What interested me and was more prominent in the second half of the book, was the psychological benefit of the God Box. I'm sure I've read somewhere that if you write your worries down and put them away, like in a box, it relieves the stress on your mind. As a worrier, this is appealing to me. There are a lot of recommendations for a "Worry Box" if you search it on the internet.

The ending was beautiful. The words were poetry. Sentences evoking complex imagery. It was an artful ending that I am glad I stuck around for. I loved the funerals and the wedding. I loved the uniqueness and the craziness of Jamat Guest House. I thought it was the perfect place for Anjum. In the end, it was the perfect place for them all. Arundhati Roy created a tapestry of words. I am very glad I won The Ministry of Utmost Happiness from Goodreads.

What grabbed me in the story was Anjum and the Hijra. The discoveries and secrets of Anjum's mother were captivating. I needed to know what happened next in Anjum's life, every moment, every adventure, the sadness and happiness. I really enjoyed reading about the Hijra and how they all lived and loved. Though sometimes a bit crazy, Anjum's life captured my imagination. She suffers so much, yet comes out of it with a home. I still want to know if Anjum gets to live out the rest of her days in peace.

Tilo, the other main character, was also very interesting. She seemed too modern for modern India. She was irreverent about caste, class and etiquette. I liked Tilo. I thought she was unique, which is probably why she was loved by thee different men in the novel. I just felt we spent too much time on her story. I liked Garson Hobart, Naga and Musa. But my favourite part of their love square is towards the end with Tilo and Musa. They are some very interesting situations the three men find themselves in over the years. Tilo has a show more quality about her though, a grace that I connected with. Still, I felt her part of the story was too long. I wanted to get back to Anjum and Saddam and the baby. I wanted to know what was happening in the graveyard and how the blind Imam was.

The Ministry of Utmost Happiness was not an easy book to love, but I did. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Everything at the end, in the Jamat Guest House was wonderful and the characters went through a lot to get there. show less

I loved The Shadow Land. I think it might be one of my favourite books this year. I won an ARC of Elizabeth Kostova's latest novel from Goodreads, and I am so glad I did. Everything about the story drew me in. The misplaced ashes, of course, were a unique way to begin the story. Alexandra's determination was special. She was an amazing person. She was emotional, and had purpose. I loved how she felt about Bobby, about Neven, Stoyan, Jack, her parents. The trauma and guilt of Alexandra's childhood shaped her life, her goals, and led her to this place. Bulgaria. A country I do not know much about, but now I'd like to learn more. The Bulgarian perspective is not one I've read when it comes to World War II and what happened after the war. It was hard, scary and sad. People blaming other people, being punished for not doing anything wrong, or not agreeing with the new government. It seems like it was difficult to just live life. Alexandra learns about this country, about where she has decided to live for no greater reason than the memory of her brother.

As beautiful as the writing is and as interesting as the country is, it's the plot that moves the story forward. The urn and the mystery that unravels is unique and unexpected. Alexandra is just trying to return someone's precious property and she gets sucked into this incredible tale, along with an unsuspecting taxi driver, who has secrets of his own. I really enjoyed the duality of the plot, Alexandra's story, moving along show more with Stoyan's. Stoyan's story was simple, but extremely emotional, Alexandra's story was also emotional, but more complex.

I love a good ending and the end of The Shadow Land was wonderful. I loved how the stories met, how they came full circle. I loved the discoveries, the drama, the unexpected. The tension was fantastic, I was scared for Irina and Lenka. I really enjoyed the quieter chapters after the climax. I like that we got a hint as to what the future might hold for the main characters. I loved the friendships that developed through this story, across generations.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Shadow Land, loving it more than I thought I would. It was brilliant and beautiful. It captured the imagination. It didn't let me go until the end. show less

The Rules of Magic is one of the best books I've read this year. The Rules of Magic hit all the right feelings. It was an emotionally charged tale of three siblings, though Franny was the star. I loved Jet. I adored Vincent. Since this is a prequel to Practical Magic, I knew the tale would end with Franny and Jet living in the Owens house together. I still hoped for a different ending. I wanted them to be the ones to break the curse. I wanted them to find love and live happily ever after. In this prequel, Alice Hoffman gave so much more depth to Franny and Jet, to their stories. Though, I have only seen the Practical Magic movie, after reading this, I want to read Hoffman's book.

Endings are so important to me. The ending can change how I feel about a story. Sometimes I delay reading the end because I have a feeling something bad will happen to a character I love or because I want to hold on to the characters for just a little while longer. Both were the case with The Rules of Magic. I wanted to keep Franny, Jet and Vincent. I wanted to keep Haylin, William, Raphael and April. I wanted so much to know more about April. I wonder if Hoffman will ever write April's story. I liked learning about the Reverend and more about the curse and feud. I liked learning more about the town and the Owens' place in it.

Hoffman's writing was beautiful, flowing from one image to the next. I could see Franny and Haylin swimming, I could see Vincent and his guitar, Franny carrying daffodils, show more the children listening in on their father. I could see the garden and the box of lettuce, the vines and wild hair. Hoffman transports you into the lives of the Owens', from childhood to adulthood, eating chocolate cake for breakfast. The Rules of Magic has made me a fan of Alice Hoffman and made me more of a fan of the Owens' family. show less

I'll be looking out for Opalescent, Prismatic's sequel when it comes out. There's so much unfinished business, I have to see how the story ends.

Heartbreakingly perfect, The Sun Is Also A Star is simply an amazing novel. It tells the story of Daniel and Natasha and how two people who have never met can find each other and fall in love. Natasha is trying to stay in America, trying not to get deported, and her whole day is supposed to revolve around that. Then there's Daniel. He's supposed to prepare for and have the biggest interview of his whole life. Then they meet.

I really connected with Natasha and Daniel, as I am also a child of immigrants. It can be a difficult balance, trying to stay connected to the culture of your parents and being a part of the culture of the country you live in. Some people want you to be one way, others want you to be another. It's a wonderful thing to find someone who understands. I have friends who were in the same boat growing up, even though our parents were not necessarily from the same countries, we shared similar experiences. There is a struggle that I think maybe all children of immigrants go through, though maybe to different degrees depending on how "different" a parent's home country is. While Natasha is Jamaican and Daniel is Korean-American, they share similar life experiences. I really enjoyed the conversation about "where are you really from", as I have had that question asked many times. There's the food thing too.

Nicola Yoon creates not only complex, beautiful characters, but writes with emotion. The decisions that not only Natasha and Daniel make, but also Irene, show more Natasha and Daniel's respective parents, Charlie, Attorney Fitzgerald, and even the waitress at the restaurant, are full of heartache. Nothing is taken lightly, they all have deep, serious, inner lives that maybe our two main characters know nothing about. It comes through in the interesting style in which Yoon has structured her novel. I wonder if her first novel, Everything, Everything is written in the same style (a book that I absolutely now have to read). There were also great references to 90's grunge and a quiz that I watched Penny and Sheldon take on The Big Bang Theory, which made me so happy. A great plot, amazing characters and interesting style, I couldn't help but love The Sun Is Also A Star.

*I won The Sun Is Also A Star as an ARC from a Goodreads giveaway. Yay! show less

The Last Policeman was good. I had a feeling it would be good, but it was better than I thought. I first encountered Ben H. Winters as the co-author of Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters and then with Android Karenina. When I saw that he wrote a new non-regency, non-romance novel, I was eager to check it out. Luckily, Goodreads helped me with that by giving me The Last Policeman as a first reads win. Also, how could I resist a pre-apocalyptic mystery?

I'm still trying to wrap my mind around what happened. Veronica Roth did in Allegiant what I never expected any YA author to do. Ever.

"First, I'll tell about the robbery our parents committed. Then about the murders, which happened later."

Even if I didn't win the book, how could I resist a line like that? (Right after I found out I won it, I saw it on a huge display table while out shopping. It made me so happy.)

Canada was a deep, thought-provoking novel. It was brilliantly, artistically written. Canada is the story of Dell Parsons’ fifteenth year. It was the most important year of his life, given that’s when the robbery and murders happened.

I spent the first half of the book wanting to know what happened to Dell’s parents. I spent the second half hoping Dell doesn’t have a hand in the murders. I was so eager to read about how Dell’s parents ended up committing a robbery. There was so much build-up. I started to feel like Ford was taking a long time to get to the robbery. He described every scene in vivid detail. He described the complexities of fifteen-year-old Dell’s emotions. It was beautifully written, but I felt it was too long, especially since we knew the outcome – the robbery.

The second half was more interesting. There was still a lot of description, but I felt that because we didn’t know for certain who was going to be murdered and exactly who was going to be the murderer, there was more of a mystery. Though, this is not a mystery novel. I’ve seen it categorized as such, but when you find out the ending at the beginning, there isn’t much of a mystery.

Richard Ford managed to show more create a character that felt like a real person. You could believe that Dell Parsons was a teacher, with a big secret. He could be anyone. He could have been your high school teacher or your next door neighbour. Dell's voice was thoughtful and introspective, like someone really looking back at their life. It almost felt like you were reading a memoir. I really enjoyed the tone and the feeling it gives you. It invites the reader to really connect with Dell. If you like deep, thought-provoking, literary fiction with a twist, then pick up Richard Ford’s Canada. I’m glad I had the opportunity to read it. show less

I devoured Divergent. That’s right. DEVOURED.

You know when you read a book, and you figure you're going to like it, but you don't expect to totally become obsessed with it? I didn’t expect to love Children of Earth and Sky. I thought I would enjoy it and I knew I wanted to read it, but it really blew me away. I saw the ARC listed on the Goodreads giveaways, so I entered. Guy Gavriel Kay is a bestselling Canadian author, who for some reason I hadn’t read yet, but have always wanted to. I thought Children of Earth and Sky was going to take me a while to finish, but once I got past the beginning, I couldn’t put it down.

The beginning is a little slow, but after reading the whole novel, totally necessary. Kay takes you on a journey, introducing his characters, some are main characters, some are minor characters, but all are important to the story. There's even a "cast of characters" in the beginning. As I read that, and moving though the beginning of the story, I was thinking I was going to need it. Admittedly, I did have to refer to it a couple times in the beginning, to remember who the Seressini ambassador was and who certain people were in Dubrava. But that's really it. Kay created such real and memorable characters, that the main ones, the ones you love, stay with you.

Danica was amazing. I thought she was brilliant. From the first moment we meet her and her dog, I knew she would be my favourite in this book. I love how she sticks to her mission, but also finds room for more. I love when she's with her show more grandfather. I love her instincts. I loved Zadek, Neven, Marin, Leonora and Pero. I read each page just to be closer to them, just to see what would happen. Marin was brilliant. I love how he grew and how he changed from the first moment he met Danica, to when they meet again.

I thought I was going to hate the khalif, but I didn’t. I thought I’d at least dislike most of the rulers, based on how many of the people lived, but I didn’t. Except for maybe the adviser in Obravic, he was terrible. What happened to all those people, based on his decisions, his indiscretions, is terrible. The khalif was nice, sort of. I liked his easy way with Pero. I liked that he just wanted and appreciated honesty. How rulers treated their children though, the khalif and Eudoxia, was just awful. I know they were both revered by their own peoples, heroes to their peoples, but to me, they were just opposite sides of the same coin. I enjoyed Eudoxia a lot though, liking her more than I expected.

The way women were treated in this novel was terrible. It's not that Kay was writing them poorly, Danica and Leonora were intelligent, multi-dementional, fascinating women. It's that this novel is based on life during the 16th century. Women weren't equal back then (not that they are now), and there were a lot of women being used for their bodies or hidden away because of them. Fighting through that, there are some powerful women in this world, doing their part to make their own way, finding ways to change the minds of the men around them. Even women we only see for a short time, are finding small ways to make their own decisions. With women like Danica and Leonora, it gives hope to the women of that world.

I've read that Kay has described his novels as historical fiction with a quarter turn towards fantasy, and that's pretty accurate. There are all things you would expect from a story set in 16th century Europe, but there's just a little hint of magic, something "pagan" going on in addition to something else. I kept expecting that this would somehow result in the fall of the khalif and the Asharites, but maybe I've been reading too many epic adventures lately. This novel didn't need the fall of a kingdom, it just needed characters to live their lives.

Children of Earth and Sky was a fantastic novel, by an amazing Canadian author. I definitely want to read the other novels set in this world. It was really great luck to have had this book land in my hands. Children of Earth and Sky is a beautifully woven tale that transports you to another world. show less

An interesting and useful tool for anyone interested in the craft of writing. Something I can see myself returning to frequently.

Thanks for the win, Goodreads!

Amazing!

I knew Gregory Maguire’s retelling of The Little Match Girl was a slim volume, but I didn’t realize how quick a read it would be. It can easily be read in one sitting, in an hour (or less). The book is filled with illustrations (that’s the illuminated part, right?), that are sweet and interesting.

It was amazing!

The Deception of Livvy Higgs was simply fantastic. It might be the best book I've read so far this year. Donna Morrissey's prose was haunting and lyrical. I didn't know that a story about an old lady could have me so captivated.

I'm glad that I've continued with the Undead books. Undead and Unwelcome was such an easy and entertaining read. It's just what I've been needing lately.

How To Be A Woman is awesome!

I'm a feminist.

My daughter loved it! LOVED IT!

What just happened? That was not the ending I expected….

Frankenstein is a fantastic story. Mary Shelley’s writing is fluid and eloquent. This is the second time I’ve read Frankenstein and I loved it every bit as much now as I did the first time I read it.

Moral Disorder is a fantastic collection of Atwood tales. I did come away thinking that Moral Disorder is part novel, part short story collection. The stories are more than “intertwined” and exist as individual entities to varying degrees.

The collection starts off strong. Each story makes you want to read the next.

The stories are great. I know there were some of them where the story might have bothered me, but none of the stories were poorly written, so I’m taking those few negative reactions as subjective. I can't express how much I enjoyed this wonderful, diverse assortment of plots and voices. I can't encourage people enough to download it. This free ebook might just lead you to your next favourite author.

The Battle of Tull left me really wanting to read the next Dark Tower graphic novel installment, The Gunslinger - The Way Station. What struck me first about this volume was the art. The drawings of the demon in the circle of stones were amazing. The use of light and colour were different from the rest of the graphic novel and most of the series. The series tends toward being dark, which is appropriate to where the characters are going and what has happened. There tends to be a lot of dark reds and oranges. The cover of The Way Station is very blue, which I really liked.

Redshirts: A Novel with Three Codas was awesome. I loved every word.

Horseradish was just what I needed after some of the books I've read lately. Lemony Snicket put together a collection of quotes from his Series of Unfortunate Events along with a few other thoughts. It was great and some of the quotes brought me back to those books. I've been feeling in a Snicket sort of mood and Horseradish hit the spot.

These stories are all about werewolves finding love.

The visit to Eluria is not what he wanted it to be.

Really? Really, that's how you're going to end the book?