Hi friends! It’s been…oh dear…over a year since I last posted about the books I was reading. Here’s a summary post of all the books I’ve read in the past year (past year and three months but WHO’S COUNTING?)

I’m splitting this update into several parts just so I don’t bore anyone to death. I’m using the GoodReads rating convention here:

• One star – Did not like it.
• Two stars – It was ok.
• Three stars – Liked it.
• Four stars – Really liked it.
• Five stars – It was amazing.

• Orphan Train by Christina Baker Klein – A troubled teenage girl becomes friends with an elderly woman, and finds out about the elderly woman’s dark past as an orphan train survival. This book had a lot of potential and could have been a lot better, but I enjoyed the story overall. Three stars.
  
• The Lying Game by Ruth Ware – Four best friends from a boarding school are reunited under mysterious circumstances and are forced to reconcile with their questionable pasts. Ruth Ware gets so much hype but I honestly haven’t *loved* any of her books. I gave this one three stars.
  
• Dark Sparkler by Amber Tamblyn. This poetry collection analyzes the deaths of twenty-five actresses whose lives ended abruptly. It’s an interesting concept and made for a rather solid poetry collection, but nothing I felt very attached to. Three stars.
  
• Slade House by David Mitchell. Every nine years, the residents of Slade House extend an invitation for someone to join them inside – and those strangers will find that they can never leave. I ended up getting rid of this book during my move, and I regret it because this book was so good! It’s in the horror genre and while it isn’t scary, it’s definitely unsettling. There’s a particular chapter that I still think about because it was so masterfully done. Five stars.
  
• The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins. Rachel watches the same couple on her train every day, wishing she were as beautiful as the woman she sees. Rachel’s own life has devolved within the past several years, so it’s easy for her to wish she had someone else’s life. One day, she witnesses something disturbing while on the train. But did she really see it? And will anyone believe her? I’d seen mixed reviews about this book, but I enjoyed it and it was a quick read. Three stars.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of my MEGA BOOK CATCH UP post 🙂