Time 2 Read: Paullina Simons

Sunday, January 3, 2016

Goodreads 2015 Reading Recap

A new year has begun. It’s probably time for me to talk about my Reading Journey 2015. It’s probably past time! But I spend a lot of time tracking my reading, so it is probably appropriate to take a few days to see where that journey took me! I’m going to start out looking at some numbers and how I did with my goals in reading and completing (or not!) challenges, and then take a few days to think about where I want to go in 2016.

I’m going to start today by looking at the actual books I read in 2015. I tracked these both on Goodreads and with a spreadsheet. If you are on Goodreads, you probably have already seen the pretty page Goodreads has prepared to summarize our 2015 reading journey. Sadly, though you can share a link on Facebook or Twitter, there is no way to preserve and share a copy of the full page. Maybe next year, Goodreads? I did capture a screenshot of the most important information, which I am sharing with you hear.

As you can see I read 59 book or a total of 20, 583 pages, or an average of 349 pages. (That jives well with a question I answered by an author earlier today, who asked if we prefer to read long books or short books. My answer was ‘medium books’ of ‘about 350 pages’!)

The longest book I read was Lone Star by Paullina Simons, coming in at 576 pages, and the shortest was a book of poems, Poisoned Apples by Christine Heppermann, coming in at only 107 pages.

The average rating I gave was 3.5 Stars, which is also good. It means I liked most of the books I read, and that I don’t just hand out stars easily. The most highly rated book by other people that I read in 2015 was Montpelier Today by Marylee MacDonald, with a rating of 4.33 Stars.

The most popular book of all that I read was The Girl On The Train by Paula Hawkins, read by 477, 545 readers, and the least popular book was An Old-Fashioned Christmas by Ellen Stimson, read by only 44 readers. These numbers are not all that surprising. These numbers are about readers and not ratings. The first came out early in the year with a lot of hype, and the latter came out only last month and had appeal for a very specific audience.

If you’d like to see more, take a look at my 2015 Goodreads Year in Review here!

This post turned out to be a little longer than I anticipated, so I am going to continue tomorrow with a post based on my reading spreadsheet.

Monday, November 30, 2015

Review: Lone Star

Lone Star

by Paullina Simons

Why I chose this book? the travel through Europe pulled me in

When I read this book? November 2015

Who should read this book? lovers of romance and travel

Source: TLC Book Tours

Here is a synopsis of Lone Star from Goodreads

From the bestselling, acclaimed author of Tully and The Bronze Horseman comes the unforgettable love story between a college-bound young woman and a traveling troubadour on his way to war—a moving, compelling novel of love lost and found set against the stunning backdrop of Eastern Europe.

Chloe is just weeks away from heading off to college and starting a new life far from her home in Maine when she embarks on a great European adventure with her boyfriend and two best friends. Their destination is Barcelona, but first they must detour through the historic cities of Eastern Europe to keep an old family promise.

Here, in this fledgling post-Communist world, Chloe meets a charming American vagabond named Johnny, who carries a guitar, an easy smile—and a lifetime of secrets. From Treblinka to Trieste, from Karnikava to Krakow, from Vilnius to Venice, the unlikely band of friends and lovers traverse the old world on a train trip that becomes a treacherous journey into Europe’s and Johnny’s darkest past—a journey that jeopardizes Chloe’s plans for the future and all she ever thought she wanted.

But the lifelong bonds Chloe and her friends share are about to be put to the ultimate test—and whether or not they reach Barcelona, they can only be certain that their lives will never be the same again.

A sweeping, beautiful tale that mesmerizes and enchants, Lone Star will linger long in the memory once the final page is turned.

My Review

I can’t review this book. I don’t want to review this book. I want to TALK about this book...to everybody! But I can’t do that if you haven’t read the book, so I’ll have to stick to trying to review it...without spoilers. Here goes….

I’ll start with the negatives. First, the cover doesn’t do much for me. It isn’t a terrible cover, but had the book just been sitting on a shelf in a bookstore, I probably would not have given it a second glance. Next the book is l-o-n-g. This is not a bad thing, especially once you are into the story, because you really won’t want it to end. But it does take awhile for the story to click. For me it took about 60 pages wondering why I agreed to review the book. And third, there is a severe case of book hangover at the end. It’s been three days and I am still hungover. I don’t want to pick up another book; I want to live in this one a little while longer. And I miss Johnny Rainbow!

Now, what can I tell you good about the book — what can I tell you without giving something important away? First, I love the descriptions of the travels through Eastern Europe and the history involved. I also love the storyline and how it develops. Without giving a spoiler, I can tell you that in some ways I saw the ending coming, but I didn’t really think it could end as it did. So I guess I didn’t really see that coming! And third, I love Johnny Rainbow. He was so much fun to hang with as we traveled through Europe. I miss you Johnny Rainbow!

Really, that is all I can tell you about this book. Please, PLEASE read this book! And after you have, please come back here, or come to my Facebook page, so we can talk. I want to talk about this book!

This is definitely NOT a lone star read; I give it 5 stars!

About Paullina Simons

Paullina Simons is an internationally bestselling author whose novels include Bellagrand and The Bronze Horseman. She was born in Leningrad in 1963. As a child she immigrated to Queens, New York, and attended colleges in Long Island. Then she moved to England and attended Essex University, before returning to America. She lives in New York with her husband and children.

Find out more about Paullina at her website, follow her on Twitter, and connect with her on Facebook.

My Rating: ★★★★★ 5 Stars