My Favorite Books In 2016

Since I started this blog so late in the year, here's a list of the books I loved most in 2016, which I posted recently on my author blog. The first four books featured in the list linked above are not reviewed on this site because I read them before the launch of The Quarterly Book Review - but the post does include links to my reviews on Amazon.

Featured books include:

• Girl Least Likely To Marry, by Amy Andrews (Contemporary Romance)
• The "A Dance With Destiny Series", by JK Ensley (Epic Fantasy)
• Wonder, by RJ Palacio (Children's Fiction)
• Girl In The Water, by Dana Marton (Romantic Suspense)
• Slammed, by Colleen Hoover (Contemporary Romance, Women's Fiction)
• The Fault In Our Stars, by John Green (Teen/Young Adult Fiction)

The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green

THE BLURB: Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel’s story is about to be completely rewritten.

Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars brilliantly explores the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love.

My thoughts at 25%:

I'm so confused. Why is this book hilarious, with all its witty banter and thoughtful philosophy? Shouldn't I be crying over the depth of the subject matter? Shouldn't I be feeling broken by the abject loss of the power of death - the way it's so all-consuming and doesn't care who it touches or who it hurts? How is it that I keep smiling this delighted smile and laughing gleefully over the way these characters find joy in spite of their suffering? Maybe it's the irony of Hazel's cynicism, I don't know. 

My thoughts at 50%:

Okay. The end of Chapter 10? I can't stop crying. Augustus is funny and smart and intellectually stimulating. He's quick and clever and patient and gentle. But he's also a little bit of a smartass and he's impossibly fun. It's brutally endearong, especially combined with Hazel's matter of fact personality, her acceptance of life as what it is and not what she wishes it was. My emotions are so raw right now ... I need a break from the story ... And yet I cannot force myself to take one.

My thoughts at 75%:

I wear glasses because chronic dry eye syndrome gives me progressively horrifying eye fatigue, which blurs everything more and more the longer the day goes on. But right now I'm reading with my glasses off, and everything is a blur, because I can't wear glasses while crying.

My thoughts at 100%:

I finished this book somewhat disappointed. I didn't cry my way through the end, as I had expected to. But I read that last word, closed it out, and promptly burst into tears. For its appreciation of both life AND death, for its humor AND its realistic portrayal of devastation, for its twists AND its inevitable turns ... For its lessons and its inspiration ... Five stars.

Another great book to add to your collection - and a story you'll be glad to have experienced.

Buy It Here.

Finding Me, By Michelle Knight

THE BLURB:
Michelle was a young single mother when she was kidnapped by a local school bus driver named Ariel Castro. For more than a decade afterward, she endured unimaginable torture at the hand of her abductor. In 2003 Amanda Berry joined her in captivity, followed by Gina DeJesus in 2004. Their escape on May 6, 2013, made headlines around the world.

Barely out of her own tumultuous childhood, Michelle was estranged from her family and fighting for custody of her young son when she disappeared. Local police believed she had run away, so they removed her from the missing persons lists fifteen months after she vanished. Castro tormented her with these facts, reminding her that no one was looking for her, that the outside world had forgotten her. But Michelle would not be broken.

In Finding Me, Michelle will reveal the heartbreaking details of her story, including the thoughts and prayers that helped her find courage to endure her unimaginable circumstances and now build a life worth living. By sharing both her past and her efforts to create a future, Michelle becomes a voice for the voiceless and a powerful symbol of hope for the thousands of children and young adults who go missing every year.

My thoughts at 25%:

I can't decide what's more heartbreaking about this book: the subject matter itself, or the fact that I relate so closely to much of it. Most of what's mentioned specifically didn't happen to me, but the feeling of invisibility and insignificance in early life resonates deeply. The desperation to survive, the sheer resilience and the will to keep going, the love of a mother for her child ... I've been in tears more than once already, reading this book.

My thoughts at 50%:

I don't even have words for this book. I have always known monsters were real and that true evil is something most people can't really comprehend ... but this woman's will to keep living in spite of everything that happened to her, her ability make the most of it and to even find joy in the small things is more inspiring than I can express.

My thoughts at 75%:

This book reads so matter of factly, it's almost easy to lose sight of the idea that it's true, that it's an accounting of a real woman's real life. It's hard to imagine how the author managed to handle everything emotionally, and still come out strong enough to have been willing to share her story in such a personal way.

My thoughts at 100%:

This is one of the most inspiring books I've read in a long time. To reach the end of the story and soak in the strength, courage, and positivity of Michelle Knight is a feeling I won't soon forget, and the lesson of forgiveness and resilience throughout her story is one that will stick with me for a long time. Four stars.

Buy this book, and see if you find it as inspiring as I did.

Buy It Here.

Slammed, by Colleen Hoover

THE BLURB: Falling in love can feel like poetry. Or it can feel like a slam to the heart.

Colleen Hoover’s romantic, emotion-packed debut novel unforgettably captures all the magic and confusion of first love, as two young people forge an unlikely bond before discovering that fate has other plans for them.

Following the unexpected death of her father, eighteen-year-old Layken becomes the rock for both her mother and younger brother. She appears resilient and tenacious, but inside, she's losing hope. Then she meets her new neighbor Will, a handsome twenty-one-year-old whose mere presence leaves her flustered and whose passion for poetry slams thrills her.

Not long after a heart-stopping first date during which each recognizes something profound and familiar in the other, they are slammed to the core when a shocking discovery brings their new relationship to a sudden halt. Daily interactions become impossibly painful as they struggle to find a balance between the feelings that pull them together and the forces that tear them apart. Only through the poetry they share are they able to speak the truth that is in their hearts and imagine a future where love is cause for celebration, not regret.

My thoughts at 25%:

How is it that I'm only at the 25% mark and I've already fallen in love AND had my heart broken? I love Lake and Will, I already love Kel and Caulder, and I like Eddie too. Bold and brazen, that one, but I'm curious about the heart tattoos ...

My thoughts at 50%:

I can't put this book down. It's past midnight and I have to be up at five. My eyes are so tired I can't see and everything is a blur. But I can't put this book down.

My thoughts at 75%:

"So you keep your ocean, I'll take the Lake." I don't know if I'm delirious from exhaustion (it's 1:45am) or if Colleen Hoover some kind of witch doctor ... But I can't stop crying. The mom and the balloons and the slam ... It's just ... I can't. I just can't.

My thoughts at 100%:

It's 2:30 in the morning and I have to get up at five. I have no idea how I'm going to function tomorrow, when I'm supposed to be editing my 8th book for the final time before publication on Tuesday. I have no idea how I'm going to be productive and be a calm and patient mother when I'll be running on less three hours of sleep. And I have no idea how long it's going to take me to recover from this book ... But I bet it's gonna be a while. Five stars. If I could, I'd give it fifty.

Buy this book. Believe me, you want to.

Welcome!

Stories are my job. But they're also my passion, my stress release, my escape from a sometimes stressful life. Truly, my most favorite thing to do when I'm not writing books is to curl up in a corner and read one. But for most of my life as a reader, I wasn't much of a reviewer - honestly, I just read the books, and I either loved them or I didn't. If I loved them, I told my friends, and if I hated them, I told my friends. Ambivalence over an average book lead only to radio silence from me as a reader. But now, as an author, I've learned how very important it is to take the time to write reviews of the books I read. An author's career can be made or broken by the number of reviews their books attract, and as a supporter of the lively community I've become so much a part of, I wanted to be sure I was doing my part.

For years now, I've made it a personal policy to review nearly every book that I read, but in my time as an author, I've also learned how unreliable certain review sites can be, with reviews being bought and paid for - or worse, with legitimate reviews being pulled for reasons unknown. So, to protect my reviews from being lost, to store them in a central place, and to give my own readers a reliable spot to find books to read (after they've read all of mine, I hope), I launched my very own book blog, where you can find honest reviews of books by author, by genre, or by rating.

I'm a choosy reader though, and it's rare for me to give a book a five-star rating - though I'm always on the lookout for the next unforgettable story. In time, this site will be full of reviews of great books, so I hope you'll check back often, and join me in my quest to find my next 5-star read.