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Alex's Personal Challenge 2016
Book 1: The Healing 
Read: Jan. 03, 2016
Rating: 5 stars
Review:What a great book to start the year 2016 off with.
The Healing is a beautiful, touching story. I highly recommend it.
Quotes:
"It's strange, but when you don't want nothing, seems like you can give everything you got." Chapter 38, pg 244
"'She say, the difference in weavers is, some see the tangle and the others see the weave. The ones that can't take their eyes off the tangle, they never rise above it.'
'Yes, ma'am,' Granada said, knowing this was important, trying to understand.
'Granada, this here ... what happened to me, to you, to Rubina ... ain't nothing but a tangle. It's the weave you got to remember, Granada. It's bigger than you and me. It went on before you and me got here. It'll go on after you and me leave this place and go to wherever it is Rubina is waiting. Just a tangle, Granada.'"
Chapter 43, pg 274
"The remembering was as fine as a silken thread and as a faint as a word whispered upon a breeze. It was as sure as the turning of a face to its beloved."
Chapter 49, pg 305
Book 2: Phenomena: The Lost and Forgotten Children
Read: Jan. 04, 2016
Rating: 3 stars
Review:This book got better as it went along. I found the parts about Malcolm's childhood to be more interesting than the parts written in the present. It did drag on a bit for me, here and there, but I loved Malcolm. He was sweet and I was able to identify with him more and more as the story went on. Definitely not a bad read, it just didn't wow me.
Quotes:
-"'I think if they feel that way then they best build a wall, a fortress to keep their family safe from us.' Silent for a moment, he then added, 'But I think they're the crazy ones.'" Chap 3, pg 14
-"Normal? For the men, a pair of sharply-pressed serge trousers, a white shirt with epaulettes, and shiny shoes? Was that the normal they spoke of? Like male attendants? Hah, he scoffed to himself. I'd rather be quietly mad." Chap 18, pg 104
-"He was intrigued as to why Sister Evans spoke of the 'real' world. What was wrong with the 'unreal' world? It was real too - in its unreality. Why should he face reality? Reality stung. It hurt. it killed. He'd been to reality and he'd decided it was safer here in the unreal world." Chap 35, pg 234
Book 3:The Grownup 
Read: Jan. 04, 2016
Rating: 5 stars
Review: I loved it! Wish it had been longer.
Highlights:
-"How do you keep a thousand books in one room and then call the room a den?" Pg. 31
-"Millions of dollars later, and neither of them were happy. Money is wasted on the rich." Pg. 34
Book 4: West Side Story
Read: Jan. 6, 2016
Rating: 3.5 stars
Review: 3.5 stars. (Why is there no half star rating?!)
This is the first play I've ever read, and I liked it a lot. The only thing that I didn't like much was the instantaneous falling in love between Tony and Maria, but I can be a bit cynical when it comes to romance, so maybe I should just lighten up. ;)
Quotes:
"They had more here in New York, more of everything, even of hatred; and to be rid of the latter Maria would have given up everything else and returned to Puerto Rico because she believed it was wrong to hate. She didn't want to hate when it was so much more wonderful, joyous, to love." Chap. 1 Pg. 30
"It was a feeling of discontent at the nagging sense of inferiority that even leading the Jets couldn't erase. He was ignorant, knew nothing, and all the big-man-in-the-world talk wasn't going to change it. Sure he was cool, but so was a cake of ice, and what did it know? Nothing. He was ignorant. And the way he was going he'd always be ignorant. There had to be something more than this." Chap. 2 Pg. 58
"'He fills my eyes with stars until I'm blind.'" - Chap. 3, Pg. 73
"'Look, fellows, just stayin' alive gives me all the trouble I can stand. So don't give me anymore.'" Chap. 5 Pg. 122
Alex wrote: "Book 4: West Side StoryRead: Jan. 6, 2016
Rating: 3.5 stars
Review: 3.5 stars. (Why is there no half star rating?!)
This is the first play I've ever..."
I totally agree with you on the half star thing! Apparently there's some ridiculous research out there. Thanks for the review of The Healing! I have it on my TBR and will bump it up.
Book 6:Dance Upon the Air
Read: Jan. 9, 2016
Rating:3 stars
Review:This was my first Nora Roberts book and a genre I don't typically go for. I enjoyed reading it, but I wasn't blown away. I would probably read the next one if it wasn't about Ripley, who I did not like at all.
Zack wasn't my favorite either. He seemed kind of pushy. I would hate some guy to just show up where I was all the time violating my personal boundaries, especially if I had a hard time trusting men because of my abusive ex-husband.
Even though I wasn't too impressed, I would read some of her other novels in the future.
Alex wrote: "Book 6:Dance Upon the AirRead: Jan. 9, 2016
Rating:3 stars
Review:This was my first Nora Roberts book and a genre I don't typically go for. I enjoy..."
Nora Roberts is hit or miss. I prefer her books that focus on a unique profession, like fire jumpers or dog trainers. They tend to have more substance.
Book 10: Message from an Unknown Chinese Mother: Stories of Loss and Love
Read: Jan 17, 2016
Rating: 5 stars
Review:This book is extremely eye-opening to the customs of China and their one-child policy. I am not a mother myself, but I found this book to be heartbreaking and tragically beautiful. I can only imagine what a mother might feel while reading this.
Xinran is a lovely writer as well.
Quotes:-"The way we understand both our present and our future depends on what we have lived through." Chap. 1; pg 21
-"We were self-contained, perhaps because people who read a lot tend to cherish their own personal space." Chap. 4; pg 56
-"The truth is that we all repress a lot of memories in the process of growing up. It's not that we don't want to open up to other people, it's because we can't admit them to ourselves." Chap. 7; pg 127
-"Some people would talk, but only in broad generalizations, and wouldn't talk about their own feelings, because they'd never been taught to understand them." Chap. 8; pg 139
-"We all of us chat and laugh with people around us, at our work, by day. That's just so we can fit in, it makes life easier. But at night, or when we're alone, that's when we experience the feelings that no one else knows about, and we have to endure that on our own." Chap. 8; pg 146
-"'But there are very few people like you who want to listen to women talk about their feelings.'" Chap. 8; 149
-"These magical moments or wonderful things leave you with intense memories that will stay with you forever, long after the reality has faded or you are grown up." Afterword; pg. 190
Book 12: Beauty Queens
Read: Jan. 21, 2016
Rating: 2 stars
Review: This book was just too much. If I hadn't been listening to it on audio(Libba Bray, the author/narrator was pretty good), I'm not sure I would have finished it. It was funny at first and I loved the satire, but it just kept going and going and going. The actual story wasn't good enough to keep me interested. If it had ended sooner, I would have given it a higher rating, but I just got bored.
Book 13:F*ck Love
Read: Jan. 23, 2016
Rating: 4.5 stars
Review:The writing was beautiful. I was highlighting quotes left and right. I liked Helena a lot, but Della and Kit? Eh, not so much. The ending wasn't what I was hoping, or else it would have easily been 5 stars.(view spoiler)
Quotes:
-"I've always wanted to know myself and have never known where to begin." Chap. 1
-"And when disloyal, seed-sowing scum buckets slept with other girls, why did women look inward to find fault in themselves?" Chap. 9
-"The sadness comes in waves, yes? It's like you feel something different every ten minutes." Chap. 9
-"It's the dumbest thing I've ever experienced, but that doesn't mean I don't feel it anyway. That's the most pathetic part of being a human, the emotions you don't ask for or want, they just rush you anyway." Chap. 11
-"I am what I am. I marvel at how yearning can make you disintegrate. And to keep from disappearing all together, you must rebuild yourself." Chap. 12
-"I feel guilty for not being there for her, but no, I am not everyone's crutch. I am learning to walk on my own; they need to learn too." Chap. 28
-"'Okay, but I'm trying to find myself.' Greer grins. 'That, my dear, is the scariest thing you're ever going to do.' 'Why is that?' 'Because you might not like what you find.'" Chap. 23
-"No one tells you that it hurts this much to be a grown-up. That people are so complicated they end up hurting each other to self preserve." Chap. 37
Book 15:Snow: A Retelling of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Read: Jan. 24, 2016
Rating:3 stars
Review: I liked this book, but it seemed like the ending was rushed. Also, I read a question that ruined a spoiler for me and that always takes a little bit of the fun away.
Book 16:The Doll's House
Read: Jan. 26, 2016
Rating: 5 stars
Review:I love this series! Detective thrillers like these are my absolute favorite. Already have the fourth book ordered(should arrive in February) and the fifth comes out later this year.
Book 17:Edge of Wonder: Notes from the Wildness of Being
Read:: Jan. 29, 2016
Rating: 5 stars
(Some of my)Favorite Poems:
-"Soulmates aren't the ones who make you happiest, no. They're instead the ones who make you feel the most. Burning edges and scars and stars. Old pains and pangs, captivation and beauty. Sweetness and madness and dreamlike surrender. They hurl you into the abyss. They taste like hope."
-"Come. Sit with me now. We'll gaze at the falling sun as it grazes this horizon for I want to talk about simple nothings and silent stirrings, and wild things with someone who means everything."
-"I love the silence between two people. The quiet acknowledgement, the falling into knowing, and comfort between words as we lapse into our own minds, simply breathing and being while sharing space and time. I love the sound of your silences. I notice them. I recognize them. I melt into them. Because your silences...your silences sound like mine."
-"When there's a fresh wound in your heart, keep it open until it heals. Air it out. Understand it. Dive into it. Be fierce enough to become it. If you ignore it, it won't be able to breathe. If you ignore it, it will merely deepen, spread and resurface later, wanting to release. And when later happens, it will hurt even more, because when later happens, you won't know what you're bleeding for. Remain with it until it clears, and watch the beauty pour into your openness. Remain open to feel lightness. Remain open to feel free."
-"There are certain people that'll inhabit a small, quiet space inside your heart despite any circumstance, happening, or situation. They left a piece of themselves when your souls collided upon impact. And there they'll always subtly remain."
Book 18:The Shadow of the Wind
Read: Jan. 30, 2016
Rating: 5 stars
Review:Wow.
You know a book was good when you read the last few pages and get chills (in a good way.)
I loved this book and it is not the typical genre I would go for. Definitely interested in reading more by Zafron!
Quotes:
-"My heart was pounding in my chest as if it feared that my soul wanted to carve its way out and run off down the stairs."
-"Every book, every volume you see here, has a soul. The soul of the person who wrote it and of those who read it and lived and dreamed with it. Every time a book changes hands, every time someone runs his eyes down its pages, its spirit grows and strengthens."
-"I had never know the pleasure of reading, of exploring the recesses of the soul, of letting myself be carried away by imagination, beauty, and the mystery of fiction and language."
-"'People tend to complicate their owns lives, as if living weren't already complicated enough.'"
-"...the library seemed to be losing its memory, day after day, unknowingly, feeling all the wiser the more it forgot."
-"'I don't know much about them, honestly.' 'Nobody knows much about women, not even Freud, not even women themselves. But it's like electricity: you don't have to know how it works to get a shock on the fingers.'"
-"Disarmed, I realized how easily you can lose all animosity toward someone you've deemed your enemy as soon as that person stops behaving as such."
-"'The trouble is that man, going back to Freud-and excuse the metaphor-heats up like a lightbulb: red hot in the twinkling of an eye and cold again in a flash. The female, on the other hand-and this is pure science-heats up like an iron, if you see what I mean. Slowly, over a low heat, like a tasty stew. But then, once she has heated up, there's no stopping her. Like the steel furnaces in Vizcaya.'"
-"The female heart is a labyrinth of subtleties, too challenging for the uncouth mind of the male racketeer."
-"The words with which a child's heart is poisoned, through malice or through ignorance, remain branded in his memory, and sooner or later they burn his soul."
-"'I don't know what came over me. Don't be offended, but sometimes on feels freer speaking to a stranger than to people one knows. Why is that?' I shrugged. 'Probably because a stranger sees us the way we are, not as he wishes to think we are.'"
-"It occurred to me that their very presence was testimony to the moral emptiness of the universe and the mechanical brutality with which it destroys the parts it no longer needs."
-"'Life has enough torturers as it is, without you going around moonlighting as a Grand Inquisitor against yourself."
I really loved The Shadow of the Wind as well.I tried the other book in this universe The Angel's Game but I don't think it lived up to Shadow of the Wind.
There's a third book that I'll try out eventually.
Book 19:When Rabbit Howls
Read: Jan. 31, 2016
Rating: 2 stars
Review: Um...I don't even know where to start.
This book was just weird. How can a book include such shocking and disturbing events, yet still be incredibly boring? The acts of abuse were absolutely disgusting and I give huge props to Truddi Chase for being able to function at all after having lived through that. I do believe in DID (dissociative identity disorder), but I don't know if I truly believe everything that happens in this book that is related to it. While I love fiction stories about the paranormal, I am a huge skeptic in real life and have a hard time accepting those parts of Truddi's story. I also have a hard time accepting that her multiple personalities (or 'The Troops') communicate with each other the way they do. I'll admit I am by no means an expert when it comes to DID, but some of this stuff was just too much for me to believe.
Book 24: Room
Read: Feb. 07, 2016
Rating: 5 stars
Review: This was my second attempt at reading this book and I am so glad I gave it another try. I was extremely put off by the way it was told from 5 year old Jack's perspective the first time and decided not to read it. It did take me a while to get used to the writing style this time around, but now having read the whole book, I really appreciate it. It gave such an innocent point of view to the story which made it very touching and almost sweet, even though it's such a sad subject. I would highly encourage people who do not like the narration to keep going. It pays off in the end.
I love your set up and how you are reviewing your books! Good luck on your goal!
Book 26: Bossypants
Read: Feb. 15, 2016
Rating: 4 stars
Review: Highly recommend listening to the audiobook version.
Book 27: The Ocean at the End of the Lane
Read: Feb. 16, 2016
Rating: 3 stars
Review: I feel as if a lot of the meaning behind this book was lost on me (being extremely tired while reading most of it probably did not help this issue), but regardless, it was beautifully written and I look forward to reading more of Gaiman's work.
Quotes:
-"I liked that. Books were safer than other people anyway."
-"Adults follow paths. Children explore. Adults are content to walk the same way, hundreds of times, or thousands; perhaps it never occurs to adults to step off the paths, to creep beneath rhododendrons, to find the spaces between fences."
-"I went away in my head, into a book. That was where I went whenever real life was too hard or too inflexible."
-"The dread had not left my soul. But there was a kitten on my pillow, and it was purring in my face and vibrating gently with every purr, and, very soon, I slept."
-"I do not miss childhood, but I miss the way I took pleasure in small things, even as greater things crumbled. I could not control the world I was in, could not walk away from things or people or moments that hurt, but I found joy in the things that made me happy."
-"A flash of resentment. It's hard enough being alive, trying to survive in the world and find your place in it, to do the things you need to do to get by, without wondering if the thing you just did, whatever it was, was worth someone having ... if not died, then having given up her life. It wasn't fair."
-"A story only matters, I suspect, to the extent that the people in the story change."
-“Monsters come in all shapes and sizes. Some of them are things people are scared of. Some of them are things that look like things people used to be scared of a long time ago. Sometimes monsters are things people should be scared of, but they aren't.”
-"Different people remember things differently, and you'll not get any two people to remember anything the same, whether they were there or not."
-"'And did I pass?' The face of the old woman on my right was unreadable in the gathering dusk. On my left the younger woman said, 'You don't pass or fail at being a person, my dear.'"
Book 28: Here's to Falling
Read: Feb. 21, 2016
Rating: 2 stars
Review: I'm not entirely sure what happened. This book started off pretty good. It continued to interest me until probably the last third. I found the two main characters (Charlie and Jase) to be extremely frustrating. The way they communicate (or lack thereof) irked the hell out of me.
I've been trying to broaden my horizons by reading other genres, and it being February, romance has been one of them, but I'm figuring out I really just do not like it. Or rather I am extremely picky about it. The majority of it is too cheesy for me. It seems so fake most of the time and I find myself rolling my eyes over and over.
Another problem I had with this book is it seemed to leave a lot of questions unanswered. Some of the major occurrences seemed rushed and skimmed over. (view spoiler)
Quotes:
-"I wish there was a device implanted in our brains to record memories, so we could play them back and watch them whenever we wanted, like old home movies. Because sometimes, I think the things we remember pale in comparison to what was real, and I would love to see the real images instead of just the thin, pallid ghosts of them."
-"I was an expert in blending in. People didn't look at me anymore; they just looked through me. Complete invisibility. Some people suffered in their lack of being noticed; me, I knew the worth of people NOT weighing and measuring you and forming their opinions of you the minute they saw you."
-"Maybe it was the oppressiveness of the high school, or maybe it was what was going on with me at home, but I was a complete and utter disaster my freshmen year. Okay, shut up, my whole high school career. We all can't be perky little cheerleaders, can we?"
Good Luck on your goal! You have already read some awesome books! I have never read a Nora Roberts book but I really want to read a book written by her! I would also love to read Gone with the Wind its just hard to find the time!
Hannah wrote: "Good Luck on your goal! You have already read some awesome books! I have never read a Nora Roberts book but I really want to read a book written by her! I would also love to read Gone with the Wind..."Thanks! I would highly recommend it. Although it wasn't what I expected.
Book 30: Apple and Rain
'Read: Feb. 25, 2016
Rating: 3 stars
Review: A sweet and easy read, but nothing mind blowing or amazing.
Awesome job, Alex! It looks like this reading year is going really well for you.
Cassandra wrote: "Awesome job, Alex! It looks like this reading year is going really well for you."Thank you :)
Book 31:Black Iris
Read: Feb. 27, 2016
Rating: 5 stars
Quotes:
-"Because what brings you back to life also gives you the means to destroy yourself."
-"Sometimes you feel things so much, so intensely, it becomes a new kind of numbness, the oblivion of overstimulation."
-"Funny, how they mistake emptiness for sadness."
-"Man is the only animal that can reason and all he does with reason is shackle himself."
-"Sometimes all you know about where you're going is that it's away from where you are."
-"My mother had a good sense of people. We're all bad, she'd said. The only thing we're good at is hiding it."
-"A body has a way of wanting to be touched so badly that the touch itself will hurt, but so will remaining untouched. Nothing helps."
-"Strength is not in the body, it's in the mind. It doesn't lie in flexing your muscles and crushing those who oppose you. It lies in being the last one standing. By any means. At any cost."
-"'I can't be angry anymore, or I'm having an 'episode.' I can't be sad or everyone hides the sharp utensils and shoelaces. I can't be fucking human. I have to act 'normal' or you'll have me committed.'"
"'You hypocrite. You think I'm crazy because I see things as they are. You'd rather put on Disneyland goggles and watch TV and pretend it's fine. It's not crazy if I see monsters when I live in a fucking nightmare.'"
-"Anger is like that. Runs on its own fumes, devours itself voraciously, explosively, until one day there is no fire left. Only pure, cold, unbreakable hardness."
-"Mom used to say that if you listen, people will tell you exactly how to hurt them. Because part of us wants to be hurt. We want to know how strong we really are."
-"The first time it happens, it can be explained. Accident. Experiment. Fluke. Everything was confusing. The lines blurred. The second time is when it really happens for the first time."
-"'I loved her fire,' he said from far away. 'I didn't know that I would burn.'"
-"I know what you were searching for, Mom. The same thing I want. To live without pain. But the only way to live without pain is to live without feeling. Or to not live."
-"You control when you let go."
-"'I don't want you to do anything. I want you to feel.' I reached out, grazing his hand. 'It's going to hurt. I've been through it. Withdrawal feels like the worst depression you've ever known.'"
-"That's the real poison, truth. Keep that shit inside and you'll see. You'll wither and die."
-"Let go of pain, not people."
-"Girls get under each other's skin. We get too close, too attached, too crazy, and then we can't let go. Our claws sink too deep. When we separate, we tear each other apart."
-"I'd always known she was beautiful, but it's something you don't fully appreciate when someone is yours. Even miracles become routine."
Book 32:Wool Omnibus
Read: Feb. 28, 2016
Rating: 4 stars
Review: Science fiction is not a genre that I have ever been into, but this book was good. Sometimes descriptions of certain events seemed to drag on a bit, which is the reason I gave it 4 stars and not 5. I will definitely be reading the other 2 books in this series.
Quotes:
-"Now she understood, if not the mystery of why all those sent out to clean actually did so, why a sad few would dare to volunteer for the duty. Better to join a ghost than to be haunted by them. Better no life than an empty one."
-"It was the same as color. You could describe a new color only in terms of hues previously seen. You could mix the known, but you couldn't create the strange out of nothing. So maybe it was only the cleaners who understood what it felt like to stand there, trembling - or perhaps not afraid one bit - as they waited for their death."
-"Walker was the one who had taught Scottie that it's always okay to admit when you don't know something. If you couldn't do this, you would never truly know anything."
Book 33: Yes Please
Read: Feb. 29, 2016
Rating: 2 stars
Review: I like Amy Poehler. I like her weirdness and her sense of humor; her movies and her show, Parks and Rec, but sadly, I did not like this book. It wasn't very interesting to me. Parts of it were good, but the majority was disappointing and boring.
Book 36:
Read: Mar. 05, 2016
Rating: 3 stars
Review: The things Radhika went through are unbelievably heartbreaking and disgusting. She's an amazingly strong woman and very admirable. The reason I only gave this book 3 stars was because I wasn't very impressed with how the story was told. The writing was just 'meh' for me.
Book 37: Night Road
Read: Mar. 08, 2016
Rating: 4 stars
Quotes:
- "Lexi had learned the truth about love then, how close it could be to hate, and how it could empty you out."
-"Was this what love did to a person, twisted them up and emptied them out until there was nothing left but need? If so, how would she survive?"
-"Was this adulthood, this pruning of dreams to be practical?"
-"There was beauty in chaos, a wildness that hinted at things gone wrong and mistakes overcome."
Book 38: Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?
Read: Mar. 09, 2016
Rating: 3 stars
Review: Probably more like 2.5, but I'll be generous and give it a 3. Some parts were great, but other parts had me staring off into space (I listened on audio.)
I think listening to Tina Fey's book first has ruined me. The last 2 essay type books I've read weren't anywhere near as entertaining.
Book 39: The Girl from the Well
Read: Mar. 09, 2016
Rating: 4 stars
Review: A few reviews claimed the main character, Okiku, was a rip off from The Ring, but she is actually based on Japanese folklore. This is the author's personal twist on the legend, Bancho Sarayashiki, and I liked it! An easy read that still manages to be creepy.
Quotes:
-"But I have often found that people are strange because they have something most others lack."
-"Sometimes it is better to be a little unusual every now and then than to be common all the time."
Great job on your challenge, Alex! Any standout recommendations so far?
2025 Reading Challenge
Books mentioned in this topic
The Handmaid’s Tale (other topics)Drowning Ruth (other topics)
The Butterfly Garden (other topics)
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (other topics)
Where They Found Her (other topics)
More...
Genre/Type
Biography/Memoir: 8
Classics: 7
Fantasy: 3
Graphic Novel: 1
Historical Fiction: 7
Horror/Mystery/Suspense: 61
General Fiction: 10
Young Adult: 6
Other Nonfiction: 2
Science Fiction: 6
Poetry: 3
Romance: 8
Length
Short (<250 pages): 28
Medium (250-500 pages): 90
Long (501-800 pages): 3
Very Long (>800 pages): 1
Author Gender
Female: 74
Male: 48
New to Me or Repeat Author?
New to Me: 92
Repeat: 30
Series or Standalone Book?
Series: 40
Standalone: 82
Rating
5 Star: 27
4 Star: 47
3 Star: 26
2 Star: 17
1 Star: 3