Wednesday's Read

This installment of Wednesday's read is going to be different then the previous ones.  I have been on a reading kick as of late and so there were too many books on my mind and it was too difficult to just pick out one for this week.  So, I am going to give a brief review on the books that I have read in the last 2 weeks. Enjoy!

"The Giver" by Lois Lowry.  I LOVED this book.  I don't know how I had never read this before, but I am really glad that I finally did.  It is sweet and thought provoking and a very easy read.  I think it is a book that teaches lessons while being intriguing.  This is a book that would appeal to many different people of all ages.  I also love the cover art.  It is just how I pictured the Giver to be in my head. 

"The History of Love" by Nicole Krauss.  I really really liked this book.  It was different then I thought it would be but I enjoyed it.  It was clever and unique.  It was heartbreaking and heartwarming. I loved the characters in this novel.  I feel like you get to know them and they seem very real.  There were also a few surprising turns that i did not see coming.  This is one of those books that makes you feel.  

"The London Eye Mystery" by Sibohan Dowd. This is the story of a young boy with Aspergers syndrome whose cousin goes missing and uses his unique brain to try and solve the mystery.  This book was okay.  I think it was a little young for me (it is a YA book) but it was a quick and easy read.  I actually didn't figure out the mystery before the Author revealed it, but it never quite got me hooked.  Maybe I would've liked it if I were a little younger.  So I am giving this one a good, not great.

The Gemma Doyle Trilogy aka "A Great and Terrible Beauty", "Rebel Angels", and "The Sweet Far Thing."  

I have conflicting feelings on this trilogy.

I read all three books in about 5 days which is saying something because they are pretty thick novels.  So it would appear that I was hooked right?  In some ways...Yes. But in other ways not so much.  There were parts that I LOVED, and parts that were not so great.  I thought that the first book was just good, not great.  I did not love it but was intrigued enough to want to finish the series.  I really enjoyed the second book and loved some of the third book and hated some of the third book.  The parts I enjoyed were the parts that take place in the real world at the boarding school and the social events.  I was not at all crazy about the magical, "out of this world" parts. At some parts I felt I was just reading it quickly to get back to the good stuff.  I also did not like some of the themes that are woven into these novels, especially in the last book.  I am glad that I read them, and there truly were parts that I loved.  But there were also some definite"not so sure about that" moments too.  So I guess if magic and Victorian Gothic and boarding schools and balls are your thing, give this trilogy a try.

All in all I read some great books, and all of the books made me think, feel, and took me to places that only a good book can. 

If any of you have read any of these and have anything to add, please comment and let me know your thoughts on these books.