Tag Archives: Contemporary

These are the books that fall into the contemporary novel genre.

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The Winters in Bloom by Lisa Tucker

I really loved this book once I sat myself down and just started reading.

The first chapter is absolutely amazing and really sets the rest of the book up. It’s told from Michael’s point of view, in 3rd person, and really shows his life so far. He lives a life filled with worries and doubts and not the life a 5 year old should be having. His parents’ over-protectiveness has started seeping into his own thoughts, but underneath that, there is a small glimpse of that little 5 year old spirit.

The rest of the book jumps between the character’s points of view and tells both the present and past events. It shows each of the character’s connection to each other and gives the reason they act the way they do.

The foreshadowing in this book is simply amazing and I could not give enough praise to Tucker for brilliantly weaving in hints of the future with every page. It kept me guessing at every turn and even when my guesses weren’t correct, I could look back and see how something came about.

This was the first book I have read of Tucker’s and I plan on reading more.

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The Help by Kathryn Stockett

I’m not sure I can find the words I need to describe this book. The one word that keeps coming to mind is “amazing.”

I’ll be honest. I put off reading this book for a long time because I wasn’t sure I would like the topics and subject matter. I was worried it would be trivialized or made simpler just to get the book out. I have never been so happy to be wrong. This book was real and touching, and I found myself crying several times.

The characters felt so real and flawed. But on the flip side, even the “villain” of the story had a good side. They were real people, written the way they should be. That is what made this book so readable.

This is a book everyone needs to read. It’s a tough subject to handle, but The Help uses that to create a funny, empowering, uplifting book. I cannot wait to read more from Stockett.

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The Beginning of After by Jennifer Castle

I was drawn to this book after reading books like If I Stay. I always try to go into reading a book without drawing too many comparisons between books with similar ideas. I’m sure if I were to compare The Beginning of After to If I Stay, I might find it lacking or not up to par, but instead, I view it as its own book as found it to be an emotional ride that didn’t feel fake or contrived.

Castle wrote the emotions of her characters so well, that even when she didn’t explicitly say what a character was feeling, as I reader, I could still tell. I could feel the confusion and hurt and anger of her characters. She was able to give them depth and a dimension that is rare to find in books. Where I usually find myself getting annoyed with characters that become selfish and seemingly lose themselves, I didn’t feel that way at all during this book.

Something else I enjoyed was just followed Laurel’s journey, from wanting someone to blame for the accident, to realize that she needs to find acceptance and live her life for her. That journey was easily placed into the novel, but wasn’t obvious. It made it feel extremely real. Things didn’t happen overnight for her. She came to realizations, but there weren’t many lightning bolts of reason, and when those did happen, they made sense; they fit.

Where If I Stay dealt with more of the emotional aspects of life after losing your family, The Beginning of After dealt with the emotion side, as well as the reality that the world goes on and you go with it. It’s a strong, amazing novel, and I’ve very glad to have read it.

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Count Down to Love by Julie N. Ford

This book was a pretty quick read, and fit the genre well. I have to say that I’m not the biggest fan of romance novels, but this was one of the better ones I’ve read.

As much as I understand that this book was about Kelly and her growth, I wish there was more focus on the secondary characters. At least in which ones were still around and which had left. It was slightly confusing not knowing which girls were still on the show, or how the rose ceremonies went.

There were also a few moments when character personalities seemed to do a 180 in a matter of seconds. I’m not a fan of those in any book. People don’t suddenly realize their many years of thinking one way is wrong and start thinking the opposite unless there is a huge life altering event. There wasn’t one of those for the moment I am thinking of. It was simply a sudden change in personality that felt fake and like it was done for the sake of making everything perfect.

I can’t say I’ll be reading this book again, but it was a decent late-night read.

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The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

My cousin gave me this recommendation and I’m very glad I listened to him. This is one of my favorite books of the year.

It’s told from Enzo’s, the dog’s, point of view. It opens with a heartbreak, and concludes with a heartbreak, but everything between was pure magic.

I wanted to throw this book across the room in anger several times, and I wanted to cry, and often did, other times. Enzo brings humor and a unique way of looking at life to the story. You sometimes forget you’re reading about the word through a dog’s eyes. It just becomes a story about friendship and companionship.

I will tell everyone I meet to read this book. It tells an amazing story in a beautiful way and makes you look at life through new eyes. Amazing, amazing, amazing.