So needless to say, I am the most negligent blogger ever. My social life has (thankfully) picked up, as has my work load. So between school, work, and my very wonderful boyfriend, my blog has suffered from a lack of attention. However, that doesn’t mean I haven’t been reading just as much as usual. In the past few months I have ventured outside my comfort zone of YA science fiction and paranormal romance and into the genres unknown. There are usually 3 main reasons I decide to pass on reading a book.
1. I know it doesn’t have a happy ending or the book as a whole is wildly depressing
2. The descriptiveness overpowers the content of the story.
3. I’ve heard it’s an excruciatingly long read (which could possibly relate back to my previous point)
However, after doing some research and taking suggestions for friends and family, I decided it was time to broaden my literary horizons.
And so, I took on The Book Thief, by Marckus Zusak a few months ago. This novel hit all 3 of the items on my “no fly list”, and yet, I was pleasantly surprised. It took me some time to get into it, however, I actually found myself enjoying the descriptiveness of the narrator’s soliloquy-esque point of view. At times I was bored while waiting for him to get to the point, but the simple fact that it was incredibly different from my usual reads, kept me intrigued. I will admit that this book did not leave me feeling all warm and fuzzy inside. It’s excruciatingly morbid. Even so, I would give this 2.5/4 Korners. It really wasn’t the type of book I tend to enjoy, hence the low rating. But it was a well written, and captivating story.
Moving on, since I’m so behind on this blog I’m not doing a thorough review of any of the books I read in the past few months but there are some things I’d like to say about a few of them.
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green: An amazingly perfect cry fest. Young love at it’s most tragic. It’s a quick read and a real page turner. 4/4 Korners (I’d give it 10 korners if I could!) there is also a movie coming out soon.
The Good Nurse: A true story of Medicine, Madness, and Murder by Charles Graeber: GAHH, that’s how I felt while reading this. This shocking true story is a must read for nurses or anyone in healthcare. So much has changed in hospitals since Cullen was arrested, but it is still disturbing how long he got away with it. Not to mention it’s particularly heinous since this man was a nurse, someone patients are supposed to trust to SAVE their lives. Nonetheless, it’s well written and surprisingly unbiased. 3/4 Korners.
Inferno by Dan Brown: Once again, Dan Brown came through with another great story. Unbeknownst to me, the fourth story of the famous Robert Langdon is set in Florence, Italy. I happened to be in Florence at the time I decided to start this book. Per usual of a Dan Brown novel, It’s full of fun facts about the city, history, and it’s one heck of a mystery. 4/4 Korners
and finally,
My Story by Elizabeth Smart: This is not an easy read. Although the writing style seems very juvenile, it’s more about the story. It’s very difficult to hear what she went through. The torture and suffering Elizabeth had to endure for 9 months is horrid. The fact that she has grown into such as strong women is incredible and I don’t know how she can move on from something so horrible. Her discussion of faith and family show how mature she became at such a young age. It feels wrong to rate this, so I won’t.
I suppose that’s all for now. With the start of second semester of graduate school, I’m not reading anything right now. But I’ll be sure to update when I do. As always, thanks for reading!
Until Next Time (which will not be 3 months from now!)
Kate
Katie's Korner 