Howdy, reader friends! And welcome to June. I can feel summer in the air! And because I am the parent of a toddler, that only reminds me of one thing!
Because Frozen rules my life.
But, in addition to listening to Small Fry use his "deep voice" to sing In Summer to me 10 times a day, I am also looking forward to some reading in the sunshine. Ahhhhh.
Making time to write that one non-review post for the month was tough, but fun to do. It's nice to get out of the review cycle sometimes. I wanted to do the 6 Degrees of Separation meme that several people suggested to me, but didn't have time. Maybe for June? Does anyone know the book this month?
One other book-related change of note: I am on a temporary hiatus from all ARC reviews, including those with TLC Book Tours. As much as I love TLC, I am reading at a really slow pace (for me) these days, and it's making it hard to get my reviews posted on time. I want to at least take the next few months off from ARCs, so that I can use the summer to just read books from my own TBR. You know, the thing I said I was going to do at the beginning of the year?? Yeah, I want to actually do that. And now that my half marathon training is starting soon (June 30th! ACK), I want my bloggy stuff to be really low-pressure for a while.
So let's go enjoy summer!!
Got any great warm-weather plans coming up, my friends??
Title:One Hundred Names Author: Cecelia Ahern Publisher: William Morrow Publication Date: May 6, 2014 Source: copy received for honest review through TLC Book Tours Plot Summary from Goodreads: Journalist Kitty Logan's career is being destroyed by scandal - and now she faces losing the woman who guided and taught her everything she knew. At her terminally ill friend's bedside, Kitty asks - what is the one story she always wanted to write? The answer lies in a file buried in Constance's office: a list of one hundred names. There is no synopsis, nothing to explain what the story is or who these people are. The list is simply a mystery. But before Kitty can talk to her friend, it is too late. With everything to prove, Kitty is assigned the most important task of her life: to write the story her mentor never had the opportunity to. Kitty not only has to track down and meet the people on the list, but find out what connects them. And, in the process of hearing ordinary people's stories, she starts to understand her own. My Review:
Despite her impressive repertoire of novels, I've only read one other of Cecelia Ahern's books (PS, I Love You). It was many years ago, but I remember being very emotionally moved by it (and, bonus: it was better than the movie version (but when is it not?)). Since then, I've had a ton of her books on my TBR list, so I figured now was a great time to jump into one of her newest releases with One Hundred Names.
I was unsure of how to feel about Kitty (our journalistic protagonist) for much of the novel. I wanted so badly to like her--she's down on her luck, trying to track down this story for her recently-deceased friend, all while attempting to rebuild her trashed career. However, she also has this predatory streak about her that annoyed the bejesus out of me at times. She's so intent on finding the big, scandalous story that she sometimes makes her interviewees feel terrible about themselves in the process.
However, my warm-fuzzy feelings about Kitty won out. In the end, I felt that she was truly a decent person who was simply overtaken by the media's need for bigger, better, and more. Her moments of overly-voracious story hunting eventually served to turn her into a more human, relateable character.
Of course, this made the moral of the story feel rather obvious to me, but I am happy to report that there is much more to the conclusion than that. (I originally thought I had the ending all figured out before the halfway point--which as we all know, can be a GIANT LETDOWN. I was overjoyed when I realized that was not the case.) While the reveal about the origin of the 100 names is not scandalous or jaw-dropping, it is incredibly uplifting, and that makes it worth the wait. Plus, there are a few details tantalizingly left hanging, which doesn't always make me a happy reader--but in this case, it was done well, and I was happy indeed.
One Hundred Names is the epitome of a "feel good" novel, but one with some real substance behind it. Between this and PS, I Love You, I think Cecelia Ahern is definitely leaving her mark on me!
As always, much thanks to Trish and TLC Book Tours for including me on this tour!
Check out the other blogs on this book tour HERE. And connect with Cecelia Ahern on her website and Facebook.
Happy Sunday, readers! FYI, this is not just any old Sunday. It's also the 6th wedding anniversary for me and my darling husband. WOOHOO! I told him a few weeks ago that this means we only have 1 year left until the 7-year itch. He was not amused. Apparently 6 years has not been enough time for me to improve my joke delivery?
Walking off into the sunset. He had no idea what he was getting into. MUWAHAHA!
We are spending this year's anniversary FINALLY moving into our house (HOORAY!), but in the meantime, I had to do a little post here to commemorate the big day.
Fun fact: our first dance at the wedding was to The Book of Love, by Peter Gabriel. We had the hardest time picking a song, and then my friend Jennie had me listen to this one. Hubs and I immediately got tears in our eyes the first time we heard it. I guess that's how you know you found your wedding song: when it makes you burst into mushy, girly tears, even though you are very rarely prone to mushy, girly tears.
Other than just being OUR song, it's also cool because it's a little bookish, right? So in honor of today, here's a quick list of some of my favorite "books of love"...not necessarily in the romance genre, but novels that make even my not-usually-sappy heart swoon.
1. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Easily my all-time favorite book. Potentially one of the most unusual love stories out there (given the whole, you know, time traveling thing) but if there was ever a "let's overcome some crazy obstacles to be together" story, this is it.
2. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
You can check out my full review of this one here, but Celia and Marco have one of the most awesome (and visually pleasing...love the imagery!) literary romances ever.
3. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
Granted, Heathcliff and Catherine basically want to kill each other for most of this book, but that's probably why I love it so much. What fun is a sappy romance when you can watch the two lovers try to annoy the crap out of each other first? (mini-review here)
4. What Dreams May Come by Richard Matheson
The book made me cry. Then I watched the movie and that made me cry too. A couple is separated when the husband dies in a tragic accident, and they discover what must be done to reunite themselves in eternity. Such a cool concept and SO SAD but worth the tears.
5. The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks
Okay, I'll give Nicholas Sparks ONE shout out here. The Notebook is not an amazeballs book by any means, but it is really sappy and swoon-worthy. Paired with the movie it has to be noted as a good romance, even if you're not typically a Sparks fan.
6. PS, I Love You by Cecelia Ahern
This isn't really a romance, since the main character's husband dies in the beginning and she must spend the rest of the novel trying to rediscover her life. But she does that through the letters her husband left behind, and that alone is enough to make you say "awwwwwwwwww" over and over. PS, the book is better than the movie.