What I read in November

I need more time in my days for books.. or to not be so exhausted when I go to bed at night.  My reading time has taken a serious hit these past few months.

Rating scale:

1/5 - Hated it, didn't finish.
2/5 - Tolerated it on principle to finish, didn't like it.
3/5 - Eh, didn't love it, didn't hate it.  Had some good parts/kept me interested/finished it on principle.
4/5 - I liked it.
5/5 - I LURVED it and I'd read it again.

Skimmers, stick with the bold text (TL;DR* parts).
PS. Possible spoilers included in reviews.


You by Caroline Kepnes (hard copy) 4.5/5

If you follow me on Goodreads, you probably got the point that this book seriously creeped me out.  Once I got about halfway through it, I didn't want to put the book down, which really was problematic since real life was quite demanding.  I took one Saturday morning and powered through the last third of the book and it was worth it.

I couldn't believe how "easy" it was for Joe to off people and how there was no connection to these people around Beck dying after she introduced someone new into her life, but maybe that was just an outside perspective?  Also, this book was highly sexual in a way I wasn't expecting.  It wasn't super awkward (unless you were raised in the South, which was probably my problem), but at some points it was just overly sexual for me.  Unnecessary, if you will.

I think I would have enjoyed this book more if I had been able to get INTO the character of Joe, but I couldn't.  I think part of that was because I was coming off of reading Guantanamo Diary and I really had to step outside of myself not to let the propaganda suck me in.  At some points, I remember thinking, Joe, you're reading too much into things, which made me not trust him as a narrator.  Then that whole thing with Peach and how Joe was right about Peach trying to get Beck into bed made me question my assumptions that he was reading too much into things.  Maybe he was right all along?

I think the biggest thing I had a problem with was the ease of the killing and locking people up in the cage in the bookstore.  The ending was on point with this book though.  It could have went either way (for me) and it would have been awesome.

That said, I see that this is You #1 and I really hope there isn't a #2.  I know the ending set up for #2, but please, please, please no.  Just do something good and leave it!  4.5 because I'm not sure I would reread this.

TL;DR: Don't read this if you like to believe that no one sees the things you put on the internet and won't use them against you.


Still Alice by Lisa Genova  5/5  (hard copy)
(Preface: Teh Gramps has late-stage dementia.)
I read this in the car for the most part, but there were some parts when we must have been going down dusty roads with the windows open.  Then again, a dust storm blew through my house when I was finishing the last 150 pages after we got home.  I didn't even care that Teh German was there possibily able to see me.  #nofucksweregiven  This is a super huge deal because I'm almost completely heartless and rarely ever do books choke me up (movies do because I'm a sympathetic cryer, thanks Teh Dad/Teh Gramps).

This book made me want to go get tested for Alzheimer's right noaw.  Then it didn't because what if I had it and was going to get Alzheimer's?  Watching Alice deteriorate was just heartbreaking because she had been so strong.  Then her husband's inability to deal with it crushed me even more.  The tension over the suicide really had me turning pages and I wanted to know if she succeeded or not.  I won't spoil it for you.

Alzheimer's Disease is one of the biggest reasons I'm a supporter of medical assisted suicide.  I can't imagine losing all my facilities and cognitive abilities and essentially regressing to an infantile state.  The hope of there being a cure "for your children" seems too remote for me to comprehend. 

TL;DR: If you want to know what it's like to be have dementia/Alzheimer's, read this book.  If you never cry and want to challenge yourself, read this book.

In Progress:

• Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty  */5  (audiobook)
• 
  Never Have I Ever: My Life (So Far) Without a Date by Katie Heaney  */5  (ebook with questionable formatting (my fault))
   

On Deck:

•  You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) by Felicia Day  (audiobook)

Announcement: 

Erin has posted the categories for her next book challenge.  I'm doing it after much debate, but ONLY because Ms. Boomkin and her mom signed up to do it.  I can't NOT do the challenge after inviting someone else to do it.  That's poor taste.  So I'm currently picking out my books for the different topics. 

If you want to join, but are worried about "the rules," know that the rules are more like guidelines.  The point is to read books and enjoy it (not to be a masochist and torture yourself, MEGAN).  There's no pressure to finish, but there are prizes if you do finish first, second, or third.  My favorite part of a book challenge is having books on standby to read that I have already picked out.  I didn't have to hem and haw over my Goodreads TBR list to find my next book or read a few pages from several to see which I wanted to read.  This gives me direction, which I definitely need when I'm overwhelmed with choices.

Soooo, you wanna read with us?


*TL;DR = too long, don't read