The Fault in Our Stars

Title: The Fault in Our Stars

Author: John Green

Pages: 7 discs

Genre: Fiction

Grade: A-

Synopsis: Hazel Grace is a kid with terminal cancer.  Whenever her cancer flares up her treatments have been able to provide her with some additional time on this earth.  When she is filling up to it, Hazel attends a Cancer Kid Support Group and meets Augustus Waters, a boy that will soon become her boyfriend.   This is the story about their friendship and how they navigate their cancers together.

My Review: If you haven't yet read this book, you may be in the minority. I've been surprised by how many people have read this book so far.  The book is well-written, enjoyable, heart-breaking and funny. It's probably hard to write a book about cancer kids. At times, it's a hard one to read.

The Wright Brothers

Title: The Wright Brothers

Author: David McCullough

Pages: 320

Genre: History, Biography

Grade: A

Synopsis: Orville and Wilbur Wright are known to the world as the inventors of powered flight.  To those of use living today, with airplanes, helicopters, drones and other flying devices all around that may not seem like such an amazing scientific achievement, but as it turns out, it required a substantial amount of original research, design, development, trial and error for the Wrights to accomplish this feat.  Orville and Wilbur Wright were extraordinary gifted geniuses and were able to devise solutions to all sorts of challenges that had stumped those who had tried to fly before them.

My Review: Another triumph by probably my favorite author, David McCullough.  He's quite old, and I'll be sad when he stops writing because he has a gift for bringing people, engineering feats, accomplishments and tragedies to life.  As is typical with his books, The Wright Brothers is based upon pages and pages of letters, journal entries and writings of journalists.  I was especially interested in this book as I started reading it while we were spending the week on the Outer Banks in North Carolina (just up the shore from Kitty Hawk, where the first flights took place) and I spent a few years growing up in Dayton, Ohio, best known for being the birthplace of the Wright Brothers.

Never Let Me Go

Title: Never Let Me Go

Author: Kazuo Ishiguro

Pages: 288

Genre: Fiction

Grade: B

Synopsis: Kathy grew up attending Hailsham, an exclusive boarding school in England.  All while growing up Kathy and her friends were reminded about how special they were, but it took years before any of the students understood why the teachers thought them so special.  In her adult years, Kathy is a caretaker and the book flashes back often to her time growing up with her friends at Hailsham during their formative years.

My Review: Once again, this was a book that took me a while to get into and I had a hard time following the plot for the first few chapters.  Looking at others reviews of this book, it appears that most people either love the book or hate it, I fall squarely in the middle.  I didn't love it, I didn't hate it and I enjoyed reading it and thinking about the ethical issues that are brought up in the book.

Outlander

Title: Outlander

Author: Diana Gabaldon

Pages: 28 discs

Genre: Science Fiction, Fiction

Grade: B+

Synopsis: Claire Randall is on a second honeymoon with her husband just after the end of World War II.  She had served as a combat nurse during the war and was now happily reunited with her husband.  While in Scotland, they visited a rock formation similar to a small version of Stonehenge.  Upon touching one of the rocks Claire was instantly transported to the same spot back in time to the year 1743.  She joins up with the Clan MacKenzie and becomes intimately familiar with the studly man of James Fraser...

My Review: This was an enjoyable book.  While the basic premise is unbelievable (a time traveling young wife), the rest of the book is written to be completely believable and you find yourself thinking what if?...

Disclaimer: While Claire is still happily married to her 20th century husband, while living in the 18th century there are a few love scenes, that did not come across as dirty, but were certainly steamy.

Ender's Game

Title: Ender's Game

Author: Orson Scott Card

Pages: 324

Genre: Science Fiction

Grade: B+

Synopsis: Andrew (Ender) Wiggins was born from decades of genetic experimentation in an effort to breed a human who is capable of leading humanity's battles against the Buggers.  Ender is selected for battle school and while there he spends his life learning the Buggers tactics and figuring out how to beat them.

My Review: I read the Ender's Game series back in Junior High and I had remembered that I had quite enjoyed it, but I couldn't remember much else about it.  Most of the book is dedicated to Ender's experiences and growth in the battle school, including numerous training battles and that can get a little tedious, but I found that I enjoyed it. Now I can watch the movie and re-read the rest of the books in the series.

Of Mice and Men

Title: Of Mice and Men

Author: John Steinbeck

Pages: 103

Genre: Classic

Grade: B+

Synopsis: George and his friend Lennie have nothing in the world besides each other. They find work on a ranch in California's Salinas Valley where they plan to work in order to save money to one day have a small farm of their own.  However, as always seems to happen, they get into trouble because Lennie doesn't understand his own strength and has a heart bigger than his brain.

My Review: I'm surprised that I had never read this book.  Had I realized that it was a book that would be easy to read in a day or two I probably would have read it sooner. It's a great story, and one that will leave you thinking about it long after you put the book down.