Book Club - What book should we read together in May?

Welcome to Book Club!

I love to hear what everyone else thinks about books I have read or am reading, so what better way to do that than starting a book club? And where is the fun in choosing all of the books myself? That's why I made this survey, so you can tell me what you want to read.  I'll post back in a week what you voted on, and what book we'll all be talking about at the end of the month!

Feel free to vote on whichever book you want to read, or if you're not interested in the selection, add one you are interested in.

Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee - Why we almost didn't get to read it.

If you haven't heard already, the incredible Harper Lee, author of To Kill a Mockingbird,  is releasing a new novel called Go Set a Watchman on July 14, 2015.  The novel follows Scout Finch as an adult, who travels back to Maycomb, Alabama from New York.  According to the publisher, Scout "is forced to grapple with issues both personal and political as she tries to understand her father's attitude toward society and her own feelings about the place where she was born and spent her childhood."

What's interesting about the release of this novel is Harper Lee wrote it before she wrote To Kill a Mockingbird.  To Kill a Mockingbird was inspired by Go Set a Watchman.  Because Harper Lee was reclusive to being in the limelight, there was a collective backlash of well meaning fans that suggested she was not mentally capable of authorizing the release of Go Set a Watchman.  They were under the impression that since Alice Lee (Harper's sister/ protector) had passed, Harper was vulnerable to vultures that were only interested in taking advantage of her for monetary gain.  

The suggestion of Ms. Lee being incapable of making the decision to publish Go Set a Watchman carried enough momentum that the State of Alabama launched an official inquiry.  It was suggested that after Ms. Lee suffered a stroke in 2007 that resulted in severe hearing and vision problems, she may not be lucid enough to authorize the publication of her earlier novel.

Fortunately for us fans, Alabama officials determined everything was on the up and up.  Ms. Lee's lawyer, Tonja Carter, said Harper was excited about the release of the novel - the manuscript was previously thought to be lost.  

Unfortunately, due to the author's desired seclusion and closed social circle, those of us that are fans of the author can only accept the truth that we receive second-hand.  I think what is important is we respect Harper Lee's privacy, appreciate her as the phenomenal author that brought us To Kill a Mockingbird, and graciously accept the gift that is Go Set a Watchman.

Go Set a Watchman is now available for pre-order.  The scheduled release date is July 14, 2015.

Reading list for the Month of May

After reading "The Darkest Minds" series, I am now one book ahead of schedule, which gives me the chance to plan my May reading list.  

Book #1 - Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

The first book on my reading list is Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell.  Eleanor & Park is a story about two high school juniors that start off hating each other, but slowly grow their friendship into a blossoming love story.  I'm excited to read this book because it's a low key, thought provoking novel that leaves room for epic take-away quotes such as:

I think the reason that I love this quote so much is it is similar to my favorite of all time, which is:

"A Girl I Knew" - JD Salinger (click through will bring you to the short story)

Book #2 - All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

The second book on my reading list is Pulitzer Prize winner All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr.  Tapping into my love of historical fiction, All the Light We Cannot See is about a blind French girl and a German boy who are surviving the devastation of WWII.  I am excited about reading about this region during the Nazi occupation, because most of what you hear about is the War or military strategy.  I want to know more about how the people of Europe lived when the War was on their own soil.

Book #3 - Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult & Samantha Van Leer

Book number 3 sort of snuck up on me as I was anticipating the release of (Book #4) Off the Page by the same authors.  While I was admiring the cover of Off the Page, I noticed little tiny writing at the bottom that said "The Companion to Between the Lines".  Crap. Okay. Read synopsis of Between the Lines......aaand I have my four books for May.

So basically Between the Lines is about a girl, Delilah, that spends all of her time with her nose in a book.  She falls in love with a prince from a children's book, and one day that prince talks back to her.  They try to find a way to get him out of the book and in her life.

Book #4 - Off the Page by Jodi Picoult & Samantha Van Leer

My final book for May is Off the Page by Jodi Picoult & Samantha Van Leer.  This is a companion novel / sequel to Between the Lines where Delilah's prince finally makes it to the real world, only to discover that real life isn't the fairy tale he was created for.  Chaos ensues as his doppelganger, who he switched places with, attempts to navigate the fairy tale world he now lives in.  Meanwhile, the actual fairy tale takes on a life of its own, trying to compensate for a bunch of high school kids jumping in and out of a children's book.  

I am anxiously anticipating reading Between the Lines and Off the Page, but I am saving them for last because Off the Page isn't released until May 19th.  Yikes.  You can pre-order it here though.

Anticipation for June's reading list:

• Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
• The Mindfulness Coloring Book: Anti-stress art therapy for busy people by Emma Farrons

The Darkest Minds - Afterthoughts

It has been a marathon of reading for me to absorb this book series.  In the last 5 days I have completed books 1, 2, and 3 of Alexandra Bracken's "Darkest Minds" series.  There are two novellas that I have not read, unfortunately, because they are not available on my Nook Glowlight, but having not read them did not detract from the enjoyment of the rest of the series.  If I can get my hands on them in the future I will definitely be reading them.

Here is the synopsis for the three books, with as few spoilers as possible.

Book #1 - The Darkest Minds

You follow Ruby on her journey of self discovery. You meet her when she's 16 and surviving life at basically a concentration camp for "Psi" kids - kids with special abilities.  She escapes and meets up with some other kids with special abilities and travel through West Virginia, trying to figure out how to control her abilities to keep her from hurting anyone else.  

Book #2 - Never Fade

Book 2 starts with Ruby, who has now mostly harnessed her abilities, doing a special ops mission for "The Children's League".  In the war between adults and "psi" children, "The Children's League" is a group that rescues kids from the concentration camps and uses them as soldiers.  Ruby is the leader to 3 other "psi" kids and must protect the people that she loves without losing herself.

Book #3 - In the After Light

In the final book of the series, Ruby finds herself leading the revolution.  Intent on rescuing the kids from the concentration camps, everything is on the line and dependent on Ruby, just when Ruby is most vulnerable.  She'll sacrifice everything that she can to protect and save the people that she loves.

“And it made me feel empty in a way—like I had forgotten the words to my favorite song. That girl was gone forever, and all that was left was a product of the place that had taught her to fear the bright things inside of her heart.” 
― Alexandra Bracken, The Darkest Minds

52 Books in a Year

I've never actually counted how many books I've read.  It's incredible to think that I've been reading books my entire life, and there are a thousand lifetimes of books that have been written.

My resolution this year was to read one book a week. I wanted to gauge how many books I read a year, and came up with about 3 per month (give or take considering I'm a binge reader and will go a couple months without reading - GASP!). Frankly 36 books didn't not seem like enough of a challenge for me when my eyes were bright with NYE fireworks, so I upped it to one book a week. 15 weeks in and I am finally experiencing a reading plateau where I have time to share my experience.

Here is a list of books I have read this year (in order): 

1. The Martian by Andy Weir
2. The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North
3. A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra
4. Unlocked: An Oral History of Haden's Syndrome by John Scalzi
5. The American Heiress by Daisy Goodwin
6. Rebel Queen by Michelle Moran
7. Lock In by John Scalzi
8. Only Time Will Tell by Jeffrey Archer
9. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
10. The Sins of the Father (The Clifton Chronicles, #2) by Jeffrey Archer
11. Best Kept Secret (The Clifton Chronicles, #3) by Jeffrey Archer
12. Lightning by Dean Koontz
13. Red Queen (Red Queen Trilogy, #1) by Victoria Aveyard

My favorite book so far: 

While the idea of using robots as avatars isn't a new one, the world that John Scalzi creates with his is, in a word, incredible. The effortless way that he incorporates futuristic civil rights, inevitable human nature, and a fantasy world that actually seems attainable, all while creating a story where the reader is invested and interested, is what makes Lock In so consumable.

John Scalzi's in depth world of threeps, Hadens, integrators, and those unaffected by the flu and meningitis-like disease that affected a strong majority of the population has so much room for expansion, and it would be a crying shame if this was the only book in the series.