultaneously" with different casts of characters. A Feast for Crows was published months later, and the concurrent novel A Dance with Dragons was released in 2011.
In A feast of Crows we find ourselves following the stories of many minor character's whom we haven't had their point of view much before now: Cersei Lannister; Ser Jaime Lannister; Brienne, Maid of Tarth; Sansa Stark; Arya Stark; Samwell Tarly; Aeron "Damphair" Greyjoy; Princess Asha Greyjoy; Victarion Greyjoy; Areo Hotah, Captain of the Guards of Dorne; Ser Arys Oakheart of the Kingsguard; and Arianne Martell of Dorne.
Tommen is now the King of King's Landing, with Cersei as his regent, and Margaery Tyrell as his wife. Brienne, the Maid of Tarth, is on a mission to find Sansa Stark, aided by Jaime Lannister. Sansa Stark is hiding in the Vale, protected by Petyr Baelish as his daughter Alayne. Petyr has murdered his wife Lysa Arryn and named himself Protector of the Vale and guardian of eight-year-old Lord Robert Arryn. On the Iron Islands, Aeron Damphair calls a Kingsmoot to identify a successor as king of the Iron Islands. In Dorne, Doran Martell is confronted by three of his brother Oberyn's daughters, who want vengeance for their father's death. Because they are inciting the commonfolk, Doran has them imprisoned in the palace. Doran's daughter Arianne Martell plots to crown Doran's ward Myrcella Baratheon as queen of Westeros under Dornish law. Upon arriving in Braavos, Arya Stark finds her way to the House of Black and White, a temple associated with the assassins known as the Faceless Men and becomes a novice. Jon Snow, now Commander on the Wall, has ordered Samwell Tarly to sail to the Citadel in Oldtown to research the Others and become a Maester.
The writing is still great and the movement is fine, but I think splitting the story the way he did and focusing only on these minor characters (beside the Stark girls) was a bad idea. These were not characters I was engaged with or really cared about, the characters I wanted to hear about, Tyrion, John, and Bran, Rickon, and of course the Girls, and Dany were not there. It felt like filler chapters and I just couldn't get through them quick enough. I was bored and I admit a bit pissed that no one I cared about was talked about, I just have to say he better make it up in the next book.
For additional reviews please see my blog at www.adventuresofabibliophile.blogspot.com