What I've Been Reading #2

1. The Truth about the Harry Quebert Affair by Joël Dicker

2. The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton

3. Asylum by Madeleine Roux

4. Looking for Alaska by John Greene

5. And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini

6. The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson

7. The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules by Catharina Ingelman-Sundberg, Rod Bradbury

I bought The Truth about the Harry Quebert Affair after Ruth from A Model Recommends tweeted raving about it. Oh my goodness, this is probably my favourite book of the year so far. It was full of twists and it kept you guessing throughout. Without giving too much away, I understand why it’s been compared to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (another amazing book). It’s just not your typical crime novel. 

If you like lies, deceit, drugs, affairs and vengeance, The Luminaries is one to read. For me, it was just too long. I read on my kindle so I’m very rarely aware of just how long a book is but I was definitely aware of the 849 pages with this one. About half way through I found myself drifting off. I wouldn’t go as far as to say it’s overrated because it’s certainly well written and I has an original concept but I feel it could have been half the length.

Asylum is one of the suggested books after Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (which is being turned into a film!), so I was excited to read this. It has the same kinda creepy pictures but other than that I didn’t really see the comparison. Dan goes to a summer school in an old Mental Asylum and finds all sorts of creepy goings on. Throw in a serial killer and some patient experiments and you’ve basically got a kiddie version of American Horror Story. The characters were just a bit meh and near the end it’s almost as if the author got bored. It was just a bit of an anticlimax. 

I love a bit of teen fiction. I loved The Fault in our Stars, it’s one of 3 books that’s made me cry (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and One Day were the other 2 in case you’re wondering). Looking for Alaska was another beautifully written book from Greene and really gets into the head of a teenage boy. No doubt you’ll see Paper Towns  mentioned in August’s book post.

If you haven’t read A Thousand Splendid Suns you definitely need to add it to your to-read list. This book truly moved me, I read this book over 4 years ago and still remember the emotion, injustice and frustration I felt when I was reading it. Although And the Mountains Echoed didn’t quite have the same effect, it was still wonderfully written. It’s based on a family that was torn apart and how their lives change and how they rebuild their lives and families. 

The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared is absolutely crazy. I can’t think of any other way to describe it. You find Allan on his 100th birthday and basically in the middle of a crime spree. In between the drama you find out about how he met American Presidents, helped build the atom bomb and basically played a part in most of the major historical events throughout his life time. I could not put this book down. 

The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules is another badass pensioners book. This book is so funny and quirky but it doesn’t have quite the same draw as The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared. A group of pensions are fed up in their nursing home and decide to rob a museum. As you do. This was really easy to read and would be perfect for taking on holiday.

What have you been reading lately?