Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson

7/10

Finished reading this last night. It was a fun adventure. Never have I read so much authentic Scottish dialect, "bonny" and "unco" probably being my two favorites. It was pretty humorous most of the time. But this is a great buddy adventure with the two main characters really developing a true bond despite being completely different people with different backgrounds and viewpoints. It was fun to see them meet and how loyal they became to each other. I liked both characters a lot. While I liked the book overall, it did seem to lack some true excitement that could have pushed to book to a true classic. But instead it was a lot of slow crawling through heather and waiting around for the coast to clear as they made their journey through the north country. But there was still a fair bit of adventure and excitement overall.

Quotes:

"[Y]e are neither very wise nor very Christian to blow off so many words of anger. They will do the man...no harm, and yourself no good."

"There are two things that men should never weary of, goodness and humility."

Lost Stars by Claudia Gray

9/10

Finished reading this with Mallory tonight. We enjoyed it very much. It was my first Star Wars book, but I enjoyed this one a lot so I will probably read several more in the near future. This one was a good first one to read as it spans the original trilogy with two characters whose stories are interwoven with Episodes 4, 5 and 6. The story had some fun moments when the story intersected with the movie and it was done really well when it happened. I was actually surprised that it didn't go over the top with it and kept true to its own story and characters overall. But it's always fun seeing a story told from a different perspective, kind of like Ender's Shadow.

The book was written well and the characters were good and interesting. I liked the development of the story with both characters dedicated to the Empire and one becoming disillusioned and joining the Rebellion and the drama that ensued. Just a fun story and I enjoyed discovering this new part of the Star Wars universe.

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

8/10

I finished reading this a few nights ago. I enjoyed it. The characters were pretty well written, especially the main character. The premise of the story was a good one that was almost impossible to botch. I liked the style of the presentation, with the first-person narrator told through the three main female characters, but with one of the character's narration lagging behind but slowly catching up to the present. I also liked the amnesia style storytelling, Memento style, where the main character slowly pieces things together from her memory.

Some things that I didn't like was the ending where the killer just opens up and explains the entire murder in front of his wife. Just seemed too far-fetched. Also didn't like how the main character just shows up at the house to explain all this to the wife without even knowing whether the killer is still home or not. The language was also a bit too raunchy at times for my liking.

This was a good book that I looked forward to reading each night which is what it's all about.