September 2015 TBR

Hello dear Readers,

Below, my ambitious TBR for the month of September. I already started of all them.

My Current Reads:

• The Martian by Andy Weir

• Anne Frank The Biography by Melissa Muller

• Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

• Dancing with the Devil in the City of God by Juliana Barbassa

Wen

August 2015 Book Haul

Hello dear Readers,

This is my August 2015 Book Haul. 

Physical Books

• Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid

• Still Alice by Lisa Genova

E-Books (Kindle Books)

• The Martian by Andy Weir

• Wild by Cheryl Strayed

Wen

August 2015 Wrap-Up

Hello dear Readers,

During the month of August, I read four books, two of them great books, the other two not that great. I posted Reviews for three of them on my blog. I will leave the links down below.

• A Whole New World by Liz Braswell

http://thecostaricanreader.blogspot.com/2015/08/book-review-whole-new-world-by-liz.html

• Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon

http://thecostaricanreader.blogspot.com/2015/08/book-review-everything-everything-by.html

• Armada by Ernest Cline

http://thecostaricanreader.blogspot.com/2015/08/book-review-armada-by-ernest-cline.html

• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Wen

New Release Tuesday #5: August 25, 2015

Hello dear Readers,

This week, a Biography. The Last Love Song: A Biography of Joan Didion by Tracy Daugherty.

Title: The Last Love Song: A Biography of Joan Didion  

Genre: Biographies/Memoirs

Author: Tracy Daugherty

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Publication Date: August 25, 2015

Language: English

Hardcover: 752 pages
Buy Me: Amazon Barnes&Noble Hastings

Book Description

In The Last Love Song, Tracy Daugherty, the critically acclaimed author of Hiding Man (a New Yorker and New York Times Notable book) and Just One Catch, delves deep into the life of distinguished American author and journalist Joan Didion in this, the first printed biography published about her life.

Joan Didion lived a life in the public and private eye with her late husband, writer John Gregory Dunne, whom she met while the two were working in New York City when Didion was at Vogue and Dunne was writing for Time. They became wildly successful writing partners when they moved to Los Angeles and co-wrote screenplays and adaptations together. Didion is well-known for her literary journalistic style in both fiction and non-fiction. Some of her most-notable work includes Slouching Towards Bethlehem, Run River, and The Year of Magical Thinking, a National Book Award winner and shortlisted for the Pulitzer Prize, it dealt with the grief surrounding Didion after the loss of her husband and daughter. Daugherty takes readers on a journey back through time, following a young Didion in Sacramento, through to her adult life as a writer interviewing those who know and knew her personally, while maintaining a respectful distance from the reclusive literary great. The Last Love Song reads like fiction; lifelong fans, and readers learning about Didion for the first time will be enthralled with this impressive tribute.

Wen

Book Review: A Whole New World by Liz Braswell/Teens-YA/NETGALLEY ARC/Published in 2015

Hello dear Readers,

Below, my book review of A Whole New World by Liz Braswell. 

Title: A Whole New World

Rating: 2/5 Stars

Publication Date: September 1, 2015

Genre: Teens-YA

Author: Liz Braswell 

Publisher: Disney Press

Language: English

Hardcover: 384 pages

Buy Me: Amazon Barnes&Noble

Book Description

What if Aladdin had never found the lamp? This first book in the A Twisted Tale line will explore a dark and daring version of Disney's Aladdin.

When Jafar steals the Genie's lamp, he uses his first two wishes to become sultan and the most powerful sorcerer in the world. Agrabah lives in fear, waiting for his third and final wish.To stop the power-mad ruler, Aladdin and the deposed princess Jasmine must unite the people of Agrabah in rebellion. But soon their fight for freedom threatens to tear the kingdom apart in a costly civil war.

What happens next? A Street Rat becomes a leader. A princess becomes a revolutionary. And readers will never look at the story of Aladdin in the same way again.

My Thoughts

I have to say, before I read this book, I watched the movie Aladdin. That being said, I noticed the book is not a good representation of the movie. It does not add that different factor that a retelling is supposed to have. It was not clear for me the message this book was intended to send to the reader. I would honestly say, after watching the movie, I probably did not need to read the book.

I had issues with the writing, the structure. While the beginning of the book its like the movie but then it changes to a different direction but without taking off and going to a better level. It was almost painful to see how hard the writer tried to make the story a good one but not success at all. It went really slow at times. I managed to finish it, however at the end I felt I could not connect with the story and the characters. I did not see much development in the characters and the narrator was not believable for me.

I did not hate the book but I did not love it. I just could not trust the narrator, the characters and could not connect with the story. I won't continue with the series.

Thank you Disney Press and Netgalley for sending the ARC copy, in exchange for an honest review.

Wen

Book Review: Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon/Teens-YA/NETGALLEY ARC/Published in 2015

Hello dear Readers,

Below, my book review of Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon. 

Title: Everything Everything

Rating: 5/5 Stars

Publication Date: September 1, 2015

Genre: Teens-YA

Author: Nicola Yoon 

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Language: English

Hardcover: 320 pages

Buy Me: Amazon Barnes&Noble Hastings

Book Description

If you love Eleanor and Park, Hazel and Augustus, and Mia and Adam, you’ll love the story of Maddy, a girl who’s literally allergic to the outside world, and Olly, the boy who moves in next door . . . and becomes the greatest risk she’s ever taken. This innovative and heartfelt debut novel unfolds via vignettes, diary entries, illustrations, and more. My disease is as rare as it is famous. Basically, I’m allergic to the world. I don’t leave my house, have not left my house in seventeen years. The only people I ever see are my mom and my nurse, Carla.  But then one day, a moving truck arrives next door. I look out my window, and I see him. He's tall, lean and wearing all black—black T-shirt, black jeans, black sneakers, and a black knit cap that covers his hair completely. He catches me looking and stares at me. I stare right back. His name is Olly. Maybe we can’t predict the future, but we can predict some things. For example, I am certainly going to fall in love with Olly. It’s almost certainly going to be a disaster.

My thoughts

This year I have read a few books with plot twists that blew my mind and this one. I'm still in shock about the ending because I was not expecting it at all. However, I think that is what makes this book so different and a unique story. I do not want to spoil the book, I will just say, wow.

Everything Everything is the story of Madeline who is half Japanese, half black. She lives with her mom who is a doctor. Her dad and brother died in a car accident when she was a baby. She has SCID, a disease that basically means she is allergic to everything and because of this she can never leave the house, which makes her routine at home very strict and finds herself being constantly over protected by her mom and her nurse, Carla. But when Olly and his family move in next door, Madeline felt in love with Olly and her life changes forever. She knows meeting Olly can put her life at risk but with the help of her nurse, she arranges everything so that Olly can visit Madeline for short periods of time. 

Things I like about this book: the way it is told. The Author uses e-mails, doctor reports, notes, chat or instant messages to tell some parts of the book. I like Madeline and Olly's love story. It is a sweet, cute and fun one. Seems like everything happens so fast, especially for Madeline, at one point Olly is all she thinks about. She wants to spend all her time with him, she cannot stop thinking about him. I like how well they connect and the dynamics between the two of them. I like how honest and believable these characters felt to me. I like this is a fast paced story. The Author's writing style is great and the characters, well developed and complex, very interesting characters. 

Things I did not like about this books: there were a couple of things I did not like. One, I felt Madeline was very selfish at times, specially with her mom. I tried hard to understand her motives while reading these passages but could not sympathize with her. Despite of this, Madeline is my favorite character. The other thing I did not like is, even I think the plot twist at the end is what makes this book unique and different but I wish the Author could have spend a few more pages trying to add a little more explanation on this ending that like I said at the beginning of this review, I'm still in shock, I feel like I need more answers.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this book. A cute and sweet love story, very complex characters, an unexpected plot twist. A story about first love, loss, growing up, family, parent's love for their children, and taking risks in life. I highly recommend it.

Thank you Random House Children's- Delacorte Press and Netgalley for sending the ARC copy, in exchange for an honest review.

My Favorite Quote

"He's the biggest risk I've ever taken".

Wen

New Release Tuesday #4: August 18, 2015

Hello dear Readers,

This week, a debut novel. The Girl from the Garden by Parnaz Foroutan.

Title: The Girl from the Garden 

Genre: Fiction/Historical/Cultural Heritage

Author: Parnaz Foroutan

Publisher: Ecco
Publication Date: August 18, 2015

Language: English

Hardcover: 288 pages
Buy Me: Amazon Barnes&Noble Hastings

Book Description

An extraordinary new writer makes her literary debut with this suspenseful novel of desire, obsession, power and vulnerability, in which a crisis of inheritance leads to the downfall of a wealthy family of Persian Jews in early twentieth-century Iran.

For all his wealth and success, Asher Malacouti—the head of a prosperous Jewish family living in the Iranian town of Kermanshah—cannot have the one thing he desires above all: a male son. His young wife Rakhel, trapped in an oppressive marriage at a time when a woman’s worth is measured by her fertility, is made desperate by her failure to conceive, and grows jealous and vindictive.

Her despair is compounded by her sister-in-law Khorsheed’s pregnancy and her husband’s growing desire for Kokab, his cousin’s wife. Frustrated by his wife’s inability to bear him an heir, Asher makes a fateful choice that will shatter the household and drive Rakhel to dark extremes to save herself and preserve her status within the family.

Witnessed through the memories of the family’s only surviving daughter, Mahboubeh, now an elderly woman living in Los Angeles, The Girl from the Garden unfolds the complex, tragic history of her family in a long-lost Iran of generations past. Haunting, suspenseful and inspired by events in the author’s own family, it is an evocative and poignant exploration of sacrifice, betrayal, and the indelible legacy of the families that forge us.

Wen

Book Review: Armada by Ernest Cline/ Science Fiction/Published in 2015

Hello dear Readers,

Below, my book review of Armada by Ernest Cline. 

Title: Armada 

Genre: Science Fiction

Author: Ernest Cline

Publisher: Crown 
Publication Date: July 14, 2015

Language: English

Hardcover: 368 pages
Rating: 2/5 Stars
Buy me: Amazon Barnes&Noble Hastings

Book Description

Zack Lightman has spent his life dreaming. Dreaming that the real world could be a little more like the countless science-fiction books, movies, and videogames he’s spent his life consuming. Dreaming that one day, some fantastic, world-altering event will shatter the monotony of his humdrum existence and whisk him off on some grand space-faring adventure.  But hey, there’s nothing wrong with a little escapism, right? After all, Zack tells himself, he knows the difference between fantasy and reality. He knows that here in the real world, aimless teenage gamers with anger issues don’t get chosen to save the universe.  And then he sees the flying saucer.  Even stranger, the alien ship he’s staring at is straight out of the videogame he plays every night, a hugely popular online flight simulator called Armada—in which gamers just happen to be protecting the earth from alien invaders.   No, Zack hasn’t lost his mind. As impossible as it seems, what he’s seeing is all too real. And his skills—as well as those of millions of gamers across the world—are going to be needed to save the earth from what’s about to befall it.  It’s Zack’s chance, at last, to play the hero. But even through the terror and exhilaration, he can’t help thinking back to all those science-fiction stories he grew up with, and wondering: Doesn’t something about this scenario seem a little…familiar?  At once gleefully embracing and brilliantly subverting science-fiction conventions as only Ernest Cline could, Armada is a rollicking, surprising thriller, a classic coming of age adventure, and an alien invasion tale like nothing you’ve ever read before—one whose every page is infused with the pop-culture savvy that has helped make Ready Player One a phenomenon.

My thoughts

I received this book without knowing anything about the Author and his work. When I went to read about him, I found out he is the Author of Ready Player One, a book that a lot people seem to like and consider one of the best books they have ever read.I have not read Ready Player One. Armada was a totally new experience for me.

That being said, Armada was a complicated book to read. Not the writing itself but I could not connect with the character Zack, or the story. There were times I felt bored but I kept reading in the hopes the story was going to get better, but in my case, it did not happen. Some of the events in the story did not make sense to me, I felt like I was struggling. I had issues with the way the story is told and the plot. By no means a book you should not read but in my case I had a hard time connecting with it and the message the Author intended to deliver. 

"I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review"

Wen

New Release Tuesday #3: August 11, 2015

Hello dear Readers,

This week, a Mystery, with all the elements you always hope to find in a book of its kind. The Beautiful Bureaucrat by Helen Phillips.

Title: The Beautiful Bureaucrat 

Genre: Thriller/Mystery

Author: Helen Phillips

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
Publication Date: August 11, 2015

Language: English

Hardcover: 192 pages
Buy Me: Amazon Barnes&Noble Hastings

Book Description

A young wife's new job pits her against the unfeeling machinations of the universe in this dazzling first novel Ursula K. Le Guin hails as "funny, sad, scary, beautiful. I love it."

In a windowless building in a remote part of town, the newly employed Josephine inputs an endless string of numbers into something known only as The Database. After a long period of joblessness, she's not inclined to question her fortune, but as the days inch by and the files stack up, Josephine feels increasingly anxious in her surroundings-the office's scarred pinkish walls take on a living quality, the drone of keyboards echoes eerily down the long halls. When one evening her husband Joseph disappears and then returns, offering no explanation as to his whereabouts, her creeping unease shifts decidedly to dread.

As other strange events build to a crescendo, the haunting truth about Josephine's work begins to take shape in her mind, even as something powerful is gathering its own form within her. She realizes that in order to save those she holds most dear, she must penetrate an institution whose tentacles seem to extend to every corner of the city and beyond. Both chilling and poignant, The Beautiful Bureaucrat is a novel of rare restraint and imagination. With it, Helen Phillips enters the company of Murakami, Bender, and Atwood as she twists the world we know and shows it back to us full of meaning and wonder-luminous and new.

Wen

Upcoming Release #2: After You by Jojo Moyes

Hello dear Readers,

Another great book to be published next month. Personally, I am really excited about this one. I loved Me Before You and I cannot wait to have the sequel on my hands. 

After You by Jojo Moyes.

Title: After You

Genre: Contemporary

Author: Jojo Moyes

Publisher: Pamela Dorman Books
Publication Date: September 29, 2015

Language: English

Hardcover: 368 pages
Buy Me: Amazon Barnes&Noble Hastings

Book Description

When one story ends, another begins. The sequel to the belovedNew York Times million-copy bestseller, Me Before You.

How do you move on after losing the person you loved? How do you build a life worth living?

Louisa Clark is no longer just an ordinary girl living an ordinary life. After the transformative six months spent with Will Traynor, she is struggling without him. When an extraordinary accident forces Lou to return home to her family, she can’t help but feel she’s right back where she started.

Her body heals, but Lou herself knows that she needs to be kick-started back to life. Which is how she ends up in a church basement with the members of the Moving On support group, who share insights, laughter, frustrations, and terrible cookies. They will also lead her to the strong, capable Sam Fielding—the paramedic, whose business is life and death, and the one man who might be able to understand her. Then a figure from Will’s past appears and hijacks all her plans, propelling her into a very different future. . . .

For Lou Clark, life after Will Traynor means learning to fall in love again, with all the risks that brings. But here Jojo Moyes gives us two families, as real as our own, whose joys and sorrows will touch you deeply, and where both changes and surprises await.

After You is quintessential Jojo Moyes—a novel that will make you laugh, cry, and rejoice at being back in the world she creates. Here she does what few novelists can do—revisits beloved characters and takes them to places neither they nor we ever expected.

From the Hardcover edition.

Wen

Book Review: Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee/ Fiction/Published in 2015

Hello dear Readers,

Below, my book review of Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee. 

Title: Go Set a Watchman 

Genre: Fiction

Author: Harper Lee

Publisher: Harper, 1 edition 
Publication Date: July 14, 2015

Language: English

Hardcover: 288 pages
Rating: 4/5 Stars
Buy me: Amazon Barnes&Noble Hastings

Book Description

From Harper Lee comes a landmark new novel set two decades after her beloved Pulitzer Prize–winning masterpiece, To Kill a Mockingbird.

Maycomb, Alabama. Twenty-six-year-old Jean Louise Finch—"Scout"—returns home from New York City to visit her aging father, Atticus. Set against the backdrop of the civil rights tensions and political turmoil that were transforming the South, Jean Louise's homecoming turns bittersweet when she learns disturbing truths about her close-knit family, the town, and the people dearest to her. Memories from her childhood flood back, and her values and assumptions are thrown into doubt. Featuring many of the iconic characters from To Kill a Mockingbird, Go Set a Watchman perfectly captures a young woman, and a world, in painful yet necessary transition out of the illusions of the past—a journey that can only be guided by one's own conscience.

Written in the mid-1950s, Go Set a Watchman imparts a fuller, richer understanding and appreciation of Harper Lee. Here is an unforgettable novel of wisdom, humanity, passion, humor, and effortless precision—a profoundly affecting work of art that is both wonderfully evocative of another era and relevant to our own times. It not only confirms the enduring brilliance of To Kill a Mockingbird, but also serves as its essential companion, adding depth, context, and new meaning to an American classic.

My thoughts

The first thing I would like to say is reading Go Set a Watchman did not change or affect my opinion of To Kill a Mockingbird. I think both books are unique stories. I love Go Set a Watchman for exactly what it is and what it represents.

That being said, I am so glad this book was not published before To Kill a Mockingbird. Personally, all the characters, their experiences, their stories made a lot more sense to me having read TKAMB first. It was not easy to forget about Lee's first book while reading Go Set a Watchman but it was exciting to see these characters in a different way, a different perspective. I like we can still see Harper Lee's voice in this book and some of the elements of To Kill a Mockingbird. There are parts that remained of TKAMB.

Go Set a Watchman, the story of 26 years old Jean Louise (Scout), living in New York, who returns home, to Maycom Alabama for a few weeks and discovers in a sad and bad way that her father Atticus is not the perfect man she always thought he was. The only person she could trust and believe in. She experiences how her view of the world is changing, she learns how her family is changing. She cannot completely understand how her father raised her in a way and now he can have such different opinions, specifically, about black people. I like how this book shows us an imperfect side of Atticus because to me, it makes him more human. I like the confrontations between Atticus and Jean Louise because this shows us a different relationship between them. It was fascinating to meet the 26 years old Jean Louise, her views of the world and above all, the way she sees and visualizes black people, the way she feels about them.

This book explores and challenges the way we have come to see Atticus, Jean Louise, all these beloved characters we got to know in To Kill a Mockingbird. Another thing I like about this book is how we get to know the characters more. In my case, I had mix feelings about Alexandra. I did not like her that much in TKAMB but I was glad I got to see more of her. That helped me to have a better understanding about what she goes through in life and why she is the way she is.

I love and appreciate how sincere and honest the views and opinions are expressed in the book because it forces us, it makes us think and question ourselves, the readers about racism, about family, about life, about reality, about the decisions we make in life, not only as individuals but as members of a community, specially a small town as Jean Louise's hometown.

In general, I liked the book a lot. For a first draft, there are things that could have been written differently but the story and the message on it, I think it's a brilliant one. It is the perfect complement to To Kill a Mockingbird.

My Favorite Quote

"The only thing I'm afraid of about this country is that its government will become someday so monstrous that the smallest person in it will be trampled underfoot, and then it would not be worth living in it. The only thing in America that is still unique in this tired world is that a man can go as far as his brains will take him or he can go to hell if he wants to, but it won't be that way much longer".

Wen

New Release Tuesday #2: August 4, 2015

Hello dear Readers,

This week, a Novel, Goodbye Stranger by Rebecca Stead.

Title: Goodbye Stranger 

Genre: Growing Up/Friendship

Author: Rebecca Stead

Publisher: Wendy Lamb Books
Publication Date: August 4, 2015

Language: English

Hardcover: 304 pages
Buy Me: Amazon Barnes&Noble Hastings

Book Description

This brilliant novel by Newbery Medal winner Rebecca Stead explores multiple perspectives on the bonds and limits of friendship.

Bridge is an accident survivor who’s wondering why she’s still alive. Emily has new curves and an almost-boyfriend who wants a certain kind of picture. Tabitha sees through everybody’s games—or so she tells the world. The three girls are best friends with one rule: No fighting. Can it get them through seventh grade? 

This year everything is different for Sherm Russo as he gets to know Bridge Barsamian. What does it mean to fall for a girl—as a friend? 

On Valentine’s Day, an unnamed high school girl struggles with a betrayal. How long can she hide in plain sight?

Each memorable character navigates the challenges of love and change in this captivating novel.

Wen

New Release Tuesday #1: July 28, 2015

Hello dear Readers,

New books come out every Tuesday. I will be sharing a book every week.

Title: Dancing with the Devil in the City of God. Rio de Janeiro on the Brink 

Genre: History

Author: Juliana Barbassa

Publisher: Touchstone
Publication Date: July 28, 2015

Language: English

Hardcover: 336 pages
Buy Me: Amazon Barnes&Noble Hastings

Book Description

In the tradition of Detroit: An American Autopsy and Maximum City comes a deeply reported and beautifully written biography of the seductive and chaotic city of Rio de Janeiro from prizewinning journalist and Brazilian native Juliana Barbassa.

Juliana Barbassa moved a great deal throughout her life, but Rio was always home. After twenty-one years abroad, she returned to find the city that once ravaged by inflation, drug wars, corrupt leaders, and dying neighborhoods was now on the precipice of a major change.

Rio has always aspired to the pantheon of global capitals, and under the spotlight of the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games it seems that its moment has come. But in order to prepare itself for the world stage, Rio must vanquish the entrenched problems that Barbassa recalls from her childhood. Turning this beautiful but deeply flawed place into a predictable, pristine showcase of the best that Brazil has to offer in just a few years is a tall order—and with the whole world watching, the stakes couldn’t be higher.

With a cast of larger-than-life characters who are driving this fast-moving juggernaut or who risk getting caught in its gears, this kaleidoscopic portrait of Rio introduces the reader to the people who make up this city of extremes, revealing their aspirations and their grit, their violence, their hungers and their splendor, and shedding light on the future of this city they are building together.

Dancing with the Devil in the City of God is an insider perspective into a city on the brink from a native daughter whose life, hopes, and fortunes are entwined with those of the city she portrays.

Wen