I rarely do book reviews on my blog but I was looking at my Goodreads account and between the beginning of December and now I’ve read four different books and given five stars to each of them! So I thought I’d do a post sharing my favourite reads as of late.

I don’t have a lot of requirements when rating the books I read. Basically if a story is engaging and holds my attention I will give it a high rating. There are some books that I enjoy so much, and get so attached to the characters, I dread them ending yet at the same time I can’t stop reading them. Those are the books I give 5 stars to.

I don’t really pay too much attention to details like plot and character development but obviously those are important components for a book to be can’t-put-it-down good I would think! So, without further ado, here are the books I’ve recently given 5 stars to:

The Glass Castle

From Goodreads: Jeannette Walls grew up with parents whose ideals and stubborn nonconformity were both their curse and their salvation. Rex and Rose Mary Walls had four children. In the beginning, they lived like nomads, moving among Southwest desert towns, camping in the mountains. Rex was a charismatic, brilliant man who, when sober, captured his children’s imagination, teaching them physics, geology, and above all, how to embrace life fearlessly. Rose Mary, who painted and wrote and couldn’t stand the responsibility of providing for her family, called herself an “excitement addict.” Cooking a meal that would be consumed in fifteen minutes had no appeal when she could make a painting that might last forever.

Later, when the money ran out, or the romance of the wandering life faded, the Walls retreated to the dismal West Virginia mining town — and the family — Rex Walls had done everything he could to escape. He drank. He stole the grocery money and disappeared for days. As the dysfunction of the family escalated, Jeannette and her brother and sisters had to fend for themselves, supporting one another as they weathered their parents’ betrayals and, finally, found the resources and will to leave home.

I loved, loved, LOVED this book. I had to remind myself it was a memoir because some of the things that happened in it seemed too ridiculous and terrible to really be true! It’s amazing to see how the author and her siblings turned out despite growing up occasionally homeless and often so poor there was no food on the table. I was also struck by the fact that even though the author could have a lot of reasons to resent, or even hate, her parents she didn’t. She actually speaks of them quite lovingly considering the circumstances. I was truly sad when this book ended because I grew very attached to the characters.

The Book of Negroes

From Goodreads: Abducted as an 11-year-old child from her village in West Africa and forced to walk for months to the sea in a coffle – a string of slaves – Aminata Diallo is sent to live as a slave in South Carolina. But years later, she forges her way to freedom, serving the British in the Revolutionary War and registering her name in the historic “Book of Negroes.” This book, an actual document, provides a short but immensely revealing record of freed Loyalist slaves who requested permission to leave the US for resettlement in Nova Scotia, only to find that the haven they sought was steeped in an oppression all of its own. Aminata’s eventual return to Sierra Leone – passing ships carrying thousands of slaves bound for America – is an engrossing account of an obscure but important chapter in history that saw 1,200 former slaves embark on a harrowing back-to-Africa odyssey.

Another heart wrenching book. This was recommended to me by a running friend when I was talking about how much I loved ‘The Help’ on a run last summer. I was always turned off by how BIG this book was but when I got my e-reader and saw it on there for only $10 I decided to give it a go. It’s the first book I read on my kobo and I couldn’t put it down. Another book that I was truly sad to see end. The story is beautiful and sad all at the same time. It ends on an uplifting note, though!

Secret Daughter

From Goodreads: On the eve of the monsoons, in a remote Indian village, Kavita gives birth to a baby girl. But in a culture that favors sons, the only way for Kavita to save her newborn daughter’s life is to give her away. It is a decision that will haunt her and her husband for the rest of their lives, even after the arrival of their cherished son.

Halfway around the globe, Somer, an American doctor, decides to adopt a child after making the wrenching discovery that she will never have one of her own. When she and her husband, Krishnan, see a photo of the baby with the gold-flecked eyes from a Mumbai orphanage, they are overwhelmed with emotion. Somer knows life will change with the adoption but is convinced that the love they already feel will overcome all obstacles.

Interweaving the stories of Kavita, Somer, and the child that binds both of their destinies, Secret Daughter poignantly explores the emotional terrain of motherhood, loss, identity, and love, as witnessed through the lives of two families-one Indian, one American-and the child that indelibly connects them.

This book was a quick read and kept me engaged the entire time. It was quite the tearjerker and I cried several times throughout it! Oh and it also made me really, really, REALLY want to travel to India!

Divergent

From Goodreads: In Beatrice Prior’s dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can’t have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.
During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she’s chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she’s kept hidden from everyone because she’s been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves… or it might destroy her.

Remember when I became obsessed with The Hunger Games? Well I may have liked this book better. Divergent was such an action-packed, intriguing book. One of those books you stay up way past your bedtime to read because you literally cannot. put. it. down. Highly recommend, especially if you were/are a Hunger Games fan!

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Questions of the day: What’s the best book that you’ve read lately? Do you hand out five stars pretty easily or does it take a lot for a book to get a five star rating from you?

Well friends, it’s that time of year again. The holiday season! Last year I wrote a Christmas list which turned out to be very effective as I was gifted most of the things on my list So I’m doing the same thing this year! Check out my Christmas list last year and my present haul – my family totally spoiled me!

Anyways, this year all I want for Christmas is…

A kobo e-reader!

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Yup, I’ve caved and decided I’m ready to go the e-reader route. I did a lot of traveling this past year and it was really hard to travel with more than one book. Also really annoying when I was traveling and finished the only book I had with me. An e-reader would make it so much easier. Plus, we don’t have a lot of extra room for books in our house as it is!

Run for it pullover and/or Run your heart out tights – Lululemon

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There is sooo much lululemon stuff I want that I could fill up this entire blog post with the different lulu things I would like. But after much debate I decided that these two things would benefit me most during winter marathon training. Oh, and I’ll take both in size 10 please and thank you. Or a GC of any amount would go towards one of these two things

A gift card to the Running Room for new shoes

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My current running shoes are not going to last me through my whole marathon training cycle and I’m going to need a new pair in early 2012. I’ve been running in the Asics GT-2160′s for about a year now and I’m really happy with them! A gift card of any amount for the Running Room would go towards that purchase!

Nike dri-fit socks

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I have asked for these the last two years in a row and my family always comes through! Somehow when Christmas rolls around I always need more as I’ve wrecked or misplaced most of the ones from the year before…why does it work that way with socks?

Starbucks Coffee

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My mom got me a few bags of coffee for my birthday and we’re almost out. I LOVE Starbucks coffee and have been saving a lot of money by making coffee at home every day but Friday (when I treat myself to a latte!) the last few months. I would love another couple bags. Especially a few Christmas Blend ones!

Some prints for our walls!

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As evidenced by this post our walls in our townhouse are still really bare. A full 7 months after moving in! I would love some prints to hang on our walls. Above are a few of my favourites that I found on etsy but I’m not too terribly picky. I just love the idea of hanging prints/typography rather than JUST photos!

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And that’s about it! I can’t think of anything else I really want. None of these things are NEEDS of course but I sure do want it all Plus it’s always fun thinking about your Christmas list every year!

What is on your Christmas list this year?

My lovely bloggie friend Becky recently read Sarah’s Key at the same time I did so we decided to swap blogs and do a review of the book. I really enjoyed this book. It gripped me emotionally in a way that a book hasn’t in a long time. Go over to Becky’s blog to read my full review!

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Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

My rating: 5 stars

Overview from Goodreads: Paris, July 1942: Sarah, a ten year-old girl, is brutally arrested with her family by the French police in the Vel’ d’Hiv’ roundup, but not before she locks her younger brother in a cupboard in the family’s apartment, thinking that she will be back within a few hours.

Paris, May 2002: On Vel’ d’Hiv’s 60th anniversary, journalist Julia Jarmond is asked to write an article about this black day in France’s past. Through her contemporary investigation, she stumbles onto a trail of long-hidden family secrets that connect her to Sarah. Julia finds herself compelled to retrace the girl’s ordeal, from that terrible term in the Vel d’Hiv’, to the camps, and beyond. As she probes into Sarah’s past, she begins to question her own place in France, and to reevaluate her marriage and her life.

This book was so good I couldn’t put it down. No really – I read it in a day. It was engaging, heartbreaking, and moving, all at once. I read it over a week ago and I’m still thinking about it – the story wrapped itself around my heart, and it’s going to be awhile before it eases its grip.

I actually had a really hard time writing this review because I’m not sure how well I can convey the beauty of this novel and how much it spoke to me.

The author’s ability to share this story through the eyes of a middle-aged journalist and a ten-year old girl blew me away, because I related to both of them even though I have never been in situations similar to theirs. The innocence Sarah has is almost calming at first, and I found myself crying with her as I watched that innocence start to dissolve and then shatter completely.

I found myself heartbroken and thankful at the end of this novel. Heartbroken for anyone who had to go through something like this and for all the pain and suffering it must have caused. I’m thankful there are people like the author who write about tragedies like this – it can’t be easy, but it’s so essential to never forget times like this – even if it’s horrible to think about.

I know I didn’t tell you a lot about the story itself, but I don’t want to spoil anything. Not because it’s a mystery, but because it builds from the beginning and to tell you one part would be the same as only giving you one piece of a puzzle – it would be good, and interesting, but you really need the whole picture. Let me just say I highly highly recommend it.

Have you read this book? What did you think? Have you read a story lately that has stuck with you?

Thanks for having me Amber!