Unique and Memorable Books + Winter Reading | A Month of Faves 2016

Day 6: Mon. | Dec. 12 – The Most Unique, Weird or Most Memorable Book(s) Read This Year – not necessarily your favorite book because it could be memorable for how bad or how much you liked or disliked the characters.

Most Unique/Interesting
Olive Kitteredge by Elizabeth Strout: I wrote about this book in the August book report this year and I think I can put it down as one of the more unique books I read this year. I still do not like Olive, maybe liked her more in her later years, and I hated how she/(the author) said ‘Ayuh’, which is apparently a Down East Maine thing to say. It was annoying. Maybe it translates well when spoken but reading it gave me twitches. The book was unique because of the stories within the story, the perspectives over the years; it gave me ideas for my own writing—some future writing.

The Art of Asking by Amanda Palmer: Also in the August book report was my review of this book and it goes down as the best audiobook listen as well as the most unique. Amanda’s narration plus her use of music interspersed throughout was perfect. I can’t imagine reading the book any other way.

Day 7: Tue. | Dec. 13 – 5 Books on Our Winter Reading List #AMonthofFaves2016 – which books are your must read this winter?

This is what I’m currently in the middle of or about to start:

On a Farther Shore by William Souder: I grabbed this from Overdrive a week ago; it’s a biography of Rachel Carson. While I have Silent Spring and The Edge of the Sea on my bookshelf, I have never read them. Yes, I’m a bad environmentalist. And honestly, while I knew a few basic things about her, this book has shed quite a bit of light into her life before Silent Spring. I’m about 55% done with the audiobook and it is an easy listen. I will definitely be reading her books next year.

Eligible by Curtis Sittenfield: Welcome to another Jane Austen book reinvented! This is Pride & Prejudice in America circa present day. I first heard about this on the What Should I Read Next? podcast and put it in my queue on Overdrive. It recently came up and I’m only 10% into it (a Kindle read) but it isn’t bad. I am starting become a little weary of all of the P&P reboots, though I don’t mind post or pre P&P stories such as Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife but the remixes are hit and miss. Update: Since I started drafting this post last week I have managed to get about 75% through the book over the weekend due to a car trip. I’ll elaborate more later this month but I am loving this adaptation so much! There’s enough changed to the story for it not to feel tired and sloppily written.

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline: Another ‘must-read’ book by the podcast above and just about everyone who reads on the blogsphere, so it also came available last week. As soon as I finished Eligible I’ve got to launch into this one.

Aside from books I’ve got a stack of magazines to read! What’s on your winter reading list?