Allena's Recent Reads and Book Challenge Update!

I read quite a few books in May and got myself some points in the Book Challenge I'm trying to do. Pretty happy with my start to the challenge!

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini (Author I've never read before - 15 points!) - Plot: Born a generation apart and with very different ideas about love and family, Mariam and Laila are two women brought jarringly together by war, by loss and by fate. As they endure the ever escalating dangers around them-in their home as well as in the streets of Kabul--they come to form a bond that makes them both sisters and mother-daughter to each other, and that will ultimately alter the course not just of their own lives but of the next generation. 

This was our book club book and I honestly wasn't looking forward to it because I thought it would be so dark and depressing, but I loved it! It definitely had its dark and depressing moments but really the overall message was one of hope and love and who doesn't love that?! We also had great discussion about women's rights, sexism, feminism, religion, what makes a woman a skank {ha}...it was great! 

Bossypants by Tina Fey (Book that's been on my 'To be read' list for 2 years - 10 points!) - This was essentially Tina's biography and it was so funny and such a fun, light read. I read it while I was dying from strep throat and it definitely kept me in a better mood.

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins (Freebie - 5 points!) - Plot: Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning. Every day she rattles down the track, flashes past a stretch of cozy suburban homes, and stops at the signal that allows her to daily watch the same couple breakfasting on their deck. She’s even started to feel like she knows them. “Jess and Jason,” she calls them. Their life—as she sees it—is perfect. Not unlike the life she recently lost.And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough. Now everything’s changed. Unable to keep it to herself, Rachel offers what she knows to the police, and becomes inextricably entwined in what happens next, as well as in the lives of everyone involved. Has she done more harm than good?

I had heard such good things about this book and enjoyed it a lot. It definitely had a lot of twists and turns and kept me guessing as to what happened. A movie is in the works, and I definitely think it'll be a fun one to catch. Not the best book I've ever read but a good, fun, suspenseful read. 

The Giver/Gathering Blue/Messenger by Lois Lowry - I thought I read The Giver in school and realized I hadn't, and a friend in book club loves it and they just made a movie, so I thought I should read it. And I didn't realize it was a series of 4 books - and we all know how much I love a good book series! Since these are 3 separate books that all tie together in the 3rd {and I've heard 4th} book, I won't type out the plot for all 3. Essentially it's 3 stories in separate communities in a dystopian future. I enjoyed all 3 of them a lot and can't wait to read the 4th!