The Princess Diarist - Carrie Fisher

Title: The Princess Diarist
Author: Carrie Fisher
Pages:257
Published: 2016
Genre: Non-Fiction, Memoir
Edition: Hardcover
Source: Library

Description: When Carrie Fisher recently discovered the journals she kept during the filming of the first Star Wars movie, she was astonished to see what they had preserved—plaintive love poems, unbridled musings with youthful naiveté, and a vulnerability that she barely recognized. Today, her fame as an author, actress, and pop-culture icon is indisputable, but in 1977, Carrie Fisher was just a (sort-of) regular teenager.

With these excerpts from her handwritten notebooks, The Princess Diarist is Fisher’s intimate and revealing recollection of what happened on one of the most famous film sets of all time—and what developed behind the scenes. And today, as she reprises her most iconic role for the latest Star Wars trilogy, Fisher also ponders the joys and insanity of celebrity, and the absurdity of a life spawned by Hollywood royalty, only to be surpassed by her own outer-space royalty. Laugh-out-loud hilarious and endlessly quotable, The Princess Diarist brims with the candor and introspection of a diary while offering shrewd insight into the type of stardom that few will ever experience. (via Goodreads)

Thoughts: I quite liked the book.  It was a fairly quick read, but also informative.  I generally don't read celebrity memoirs but due to the publicity that the book got this past fall and the author's death this past December, I felt the need to read the book.  She clearly was a very good writer and with help from an editor, it became a well-received book.  I haven't read her other books, but clearly she had a talent for the written word.

Bottom line: If you enjoy reading celebrity memoirs, I would definitely recommend the book to you, if you haven't already.  If you haven't, you might enjoy this one.  Recommended.

Rating: 3.5/5

The Woman in Cabin 10 - Ruth Ware

Title: The Woman in Cabin 10
Author: Ruth Ware
Pages: 352
Published: 2017
Edition: Paperback
Source: Library

Description: In this tightly wound story, Lo Blacklock, a journalist who writes for a travel magazine, has just been given the assignment of a lifetime: a week on a luxury cruise with only a handful of cabins. At first, Lo’s stay is nothing but pleasant: the cabins are plush, the dinner parties are sparkling, and the guests are elegant. But as the week wears on, frigid winds whip the deck, gray skies fall, and Lo witnesses what she can only describe as a nightmare: a woman being thrown overboard. The problem? All passengers remain accounted for—and so, the ship sails on as if nothing has happened, despite Lo’s desperate attempts to convey that something (or someone) has gone terribly, terribly wrong… (via Goodreads)

Thoughts:  I thought it was a good read.  It wasn't Girl on the Train or Gone Girl by any means, but it was still tense enough to keep me reading at a fairly fast pace.  There wasn't exactly anything literary about the book, but it had a good pace to the book and things seemed to move nicely along.

Bottom line: A decent book and something that could be read quickly for most readers.  Recommended.

Rating: 3/5

The Truth According to - Annie Barrows

Title: The Truth According to Us
Author: Annie Barrows
Pages: 528
Published: 2016
Genre: Historical Fiction
Edition: Paperback
Source: Library

Description: In the summer of 1938, Layla Beck’s father, a United States senator, cuts off her allowance and demands that she find employment on the Federal Writers’ Project, a New Deal jobs program. Within days, Layla finds herself far from her accustomed social whirl, assigned to cover the history of the remote mill town of Macedonia, West Virginia, and destined, in her opinion, to go completely mad with boredom. But once she secures a room in the home of the unconventional Romeyn family, she is drawn into their complex world and soon discovers that the truth of the town is entangled in the thorny past of the Romeyn dynasty.

At the Romeyn house, twelve-year-old Willa is desperate to learn everything in her quest to acquire her favorite virtues of ferocity and devotion—a search that leads her into a thicket of mysteries, including the questionable business that occupies her charismatic father and the reason her adored aunt Jottie remains unmarried. Layla’s arrival strikes a match to the family veneer, bringing to light buried secrets that will tell a new tale about the Romeyns. As Willa peels back the layers of her family’s past, and Layla delves deeper into town legend, everyone involved is transformed—and their personal histories completely rewritten. (via Goodreads)

Thoughts:  I read this as a library book club read and honestly while I liked aspects of the book, it was kinda meh.  Maybe it was that I had greater expectations of this book, but felt that the book took way too long to get any sort of momentum.  I personally liked Layla's storyline more than Willa's and wished more of the book focused on that.

Bottom line:  I found the book to be meh at least for me, but it could be for someone who enjoys these family drama books.  Overall, it was a pretty decent book,  not just one to my tastes.  Recommended.

Rating: 2.75/5

Ashes - Laurie Halse Anderson

Title: Ashes (Seeds of America #3)
Author: Laurie Halse Anderson
Pages: 298
Published: 2016
Genre: Historical Fiction, Young Adult
Edition: Hardcover
Source: Library

Description: As the Revolutionary War rages on, Isabel and Curzon have narrowly escaped Valley Forge—but their relief is short-lived. Before long they are reported as runaways, and the awful Bellingham is determined to track them down. With purpose and faith, Isabel and Curzon march on, fiercely determined to find Isabel’s little sister Ruth, who is enslaved in a Southern state—where bounty hunters are thick as flies. (via Goodreads)

Thoughts:  I quite enjoyed the book and thought it was a nice conclusion to the series.  Sorry for the lack of thoughts; its been a while since I read the book, but I thought it was well written.

Bottom line:  Recommended for young readers who enjoy historical fiction.

Rating: 3/5

The Tempest - William Shakespeare

Title: The Tempest
Author: William Shakespeare
Pages: 92
Published: 1610
Genre: Drama
Edition: E-book
Source: Serial Reader

Description: Prospero—a magician on an enchanted island—punishes his enemies, brings happiness to his daughter, and comes to terms with human use of supernatural power. The Tempest embodies both seemingly timeless romance and the historically specific moment in which Europe begins to explore and conquer the New World. (via Goodreads)

Thoughts: Not my favourite Shakespeare play.  Thought it was okay; probably would have thought better of it if I had read it more regularly or had taken the time to read it along Sparknotes.

Bottom line: It's a preferential taste as to what play you like.

Rating: 2.75/5

Bout of Books 19

I am going to try this again and hopefully I can get my act together.  If you have forgotten what Bout of Books is about, here is a little blurb about it:

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 8th and runs through Sunday, May 14th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 19 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team


My reading goals are to read:

• The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
• Lab Girl
• Outlander
• The Handmaid's Tale 

These are only a starting point but I may add more books as I get closer to the date.