1776 by David McCullough
The Host by Stephenie Meyer
The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe
Galileo's Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith, and Love by Dava Sobel
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
Parenting: Illustrated with Crappy Pictures by Amber Dusick
The Magician’s Assistant by Anne Patchett
I love reading about history, but it’s not often written in a way that is entertaining for laypeople. David McCullough had the rare ability to impart a lot of knowledge in an entertaining way. He’s truly a master of non-fiction writing, and 1776 should be required reading for all Americans.
I read The Host by Stephenie Meyer because I’d like the Twilight books so much. It’s not nearly as endearing as the Twilight books were. I appreciated the science fiction concept, but the problematic relationships in this book had me rethinking how truly fucked up the characters and relationships in Twilight were as well. The mental gymnastics Meyer goes through to excuse domestic violence is a huge red flag.
The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe was largely forgettable. I did enjoy how the narrative bounced back and forth from the past to the present, but I remember thinking some of the magical realism was a bit of a cop out and the story would have been better without the main character’s visions.
Galileo’s Daughter was interesting, and quite vivid, but there were some pacing issues that brought me out of the story.
Writing is not engrossing, but fluid enough even while incorporating lengthy excerpts from historical sources.
—From my Goodreads review of Galileo’s Daughter
The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins was all anyone could talk about, so I picked it up expecting it to be over-rated. I was surprised by how much I connected with it. I’m fairly certain that I’d seen the first movie before reading the books. They were such quick reads, and I, like so many, really connected with the character of Katniss.
Parenting: Illustrated with Crappy Pictures by Amber Dusick was a welcome bit of humor while raising a toddler. It is exactly what the title says it is, and I highly recommend it.
The Magician’s Assistant is perhaps not Anne Patchett’s best work, but it creates a fun world to escape to and weaves a competent mystery.