March 2016 books

The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Second reading March 2016:
The feels in this book are off the charts. I love it so much. Not sure if I can bear to re-read book 2 unless book 3 is already in existence, though, so I might have to wait a few more weeks. I didn't meant to burn through this one so fast, but it's just so good!

First reading 12 July 2015:
This is the book that I wanted to cheat and read during church today (!!!!) but the Kindle app on my phone wouldn't download it and so I had to just sit there and daydream about the story so far in my head as best I could. You guys, I haven't flat-out read a book in church since I brought Misty of Chincoteague to Stake Conference in 1992.

That's how good this one is.

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The Winner's Crime by Marie Rutkoski
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Second reading March 2016.
Since this was my second reading, I knew better than to hope for any kind of intermediate resolution in this story. And that made it so much more enjoyable! This is one of those books that would be over in a second if people would just have Important Conversations with each other, but there are good reasons that doesn't happen. I love how the characters think about things and plot their next moves carefully, even though a little rash action would go a long way. I am thoroughly looking forward to the last book, which comes out in a little over a week!

First reading 15 August 2015
Deeply unsatisfying, and contrived to be so. I did enjoy getting to feel like I was reading Romeo + Juliet for the first time again, though.

And the author's writing style is to die for. The relationships she writes hurt so much they feel good. Even if I did want to chuck the book out the window at the end. At least everyone in this book is smart. They may make the wrong choices sometimes (all the time...) but they do have good reasons.

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Winter by Marissa Meyer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I completely agree with my friend Crystal's review - Winter takes us back to Cinder, which wasn't my favorite book of the series. However, Meyer still delivers a worthy conclusion to the series and doesn't skimp on any aspect of the plot. Of course, that means this book is 8-freaking-hundred pages long, but I'm not complaining. My 10-year-old got through it in five days, so obviously she loved it.

I didn't buy the popular revolution, though. I don't know that I ever have in any YA book, except maaaaaaaybe The Hunger Games, and even then. This uprising-against-the-government reads especially simplistically, like Palace of Stone-level. That was disappointing, but I decided to just accept it and move on.

It did have some kissing in it that I discussed with the above-mentioned 10-year-old. Her 7-year-old sister was listening and said, "Mama, how can there be so much kissing? What can it say except, 'THEY KISSED.'??" Oh, sweet girl...

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1001 Nights in Iraq: The Shocking Story of an American Forced to Fight for Saddam Against the Country He Loves by Shant Kenderian
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

[Audiobook]

I can't figure out why this book isn't more widely known. Why aren't more people reading and talking about this amazing story? Then again, a portion of it was featured on a This American Life episode a few years ago, and I remember the segment being very compelling...and yet I didn't seek out the book, either.

Now that mistake has been rectified, and I'm so glad. This is one of those stories that you love to read (because you know it has a happy ending) and love to talk about with everyone you see. Just this very moment as I was writing this review, I had to turn to my co-worker next to me and tell her about it (she remembers it from the TAL episode, too; yes, I have a Finnish co-worker who listens to TAL. I am blessed).

In the early chapters, Shant comes off a little bit too much the hero - he's always smarter than everyone around him and can fix problems that no one else can and is never getting enough credit for his brilliance. But by the end of the book, you realize that dude, this guy really IS smarter than everyone around him. And I sympathize with his feelings of not belonging anywhere (he's a Christian Armenian Iraqi), even though he sometimes seemed a little petulant about being surrounded by Arab Muslims.

I appreciated what detail the book included about the complex immigration procedures that were undertaken on Shant's behalf. However, I would have liked to know more. I've been through immigration paperwork a few times myself for different countries, including the Middle East, and I'm always curious how the process goes for other people. I wanted to know more about why he couldn't return to the US between the two wars - those circumstances are given only brief treatment, and I do take the word of other immigration officials in the story that he did his due diligence, but I wanted the gory details of missed deadlines and red tape (both Iraqi and American) and lost documentation. I guess I'm weird like that.

In conclusion, this is a good book and you should read it.

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The Counterfeit Heiress by Tasha Alexander
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Enjoyable. You think she's keeping you guessing about one thing, which is straightforward and easy to figure out, but instead it's pleasantly surprising to find that she's keeping you guessing about something else, which I only slowly saw coming.

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The Adventuress by Tasha Alexander
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This reminded me more of the early books in this series - a legit good read with strong Agatha Christie vibes.

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