2011 - 50 Books
Rachael's bookshelf: read-in-2011
I just finished "The Son of Neptune" by Rick Riordan, and it was fantastic. I started reading Riordan's books back in the summer of 2010 after seeing previews for the movie version of "The Lightning Thief", the first b...
Part of the reason I like Jodi Picoult's books is because she manages to surprise me with her endings. In this one, I knew the ending before the book had barely started. Furthermore, I didn't understand why no on in the book figured it ou...
Absolutely one of the best books I've ever read. The story of an amazing man that will move you to tears, and help you remember what life is really about. A more in depth review will be forthcoming.
I picked this up after reading about how enthralling it was on one of the blogs I read. I went into it not knowing anything beyond what it says on the book jacket, and I'm glad I did - that's the way to read this one. It's extremely rare ...
This book just broke my heart.
I read Divergent earlier this year, and it was one of my favorite reads of 2011. When I added Delirium to my reading list, a friend said it was even better than Divergent, which made me excited to re...
I read Divergent earlier this year, and it was one of my favorite reads of 2011. When I added Delirium to my reading list, a friend said it was even better than Divergent, which made me excited to re...
Cara Muhlhahn is an awesome woman, a homebirth midwife who has been working in New York City for over 30 years. Her story is great, but her book was not as great. There were many facts and opinions about the medical community, how she had...
Jodi Piccoult is a great storyteller. I think "My Sister's Keeper" was the first book of hers that I read, and I loved it. I've read several others since then and they have varied in how much I liked them. This one was pretty g...
Autism has become a fairly hot topic in the past few years, and I've been interested in the subject for quite a while. I've read a couple of books previously about the subject, including Jenny McCarthy's book "Louder than Words."...
I wouldn't say "liked it" is a great description, most likely if you're reading this book you or someone close to you has just gotten diagnosed with breast cancer. However, I did think that this book was a great, straightforward ...
It took me a while to get into this one, but by the end I was wanting to immediately open the next book in the series to see what happened. I did it a disservice by reading it immediately after Divergent, another YA dystopian book that was...
I don't read a lot of love stories, but this is the second time in the past five years that I've found myself absolutely loving one. I am always excited to find a book with a unique format or a new way of telling a story - this one is told...
This book was not what I'd hoped. In the past, Michael Crichton was able to write about improbable things like cloning dinosaurs and time travel and somehow keep them from being ridiculous. This book is far from the suspense of Jurassic P...
I was not impressed by this one. I almost had a hard time getting through it because I felt annoyed.
I think there is some major back story missing, and I'm not sure if it's building up to something in the third book, or just not ...
I think there is some major back story missing, and I'm not sure if it's building up to something in the third book, or just not ...
Well. Another Jodi Picoult. My 5th this year, I just realized... And no surprises. I figured out the big twist ending a bit after the halfway point, the smaller twist I didn't. I had a hard time with this one, I'm not sure why since al...
2010 -36 Books
Rachael's bookshelf: read-in-2010
In terms of politics, I feel that women's issues are probably the most visceral to me. Beyond even that is the idea of human issues, going beyond mistreatment of women into mistreatment of human beings or groups in general. It's something I...
2009 - 37 Books
Rachael's bookshelf: read-in-2009
I had a little bit of a hard time getting into it, but once I got a few chapters in I was hooked. The story works in Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' and becomes totally fantastical and magical beyond what you see in the beginning....
I'm a big fan of Richard Preston. The Hot Zone is one of my favorite books. Okay, maybe it is a little weird that I am totally fascinated by Ebola and other level 4 viruses. Whatever. I recently found my copy of The Cobra Event and started ...
I got the book on a lark on one of my new favorite websites, Paperback Swap. I thought it seemed like an interesting concept, but I had no idea how revealing it would actually be. In the introduction, Vincent discusses the process she used ...
I thought it was great. I think one of the things I liked most about it is that Julie was just a normal young woman. As the book went on, I could see more and more how much I liked Julie, I'd like to hang out with her. She didn't have culin...
"There were all kinds of stories told about the war that made it sound as if it was happening in a faraway and different land." So begins the memoirs of Ishmael Beah.
Born in Sierra Leone in 1980, Beah is the same age as ...
Born in Sierra Leone in 1980, Beah is the same age as ...
2008 - 50 Books
Rachael's bookshelf: read-in-2008
Corn
I LOVED this book. Despite that I ended my reading with many more questions than answers and a sense of general uneasiness about the way I eat and feed my family, I am glad I read it. It is much easier to be ignorant of what i...
I LOVED this book. Despite that I ended my reading with many more questions than answers and a sense of general uneasiness about the way I eat and feed my family, I am glad I read it. It is much easier to be ignorant of what i...
