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Tuesday, March 10, 2015

What I've read recently

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
This is a story about an astronaut stranded on Mars after his crew thinks him dead.  He has to continually think of ways to keep himself alive.  I wrote an entire post on how much I loved this book.  It was such a great story and had me rooting for the main character, Mark, the whole time.  I loved his sarcastic sense of humor and his "never give up" attitude.

My rating: 3 out of 5 stars
I'm being generous when I say 3 stars, it's more like 2 and a half.  I really thought I was going to like this one.  It got a bit too unbelievable in parts because I swear the main character must be allergic to police or something!  There are so many things that happen to her and she repeatedly refuses to get help from police.  And then by the end of the book when the killer is revealed you don't end up caring anymore.  Mostly because it doesn't really make sense.

My rating: 1 out of 5 stars
I can't even explain to you how much I disliked this book.  Honestly, I didn't even make it until the end.  I couldn't get past her complete self-centered attitude and constant complaining about her life (meanwhile she's getting a full year paid vacation from her book advance).  I really don't get the hype about this book at all.


Until You're Mine by Samantha Hayes
Claudia Morgan-Brown finally has it all. Pregnant with a much-wanted first baby of her own, she has a happily established family of two small step-sons and a loving husband with a great career. But she is also committed to her full-time job as a social worker, and her husband travels often. So when Claudia hires Zoe to help her around the house in anticipation of the baby’s arrival, it seems like the answer to her prayers. But despite Zoe's glowing recommendations and instant rapport with the children, there's something about her that Claudia cannot trust.

Moreover, there has been a series of violent attacks on pregnant women in the area, and Claudia becomes acutely aware of her vulnerability. With her husband out of town for work and her family far away, who will be there to protect her? And why does she feel unsettled about Zoe? Realizing appearances can be deceiving even in her seemingly perfect world, Claudia digs deeper into Zoe’s blurry past and begins to wonder – how far would someone go to have a child of her own?

Attachments by Rainbow Rowell
"Hi, I'm the guy who reads your e-mail, and also, I love you . . . "

Beth Fremont and Jennifer Scribner-Snyder know that somebody is monitoring their work e-mail. (Everybody in the newsroom knows. It's company policy.) But they can't quite bring themselves to take it seriously. They go on sending each other endless and endlessly hilarious e-mails, discussing every aspect of their personal lives.

Meanwhile, Lincoln O'Neill can't believe this is his job now- reading other people's e-mail. When he applied to be "internet security officer," he pictured himself building firewalls and crushing hackers- not writing up a report every time a sports reporter forwards a dirty joke.

When Lincoln comes across Beth's and Jennifer's messages, he knows he should turn them in. But he can't help being entertained-and captivated-by their stories.

By the time Lincoln realizes he's falling for Beth, it's way too late to introduce himself.

What would he say . . . ?

You can check out my other mini book reviews here:

What have you read lately?  Have you read any of these, if so, what were your thoughts?

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45 comments:

  1. Julie Tucker-WolekMarch 10, 2015 at 5:24 AM

    I AM SOOOOOOO HAPPY you led me to The Martian!! OMYGOSH!! I love love love it!!! I am to the point where he is trying to reach the MAV ... the rover just tipped over though ... so I am wondering what's next for poor Mark!!! His HUMOR is literally making me LOL!!!! OMG! I love it!!!! Hehehehehe ... my fave part -- "Please watch your language, the whole world is watching this" ... Mark ... LOOK ------>>> BOOBS!!! LOL!! LOL!! LOL!!! I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  2. I have had my eye on Until You're Mine and Attachments, I definitely want to read them. I'm glad I avoided the Eat Pray Love hype.

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  3. Ha, I felt the same about Eat, Pray, Love and thought I was the only one!

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  4. hahahaha!! Isn't his humor great?! Oh my gosh, I really loved that book! So happy I have someone to take about it with now. I'm so glad you are loving it! It was such a good one!

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  5. Yeah, I really don't understand all of the hype behind Eat Pray Love at all. I'm really excited about Until You're Mine and Attachments! I actually received Until You're Mine from Blogging for Books. I plan on starting that one today. I bought Attachments online and it hasn't gotten here yet so that will be after Until You're Mine. I've heard great things about them both.

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  6. haha! I'm so glad I am not the only one! I thought the "Italy-Eat" section was going to be my favorite and I had such a hard time even making it through that section. I guess I actually expected her to talk about Italy....even just a little bit, but nope. Ughh....yeah, didn't like it at all.

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  7. Aw what a bummer on Eat, Pray, Love! Sounds like a cute book too!

    <3 Shannon
    Upbeat Soles

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  8. I'm reading The Martian now and while the science is a bit much to take at times, I love the author's style and sarcastic sense of humor. Hope you like Attachments! It was a great book.

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  9. I'm reading The Martian soon for my book club. I'm so glad you gave it 5 stars! And I also read EPL for the book club. I didn't love or hate it but I could totally see why you gave it 1 star. I didn't understand the hype either. I think I gave it 3/5 stars. I heart Rainbow Rowell. I wish my library had more of her books available digitally!

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  10. I'm laughing over your review of Eat, Pray, Love! Sooooo true, hahaha. :)

    -Ashley
    Le Stylo Rouge

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  11. I cannot wait until The Martian comes in for me at the library. It should be soon!

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  12. I love everything Rainbow Rowell has ever written :D excited to see what you think of Attachments!

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  13. I devoured The Martian in a day. It was so good and surprisingly funny.

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  14. Yes! I'm so glad to hear you loved it too! And kudos to you for getting it done in one day! That's impressive! I took me about 4 or 5 days. lol! I loved his sense of humor

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  15. That's awesome! I haven't read anything by Rainbow Rowell so I'm really excited to read Attachments!

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  16. Ohhh it's so good! I hope you love it as much as I did! At first I wasn't sure about it and there is a lot of science for the first 20 pages or so but I really liked it a lot and have been suggesting it to everyone. lol!

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  17. hahaha oh my gosh, I'm so glad to hear I'm not the only one! She made me crazy! I tried so hard not to give up on it but I hated it and her to much. lol

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  18. I've actually never read anything by Rainbow Rowell yet so I'm really excited to give that one a try. I'm so excited that you are going to read The Martian. I seriously loved it, I hope you like it as much as I did! I tried so hard to keep reading Eat Pray Love but it just wasn't for me at all. lol

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  19. Fangirl is my favorite :) but all of them are great!

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  20. I loved The Martian, but I agree about the science being a little much at some moments. I think once you get through the first bit of the book it becomes easier and more interesting. I'm very excited for Attachments! I've never read anything by Rainbow Rowell but people seem to love every single book so I can't wait!

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  21. I heard so many great things about it that I really expected more from it. I thought it was going to be more about the places she was traveling to but she just talks nonstop about her "depression" (which I wouldn't even call depression, more like she's just sad that her relationships are failing). Uggh...it was a tough one to read

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  22. I felt the same way about Eat, Pray, Love and thought I was the only one!

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  23. I have had The Martian on my reading list for a while now.. even more convinced to read it now.

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  24. We have been feeling the Eat Pray love vibes in Bali! We even did a little yoga lol
    Melanie @ meandmr.com

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  25. oh I really hope you like Attachments!! so glad you loved the martian!! :) I listened to eat pray love in 2011 and i was going through.. a not so great time.. and some of it was so annoying and so boring, but i enjoyed it overall. if i read it today, i doubt i would finish it! i think it just helped in that particular time.

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  26. I am reading Yes Please! by Amy Poehler and starting The Vacationers next. Eat, pray, love is definitely on my list!!

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  27. Finally someone who doesn't like Eat Pray Love! I absolutely hated the movie, I thought it was just so slow and boring. I wasn't aware of the self-centered aspect of the book so now I have even less interest in reading it. Thanks for the honest review! I may have to read attachments just because the guy has my last name spelled exactly the same. We could be secretly related--never know. :) I'm still reading HP ( just started the 5th one last night) but I have a ton of books on my to-read list for when I'm finished!

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  28. I hated Eat Pray Love! I didn't even make it halfway through. She was so self-centered it was driving me crazy. And I don't mind swearing, but it just seemed so out of tone with the book that it bothered me. So glad i'm not the only one who disliked this.
    Attachments is also on my list to read! I'm bringing it on vacation with me and have heard so many good things about it!

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  29. haha I'm so glad that it seems that I am definitely not the only one that hated Eat Pray Love! lol! So funny! And I agree 100%. She really made me crazy!! I am really excited to read Attachments so you will have to let me know what you think. I have one more book ahead of that one on my reading list.

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  30. hahaha so happy that I'm not the only one that couldn't stand that book! I think I've only seen bits and pieces of the movie but I don't remember it being anything I was excited about even though I normally love Julia Roberts. My "to read" list is constantly growing faster than I can keep up with it. I think I have 60 or 70 books on my Goodreads to read list. lol. Attachments sounds really good and it has pretty good reviews, so fingers crossed!!

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  31. Ohhh that's another one (Yes Please) that I really want to check out! is it good so far?! I think Amy Poehler is hilarious.

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  32. I could see Eat Pray Love being a great book if you were also going through a tough time and could relate to it I guess. That makes sense! I'm really looking forward to Attachments! I have one book ahead of it on my reading list but that's okay because it's still on it's way to my house. lol

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  33. hahaha! I used to do a lot of yoga but got out of the habit of it, unfortunately. I really should get back into it

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  34. Oh it's so good! If you do read it, let me know what you think!

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  35. haha apparently we are in good company because a lot of the comments today have agreed about my thoughts on it! It was just not my cup of tea, I guess.

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  36. I started Eat Pray Love years ago and felt the exact same way. Glad to know I'm not the only one!

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  37. We felt the same way about Hush, so ridiculous not going to the police so many times. Attachments was so cute, and it can come across as stalker-ish but he was really endearing.

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  38. I need to read The Martian! Sounds so good! I LOVED Attachments! Such a cute story!
    ~Sara
    Sincerely, Sara

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  39. The Martian is my next book - I just picked it up from the library this week. Attachments was adorable, and I don't always like adorable books. I hope you enjoy it!

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  40. You'll have to let me know what you think of The Martian. I really enjoyed it! I am excited for Attachments because it seems like most people really liked it.

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  41. It's so good!! If you do read it let me know, I would love to know your thoughts! I can't wait until Attachments gets here. I'm hoping I can get through the book I am on now before it gets here because I'm anxious to start it. lol

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  42. Ahhh thank you!!! I wanted to reach into the book and slap her! lol. haha I love your description of Attachments because that's what I thought when reading the synopsis on Goodreads, but so many people have loved it so I am excited to give it a try. Right now I'm playing the waiting game...it's still on it's way to me from the store. lol

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  43. Uggghhh....She just drove me nuts! I expected to here more about Italy and her travels but for 100+ pages she talked about nothing but her "depression", which I'm sorry seemed more like sadness over her relationships not working out than actual depression. Self-centered and extremely arrogant! I had a hard time feeling bad for someone that got an entire year vacation paid for...lol

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  44. Everyone keeps talking about The Martian, so I definitely added it to my to-read list.

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  45. Oh my gosh, I loved it! I can't wait to see the movie later this year! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

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