I won’t even attempt to catch up on book reviews as I’ve been hit or miss with my blogging for so long but here’s a snapshot of some the books I’ve enjoyed this year.
González & Daughter Trucking Co. by María Amparo Escandón. Who doesn’t love a book about book groups? Well this one is slightly different in that the book group members are all women serving a prison sentence. Libertad González reads to the group of women but the story that emerges from the pages is not necessarily the one that is within the book but the story of Libertad’s life and how she came to be in the Mexican prison.
She tells the story of a couple in love, the woman who dies and what happens to the man now alone and with a baby daughter. On the run from authorities and living life transporting goods in their big 18-wheeler. The girl grows up and loves the being on the road with her father but she also dreams about what it would be like to have a home. To stop in one place for good. This was such a good book. Quirky, with some humor and some sadness and just a story about a father and his daughter.
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. I don’t think I need to tell you much about this book because I’m sure everyone has read it by now, right? What I really liked about this story was that I thought both of the main characters were completely unpredictable. I couldn’t trust them and I didn’t really like either one but I was hooked by the mystery and wanted to rush to the end to see what would happen.
And, that is where I ran into a problem with this book. To me the fell flat. I was expecting a jaw-dropping moment or some big reveal and then nothing. I’m not going to go into details but for those of you who have read it, did you like the end? Anyway, I’m sure when her next book is out I’ll be waiting to read it. I did enjoy her previous novel Sharp Objects.
Broken Harbor by Tana French. I didn’t like her previous book as much as I’ve liked her other books so I was excited to see what this one would be like and am happy to report that it did not disappoint. I think part of the reason this book was so good for me was that at the time I was reading it we were also dealing with a pest in our attic and needless to say I was a bit scared and excited to see what the father in this book was going to find. Luckily my husband did not go to the lengths the father in this book did!
Anyway, I’ve become a fan of her books because I always feel like I really get to know the place and this was no exception. I could just picture what this community was like. With regards to the characters, I thought the main detective was interesting and liked him even though sometimes he got a bit on my nerves with his actions. Not sure if I agreed at all with how he dealt with another detective.
So these are some good books I’ve recently read. I’ll try to do another quick update on some other good reads soon. Let me know if you’ve read these and what you thought.
I read both Gone Girl and Broken Harbor, and loved them both. I read Gone Girl as a tour, right the second it came out so I went into it with absolutely NO expectations and I think that was a good thing. I went on to read both Sharp Objects and Dark Places and loved them both. Her writing is just visceral! And I am the hugest fan of French. I would have her babies.
Sandy – ha,ha… She is great isn’t she? I’m so curious which character Tana French will introduce next in her Murder Squad series. I wish she would revisit with Rob from In the Woods.
I still haven’t read Gone Girl. I wanted to, but then hearing about how the end was just meh…I dunno.
Anna (Diary of an Eccentric) – I know a lot of people loved the book and I did too up until the end. I hate it when an ending just doesn’t live up to our expectations! If you do get around to it I would love to hear what you thought.