More books, book club

My book club met last night to discuss We Were Liars. Well, it was certainly an interesting discussion and reactions were not at all what I expected. On one level it was thought that the message (spoiler alert) to start a fire to solve your problems was terrible. And to have three of the four main characters die was awful. I was completely taken by surprise. I read quite a few YA novels. This is a genre that wasn't really developed when I was a "YA". The topics dealt with are very adult- sex, drugs, suicide, divorce, etc. Most felt the book was okay not great and not deserving of all the hype. Oh well. Very interesting. The more I thought about the book (afterwards) I thought that possibly part of the message was that even when you think you can take control and try to change certain problems you just might create more or other problems that could be construed as worse or more damaging than the original problems. Our next book is Someone by Alice McDermott. Continuing on with my Maui reads: The Last Time They Met, The Biology of Luck*, The Madonnas of Leningrad, The Bookseller of Kabul, Whispering Shadows*, Room. The two books with asterisks were won in Goodreads giveaways. I really enjoyed Whispering Shadows but I really didn't like The Biology of Luck primarily because I found the main character so shallow and annoying. The Bookseller of Kabul was really good. Currently reading three books- one YA, one fiction and one memoir- very unusual for me.

March is National Reading Month

March is National Reading Month and gets kicked off by school children celebrating Dr. Seuss' birthday on the 2nd. One of his quotes that I especially like "The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go".

Here are some of the books I read while in Maui. I took only paperbacks (less weight) and I randomly selected books from the ones in my bedroom. The Cuckoo’s Calling, Wild, The Light Between Oceans, Cross Currents, Sous Chef * and Landline. Sous Chef I won in a Goodreads Giveaway. It was the first time I had entered any of the giveaways on Goodreads, inspired by my niece who also enters. I put it on my bookshelf because it just didn't grab my attention. But I was very surprised. It was quite good and interesting. I wanted to read Wild before seeing the movie (still haven't seen the movie). The other books were also pretty good. My book club meets tomorrow night to discuss my selection We Were Liars. This is a YA book which I really enjoyed the first time I read it. The ending was a total surprise for me. I am not one to dissect a book while I am reading it so I missed much of the foreshadowing. I read it again (I usually don't read books a second time except for the Harry Potter books) because I am the one leading the discussion and I should not trust my memory. I also had the opportunity to hear the author discuss the book. Looking forward to seeing my peeps since I missed the February meeting.

Happy Spring! We had about 5 inches of snow on the first day of Spring. Hoping we will be able to see some of the grass this weekend.

I'm back!

Well hello! I took a little (well not so little)break while in Maui. My husband and I missed all the snow, all the ice and all the cold. Perfect timing. It was a very relaxing stay- we walked a lot, did some hiking, went to a couple of movies, swam, watched the whales and dolphins and turtles, and of course we both read. A lot. I packed 17 books and read 17! I kept up with the February book for my book club- The Good Luck Bird. At some point I will list the books I read (not all at once). There were a couple that were giveaways from Goodreads. A couple that I had put off reading. Most were just on the book shelf- waiting to be read. I finished The Cuckoo's Calling- enjoyed it and can't wait to read the second in the series.

While hiking we came across an abandoned pineapple field and even found a couple of plants with pineapples growing.

It always surprises me to see orchids in the wild. Very pretty. Back to reality. Luckily it seems that the worst of winter is behind us. I think we brought warmer weather with us. Today it was over 50 degrees! Still adjusting to the time- with 5 hours difference in Maui and daylight saving time this past Saturday I am still tired. Here I am on one of our hikes on the west coast of Maui.

I will need to reread We Are Liars- it is my book for the March meeting. I read it last summer so before I send out questions and lead a discussion I need to review.